ON Friday, Sept. 6, the NMI Museum of History and Culture and the Carolinian Affairs Office hosted Public School System students for a day of experiential learning activities in Garapan as part of a Cultural Roadmap program.
At the CAO, students participated in activities involving ligitutur, talaya, handline, Chamorro dance, banana leaf painting, coconut leaf weaving and traditional music.
At the museum, students took part in traditional chanting, storytelling, Carolinian dance, mwar-making, coconut oil making, and Chamorro jewelry activities.
The participating students are with the Chamorro and Carolinian Language and Heritage Studies program of Gregorio T. Camacho, San Vicente, Koblerville and Oleai elementary schools.
Students arrived at either site at 9 a.m. and participated in the workshops for over an hour. They then switched their sites to be able to participate in different workshops. The event ended at around noon.
Museum Executive Director Lenny Leon said the Cultural Roadmap is a way for participants, especially students, to “incentivize” their learning, he said.
“It’s a little more exciting [because] we highlight stuff that we don’t normally highlight in other space,” he added.
Leon said one of the goals of the Cultural Roadmap is to provide a space to come together.
“It’s all about unity,” he said. “That’s one of the goals — to show kids that a space can be created for them to unite. It’s also to show that the cultures of Carolinians and Chamorros can unite and be in the same space without clashing.”
Leon said the public and tourists are welcome to join future workshops.
The Cultural Roadmap program is among the activities coordinated by the Indigenous Affairs Office, CAO and numerous other stakeholders in celebration of Chamorro-Carolinian Cultural Heritage Month.
The Cultural Roadmap occurs every Friday this September and is free of charge.
Students learn about Chamorro jewelry from Ginen i Tåsi.
Students create bead art as part of the Cultural Roadmap program.
Students from Koblerville and San Vicente elementary schools arrive at the Carolinian Affairs Office to participate in cultural workshops on Friday, Sept. 6.
Students learn how to make a mwar at the NMI Museum of History and Culture.
Students participate in cultural activities as part of the Cultural Roadmap program. This young man is learning to throw a talaya.
Students cast hand lines as part of the Cultural Roadmap program at the Carolinian Affairs Office.
Students learn Chamorro dance.
Donald Mendiola, a eacher and yo’åmte/suruhuanu, speaks to school children about chanting and spirits during the Cultural Roadmap program on Friday, Sept. 6 at the NMI Museum of History and Culture.
NMI Museum of History and Culture’s Lenny Leon, holding a microphone, speaks to students about the Cultural Roadmap program.
