Indigenous rights activists Raymond “Bo” Quitugua, and Herman Tudela stand next to inverted U.S. flag during their protest across from the United States Courthouse in Gualo Rai on Monday.
IF the CNMI government will “continue to turn a blind eye to the grievances” of indigenous rights advocate Raymond Quitugua and his supporters, he said they will stage another protest action, this time, across from the Guma Hustisia, the CNMI judicial building in Susupe.
Quitugua told Variety that they have not received any response from any lawmaker or anyone from the CNMI government.
He believes that “the rights of the Northern Marianas indigenous people are being violated.”
He wants CNMI lawmakers and the U.S. government to acknowledge that the mwar depicted in the CNMI flag signifies “a life element of the Chamorros,” and “there’s nothing in the Federal Register that makes [a] reference to Carolinians.”
For Quitugua, the only true indigenous people in the CNMI are the Chamorros.
“If we do not hear from [CNMI officials] within this week, we will schedule another protest until our voices are heard,” he said.
He is hoping that other community members, “most specially the indigenous people,” will support their “fight for their rights.”
On Monday morning, May 1, 2023, Quitugua and Herman Tudela displayed an inverted U.S. flag during a protect action across from the United States Courthouse on Middle Road in Gualo Rai.
Quitugua said the inverted flag is “an international SOS or call for distress.”
Tudela said they were declaring to the international community that “we are a nation in distress” because “the rights of the Northern Marianas indigenous people are being violated.”
