CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Chart | rebbilib
Stick Chart, 1890 - 1899
About the object
Unlike the abstract mattang stick charts (II-0645), the rebbilib navigational charts depict the entire Marshall Island group, which consists of two chains of atolls running north-to-south. The western atoll is called Ratak, whereas the eastern chain is called Ralik, which can be seen very clearly here on the map. The Bikini Atoll, which belongs to the Marshall Islands, is indicated by the snail shell in the top left corner. The Ebon Atoll spearheads the islands at the bottom, to name but a few of the islands marked with the snail shells. Even for the uninitiated, the rebbilib maps make the task of assigning the individual groups of islands relatively straightforward.
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The meddo stick chart is the third category of these maps and shows a smaller, specific section of islands and Ocean swells from the perspective of a particular island. Nowadays, the Marshallese use modern navigational techniques, although in recent years the knowledge of traditional seafaring has been revived. The object comes from Eugen Brandeis' collection, who was stationed on the island of Jaluit as governor for the German colonial government from 1898 until 1906. However, most of this ethnographic collection donated to the museum was collected by his wife, Antonie Brandeis.