Navigation at the Forefront of a Culture: A Case Study on the Marshall Islands Stick Charts

SARC 352 Pacific Designed Environments

Navigation at the Forefront of a Culture: A Case Study on the Marshall Islands Stick

Charts.

By Gerard O’Connell 300206257

Word count: 3211

Gerard O!Connell 300206257! ! 1!

Introduction:

The standard definition of a map is “a representation, usually on a flat surface, of a portion of

space” (Webster!s New Collegiate Dictionary). Humans have used maps for thousands of

years to orientate themselves within space; usually they are the focus of landforms and

landmarks. Their general purpose is to locate specific places in relationship to other places.

What is most fascinating about the "maps! of some cultures situated in places where they

basically have nothing to orientate themselves with, such as the Arctic and the Pacific Ocean,

is the methods that they created to find their way or recognise a place they have already

been. The Inuit people built rock formations called inuksuk “rock man” every couple of

kilometres along their path. The reason it is a human figure is because only a human would

build a figure like that and it is distinguishable from a pile of rocks, it!s a fancy form of a

breadcrumb trail, which is the simplest means to find your way. (Ascher 348)

This essay is on a form of map designed and used in the Marshall Islands called stick charts,

and their affiliation with the Marshallese cultural practises, climate and material resources.

Stick charts are a significant part of the Marshallese navigation tradition. These

representations were used to teach prospective navigators the principles and specifics of the

unique Marshallese system of "wave piloting!. (Davenport 10)

An American missionary L. H. Gulik compiled the first written report on the Marshall Island

stick charts in 1862 (Gulik 304). In the half-century following that report, 70 charts and some

information about them were obtained from Marshall Island navigators or those who claimed

to know their secrets. The Marshallese were very secretive about the information stored

within the maps, “… the individual who first divulged the art to us, though the husband of a

chief, was threatened with death.” (Gulik 304)

These maps and charts are made from palm ribs tied together with coconut fibre and

sometimes with a few shells attached. There are generally two types of charts. They are

quite large objects, usually about 60 by 60 cm to 120 by 120 cm. Many are maps showing a

few or many atolls in relationship to each other and to significant features of the environment.

(Åkerblom 118) These are referred to as meddo or rebbelith, meddo having few atolls and

rebbelith representing a larger area. The second type, called mattang, are very different and

more abstract as they model the underlying methodology of the dynamic structure of the wave

piloting system of the Marshall Island navigators. Used as training devices, they show the

interplay of oceanographic phenomena and landmasses. They are representations of shapes

and motions in the sea and at the land/sea interface. They introduce the prospective

navigator to the features of the environment used on the maps. To use a meddo or rebbelith

map the navigator must first understand the intricate underlying movements in the mattang.

As the navigator learns what is significant, they are learning why it is significant and what role

it plays in the system. (Ascher 349)


The charts were never brought on voyages but their information was committed to memory

and supported by other methods. One such method is the rojen koklol “navigational formulas”

used to remember sailing directions and indicator signs for particular routes. They are also

said to have magical properties that help maintain a high level of confidence during a difficult

voyage. Closely related to these are alinlokonwa “sailing songs”, sung by canoe steersmen

and, although they are relatively short, each can be repeated for many hours. Their function

too, is to maintain alertness and confidence while reminding the navigator of dangers and

indicators. Also the number of times a particular song is repeated is used as an aid in

measuring elapsed time and assists in estimating how much of the journey has been covered.

(Davenport 233-237)

Environment:

The Marshall Islands are located in the northern Pacific Ocean. Lying between 4° 30! and 15°

latitude and 160° and 175° longitude. The archipelago consists of 29 coral atolls and 5 small

coral islands, which run in two parallel chains stretching 960 km in a northwest – southeast

direction (Ascher 349). These chains are named the Ratak chain (sunrise) and the Ralik

chain (sunset). (Winkler 491) Atolls are small islands within a narrow ring of coral surrounding

a lagoon. Lagoons of the larger atolls range from 32 to 48 km long and 8 to 16 km across.

