CULTURAL EVENT FORM, FALL 2016

Your name: Martha Nowacki

Name of the Event: Getting to know the Marshallese community
Date and Time of the Event: November 1st @ 6-7:30 p.m.
Length of the event: 1.5 hours
Brief summary of the event (1-2 paragraphs).
This cultural event, which was centered on getting to know the Marshallese community,
first included a speaker who guided the audience through a PowerPoint presentation regarding
the culture of the Marshallese. I was about ten minutes late to the event, but I was definitely
able to catch most of the information. When I arrived the speaker was discussing different vital
foods that the Marshallese are famous for. These foods included taro, fish, breadfruit, and
pandanas. Next the speaker explained why the Marshallese decided to come the United States,
but especially Dubuque. A few of the main reasons why this community of people decided to
make their new homes here was because of education, health-care, and jobs. The children are
able to receive better education in the states, all people are able to receive better health-care
that they so desperately need, and there are simply better economic opportunities here.
Another factor that played into the community migrating here was the environment back home
and what was going on in their country. Environmental factors, based on the presentation,
were probably one of the sole downfalls of living on the islands. While living on the islands, the
natives risked the effects of global warming, air pollution due to nuclear explosion, erosion-
which affects many places, plants, and forests, and king tides as the people call them. The
water that can flood parts of the island is dangerous because it is contaminated and it also
contaminates the fields. Not only did environmental factors drive the people to the states, but
disease did too. The people of the Marshallese community suffered and suffer from the disease
patterns of both a developing country and developed country. Their health-care is not up to par
on the island, so coming to the states was huge for them.
After discussing about foods and the various reasons why the people came to the states,
the speaker went on to explain some important aspects of the Marshallese culture, which is
extremely interesting. He said that the people know where their position in society is and this is
important to them. They understand where they stand in society and are willing to obey
authority. They are taught not to argue and are also very loyal when it comes to authority. They
wait until they are very ill to receive treatment, they rely on others for transportation, family
plays a HUGE role for them, they continue to consult with family when issues arise, they are not
constantly hurried, they are an integrated culture- live next door to grandparents, aunts,
uncles, other relatives, and have various cultural taboos in regards to sex and pregnancy. These
people are extremely kind and caring, receiving their hope from the word of God. Lastly, I found
it interesting that the land possessions flow through from the mother's side, instead of the
father's side. Usually we see land as more patriarchal, but this isn’t the case for these people.
Dancing is another aspect of the culture that is fairly important to the people, which also brings
me to my next point about the event. After the speaker had discussed about cultural values and
customs, some of the Marshallese men/boys performed traditional dance for the audience,
which was beautiful. The dancing involved a lot of hand gestures and whistling. The group of
men/boys performed a few songs, before the next speaker came to discuss various rates
pertaining to the community.
The next speaker discussed that the Marshallese community doesn’t seek out
preventative care, when it comes to health issues. They wait as long as they possibly can before
they have to receive any sort of care. In regards to the community living in the Dubuque area, a
vast majority rents homes or take part in communal living. Also among the community, there
are high rates of unemployment, no health insurance, and diabetes. Language is a definite
barrier for these people, because they prefer to speak Marshallese, so it can be difficult for
them to receive the treatment that they need. Transportation as well as time can both be
barriers that block the community’s access to health-care. Most of the people rely on the
transportation of others in order to get from place to place and the Marshallese can be a little
bad with time, because again, they aren’t hurried people and spend time trying to get a ride
from someone else. After the second speaker was done discussing, the event held a panel of
individuals from the community. They interviewer asked a range of questions to a range of
people. There were men, women, youth, those who’ve lived in Dubuque for years and those
who haven’t, and even one of the men couldn’t speak English. Some of the themes that came
from the panel were education- being that kids can receive a better education here and have
more opportunities, health access, and values of the culture. Family is definitely means a lot to
these people- they put their family before everything and believe that “family” is all around
us/everywhere. They also are taught to respect their elders. Lastly, something that really stuck
with me was a short phrase that one of the women said in response to a question. She said,
“We are just like you”. She was trying to get across that their people aren’t any different than
Americans- that we all need to work together; that they can learn from the Americans and be
equal among them.
Reflection on the Event—your experience and learning (3-4 thoughtful paragraphs). In this
section you should be trying to make connections to class material.
After I had completed two out of the three cultural events for the class, I was looking
through the culture events schedule in order to choose one more. When I ran across a
description about the “Marshallese”, I had absolutely no idea what that meant. I was a little
confused, so I looked up what this word meant and found out that it concerned the islands near
Hawaii and the Philippines. The Marshallese, I found out, was a community of people that had
moved from their home islands in order to gain a better life in the states, specifically Dubuque.
So, I thought that it would be pretty cool to learn about this community that I had never heard
of previously. I knew from the schedule description, that this event was directly related to
culture. Yes, all of the events are, but this event looked at a specific culture and some of the
values and customs central to them. When I set foot in the doors of the ballrooms, I felt a little
strange, because first, the event had already started and second, it was a whole new
experience to me. I had no idea what was going on and felt a little out of place. I was in an
environment, in which I didn’t know anything about, and this made me fairly uncomfortable.
