Test Your Knowledge of Marshall Islands' Culture and Storytelling Traditions

Collecting Stories in the Marshall Islands

• Jia and Iban are alab, or elders, who tell bwebwenato, or stories.
• The Marshall Islands are made up of over 1,000 separate islands and are spread over almost 800,000 square miles of water.
• Around 3,000 years ago, people sailed to the islands, and a distinct culture developed with its own stories, songs, and dances.
• The author works for a theater company in Hawai'i that creates plays using stories, songs, and dances from the Pacific Ocean cultures.
• Namdrik is a small island in the Marshall Islands with no electricity, plumbing, or cars.
• Jia and Iban were initially hesitant to share their stories with the author, but everything changed when he gave them gifts.
• Jia and Iban would bring the author fish, fried breadfruit, and snails while telling stories using gestures and character voices.
• The author had to rely on a friend to translate the stories since he didn't speak the language.
• Storytelling was best at night when Jia and Iban would bring a lantern and tell stories while their shadows danced on the walls.
• Jia and Iban were afraid that the island's young people wouldn't be interested in the stories anymore.
• The author created a play using the Namdrik stories, and Jia and Iban hoped it would help keep the stories alive.
• Jia and Iban called out "Yokwe, Letao!" whenever they saw the author, comparing him to a funny trickster in their stories.