page_title: Marshallese culture
section_title: Pre-western culture
hierarchical_section_title: Marshallese culture / Pre-western culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Marshallese woman from Jaluit with a traditional necklace. From Ralik-Ratak (Marshall Islands). In: Georg Thilenius (ed.), Hamburg South Sea Expedition 1908-1910 II. Ethnographie, B: Mikronesien. Vol. 11: Hamburg: Friedrichsen &amp; de Gruyter.
context_page_description: The culture of the Marshall Islands forms part of the wider culture of Micronesia. It is marked by pre-Western contact and the impact of that contact on its people afterward. The Marshall Islands were relatively isolated. Inhabitants developed skilled navigators, able to navigate by the currents to other atolls. Prior to close contact with Westerners, children went naked and men and women were topless, wearing only skirts made of mats of native materials.
  Land was and remains the most important measure of a family's wealth. Land is inherited through the maternal line.
  Since the arrival of Christian missionaries, the culture has shifted from a subsistence-based economy towards a more traditional western economy and modesty standards have shifted to include women covering their bare thighs.
  The people are friendly and peaceful. Strangers are received warmly. Consideration for others is important to the Marshallese people. Family and community are important. Concern for others is an outgrowth of their dependence on one another. They have lived for centuries on isolated coral atolls and islands.
context_section_description: The Marshallese were once skilled navigators, able to sail long distances aboard the two-hulled proa between the atolls using the stars and stick and shell charts. They hold annual competitions sailing their proa, a ship made of teak panels tied together with rope made of palm and sealed with palm rope. The sail was anciently woven from palm fronds. The islanders were relatively isolated and had developed a well-integrated society bound by close extended family association and tradition. Men and women wore only skirts made of native materials woven into mats. Children were generally naked.
caption: Marshallese woman from Jaluit in the Ralik Chain with a traditional necklace in about 1908.
exif: {}