Although, as the event proceeded, I began to feel more involved so to say. I was learning and
was experiencing a lot of emotions in response to the entire event. This presentation was
almost like a mini ethnographic research assignment, because I was able to dive into this
culture that I had went into knowing absolutely nothing. Based on what we have been learning
in class, I tried to keep my mind clear, letting the culture direct my thoughts. Instead of judging
this seemingly harmless culture upon my own, I tried my best to think of the culture in its own
context. Instead of thinking that the very loud, exciting dance was “weird”, I thought of it as
special and beautiful, because it meant so much to the Marshallese culture. Yes, I don’t think I
had ever really seen such a dance like that, involving whistles and strange hand movements,
but it made me smile watching the men/boys have so much fun. While learning about the
culture and seeing it with my own eyes, I gained some mad respect for these people whom I
previously had known nothing about. These people came to a whole NEW country to better
their life circumstances- to give their families a number of improved opportunities. These
people were spiritual, kind, and grateful. I remember telling my friend whom I had brought
along, that I wish the US had culture like them. I wish I had culture like those people, because
their culture was just so beautiful. But, as I began to think about it, the US DOES have culture
and so do I. We can also take these experience and learn from them, possibly bettering and
changing our own views/culture.
In response to this event, I felt strange, awkward, excited, empathetic, and genuine
happiness. At first, like I stated above, I felt a little out of place and strange, because I was
amongst a whole new setting- I mean I was in the ballrooms, but I was amongst different
people. At first, I saw these people as different, but as I began to learn more about them, I felt
connected in some way. I felt empathy for these people, because there they were, right in front
of me. In the other two cultural events I attended, I learned about aspects of different cultures
or events pertaining to cultures, but I wasn’t surrounded by the people of that specific culture.
For this event, I was. The Marshallese were in the audience, along sides of the ballroom, up
front, and back by the handmade pieces that they had brought to show the audience. The
actual people were there to tell their story and show how far they had come, which was just
amazing. After the event was finished, I was genuinely happy, because the culture made me
happy. They were so kind and so family oriented. They saw everyone as part of their family and
were just filled with joy themselves. I think this was the only event out of the three in which I
felt genuine happiness and empathy, because again, the people were present. It felt more real
to me. I almost wish the class had been required to attend this event, because it was so rich and
powerful. I definitely walked out with 100% more than I came in with.
 As a result of going to this event, I learned so much. I think I might have learned more at
this event than the other two, just because it was so eye-opening and literally so connected to
class material. Not only was the information obviously there and discussed, but the people
were too. It was the whole package in one event. So, I think the first few things that I learned
were just who these people were, where they came from, and why they came here of all
places. I learned about the various customs, values, and even about the important foods. I
learned about the conditions back on the islands and about what is important to this culture. I
learned about traditions, especially the traditional dance, and about what they go through as a
community. The first thing that struck me and stayed with me, even until this point, was the
importance of family to them. During the panel part of the event, I remember a young boy (I
believe he was either in middle school or early high school) talking about how much family
meant to him. Now, usually kids at that age are a little embarrassed by their family or don’t
have the greatest respect for their family members, but this boy was different. I admired this
about their culture. I also learned, that yes these people came to the states for better
opportunity and now have that opportunity, but still need some assistance getting there. They
need encouragement from the other Dubuque community members, they need transportation
assistance, and they need a helping hand in settling into this very, very different culture. This
leads me to my next point, in that I learned how strong these people are- they came to a totally
new place in order for betterment. They were willing to take the risk of possible discrimination,
exclusion, or failure, but they succeeded.
Based on this event, I can definitely make many connections to class material. First, I can
make a few more obvious connections. Like I have stated above, this cultural experience was
similar to that of a mini ethnography case. I was able to dive deep into a culture and learn so
many things about it. Ethnographies are composed of descriptive data, a specific culture,
observation, and the researcher not being a part of the culture. Another aspect related to
ethnographic research is the fact that the researcher must not be biased toward the culture of
study. They must be aware, not putting a negative label on the culture and thinking of what
they can learn from the culture. This is how I tried to go about this event. When my mind
started to go in the direction of: “This is a little weird”, I redirected it to: “No this isn’t weird,
this is significant to THIS culture and is beautiful to them”. I also tried to keep an open mind,
wanting to learn from these people. I also can connect my experience to indigenous
psychology, in that this research involves rich data collection, examining what the culture truly
is, and going in without a question and coming out with answers. I went into this event
completely blank. I had a blank canvas and wanted to paint according to the information I
gathered. I had no questions going in, besides wondering what this culture was all about,
therefore I came out with so many answers and observations. Third, I can connect this event to
the true meaning of “culture”. I learned about real customs, values, traditions, beliefs, and
ideas. This was a first-hand cultural experience, similar to that of our ethnographic interviews. I
was a witness to the people, unlike at other events where I listened to someone who wasn’t
necessarily a part of the culture or from the country being discussed. In regards to more recent
material we have been learning about in class, I can make the connection to collectivism,
poverty, and the ecological model. So, based on the presentation and panel, the Marshallese
are very family oriented and are a highly integrated culture. They consult with family about
important issues, they respect their elders, they put family before everything else, they tend to
live communally (at least in the Dubuque area), and they often live next door to multiple
relatives. Based on this information, it seems as though this culture is very collectivistic. They
are collective as a family and are willing to discuss important issues with their family before
making decisions on their own. There is an aura of togetherness. I can then also say that
because I believe them to be collectivistic, in regards to poverty, they may follow through with
the societal blame of poverty. Collectivistic cultures more align with the societal blame,
because they are all in it together. Next, in regards to obeying of authority and being loyal to
those in authority, I can definitely say then that this culture most likely is linked with the
perceptual tendency towards rod and frame field dependence. This is cited in our cross-cultural
textbook when discussing about perception and how different cultures sometimes perceive
their environment differently based on cultural aspects. Lastly, in regards to the ecological
model, I can definitely see the microsystem influence on the individuals and the exosystem
influence. The Marshallese are very tight with their family like I have stated before, so the
children growing up will be highly influenced by their family values and behavior, as well as the
health-care system and hospital care, which I link to the exosystem- institutional level. Health-
care is huge for these people-moving from a place where health-care directly negatively
influenced their lives/upbringing and moving to a culture where health-care is a little more
readily available, yet still difficult because of the barriers (language, transportation, time)