The Marshall Islands have a land area around about 180 km! scattered over 970,000 km! of

ocean. The archipelago is situated in the warmest part of the Pacific Ocean, where the mean

annual temperature is 27°C with a variance 5.5° between night and day. (Ascher 349)

Bikini Island, the northern most atoll, and the most famous due to the American nuclear

testing following WWII (and the swim suit which dons its name from the atoll), consists of a

ring of 51 small islands with a land area of 7.7 km! surrounding a 630 km! lagoon, Bikini is no

longer inhabited. (Kiste) Another example of the geography is the southern most densely

populated Majuro atoll, a ring of 61 small islands with a land area of just under 180 km!

surrounding a 260 km! lagoon. (Spoehr)

Because there is so little land, the community focuses on how land is transmitted, how it is

used, and how its fruits are distributed. There are clear social classes and, within these, kin

and clan delineations. On Majuro, about 10% of the people are nobility while others are

commoners. Land is never sold or personally owned. Although worked by the commoners,

the paramount chief, a noble lineage, and a commoner lineage share right to the produce of

any piece of land. Coconut palms, pandanus and breadfruit trees, some tropical hardwoods,

and taro are of primary importance for food as well as for construction, weaving materials,

and fuel. Copra (dried coconut meat) has been exported since 1860. (Kiste) (Mason)

(Spoehr).


With so much of the environment dominated by water, sailing and boats are an essential and

integral part of life. On an atoll, within the lagoon, sailing canoes are used for fishing, for

travelling to visit friends, and for the collection of food and copra. And, of course, boats are

used for open sea fishing, in the vicinity of the atoll and for open sea travel to other atolls.

Some small sailing canoes of about five metres, which can also be paddled or rowed, are for

use around the edges of the reefs. But to cross the lagoon and to carry passengers and

cargo, the boats are seven to nine metres long and require a crew of two or three people.

These, and still larger boats, are for travel to other atolls in the Marshall Archipelago and

beyond. Very long distance trips to the Caroline Islands, the Palaus, and Saipan are recalled

as trips in "the olden days!. (Spoehr 255) Gulik!s report describes boats that could carry 50 to

100 men in an open sea and also recounts the festive return from some northern atolls to

Ebon of 800 people in a fleet of 40 boats. (Gulik) These large sailing expeditions were led by

chiefs, but their success and the success of more common trips within the atoll chains

depended on the navigators. The navigators, usually relatives of the paramount chief, were

specially selected and specially trained. Their knowledge and techniques were highly prized

and well kept secrets. It was strongly and religiously forbidden to divulge anything concerning

this art to the people; the chiefs wished to hold this knowledge for their sole benefit, partly for

the elevation of their functions; partly to hinder their subjects from learning it, in order to free

themselves from the frequently tyrannical government of their chiefs. (Winkler 505)

Knowledge was viewed as a personal possession; you take the responsibility for its

preservation and transmission. The navigators passed their knowledge and personally

developed systems on to one of their children or someone specifically adopted because of

special interest or aptitude. Some who were considered master navigators oversaw the

teaching of others in their extended family, giving rise to shared systems and ongoing

“schools” that traced back to a master. The child selected by a navigator to carry on the

knowledge could be male or female. Eventually, some of this knowledge was told to

westerners. However, what was told was far from complete, as the Marshall Island tellers

never intended to give full understanding to others. Since the Marshall Islanders are an oral

culture and had no indigenous writing system, we have only what was eventually recorded by

others. (Ascher 351).

The mattang:

The mattang is a stick chart that was used by the Marshallese to train navigators. These are

formalised models of the underlying systems used to map the definitive movements of the

ocean. There are several defining features of these charts. One is their symmetry, another is

the inter play of geometric forms bringing together triangles, arcs and interesting points,

angles and intersections, also their diagram like clarity. (Ascher 351) Writers have described

explanations of various elements of these charts differently but from these descriptions, it is

clear that the mattang are generalised configurations containing idealised shapes and forms


that were used to explicate the principles of swell and land interaction. (Åkerblom 118) The

difficult thing to interpret for western people about these charts is that they are not specific

and concrete. M. W. de Laubenfels writes of an exchange where a Marshall Islander first

associated a point with Jaluit atoll and later with Namorik atoll. When asked, “the natives were

quick to explain that it didn!t matter – the chart was not where Jaluit in particular lay, but

where land was.” (de Laubenfels 10) Before reading into the mattang specifically, it is best to

be introduced to some of the oceanographic phenomena fundamental to the system of wave

piloting. The three basic terms to explain these phenomena are refraction, reflection and

diffraction of swells. (Åkerblom 118). As waves move away from the winds that create them

they merge into swells formed by groups of waves of similar period and height. Because the

