Country Summary for MARSHALL ISLANDS

The Historic Preservation Act of 1991 is the foundational document providing the Marshall Islands with cultural heritage legislation. The various regulations were written pursuant to the HPA, approved in January 1992, and published in English in a booklet by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Historic Preservation Office in 1992.

Definitions

‘Artifact’: any object related to, derived from, or contained in a cultural and historic property that is important in the study, interpretation, or public appreciation of such property.

‘Cultural and Historic Property’: any site, structure, district, landmark, building, object, or combination thereof that (a) is included in the Marshall Islands National Register of Historic Places (b) is determined by the Historic Preservation Office to be eligible for the National Register (c) meets any of the criteria set forth in the regulations promulgated in accordance with Section 7(e) of this [Historic Preservation] Act [1991].

‘Cultural Heritage’: any aspect of the culture of the Republic as expressed in the oral traditions.

‘Historic Sites’: those cultural resources and terrestrial, intertidal, and submarine sites and landscapes that were produced since the advent of written records in the Marshall Islands and that are of archaeological or historical interest.

‘Human Remains’: any part of the human body which has been part of a burial site, or any other site, and which has been encountered or uncovered in the process of scientific investigation or construction work or otherwise.

‘Landmark’: any geographical or geomorphologic feature associated with oral traditions or historic events of the Republic.

‘Oral Traditions’: the body of knowledge of the indigenous people of the Marshall Islands about their past. . .which has been handed down, primarily in spoken form, from generation to generation.

‘Prehistoric Sites’: those cultural resources and terrestrial, intertidal, and submarine sites and landscapes that were produced by the pre-literate, indigenous people of the Marshall Islands and that are of archaeological interest.

‘Submerged Resources’: those prehistoric or historic sites and artifacts located in the intertidal or sub-tidal zone within the internal, archipelagic or territorial waters of the Republic as defined in Sections 5, 6, and 7 of the Marine Zones Declaration Act 1984 (Title 33, Chapter 2 of the Marshall Islands Revised Code).

‘Traditional Sites’: those sites, landmarks, and locations to which oral traditions of the indigenous people of the Marshall Islands are attached. (HPA 1991 Part I §3)

Registry

The Republic of the Marshall Islands retains a National Register of Historic Places. The Historic Preservation Office determines what cultural and historic property is included in the Register.