Deka-In-Nin: A Pandanus Pounder from Kwajalein Atoll, RMI

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological monitoring of environmental remediation at U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site (USAG-KA/RTS) by HDR in 2018 resulted in the recovery of a coral pandanus leaf pounder (Marshallese: deka-in-nin) from Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Historical descriptions and ethnographic accounts emphasize the importance of pandanus leaf textiles (Marshallese: maanbil and maanrar) to the Marshallese and the cultural centrality of the deka-in-nin in the production of those materials. Products crafted from pandanus leaf textiles (e.g. woven mats and boat sails) were essential to physical survival on Pacific atolls. Traditional clothing mats (Marshallese: nieded) signaled the status of its wearer within the traditional Marshallese authority system. Deka-in-nin, laboriously created, and passed down mother to daughter, thus served an important role in perpetuating both the physical and cultural survival of the Marshallese people. The 1944 Battle of Kwajalein and the subsequent construction of USAG-KA/RTS substantially altered the appearance of the island, and removal of the resident Marshallese population has inhibited their connection to their former home. As one of the few (or possibly only) deka-in-nin archaeologically documented on Kwajalein, this artifact provides a tangible link between Marshallese displaced from their ancestral land rights on Kwajalein and their traditional home.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51800