Stories from the Marshall Islands: Bwebwenato Jan Aelon Kein (PALI Language Texts―Micronesia)

My Marshallese students love these stories! Excellent way to diversify curriculum.

This book is a collection of stories gathered by District Anthropologist Jack A. Tobin who was assigned as district anthropologist for the Marshall Islands District during the US Administrative tenure of the UN mandated Micronesian Strategic Trust Territory. It is a collection of stories from local experts with background information on each storyteller. Anthropologist Tobin walks us into the life of Marshallese historians in the form of actual people as they reflected the written word of an orally defined culture where oral tradition triumphs in relaying epistemology. Anthropologist Tobin provides stories about beginnings, stories about animals, stories about evil spirits and flying women, and stories of historical events. In Stories from the Marshall Islands, Tobin seeks to reminds us that oral history is worth preserving and thus serves a solid basis as a method of understanding that is shared in both indigenous and western academic settings. Tobin comes to the conclusion that the belief structures of pre-contact Marshallese and that of other indigenous pacific societies are strikingly similar.This book is useful in attaining a more accurate description of the cultural scenario in the Marshall Islands. It is useful in detailing the cultural and social structure given the authors credible nature. It serves as a primary source because it literally represents a comprehensive account of Tobin’s fieldwork with indigenous Marshallese all while working under the American bureaucracy. When used with other primary source documents collected by Tobin such as genealogies, this book is useful in identifying key figures important in Marshallese society that evidently constructed it and are important in the historical conversations detailing its very existence. A key strength in Tobin’s research is that it is largely primary and this entire book is a collection of his field research. He compares Christian beliefs and other Oceanic beliefs to Marshallese cosmologies to indicate a common belief structure. Ironically, this is how Marshallese view themselves to be today in the modern context. They know themselves to be human and thus preserve the traits that make them appear, in its most accurate depiction of themselves, to be deserving human beings of similar qualities to their fellow man. Tobin has skillfully crafted a work where indigenous Marshallese are able to exist as fellow humans within the world of academia and society by showcasing primary examples of similarities across geographical distinctions. Tobin basically confirms that people from all over are similarly situated when it comes to how they construct their universe and in many ways are misjudged to be thought of as less even if they are the same story and represent equally valid pieces of history that construct humanity’s clock. He has perfectly captured that reality through the Marshallese indigenous lens by sharing this collection of stories with additional etymological commentaries. This book reflects his own research gatherings as a practicing anthropologist and greatly serves in aiding understanding of Marshallese knowledge systems.My deepest reflections on this book was that it made me realize my personal connection to my own ancestral history. I am proud to say that my great grandmother Dorothy Tarjikit Laelan Kabua was the only female that was consulted by the anthropologist Jack A. Tobin in this book. I’ve always heard stories about my great grandmother and have seen pictures of her but never in my life would I have ever dreamed of being able to access a piece of history that connected me to the world by confirming to me the stories I’ve heard of her. I was largely ignorant, indoctrinated, and believed the oral tradition of knowing to be based on exaggeration despite their existing an experiential element. These people in themselves that I happen to be related to in this book took part in history as human beings and I’m ashamed to say that I was too ignorant and scared to confess my relation to the Micronesian race and the royal family in the Marshall Islands because of an existing racial inequality.Even within today’s context, it is still hard for many Marshallese to identify more than what we are given to work with because it’s all that is made available to describe us in the written word at a time when oral tradition is losing leverage against the published in academia in terms of accessibility. However, the global discourses surrounding today have changed the situation of the time where indigenous identity is seen as reputable through the endorsement of the United Nations Indigenous Rights Declaration. In many ways, the skills in academia, when improperly utilized, damages but it can also serve to rectify and promote human rights and dignity across all sectors of society when properly utilized. Tobin’s approach with him giving a paper trail of his deeds reflects a certain aspect of ethical research deserving of praise within academia. His level of respect for Marshallese is well noted as he chose not to practice erasure by allowing his informants to individually shine in his biographical sketch. In this way, Tobin shares his witness of what he experienced in the Marshall Islands thus affirming himself as a primary source to history given his identity as an official employee of the US trust territory administration who witnessed a huge portion of Marshallese society.

I'm obviously biased, as I spent two years of my life editing and typesetting this product. Gives a good sampling of Marshallese oral literature as recorded by an anthropologist who spoke the language, together with their English translations, and copious notes that provide an invaluable overview of Marshallese culture.