Marshall islands are surrounded by deep (4000-5000m) open ocean, long, fast moving swells

that are clear and consistent in pattern move toward them across the water. These swells

change when they meet underwater obstructions or reach shallower water. In and around the

Marshall Archipelago, approaching swells are modified in direction and energy. The

complicated and distinctive interactions of modified swells are the “landmarks” which the

Marshallese learn to read and interpret. The most common form of modified swell on the

mattang is wave refraction (Fig. 5). When waves move into shallow water, friction causes

them to slow down. Depending on the ocean depth beneath it, a wave slows down differently

and so bends, eventually becoming parallel to the underwater contours and, then, as it

reaches the shoreline becomes parallel with that. This explains the familiar observation of

standing on any beach and seeing the waves come in towards you, even though further out

they may be seen approaching at an angle. (Bascom 62-65) Figure 5 is a refraction diagram it

shows a wave train wrapping around a circular island, its energy may become spread out or

concentrated in different places, and there can be an increase in wave steepness until the

wave peaks, becomes unstable, and breaks. (Bascom 26)

Wave diffraction (see Fig. 6) can occur if the island is rectangular and rises steeply out of the

ocean, the waves would be stopped abruptly. But, as the waves continue forward to the sides

of the islands, some of their energy is spread sideways, causing them to spread out along

their edges. Just like the diffraction of light there is a shadow behind the island. This shadow

has imperfect edges and creates a region of water with no energy from the swell.

Whether the land barrier rises gradually or abruptly, some part of the wave will be reflected

backward. When waves hit a gradually rising barrier, bent waves are reflected back and meet

incoming waves (see Fig. 7) a running crest develops as the waves meet at an angle.

Reflection and refraction happen on the windward side of an atoll. (Bascom 69)

The mattang idealise the geometry of these swell interactions. Fig. 4e shows one swell, Fig.

4a and 4c shows two opposing swells. The most common mattang (Fig.2 and 3) shows four

swells, one from each direction, these are referred to as rilib (backbone), kaelib, rolok and

bundockerik. On each mattang there is a short stick wrapped in a cord (labelled AB in Fig. 3c)


showing the direction the prevailing wind is moving towards a central atoll (labelled P in Fig.

3c). This serves as the orientating direction, referred to as the rear. The swell moving in front

of this wind is the rilib, the opposing swell is kaelib and the two from the perpendicular

directions are rolok and bundockerik. Although rear is translated into “from the east” and the

others referred to as “west,” “north” and “south” their use does not imply that they follow the

same directions as the western thought for these words. (Ascher 356-357)

While western sailors rely on compasses, charts, and rulers, to know where they are and

where they are going, the Marshallese navigators use swell interactions. Figs. 4a and 4c have

been orientated vertically on the page to show opposing swells coming from the east (AB)

and the west (CD). At the centre of each rectangle is an atoll. The swells (MN) curve inward

as they approach the atoll. On the mattang the arcs are similarly curved and placed equally

distant from the atoll, their intersections and the atoll fall along a straight line perpendicular to

the direction of the movement of the swells. These intersections they create and the north-

south line they define are very important. (Åkerblom 122-124) Where the bent arms of

opposing swells cross, there is a narrow sector in which a series of wavelets are noted. The

wavelets are called bot (knots or nodes), a series of them are idealised as being the north and

south line called okar (the root), following the okar will lead to the island. (Winkler 493)

The direction to take along the okar is determined by the change in the angles formed by the

crossing swells, the angles decrease for bot closer to the atoll.

