Except from (Academic) article on Marshallese in U.S.

Yokwe all, [This was previously posted, more or less in the same form, elsewhere.] This is an excerpt from an excellent article on the Marshallese of Enid, Oklahoma. It talks how they are adapting to life in the U.S. In an effort to preserve their Marshallese-ness, they are turning to the church. The church members are becoming the family that the Marshallese left behind. The author noted that the divisions between irooj and kajur classes have faded and the minister, and his chosen associates have become the defacto leaders. (Incidentally, Marshallese with white ancestry, i.e. DeBrums, and so on, are seemingly an unofficial lower rank than those of pure Micronesian lineage. This may be a race issue, or the result of the mixed Marshallese often coming from more "liberal" or "westernized" atolls.) The Marshallese are portrayed as a very tight group. Church involvement is mandatory and socialization with outsiders is discouraged. Members are kept so busy with church duties that outside friendships are unlikely anyway, and some member risk their employment to keep in the good graces (no pun) of the minister. For the unemployed, being one of the minister's appointed assistants provides secure income, and it is a sought after position. The heavy tithing of the community funds the church activities and income of the minister and assistants. Those Marshallese who prefer less involvement with the church are essentially cast out of the community, as are those who date/marry someone from outside the group. The Marshallese of the RMI are seen as becoming too Americanized (not as Marshallese as those in Enid.) If you'd like some insight into the Marshallese community, and how it adapts to the U.S., I'd highly suggest this article. The journal may be at your local academic library. (You can also order it.) It does a lot to explain why adoptive families have made few if any in-roads into the Marshallese communities in the U.S. I wonder about Marshallese migrants who happen to be another religion and aren't willing to convert. I have heard that the other Marshallese communities in the U.S. are different, and this group isn't the only one in Enid. I have excerpted the most relevant part, although I'd suggest obtaining the whole article if you can. It follows. [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Pacific Studies Constructing Moral Communities: Pacific Islander Strategies for Settling in New Places Vol. 25, Nos. 1 / 2 = March/June 2002 [url]http://w3.byuh.edu/academics/thepacificinstitute/psjournal.htm[/url] (Single issues avail. for $7.50, Subscription $40/year) From article: Maintaining Marshallese Fundamentals with Christian Fundamentalism (p. 95-116) By Linda Allen (Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa) [url]http://www.kirkwood.edu/socialsciences/lallen.html[/url] Excerpt: P. 110-111 Kaajiriri-Marshallese Adoption in Enid Adoption is very common in the Marshall Islands, as it is elsewhere in Oceania (Brady 1976; Carroll 1970; Kiste 1974; Rynkiewich 1972; Spoehr 1949). But, unlike Western or "legal" adoption that selVes to separate an adoptee from her/his biological parents and genealogical identity, Pacific adoption traditions emphasize the importance of maintaining kinship ties between family groups and other relatives (Kiste 1974; Marshall 1976; Ritter 1981; Spoehr 1949). According to tradition in the Marshall Islands, kaajiriri (adoption) may only occur after a child's kemem (first birthday party) has been held. A few months before the birthday, close relatives of the child's mother and father organize the party that is as much "an expression of family solidarity" as it is a celebration of the first stage of a "child's growth toward adulthood" (Spoehr 1949:209). After the kemem, the child may be adopted and leave the household. The adopter is usually a sibling of one of the child's parents or a grandparent. As a consequence, the adoption "becomes a solidifier of the kinship system" (ibid.:211). Recently, however, the traditional kaajiriri restrictions have been obviated as the result of "foreigner" adoptions. Marshallese infants and toddlers have become increasingly popular with Americans who are looking for a child to adopt but have little patience with the red tape associated with adopting a child in the United States and other countries. Marshallese children have even been depicted on an Internet website sponsored by one of the half a dozen U.S. adoption agencies involved in this practice (Johnson 1999). The government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service have announced plans to impose stricter regulations governing the adoption of Marshallese children. Some observers, however, suggest that these actions have been instrumental in the creation of a black market for adoptions. In the Enid Marshallese community, kaajiriri remains an important means of bringing families together. In fact, three children born as the result of intracommunity marriages have been adopted. (9) Enid Marshallese suggest these adoptions further reinforce intragroup solidarity through the creation of kin ties between previously unrelated family lines. But, as the comments of Marshallese parents listed below suggest, the practice of kaajiriri is not without emotional trauma. For instance, during lunch one Sunday afternoon, my Marshallese companion, the biological mother of a six-year-old boy, confided: "I miss that boy. I still love that boy. He calls her 'Mom' and he calls me 'Tia.' But it is good, because we are all bamli. We are close now, because we gave that boy to them. I see him at church, and he comes sometimes to play with his brothers, but he doesn't live with me now. It is our way." In another discussion of the practice of kaajiriri in Enid, Harold, a Marshallese father of two, explained his frustration over his sister-in-law's adoption of his eleven-month-old daughter, Melena. Holding Melena in his lap, he tearfully explained: "They are kidnaping my daughter. I don't want to give her up. They have other children, but they want Melena. We have our new baby boy, but Melena is our only daughter. My wife cries, but she says her sister will take good care of our daughter. I don't like this Marshallese custom. Is it like this for you in America? Can someone take your child if you don't want to let her go?" Fortunately, Harold's sister-in-law changed her mind and returned to the Marshall Islands without his child, but whenever her name was mentioned after that, he became visibly agitated. In recent years, intragroup marriages and kinship ties based on adoption have increased as the population of the Enid Marshallese migrant community has grown. Stronger than the "informal friendship networks" that developed during the early years of the Enid community's existence, these kin-linked social networks have tied groups of households together and intensified rights and obligations within the Marshallese essential community (cf. Janes 1990:63 for a similar situation in Samoan migrant communities). As yet, however, these kin links are relatively few in number and lack the structural complexity that would be necessary to bind the Enid Marshallese migrant community together more intensively. END EXCERPT Other publications: [url]http://w3.byuh.edu/academics/thepacificinstitute/pubs.htm[/url] BYUH Pacific Institute Home: [url]http://w3.byuh.edu/academics/thepacificinstitute/index.htm[/url] -- [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] David's note: bamli is also spelled baamle or pamle - it means "family" "Tia" is Spanish for "aunt". I'm assuming that the Marshallese would use "jine", which, in the RMI, means (roughly) "aunt" and "mother" (and older care-taking sister of female cousin). The attached image (courtesy of Russell Langrine) is of a religious celebration on Majuro. It has nothing to do with the article directly. D ----------- David Huskins Majuro, Marshall Islands, Images and Resources: [url]http://www3.uakron.edu/majuro/Majuro.html[/url] Historic (late W.W.II.) photos of Kwajalein [url]http://www3.uakron.edu/majuro/Oldpix/Kwaj1.html[/url] My roster of RMI satellite images (hosted by NASA) [url]http://www3.uakron.edu/majuro/NASA/Satellite-Images-RMI.html[/url] Examples of Marshallese woven crafts [url]http://www3.uakron.edu/majuro/Marshallese_crafts.html[/url] Laura and Woja, Majuro - the capital of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), in the Central Pacific. [url]http://www3.uakron.edu/majuro/Laura-Majuro.html[/url]