Kon Men Kein

Title: Kon Men Kein

General Information about Item:

  • Verbal Lore, joke
  • Language: Marshallese
  • Country of Origin: Marshall Islands
  • Informant: Katmine Alik
  • Date Collected: 10-15-18

Informant Data:

  • Katmine is in his late 60’s. Katmine knows almost no English even though he lives in Texas. He is married and has one child. Katmine moved to the U.S. only five years ago. Before living in the U.S. he was born and raised in the Marshall islands on the capital, Majuro.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Food “mona” is an important aspect of the Marshallese culture. Often families and friends gather together and share meals. It is customary to invite guests to dinner. This is extremely common among the better of Marshallese people. They often share with those less fortunate. Christianity is also an important part of the culture. Almost all of the islanders on the islands have been converted to Christianity. As Christian’s, prayer is important.
  • Social Context: The informant has a great sense of humor. He is also extremely religious. He would often invite me to his house for dinner. Rice, Fish and chicken are the main dishes at most Marshallese dinners. it is often common to “bwebwenato” or tell stories over dinner. It was at a dinner that he heard this joke.

Item:

  • This joke revolves around a man being invited to the king’s house for dinner. While at the king’s house, the king laid out a feast before the man’s eyes. There was rice and chicken and fish and anything else you could imagine. In astonishment and starvation the man suggested that they pray. The king asked the man to pray. With his hands over his head, the man began to pray. While reciting this prayer he stole all the food at the table and left without a trace. This is a joke Katmine often told to friends and family over the dinner table.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

 

Transcript:

  • “Kon men kein, men kein, men kein, kwar letok, letok, letok, thank you God for our food. Amen.” – Marshallese
  • “For these things, these things, these things, that you gave, you gave, you gave, thank you God for our food Amen” – English

Informant’s Comments:

  • “This is my favorite joke. I’m afraid somebody might follow it one day and steal all of my food… It’s important because food is such a big part of our culture.

Collector’s Comments:

  • When Katmine told me this joke I almost fell out of my seat. I loved seeing him perform the actions while saying the story. I think it’s interesting that a lot of these jokes revolve around stories.

Collector’s Name: Anders Peterson

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal Lore
  • Joke
  • Marshallese
  • Food

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