Nine students of the first navigation class offered by the NMC Community Development Institute and 500 Sails pose in front of a canoe under construction at the 500 Sails Boatyard. Lianalynn Muna is 4th from left, Yang Jiao is 5th from left, and Tiana Torres is 6th from left.
Master Navigator Mario Benito conducts a traditional navigation class.
THE 500 Sails Cultural Maritime Training Center and Northern Marianas College’s Community Development Institute on Tuesday, April 23, began a program that offers traditional navigational knowledge to the community.
Classes for the four-week program are conducted on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 500 Sails’ CMTC in Lower Base by Master Navigator Mario Benito.
It aims to create a wider appreciation of indigenous knowledge and traditional navigational techniques.
According to NMC, program participants will “explore the rich history of traditional navigation, tracing its origins and evolution across cultures. [Participants] will uncover wisdom passed down through generations as they learn to navigate using the stars, currents, and natural phenomena, while engaging with traditional tools and techniques.”
Program participant Tiana Torres, who attends Marianas High School, said she wants to connect to her “roots.”
“I want to try to connect to my island side and my island heritage,” she said. “I want to know how or where to go without using any electronics or a map.”
Torres said it’s a privilege to be able to learn from Benito.
“It’s really incredible,” she added. “He’s a master navigator, so it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
On Thursday, the class learned about traditional Satawal star compass, she said.
“It’s not every day you can just meet someone who’s a master navigator who can just get from here to there with the stars,” Torres said. “It’s interesting to see how he sees the stars compared to how we see them. When we look up we say, ‘oh it’s just the stars. He can look up and go ‘oh we can go this way and be here.’ ”
For Yang Jiao, another program participant, the class is about personal fulfillment. Jiao was once a professor at Miami University and holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology.
“I really am interested in learning about indigenous culture and rich traditional knowledge,” he said. “I’ve read books by anthropologists who have written about this area in the western Pacific. I thought this was a great opportunity to learn about this knowledge.”
He added, “Anthropology 101 talks about how our early ancestors migrated out of Africa and then populated the entire earth and so there are certain migration routes from the inland. Then [humans] populated the islands in the Pacific Ocean. That’s how I learned about navigation skills and then these fantastic canoes. This is a very rare opportunity — not everybody has this opportunity to talk with and listen to someone who has a lot of experience and is a master navigator.”
Lianalynn Muna, a program participant and student at Kagman High School, is also an intern at 500 Sails. She said her experience with the non-profit organization has changed the way she approaches her culture.
“Before, I wasn’t really interested in learning more about my culture, but now that I’m with 500 sails I’m really eager to learn more about it and where I come from,” she said.
Geraldine Sasamoto, the program manager of NMC’s Community Development Institute, said the navigational class could help the college incorporate more indigenous knowledge into its academic curriculum.
For example, she said, the partnership with 500 Sails may be used to develop traditional sailing and seamanship classes that could be offered at the college.
