Historic Preservation Legislation in the Republic of the Marshall Islands
Historic Overview

by Dirk H.R. Spennemann

The history of cultural resource management in the Republic of the Marshall Islands falls into four main phases, the German Colonial Administration (1885-1914), the Japanese Administration under the League of Nations Mandate (1914-1945), the U.S. Administration under the United Nations Mandate (1945-1986), and the management by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (1986- ).

During the German Colonial Administration (1885-1914) the archaeological profession was still in its infancy, even in Germany itself. Although some excavations were undertaken by interested ethnographers, these were very unsystematic. The German missionaries and colonial administrators collected a number of oral traditions and established a grammar and dictionary of the Marshallese language. Missionaries and ethnographers alike, frequently complained about the decrease in knowledge about traditional customs, but undertook not positive action and concerted efforts to preserve the heritage apart from recording it in various degrees of detail.

We are almost uninformed about the period of the Japanese Administration (1914-1945). Several studies were undertaken on the ethnography, but--apparently--no archaeology was conducted and the Japanese did not utilise the potential for research given to them. At appears that there was a west-east gradient of research effort, with most work focussing on Palau and Yap. As far as historic preservation work is concerned, little, of any was done with the exception of the fostering of traditional "handicraft" production. New techniques had been introduced by the Japanese in order to make handicraft another export product in order to increase the economic exploitation of the mandated area.

After the end of World War II the United Nations gave the administration of the Marshall Islands to the U.S. Administration (1945-1986) as a strategic trust. The Marshall Islands formed, together with the Carolines, Truk, Palau and the Northern Marianas (except for Guam) the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (T.T.P.I.). Given the Japanese incentives during the pre-war era, handicraft production and canoe building were very much alive during and immediately after the war, and the U.S. administration used the handicraft production to allow Marshallese to gain income and to create a new market economy. The U.S.Navy commissioned or supported a number of studies into the contemporary and traditional Marshallese culture in order to understand the cultural implications for their administrative work. Apart from this work, however, no systematic approach to the study and protection cultural heritage of the Marshall Islands was undertaken, which contrasts well with the extensive effort put into research of the natural history of the area.

Historic Preservation as a formal concept was introduced in 1967, following the establishment of the U.S. National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and was handled by the Historic Preservation Office located at Saipan, the administrative centre of the T.T.P.I., while local offices, commonly called Historic Preservation Committees existed in all districts. Thus, a local Historic Preservation Committee existed in Majuro. U.S. legislation extended to the T.T.P.I. and a great amount of contact work was conducted.

For all practical purposes the activities of the head HPO office were concentrated on the western parts of the T.T.P.I.. In reviewing the files and available data, there appears to be a distinct gradient of support--or a gradient of local activity and demand for support--running towards the east. During the T.T.P.I.period, the Marshall Islands District received only four major research studies, while the western districts, such as the Marianas received over 15 such studies.

Each of the individual districts, among them the Marshall Islands District had a District Historic Preservation Office, organised as a Historic Preservation Committee. Following the example set by the T.T.P.I.as such, the Marshall Islands District Historic Preservation Office was originally administratively under the Division of Lands and Surveys, Department of Resources and Development and was later placed organisationally under the Department of Island Affairs.

The Marshall Islands were given self-government in 1979, and the dissolution process of the T.T.P.I.with it all administrative structures began, culminating in the Compact of Free Association.

Some Historic Preservation measures started during the first term of the Nitijela: In 1983 the Nitijela had passed the Language Commission Act, which set up a Marshallese Language Commission with the brief

"to investigate methods of preserving, developing and encouraging the use of the Marshallese language, ... to report on such matters to the Cabinet and to the Nitijela ...and to recommend action to be taken by the Government ."

A National Archives Act followed in 1989 (amended in 1992). Neither of these Acts, however, provided any tools for an enforceable protection of the heritage.

One of the major concerns aired at the time the T.T.P.I.was being dismantled was the fear of a legal vacuum which might render any effective historic preservation work impossible. Fears expressed were that

i) The existing historic preservation programs would no longer qualify for categorical grants from the U.S. Department of the Interior; this was seen likely to result in at least serious erosion in the quality of the programs, if not in their demise.

ii) The standards and guidelines of the Department of the Interior would no longer apply to the Micronesian historic preservation programs; this would probably result in a loss of program quality even if funds can be found for the programs.

iii) Historic preservation would no longer have to be considered in advance of land-modifying activities under the authority of section 106 of the (U.S.) National Historic Preservation Act and the U.S. Advisory Council for Historic Preservation's regulations.

After the signing of the Compact of Free Association between the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of the Marshall Islands the Historic Preservation Program of the R.M.I. entered a new phase. The administration was located in Majuro and could now focus on the needs of the Republic.

