BOOKS

“If there are tales of courage and endurance, they too are words of actual fact.” – Marie S. C. Castro, Without a Penny in my Pocket

The Council has supported the publication of several books, both under its ongoing Micronesian Authors Initiative and through the award of Community Grants for research and publication. The Micronesian Authors Initiative, established in 2004, gives priority to the publication of literary works of indigenous Micronesian authors.

The following titles were produced under the Council’s Micronesian Authors Initiative:

Microchild: An Anthology of Poetry

by Valentine Sengebau.

$10

2004. NMI Council for the Humanities. xiv + 68 pages. Foreword by Bonifacio Basilius. Illustrated with traditional Palauan images.

Microchild: An Anthology of Poetry offers a collection of poems about cultural identity, politics and love that were written by renowned Palauan poet, Valentine N. Sengebau, who spent the last 20 years of his life in the Marianas. His book was published by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and is the inspiration for their annual Valentine N. Sengebau Poetry Competition for CNMI’s young writers. The foreword was written by Bonifacio Basilius and illustrations were of traditional Palauan images.


The Rope of Tradition: Reflections of a Saipan Carolinian

by Lino M. Olopai

$20

2005. NMI Council for the Humanities. xviii + 242 pages. Bibliography. Numerous black and white and color illustrations.

The Rope of Tradition examines how indigenous cultures throughout Micronesia have undergone major changes over the six decades since the end of World War II, a situation that has been particularly acute on Saipan, the capitol island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.   Written by Saipan Carolinian Lino M. Olopai with the assistance of cultural anthropologist Dr. Juliana Flinn, this account describes Mr. Olopai’s longstanding efforts to document and better understand his rich cultural heritage and to seek a balance between traditional ways and the demands of the modern world.


Estoria-Hu 

by Juan A. Sanchez

$15

2009. NMI Council for the Humanities, Saipan. vii +249. Glossary.

Estoria-Hu: Tinige’ siha ginen as Tun Juan Aguon Sanchez is a collection of poems and essays written by Tun Juan Aguon Sanches and the loved ones who inspired his writing. Written in Chamorro, Tun Juan curated these personal narratives of historic events that have impacted the people of the Marianas.


Without a Penny in my Pocket: My Bittersweet Memories Before and After World War II

by Marie S.C. Castro

$20

2013. Northern Marianas Humanities Council. xvi + 181.  Numerous black and white photographs.

Without a Penny in my Pocket: My Bittersweet Memories Before and After World War II is a moving personal account by Marie S.C. Castro, a life-long educator born and raised on the island of Saipan in what is not the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Ms. Castro describes growing up in a traditional Chamorro family in the 1930’s, the chaos of the Battle of Saipan during WWII, her career as an educator and entrance into the Mercederian Order, and her eventual relocation – without a penny in her pocket – to Kansas City, Missouri. A rich source of information about Saipan’s history and the strength and struggles of the Chamorro people, Without a Penny in my Pocket provides a first-hand glimpse of a crucial period of Saipan history.


When Cultures Clash: Revisiting the ‘Spanish-Chamorro Wars’

by Fr. Francis X. Hezel, S.J.

$10

2015. Northern Marianas Humanities Council. viii + 99 pages. Bibliography, notes, and illustrations.


Edge of Empire: The German Colonial Period in the Northern Mariana Islands

Dr. Dirk HR Spennemann

$15

2007. Retro Spect. vii + 394 pages. Bibliography, index, and numerous maps and illustrations.

Imperial Germany’s colonial power in Micronesia was brief, but left a lasting impact. Professor Dirk H.R. Spennemann’s Edge of Empire: The German Colonial Period in the Northern Mariana Islands thoroughly examines this 15 year period (between the Spanish-American war of 1889 and the early days of World War I in October 1914), when a handful of German colonial administrators initiated education, economic and social policies that were to forever alter the future of the Northern Mariana Islands and its peoples. Compulsory schooling with instruction in Chamorro and Carolinian, private ownership of land limited to Chamorro and Carolinian homesteading programs and environmental protection are only some of the German initiatives that were both innovative and unique throughout the colonial Pacific.


Beyond Distances: Governance, Politics and Deportation to the Mariana Islands, 1870-1877

Dr. Carlos A.  Madrid

$15

2006. Northern Mariana Islands Council for the Humanities. xiv + 254 pages. Apendices, index, numerous illustrations.

Beyond Distances: Governance, Politics and Deportation in the Mariana Islands from 1870 to 1877 provides insights of everyday life in the 19th century Mariana Islands, using rare documents to bring native Chamorro voices and perspectives. Author Carlos Madrid examines the relationship between significant events in Saipan, Europe, the Philippines and Micronesia, offering a deeper understanding of local events within relevant global contexts. In doing so, this work effectively disrupts common notions of Micronesia as isolated and unaffected by events in the rest of the world.


Tiempon I Manmofo’na

by Scott Russell

1998. NMI Division of Historic Preservation. x + 405 pages. Bibliography, index, numerous illustrations.


An Honorable Accord

by Howard Willens and Deanne Siemer

2001. University of Hawaii Press. 473 pages. Bibliography, index, illustrations.


History of the Mission in the Mariana Islands 1667-1673

by Peter Coomans (translated by Rodrigue Levesque)

1997. NMI Division of Historic Preservation. 88 pages. Index.


Oral Histories of the Northern Mariana Islands

by Howard Willens and Deanne Siemer

2007. NMI Division of Historic Preservation (Eight Volumes).


Micronesian Legends

by Nancy Bo Flood

2007. Bess Press. 207 pages. Illustrations

“Reduction” of the Marianas, Resettlement into Villages under the Spanish

by Francis X. Hezel, SJ

2021. Francis X. Hezel, SJ All rights reserved. 58 pages. Illustrations.

PDF available here.

How to Conduct Oral History Interviews

by Ethnographer Oral Historian Rlene Santos Steffy

2020 by Rlene Santos Steffy, author, initial copyright holder,
and the Northern Marianas Humanities Council.

PDF available here.