Northern Marianas Humanities Council – Navigating the Human Experience

The mission of the Northern Marianas Humanities Council is to foster awareness, understanding and appreciation for the humanities through support of educational programs that relate the humanities to the indigenous cultures and to the intellectual needs and interests of the people of the Commonwealth.

2020 OCTOBER PROCLAMATION

HUMANITIES FRIDAYS

Sophia Perez – Tip of the Spear: How Mariana Islanders See Their Relationship with the US Military

October 2, 2020 at 10:00AM
Webinar Registration URL : http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.2am

“Tip of the Spear” is a podcast series about the US military in the Marianas hosted by Saipan-based journalist Sophia Perez. Through a series of interviews with lawyers, politicians, activists, academics, and veterans from across the archipelago, “Tip of the Spear” unpacks the complex relationship between US forces and Mariana Islanders, a tie that dates back over a century and triggers a variety of positive, negative, and ambivalent responses from the local community. In our current moment, this relationship is more impactful than ever; the US Navy is pushing forward with a large-scale Mariana Islands military buildup in preparation for the arrival of 5,000 additional Marines to be housed on Guam and trained at live-fire ranges in the Northern Mariana Islands. These interviews capture what may be a final reflection on the current phase of US military presence in the Marianas.

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Maureen Sebangiol, Marilynn Marron, & Pam Brown – Meet Soroptimist’s of the Northern Mariana Islands.

October 2, 2020 at 5:00PM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.2pm

Join the Soroptimists of the Northern Mariana Islands (SINMI) as they share a brief history of their organization and projects, including their prime annual project – Live Your Dream Awards – scheduled on October 10th. Panelists will also discuss SINMI’s involvement in combatting human trafficking and providing assistance to victims of abuse here in the NMI.

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Hanna Jugo – Adaptive Strategies to Food Insecurity within the Chuukese Community of Guam.

October 9, 2020 at 10:00AM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.9am

Food insecurity is a global phenomenon that describes the reduced quality, variety, and accessibility of nutritional food. It can affect every aspect of one’s life, from the ways one obtains food to the amount of time one spends hungry. While the nutritional side of food insecurity has been researched in Guam, the adaptive strategies used by its food insecure communities have yet to be explored. Because many of Guam’s resident cultures maintain their subsistence traditions, exploring their adaptive strategies may reveal practices unique to this region, especially when compared to our mainland counterparts. Using USDA survey tools and qualitative interviews, this study explored the adaptive strategies to food insecurity used within members of Guam’s Chuukese community. Participants revealed the ways they navigated the obstacles to food insecurity brought upon by Guam’s cash economy, all while keeping hold of their traditions and cultural values. The findings of this study could help improve existing food insecurity programs by increasing targeting urban agriculture and agroforestry practices.

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Fu’una Sanz – I Tinilaikan Numiru gi Fino’ CHamoru: Changes in Chamorro Plurality.

October 9, 2020 at 5:00PM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.9pm

How do Chamorro speakers on Guam create plural sentences when describing situations involving two or more humans or animals? Learn more about a study that reveals a strong distinction between younger and older speakers’ use of plural forms, where younger speakers are not using plural sentences in the same way as older speakers. This shift in plural usage in Chamorro indicates a change in progress, and this study offers a glimpse into how this change is occurring. These findings are further evaluated against theories of language change to better understand the cause of the change and predict its future direction.

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Thomas Mangloña – Democracy and the Informed Citizen.

October 16, 2020 at 10:00AM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.16am

Democracy and the Informed Citizen will examine the fundamentals of journalism as an industry, the role of media in social inequality, and the rise of fake news. The purpose of this presentation is to have a deeper dialogue with the public on journalism and its role in our everyday lives.

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Vana Quichocho – Håyi Ham På’go: Understanding How Chamoru Identity and Acculturation Styles Affect the Psychological Well-
Being of Third Generation World War II Chamoru People in Guam.

October 16, 2020 at 5:00PM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.16pm

The Chamoru culture has been constantly evolving as the generations go by. Little to no investigation has been done about how the current generation exists within the culture. In this study, 10 Chamorus between the ages of 18-25 share their stories of their journeys with their cultural identity. Additionally, the ways they interact with outside cultures are also discussed. This study found that having a close connection to one’s Chamoru identity predicted a better quality of life. Remnants from the WWII generation are still present in Chamoru people today. Navigating what it means to be Chamoru is important for oneself and one’s community.

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Joey P. San Nicholas & Kimberly King-Hinds – Ti Un Chuli’ Hulu’ Gi Langhet

October 23, 2020 at 10:00AM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.23am

In spite of centuries of foreign rule, many of the Northern Mariana Islands’ Chamorro and Carolinian customs remain. In probate cases and matters concerning the distribution of family land, the CNMI Supreme Court adopts and applies Chamorro and Carolinian customary law. Join Attorneys Joey P. San Nicolas and Kimberly King-Hinds as they discuss the application of Chamorro and Carolinian customs such poksai, mwei mwei, partida, testamento, and iyon manaina in CNMI probate cases.

