COSTA MESA : Dancers to Share Island Heritage

Though Marshall Islanders, by their own account, are very private, some Marshallese teens living in Costa Mesa are overcoming their reticence for a good cause.

Their dance troupe, The Navigators, has been invited to perform this fall at the South Pacific Cultural Festival, sponsored by the Australian Embassy in Washington.

“It is a great honor that we have been invited,” said Bue Garstang, spokesman for the consulate of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in Newport Beach.

It is also a great opportunity for the youngsters, most of whom are students at Costa Mesa High School and recent arrivals in the United States, to learn about the history and politics of their new home, Garstang said.

To pay for the trip, the Marshallese community is sponsoring a series of fund-raisers.

Lured by educational and employment opportunities, nearly 1,000 Marshallese have left their native land in recent years for Costa Mesa, giving this city the largest population of Marshall Islanders outside Micronesia.

The consulate in Newport Beach was established in 1991.

Adjusting to life in America has not been easy for the Marshallese.

Smog, traffic congestion and crime, all facts of life in Southern California, are unheard of on the string of scenic atolls that make up the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

“In coming here we have to face new realities, and we have to try to adjust,” said David Kabua, consul general of the republic.

“In the islands you don’t worry about what you are going to do all the time. You take life slower and a lot easier.”

The Navigators dance group was organized by the consulate staff as a culture club to impart to young Marshallese a sense of pride in their heritage.

“It bring all the generations together. The older folks teach the kids the dances,” Garstang said.

“We do it out of the love of culture and a need to carry that on.” (BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Marshall Islands in Profile * Size: 34 low-lying coral atolls and islands; 70 square miles of land. * Configuration: Two parallel chains. Eastern group, called Sunrise Chain; and western group, called Sunset Chain. * Climate: Tropical; rainfall heavier in southern islands * Agriculture: Coconut palms, bananas, papayas, screw pine, breadfruit. * Population: 48,091 (1991 estimate). * Capital: Majuro * Government: Free association with the United States. Inhabitants control internal and foreign affairs; United States responsible for defense and financial assistance. * People: Micronesians * Life expectancy: Women, 64; men, 61 * Language: English * Major religion: Protestantism * Infrastructure: No railroads, one major port, one major airfield. * History: Discovered in 1526 by Spaniards; named for John Marshall, British sea captain who explored the islands in 1788. German possession, 1885-1914; occupied by Japan 1914-1944, when it was captured by the United States during World War II; became a republic in 1986. Sources: World Book Encyclopedia, Academic American Encyclopedia