Social Studies Lesson

I was roped into the Curriculum Committee a while back, which is responsible for reviewing a draft of each subject’s curriculum from kindergarten to eighth grade. Science and math were already done; we had just begun working on social studies. It’s painstaking work.

But it’s been a great opportunity for me to learn a little about Marshallese culture. One of the Ministry’s priorities is to majol-ize the curriculum, which means making the curriculum relevant to a kid that grows up on an outer island here in the Marshall Islands. Social Studies is obviously a relevant subject for this, where students can learn about Marshallese culture and history (rather than the imported American version).

In grades 1 and 2 kids have to learn about their clan or jowi. This is really important because a lot of kids in high school know little about their family, even though the jowi is not just a group of people you eat with at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (just kidding). The jowi is a political entity with dispute settling mechanisms. Land and title are passed along through the jowi. Marshallese society is matrilineal, which means that unlike in our patrilineal society, inheritance occurs through the mother. That means that I stand to inherit things from my mother’s brother, or my maternal uncle – not my father. His stuff gets passed along to his sister’s family.

Think of feudal Europe. If the king died, his eldest son would inherit the throne. In Marshallese society it works in similar ways, except remember that it’s matrilineal. Therefore, when the king dies, one of his sister’s children stands to gain.

But what’s strange with the modern age is that people travel a lot more. So let’s say I travel to a different atoll when I get married. Then my uncle dies and I become the head of the jowi. But my younger brother, who stayed behind, starts making decisions in my place. This might irk me because I think he’s usurping my rightful role.

There are a lot of disputes in traditional courts related to this kind of issue. It wouldn’t have been as much of a problem 50 years ago, when people didn’t travel as much between atolls (or to other countries). But today there are boats (and there used to be a domestic airline, what happened to it??) plying the sea routes of the 29 atolls.

It’s all very confusing, I know, especially when you interlace the modern political state (with mayors, senators and a president). I’m no where near understanding how it all works. Suffice to say that the Marshall Islands is in a process of flux, whereby traditional institutions are being challenged (and complimented) by new institutions (and values).

End of Social Studies lesson.