The Alele Museum is small but impactful. It is located in Majuro and showcases artifacts, traditional tools, fishing gear, an outrigger canoe, navigation guides, and historical photographs packed into this museum.
I visit the museum with my friend Kate on sv Sweet Ruca. The museum is free but they do accept donations to help maintain it.
Visitors can view historical photos along the hallway walls.
They can also learn about the destruction of the atomic bombs and the significant milestones of each atoll.
The museum displayed a beautiful female chief with traditional tattoos and an intricately woven skirt.
Next to this display were clothing articles from the early 1900’s.
Tools of the Trade
The Marshallese women learn how to weave at an early age using the pandanus leaves. The women weave purses, bags, fans, crafts, mats, and jewelry.
The Marshallese traditional basket is called the Alele basket (lower left photo).
The basket holds the family’s most valuable possessions. The eldest female in the family is responsible for the basket.
Officials named the Alele Museum after this basket.
The locals made their fishing hooks and tools using shells and sticks.
Tattooing
The Polynesians across the Pacific used the same traditional method to do tattoos .
Men and women endured this extremely painful process to get tattoos. We call it “tattoo-ow!” or “tap tap ow!”
Locals used bamboo to make the handle ( “ni” or “tooth”), which was 25-30cm long. This handle had a small tattooing chisel with 3-5 fine points (teeth) attached to the top. The chisel created the fine lines and dots.
The artist would use the central rib of a coconut palm frond to make the mallet (jub or kade), which was 20-30cm long. The artist used the mallet to hit the handle to pound the teeth into the flesh.
They used a coconut half shell to hold the pigment.
Artists made pigment (mamoj) from charred coconut fibers and water. Later, they made the pigment from the pure black carbon soot that came from the lantern chimneys.
Sailing and Navigating
Marshallese used traditional canoes with outriggers and hand woven sails to travel.
Unlike modern sailing vessels, these boats do not have a bow (front) or stern (back). The captain simply turns around in his seat and adjusts the sail in the opposite direction. Pretty nifty!
Satellite images of each RMI atoll were posted on the walls in this room. Along with a small version of the traditional outrigger canoe.
Marshallese have are known for their navigational skills. Captains memorized the routes and did not bring or use any navigational tools.
However, “stick charts” were originally created as teaching aids to preserve the navigational knowledge. They use shells to indicate the general direction of the atoll. Captains memorized the routes and did not bring stick charts on passages.
The charts depict the wave and current pattern around the atolls. The Marshallese traveled the ocean, maintained courses, and determined positions of the islands by using of the stick charts.
The Nuclear Bombs
The museum had an entire wall dedicated to the nuclear bombing and its effects on the population.
The photo on the right shows the migration path the victims had to endure while finding a new home.
Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.
We visited the Alele Museum around mid-February. Check out our last blog post as we snorkel a pinnacle at Eneko.