RedHat 5.2 & PostgreSQL 6.3.2 - Mailing list pgsql-general

I have installed PostgreSQL 6.3.2 on RedHat Linux 5.2 by rpm. When I try
to connect to template1  I get the follow error message:
Connection to database 'template1' failed.
Fatal 1: SetUserID: user "mkonrad" is not in "pg_shadow".

I have tried to add myself "createuser" under root and I get the
following message:
Connection to database 'template1' failed.
Fatal1: SetUserID: user "root" is not in "pg_shadow"
createuser: database access failed.

It is a stock install and I have no idea how the postgres user is set up
nor can I seem to give myself access when I'm logged in as root.

Help?

Thanks,
Michael