74496 ;3 9:7 673 9:7 77707797357 48 9736;9;4331 63;1;39 53347 4:;16;39 ;3 9:7 773:41;5 48 9:7 0376:311 ;613366 5:7;69;33 33;73 17:033 6ubmitted to the faculty of the :niversity 9raduate 6chool ;n partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree 0aster of 1iberal 6tudies in the 5ollege of 1iberal 3rts and 6ciences of ;ndiana :niversity -uly $&&(P7$N&( P$*( 3ccepted by the 9raduate 8aculty ;ndiana :niversity in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree in the 0aster of 1iberal 6tudies 016 5ommittee js}6cott 7 6ernau 3h6 @~~ 7ebecca 1 9orstrick 3h6 6ate of 4ral 7xamination -uly 8or the students and teachers preserving the past in the 0arshall ;slands llo 0autiej 3elon 0ein 3d l $&KNOSL('*M(N76 ; wish to acknowledge the kqohikZpkZp lmata 0abua (3aramount 5hief) of the 0arshall ;sland for being so gracious as to allow me to conduct my research among his people and lands ; would also like to thank the dedicated staff at Baan 3elon in 0ajel whose thoughtful work in reviving traditional sailing canoe culture in the 0arshall ;slands has allowed a new generation of 0arshallese to take prjde in their past ;n particular ; wish to acknowledge 6ennis 3lessio 3lson 0elen -ill 1uciano and 0entil 1aik for allowing me access to their work site and publications that B30 has produced 0uch appreciation to :arry 3nien 0aster 5anoe builder who on 0ajikin ;sland 3amo 3toll allowed me to help him in the construction of a traditional sailing canoe and for the use of that boat 3lso to the late 0aster 3avigator 3lton who taught me about traditional celestial navigation and weather reading 3nd for his work in instructing his children in ancient arts of celestial navigation canoe building and weather reading IU 7$%L( O) &ON7(N76 3reface •v i 5hapter 4verview and :istory of the 7epublic of the 0arshall ;slands 5anoe 5ulture in the 0arshall ;slands 9he 9rowing ;mportance of Baan 3elon ;n 0ajel 9he ;nterviews with 9wo 0ey Baan 3elon ;n 0ajel 3ersonnel 5anoe 5ulture in the Bider 5ontext 3ppendix 7esources 5onsulted i 9lossary v ;nterview 6uestions v i · 0ethodology and 6ata 5ollection · · vii 9ita ·viii U P5()$&( Bhen ; was searching for a topic to write about for my degree ; couldn't think of anything more appropriate than to research on a topic that has long held my interest traditional canoe building 9hough ; had grown up around these canoes and had many relatives involved in their construction it was evident that this was a dying art 4nce ; started investigating the written body of work on the topic of traditional canoe building and especially in the 0arshall ;sland it became apparent that not much scholarly work had been dedicated to the subject 9here has been recent interest in traditional canoe building throughout 3olynesia but scant among the scattered islands of 0icronesia ; started to talk with some of the 0arshallese elders about what ; wanted to research and why 9hey all replied with the same word EjZiioojoj, "it is shameful" 9he elders was saddened that no one particularly from the younger generations were keeping their traditions alive instead opting for more modern things in life 9hey did mention the one hope in keeping this tradition alive and that was the nongovernmental organization Baan 3elon ;n 0ajel (B30) whose staff was researching documenting and training atrisk youth in the ancient art of traditional sailing canoe building and sailing 4efore ; could begin any research in the 0arshall ;slands ; needed to seek the permission of lmata 0abi-a who is the traditional leader and former president of the 0arshall ;slands :e was delighted to see that there was beginning to be "outside" interest in the work that B30 was involved with :e started to tell me stories from his youth of when he would travel from atoll to atoll in PZkZp (large sailing canoes) and how much he still loved the sea ; was humbled that ; was allowed by lmata 0abua the honor of researching a topic dear to his heart and mine 5ontact was made with 6ennis 3lessio and 3lson 0elen of B30 9hough 6ennis was out of the country at the time of my study 3lson helped me out immensely Bithout his help and that of his staff my research would have taken many more years to accomplish ;t was so refreshing to see that a younger generation of 0arshallese gZG taken on the task of reviving a near lost art and were actively transmitting their knowledge to the next generation 0y hope is that one day when ; go back to the 0arshall ;slands ; can gaze at the lagoon and shore line and see many sailing canoes at anchor or gracefully plying the waters as they did so many years ago ;t gives me much hope that canoe