The sea turtle wars: cutlure, war and sea turtles in The Republic of the Marshall Islands

Abstract

The project will also take into account how this cultural valuation can be used to contribute to a sea turtle monitoring programme and population baseline assessment for the RMI. Additionally, in keeping with the concept of je ilo bok, literally “write in the book”, researchers will document traditional and contemporary Marshallese cultural, ecological and health knowledge regarding sea turtles, describe sea turtle “flows” through marine and human ecosystems (including markets and bartering systems), compare contemporary knowledge of sea turtle ecology, natural history and usage with historical and ethnographic accounts, and put that combined knowledge into preservable formats (in both English and Marshallese) for the use of cur-rent and future generations.By focusing on a culturally, traditionally and nutritionally important species and by investigating potential hazards to these species as well as the human populations that rely on them, this project will allow local participants to help identify and mitigate these hazards as well as gain experience in a wide array of research and investigative techniques that comprise the holistic approach of environmental anthropology.