The bent arms of the rilib (coming from the east) as it passes the island are rolok (the

northern arm – RM on Fig.3c) and nit in kot (the southern arm – KS on Fig. 3c). Rolok is

translated into “something lost” meaning the island has been missed. Nit in kot translates into

“a hole” a turning area. The two bent arms of kaelib (from the west) as it passes the island

(TM and KQ on Fig.3c) are called jur in okme translated into “skates”. When approaching the

centre atoll from the north the navigator would stay between rolok and jur in okme until they

find the okar. From the south the navigator goes between nit in kot and jur in okme until they

find the okar. (Davenport)(Winkler 497) Fig. 8 pictures the meeting of reflected and incoming

swells. When at this point the navigator turns and heads away from the corner at the same

angle as it is forming. (de Laubenfels 10)

Angles between swells and in particular angles that are the same or are increasing or

decreasing are utilised. These must be determined by the navigator from within the boat and

even in the dark of night. A primary method is to lie down in the bottom of the boat and feel

the rocking from side to side. (Winkler 507)


Rebbelith and meddo:

The rebbelith is a map of the entire archipelago and the meddo is a map of smaller regions.

These maps rely on the same principals as the mattang and include detailed experiential

knowledge to be made specific to the region being portrayed. These maps show the interplay

of land and sea and the resulting directions and indicators of importance are particularised to

groups of atolls. As with mattang the maps are not brought on voyages but used on land for

the transfer and preservation of knowledge, only the information itself is carried on voyages.

The same lines and curves interpreted from the mattang form these maps. There are many

different styles of rebbelith and meddo this is thought to be because they are products of

different navigation schools, but also their levels of generality differ. Fig. 9 shows two

rebbelith depicting the whole archipelago that covers over 750,000 km!. Given this vast

distance the relative position of the atolls are quite accurate given that that they were not

determined using technical aids and the vast open ocean space that is involved. The

drawings in Fig. 9 have been orientated so the lines run north/south and east/west. The

orientation lines of the rebbelith the vertical edges which are the swell rilib and its opposing

kaelib. The charts show several repetitions of the inward bending rilib shown as arcs and

wedges. Each chart shows a prominent angle formed between the straight rilib and a

northeasterly line radiating from below Milli. These angles are very similar to some of the

prominent angles on the mattang. (Åkerblom 122-124)(Ascher ??)

Figures 10 and 11 are meddo, both of these are focused on the same subregion but each in a

different style. Similar to the rebbelith the distances are not accurate nor were they intended

to be, it is their relative position and rilib and kaelib that are significant. These maps include

the bot and the okar from the mattang. There are some specific places depicted by cross-

lines and V shapes. These cross-lines are said to be distance markers showing significant,

identifiable places: where the atoll just becomes visible on the horizon. Since the atolls are

very low, with an average of 3.6 metres above high tide level and the highest point only 9 m,

these distances range from 16 to 24 km from an atoll. The V shapes indicate where the

effects of ebb tide can be seen as they flow out through lagoon entrances. (Davenport 25)

Conclusion:

The stick maps of the Marshall Islands are planar representations of particular geographical

regions including what is significant about regions to the Marshall Island navigators. The

relationships on the stick charts involve relatively large-scale oceanographic phenomena that

incorporate localised details about wave refraction, reflection and diffraction and their

interaction. Even without further definitive statements about what many details of these maps

represent, their use as models of swell interaction for navigational purpose is clear. They

isolate and idealise the swells, emphasising directionality with respect to wind and land


position. The mattang is the conceptual framework underlining the wave piloting system of the

Marshall Island navigators. It is also the framework that gives meaning to the specifics on the

rebbelith and meddo.

Great importance is bestowed to the knowledge of these charts that define a culture. The

charts were not carried while sailing. Reliance on memory is often found in oral cultures such

as the Marshall Islands at the time the charts were made and used.

Made of palm ribs and shells, the Marshall Island stick charts underscore the fact that

analogical planar representations, whether of space or of physical systems and their inner

relationships, are quite independent of writing systems and are not confined to any particular

culture or any particular medium. By their mode of construction and their usage, these

artefacts are deeply embedded in the Marshallese culture. Navigational knowledge is of

extreme importance in the life of the Marshall Islanders, and is their context within that

culture.


Works cited: Åkerblom, Kjell. Astronomy and navigation in Polynesia and Micronesia. Stockholm Monograph Series, No. 14 Stockholm: The Enthnograhical Museum. 1968. Ascher, Marica. Models Maps from the Marshall Islands: A Case of Ethnomathematics.

