HUMANITIES IN RECOVERY
FROM THE FIELD
Stories from the Cultural Resilience Partnership Program
Seafaring Traditions in Recovery
At Kåttan Udai on Saipan, recovering from Super Typhoon Sinlaku has meant more than repairing a damaged canoe house. It has meant protecting a place where Chamorro and Carolinian maritime knowledge continues to be practiced, taught, and passed from one generation to the next.
When Sinlaku struck the Northern Mariana Islands in April 2026, the storm disrupted the work of the Seafaring Traditions Program, led by John “Juan Mamis” Castro. The canoe needed to be protected, portions of the existing canoe house had to be dismantled, and the program needed a safe place where its work could continue.
Through the Northern Marianas Humanities Council’s Cultural Resilience Partnership Program, the Seafaring Traditions Program began addressing those immediate needs while pursuing something equally important: keeping maritime knowledge in practice while recovery took place. The partnership focused on traditional canoe-house construction, creating space for continued canoe-building and cultural transmission, and keeping the site active as a place of public learning.
Keeping Knowledge in Practice
Even amid the recovery work, traditional knowledge continued to be practiced. Master Navigator Antonio “Tony” Piailug made repeated visits to work alongside the team on the canoe’s mast. Together they shaped murmur, a Carolinian/Satawalese term for the piece at the very tip of the mast that channels the main sail line.
The work became an opportunity for knowledge to remain active—not simply documented or remembered, but practiced through mentorship and hands-on instruction.
Rebuilding Through Traditional Practice
The work began with a practical challenge: how to protect the canoe and make it possible for the program to continue operating after the typhoon. In June, Castro and his team coordinated with Parks and Recreation and the Department of Public Works to begin moving the canoe farther inland. They also began creating a small temporary working and gathering space while carefully deconstructing portions of the existing canoe house.
The rebuilding of a temporary workspace likewise became an exercise in cultural continuity. As the main canoe house was slowly dismantled, the team constructed the smaller shelter using raw wood and traditional lashing methods rather than relying solely on contemporary construction techniques. In this way, recovery itself became an opportunity to return to traditional methods of making and building.
The Council’s support extended beyond the physical site. During the partnership, the Council worked directly with Castro to coordinate site needs, including signage, a tent, and a portable toilet to support the program’s continued work and public engagement. The Council also supported the ongoing contributions, mentorship, teaching, and educational outreach of Master Navigator Piailug and provided rope that could be used in the thatching of the utt, or traditional canoe house, as the structure is eventually rebuilt. By August, the recovery work had entered another significant phase. The team completed the four-day deconstruction of the canoe house, reducing its length by 12 feet in response to safety concerns revealed by Sinlaku and the site’s exposure to high surf during future storms.
Two stone pillars at the western end were repositioned with assistance from Saipan Mayor RB Camacho’s office and heavy equipment. The team also carefully sorted and stored usable logs and recovered rope and other materials for future reconstruction.
A Place for Learning
At the same time, the site remained a place of public learning. Visitors continued to be welcomed through educational presentations, including guests brought by Pacific Development, Inc. and Discover Saipan. In August, visitors from New York were among those introduced to the program and its work. The site was also utilized by the Marianas Visitors Authority for a tourism marketing film
There is something important in this work that extends beyond the rebuilding of a structure. Recovery is often measured in what can be repaired, replaced, or reconstructed. Cultural recovery asks a different question:
What knowledge, relationships, practices, and places must remain alive while rebuilding takes place?
The Seafaring Traditions Program offers one answer. Logs, materials, a canoe, a temporary shelter, a mast, a traditional building method, ongoing mentorship and support from a Master Navigator, and conversations with visitors may appear to be separate pieces of recovery. Together, however, they represent something larger—the continued practice and transmission of maritime knowledge in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Through CRPP, the Council was able to support that continuity while helping a community-based cultural program adapt to the realities left by Sinlaku. The canoe house may need to be rebuilt, but the knowledge that gives it meaning continues to be practiced, taught, and shared.
About the Cultural Resilience Partnership Program
The Cultural Resilience Partnership Program is a humanities-based recovery initiative of the Northern Marianas Humanities Council supporting cultural and community organizations impacted by Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
The program strengthens cultural recovery through structured partnerships that combine funding, consultation, procurement support, and documentation of humanities-based work.