building and many of the other cultural arts are seeing a revival of late 9here is much more that needs to be done in order for these arts to be self sustaining :owever insignificant they may be these are the things that make 0arshallese FZqrgZ/IHrH. UI &+$P7(5 1 O9(59,(S $N' +,67O5U O) 7+( 5(P8%L,& O) 7+( M$56+$LL ,6L$N'6 (5M,) 1ocated in the central equatorial 3acific roughly miles B6B of :onolulu :awai'i the 7epublic of the 0arshall ;slands (or sometimes referred to as the 0arshall ;slands) is a group of low lying coral atolls ( islets) and islands of which around are uninhabited 0ost islands are only feet above sea level 9here are two distinct chains of islands within the 70; - the KZsZj 5hain (sunrise) to the east and the KZkhj 5hain (sunset) to the west 9he 70; has a landmass of sq miles or equivalent to about the size of Bashington 65 yet its territorial borders are comparable to about the size of the contiguous :6 9he coral atolls are comprised of a ring of smaller islets enclosing a lagoon area • 9he 70; is part of a larger geographical grouping of island nations that make up 0icronesia of which the 8ederated 6tates of 0icronesia (0osrae 3ohnpei 5huuk) 3auru Dap 3alau and 9uam are also a part 0ajuro 3toll is the capital and serves as the main governmental and commercial center for all the 70; 9he 70; became an independent sovereign nation in after four decades of :6 administration 9his :6 administration KZ`i`kdhm AEnkk, Zghbg gnDED Egd 5nm`kc 5d`f`m B`kkhDEhb 2hDDhkd 'dedmDd SdDE 8hEd `mc Z`D Egd DhEd ne` YdU\ aknnc\ VVII a`EEkd, hD Egd k`UfdDE bnU`k `Enkk hm Egd ZnUkc ZhEg ` k`mc l`DD ne nmk\ . DT. lhkdD \dE dmbnlS`DDhmf `m hlldmDd k`fnnm ne DT. lhkdD. known as the 9rust 9erritory was founded after Borld Bar ;; ;n the 70; entered into a 5ompact of 8ree 3ssociation with the :6 · 0uch of the commercial business is mainly located on 0ajuro 3toll with its access to international port and commercial aircraft facilities while the rest of the atolls rely on fishing small scale agricultural plots and copra production for sustenance and wages 4f the two official languages 0arshallese comes from the root language lndo0alay and shares iinguistic similarities with surrounding island nations 9hough not as a matter of contemporary practice the two atoll chains of the 70; have distinct though archaic dialectical differences 0ost of the population is fluent in both 0arshallese and 7nglish the latter being the other official language 5ensus data for puts the total population of the 70; at around 9he 70l's executive legislative and judicial branches are a combination of western governmental systems and modified traditional forms of custom and law 9he executive branch is the combination of a 4ritish parliamentary system which is popularly elected and then elects a president and a :6 system that has a president as the head of state as opposed to a 3rime 0inister in a 4ritish 6ystem 9he judicial branch is comprised of two systems with separate jurisdictional powers- the 6upreme 5ourts receive their mandates and laws from the executive branch and preside over constitutional issues while the 5ouncil of AbbnUchmf En Dnld EgdnUhdD Egd 2`UDg`kkD ZdUd DdEEkdc a\ `mbhdmE Dd`e`UdUD ne 2dk`mdDh`m (ImcnmdDh`m `mc 2`k`\Dh`m) cdDbdmE `UnXmc a.b . kqooi3 is made up of traditional leaders and presides over matters of custom such as land rights and property allocations Pradestory ob tda M]rsd]hh ,sh]j`s 9he 0arshall ;slands sit on what are presently extinct volcanic cores that erupted more than million years ago 3s this molten matter erupted it formed over time "high islands" examples of which include the islands in the :awaiian chain 4ver time the volcanic fissures closed signaling an end to land formation and eventually these volcanic peaks slowly sunk into the sea propelled by their own weight 7ventually microscopic sea organisms started to cling to the side of the extinct volcano and contributed to the formation of reefs ;t is not certain as to when the 0arshall ;slands had enough soil and plant growth to sustain human activity and habitation but geological and ecological evidence suggests that date might be around 45 (6ye ) 0arshallese stories have a differing viewpoint as to the creation of the islands and the origins of plants 3ccording to myth (6owning ) the 0arshall ;slands were formed after a jealous chief flew away in his canoe carrying a basket of soil 9his basket had a hole in it and soon the soil was scattered across the waters 7ventually the islands "grew" out of the ocean 9he arrival of SghD bnXmbhk hD l`cd XS ne bghdeD DdkdbEdc a\ Egd Iroojlaplap, nU S`U`lnXmE bghde.