In traditional Marshallese society, the youth learned essential skills, concepts, and attitudes through direct involvement with family and community. Persons with special knowledge or skills trained selected apprentices to preserve the skills and cultural knowledge. In 1857, the Boston Missionary Society arrived to establish church schools on 22 atolls. The missionary schools continued to exist through German and Japanese occupations of the islands until shortly before World War II.
The Republic of the Marshall islands consists of 29 atolls each made up of many islets and 5 islands in the central Pacific between 4 degrees and 14 degrees North, and 160 degrees and 173 degrees East.
Cultural values and customs, or manit, make Marshallese society unique.