At the same time, however, the limited legislative protection the cultural and historic resources enjoyed under the T.T.P.I. was withdrawn. Although the T.T.P.I. code was still in force unless replaced by other national legislation, the provision of the U.S. legislation no longer applied. The T.T.P.I. Code was particularly lacking serious safeguards for the tangible archaeological and historical heritage.

Legal assistance came from the Environmental Protection Authority. Established by act of the Nitijela in 1984 the Republic of the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority's main role is the protection of the natural heritage of the Republic. The Environmental Protection Act of 1984 stipulates that

"The primary purpose of the Authority shall be to preserve and improve the quality of the environment, and to tat end, the following shall be the objectives of the authority: ....to preserve important historical, cultural and natural aspects of the nation's culture and heritage, maintaining at the same time an environment which supports multiplicity and variety of individual choice" (Environmental Protection Act P.L. 1984-31 [[section]]19 [g]).

Subject to the act, the Environmental Protection Authority

"may in consultation with the [Environmental Protection] Council and any other person or organisation in the Republic or abroad, make regulations with respect to ... the preservation of important historical, cultural and natural aspects of the nation's heritage, and other aspects of the environment which, in the opinion of the Authority, require regulation" (Environmental Protection Act P.L. 1984-31 [[section]]21 [2][f]).

The Environmental Protection Authority earthmoving regulations of 1989 include a section on the preservation of the cultural and historic resources of the Republic (see Appendix 4, Target `96, volume 4). Until the passage of the Historic Preservation Act in 1991, the Environmental Protection Authority had been the only government agency with a legal handle to protect the cultural and historic heritage in the Republic. In the execution of this mandate the EPA cooperated closely with the Alele Museum.

In 1990 the Nitijela in its 11th Constitutional Session passed resolution N[[ordmasculine]] 100, "to provide for the preservation of the cultural and historic heritage of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with a mandate to set up a Historic Preservation Office and related legislation.

In February 1991 the first ever Republic of the Marshall Islands Historic Preservation Act 1991 was passed by the Nitijela in its 11th Constitutional Session. The Act provided the necessary protection for the heritage, set up and office and set out the duties and powers of the office. A series of regulations were drafted pursuant to this act and were proposed for public hearing in October 1991 all of which were approved without alteration by the Republic of the Marshall Islands Cabinet in January 1992:

Regulations Regarding The Conduct Of Archaeological And Anthropological Research In The Republic 1992

Regulations Governing The Taking And Export Of Artefacts 1992

Regulations Governing The Disposition Of Archaeologically Recovered Human Remains 1992

Regulations Governing Land Modification Activities 1992

Regulations Governing Access To Prehistoric And Historic Submerged Resources 1992

The Historic Preservation Act of 1991 and these regulations provide the Republic of the Marshall Islands Historic Preservation Office with the tools needed to manage the rich and unique heritage of the Republic on behalf of our children's children.

Legal History

1966

United States of America Historic Preservation Act is passed.

1967

Trust Territory Code Title 67, Chapter 6 [[section]][[section]] 251-256

1983

Language Commission Act 1983 (P.L. 1983-

1984

Environmental Protection Act 1984 (P.L. 1984-31)

1986

Compact of Free Association between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands .

1989

National Archives Act 1989 (P.L. 1989-47)

1990

A resolution to provide for the preservation of the cultural and historic heritage of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (H.R. 1990-100)

1991

Historic Preservation Act 1991 (P.L. 1991-111)

1992

Regulations Regarding The Conduct Of Archaeological And Anthropological Research In The Republic 1992

Regulations Governing The Taking And Export Of Artefacts 1992

Regulations Governing The Disposition Of Archaeologically Recovered Human Remains 1992

Regulations Governing Land Modification Activities 1992

Regulations Governing Access To Prehistoric And Historic Submerged Resources 1992

National Archives Amendment Act 1992 (P.L. 1992-4)

   [Back to Law ToC]

Bibliographic citation for this document

Spennemann, Dirk H.R. (comp.) (2000). Cultural Heritage Legislation in the Republic of the Marshall Islands . Historic Overview Albury:

URL: http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/RMILAW/Historic_Overview.html

CONTACT:

Dirk H.R. Spennemann, Institute of Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, P.O.Box 789, Albury NSW 2640, Australia.

e-mail: dspennemann@csu.edu.au

(c) Dirk H.R. Spennemann 1992-2000
select from the following...
 


Marshall Islands Kosrae CNMI Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Guam Wake Pohnpei FSM Federated States of Micronesia Yap Chuuk Marshall Islands politics public health environment culture WWII history literature XXX Cultural Heritage Management Micronesian Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences CNMI German Colonial Sources Mariana Islands Historic Preservation Spennemann Dirk Spennemann Dirk HR Spennemann Murray Time Louis Becke Jane Downing Downing