Note: This webinar will be conducted in the Chamorro language.

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Kayle Tydingco – Tiningo’ Famalåo’an: Oral Histories & Non-fiction Stories of Chamorro Women

October 23, 2020 at 5:00PM
Webinar Registration URL: http://www.nmhcouncil.org/web10.23pm

In recent years, an increasing number of scholarly works have been published by and about Chamorro women, but this women-centered scholarship, like Laura Torres Souder’s Daughters of the Island (1992) and Guampedia’s Famalao’an Guåhan (2019), focuses primarily on the lives of “women organizers” and “extraordinary women” in Guam history. The Chamorro women that Souder interviewed often recognized their mothers or grandmothers as essential to their development and empowerment, yet literature on “ordinary women” in Chamorro history has been scarce. If Chamorros are a matrilineal and matrifocal society, as prominent scholars claim, shouldn’t there be more scholarship on the matriarchs that have helped shape generations?
Through oral history interviews, I explore the life choices of three post-WWII Chamorro women to uncover the ways Chamorro women navigate their life choices, positioned at the intersections of Chamorro culture, Catholicism, and U.S. colonialism. I conclude this presentation with a discussion of the ways creative non-fiction short stories can bridge the gap between theory and practice, between academia and the island community.

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HUMANITIES IN THE NEWS

Northern Marianas Humanities Council would like to share our recent news update.

October 26, 2020	Marianas Variety - 4 Receive Governor's Humanities Award
October 06, 2020	Marianas Variety - October is Humanities Month
October 06, 2020	Saipan Tribune - October is Humanities Month
September 25, 2020	Saipan Tribune - Humanities Council donates $10k to 'Racism in America project
June 24, 2020	Marianas Variety - June is CNMI Pride Month
June 22, 2020	Saipan Tribune - Deadline nears for NMHC Pride Talks Writing Contest
June 19, 2020	Saipan Tribune - Life Conversations at "Your Humanities Half Hour"
June 18, 2020	Saipan Tribune - Humanities Council Awards COVID-19 Relief Grants
June 11, 2020	Marianas Variety - Humanities Council to hold PRIDE writing competition
June 04, 2020	Marianas Variety - Robert Hunter Named Senior Policy Advisor
May 04, 2020	Marianas Variety - Northern Marianas Humanities Council announces Covid-19 relief grant for cultural non-profits and participants in humanities programming
April 24, 2020	Saipan Tribune - More funding for the Marianas amidst COVID-19 pandemic
January 27, 2020	Marianas Variety - Epitaph of CNMI’s democracy \| 78: Ugly GOP for MLK Day — Give Dems a Chance!!!
January 23, 2020	Marianas Variety - D&Q, Saipan Ice support tourism summit
January 08, 2020	Marianas Variety - Speakers set for tourism summit on Jan. 23
October 28, 2019	Saipan Tribune - Five named humanities awardees
October 03, 2019	Saipan Tribune - Deadline to submit Humanities Awards nominees
September 30, 2019	Saipan Tribune - Telling the Marianas story from a local perspective

FEATURED COUNCIL PROJECTS

Racial Equality & Civil Unrest

Through the voices and courage of residents of The Marianas, the Northern Marianas Humanities Council features a series of interviews – Racial Equality & Civil Unrest – to take a deep dive into these issues through the lens of the humanities.

John Davis – Former high school teacher of U.S Government and Vietnam War veteran John Davis gives us highlights of Racial Equality and Civil Unrest.

Dr. Beylul Solomon – A PhD in Developmental Psychology, Dr. Solomon provides an introductory overview of Racial Equality and Civil Unrest.

Thomas Manglona – Multi Media Journalist Thomas Manglona II describes how the media & social media influences issues of Racial Equality and Civil Unrest.

Gordon Marciano – Local indigenous leader Gordon Marciano offers a Marianas perspective on Racial Equality and Civil Unrest with examples from recent Marianas history and his personal journey.

Joe Hill – Attorney Joe Hill shares highlights of U.S Laws and Court cases related to racial equality and civil unrest.

MEDIA SURVEY

As part of the i Minagåhet / Ellet: Reporting the Truth in the NMI project, the Council invites all CNMI residents 18-years or older to complete our media survey.

Your responses are anonymous and if you complete the survey, you will have a chance to win a $50 GAS CARD AND AN APPLE IPAD. The purpose of this survey is to help our community better understand the relationship between media use and perceptions, civic behaviors and attitudes on local issues in our community.

Your Humanities Half Hour Click the photo below to hear the latest interview: