Inhabitants of the Marshall Islands Fear Cultural Loss. One Michigander is Helping Out
Nik Willson, a metro Detroiter, is living and teaching in the Marshall Islands — and helping preserve the Marshallese language.
The Marshall Islands are a ring-shaped collection of Pacific islands made of coral and sit about six feet above sea level. The nation has a storied history all its own, and the people who are native to the island have been there for about 2,000 years — to give some perspective, the people of Hawaii are believed to have first inhabited their islands about 800 years ago.
On Detroit Today, host Stephen Henderson talks to a Michigander who now calls the islands home.
As the rest of the world has become more connected through globalization and technology, the Marshalls have followed suit, partially due its unique history of colonization. But this has meant that the young people there are learning from American textbooks and are at risk of losing touch with their own indigenous language and culture.
Nik Willson teaches English on the Marshall Islands, and saw this loss of culture as an opportunity to help by creating a comprehensive Marshallese-English dictionary.
