‘Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ’ Multimedia Series Premieres on KUAF Public Radio’s Listening Lab

The Ozarks ri-Majel series logo shows a stick chart used by ancient Marshallese to navigate their north-central Pacific archipelago comprised of two chains of shallow coral atolls and islands, indicated in black. The stick chart floats within the borders of the state of Arkansas, now home to as many as 15,000 Marshallese legal migrants, replicating the design of the Republic of the Marshall Islands flag, illuminated by a brilliant white star. Graphic by Emerson Alexander.

Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ, a new weekly Listening Lab/KUAF Public Radio multimedia series, reveals how waves of legally present Marshallese migrants have navigated new lives on the Arkansas Ozarks over the past 30 years. The series is directed by Listening Lab director, Emerson Alexander, and produced by KUAF news reporter Jacqueline Froelich, with assistance from KUAF news reporter Sophia Nourani, in partnership with the nonprofit Marshallese Educational Initiative.

The premiere episode, “First Arrival,” features Carmen Samual Chong Gum who served for nearly a decade as first Arkansas Consul General of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, headquartered in Springdale. Chong Gum was present when the first waves of Marshallese migrants arrived in Northwest Arkansas.

The second episode, “Nuclear Bombs and Rising Seas,” features Benetick Kabua Maddison, director of the Marshallese Educational Initiative, who describes the lingering consequences of 67 atomic and thermonuclear weapon tests detonated on the Marshall Islands by the U.S. military during the Cold War, as well as looming impacts of climate change on the island nation. Maddison travels the globe educating policymakers, diplomats and the public about his peoples’ plight.

The third episode, “Tending to Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ Health,” features Marshallese physician Sheldon Riklon discussing the complex healthcare challenges experienced by Ozark ri-Ṃajeļs as a result of foreign colonization and lingering radiation exposure. Riklon is a family medicine physician, formerly based in Hawaii, who joined University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest faculty in August 2016. He also divides his time between the UAMS Office of Research and Community Health and the nonprofit Community Clinic in Springdale, where he serves Marshallese patients.

A fourth episode will feature a studio performance by Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ music ensemble MARK Harmony, produced by Sophia Nourani. The mission of the eclectic reggae-style band is to raise cultural awareness of Marshallese people and the Marshall Islands.

A final and fifth episode will profile the indigenous cultural roots of Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ prior to colonization and foreign occupation.

Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ co-hosts are Marcina Langrine, operations coordinator of the nonprofit Marshallese Educational Initiative headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, and April Brown, Ph.D, MEI’s cofounder and chief of operations and a professor of history at NorthWest Arkansas Community College.

Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ episodes will be released every Friday thru December and can be viewed on KUAF’s Listening Lab webportal, with excerpted audio features airing on KUAF’s news magazine, Ozarks at Large.

This story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.