Historia Mathematica 22 (1995), 347-370 Bascom, Willard. Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean Surface, Science Studies Series, New York: Doubleday. 1964. Bryan, Edwin H. Jr. Stick Charts from the Marshall Islands, 8 page ms. Dated 1964 with 2 page addendum in 1970, Honolulu: Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Davenport. William H. Marshallese Folklore Types, Journal of American Folklore 66 (1953), 219 - 237. Davenport. William H. Marshall Islands Navigational Charts, Imago Mundi 15 (1960), 19-26. Davenport. William H. Marshall Islands Cartography, Expedition (Bulletin of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania) 6 (1964). 10-13. de Laubenfels, M. W. Native Navigators, Research Review (Office of Naval Research, June 1950, 7-12 de Laubenfels, M. W. Ocean Currents in the Marshall Islands, Geographic Review 40 (1950), 254-259. Fredrick M. Collison, Daniel L. Spears, (2010) "Marketing cultural and heritage tourism: the Marshall Islands", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 4 Iss: 2, pp.130 - 142 Guidoni, Enrico. Primitive Architecture, New York: Henry N. Abrahms, 1978. Gulik, L. H. Micronesia of the Pacific Ocean, The Nautical Magazine 31 (1862), 298-308. Kiste, Robert C. The Bikinians: A study in Forced Migration, Menlo Park, CA: Cummings, 1974. Hines, Neal O. The Secret of the Marshallese Sticks, Pacific Discovery 5 (1952), 18-23. Lyons, Henry, The Sailing Charts of the Marshall Islanders, The Geographical Journal 72 (1928), 325-328. Mason, Leonard. Suprafamilial Autority and Encnomic Process in MIcroneaseain Atolls. In Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific, ed. Andrew P.Vayda, New York: The Natural History press, 1968, 299-328. Spoehr, Alexander. Majour: A Village in the Marshall Islands, Fieldiana: Anthropology Series, vol. 39, Chicago Natural History Museum, 1949; reprint ed., New York: Krauss Reprint Corp., 1966. Webster!s New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam & Co., 1973 Winkler, Capt. On Sea Charts Formerly Used in the Marshall Islands, with Notices on the Navigation of These Islanders in General, in Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for

the Year Ending June 30, 1899, Washington, D.C., pp. 487-508.


Appendix:

!Fig. 1. The Marshall Islands (de Laubenfels, M. W. Ocean Currents in the Marshall Islands, Geographic Review 40 (1950), 254-259.)

Fig. 2. A typical mattang (Fredrick M. Collison, Daniel L. Spears, (2010) "Marketing cultural and heritage tourism: the Marshall Islands", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 4 Iss: 2, pp.130 – 142)


!Fig. 3. Similar matang. (Ascher, Marica. Models Maps from the Marshall Islands: A Case of

Ethnomathematics. Historia Mathematica 22 (1995), 353)

Fig. 4. Some other mattang. (Ascher, Marica. Models Maps from the Marshall Islands: A Case

of Ethnomathematics. Historia Mathematica 22 (1995), 354)


Fig. 5. Wave refraction (Bascom, Willard. Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean

Surface, Science Studies Series, New York: Doubleday. 1964.)

Fig. 6. Wave diffraction (Bascom, Willard. Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean



Fig. 7. Wave reflection. (Bascom, Willard. Waves and Beaches: The Dynamics of the Ocean


Fig. 8. On the wind the windward side of an atoll. (Åkerblom, Kjell. Astronomy and navigation

in Polynesia and Micronesia. Stockholm Monograph Series, No. 14 Stockholm: The Enthnograhical Museum. 1968.)


!Fig. 9. Rebbelith. (Ascher, Marica. Models Maps from the Marshall Islands: A Case of


Fig. 10. Meddo. (Ascher, Marica. Models Maps from the Marshall Islands: A Case of



Fig. 11. Meddo. (Ascher, Marica. Models Maps from the Marshall Islands: A Case of


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Navigation at the Forefront of a Culture: A Case Study on the Marshall Islands Stick Charts