But knowing that “land is the only significant asset that the people of the commonwealth have,” I can’t help but think that perhaps economics or cash flow should not be our primary concern when weighing the pros and cons of this issue. Money is not everything and so the potential for making more of it at the cost of displacing more of the indigenous people really ought to be a secondary consideration to the more important question of: what purpose does Article XII actually serve and is it working? The short answer, in my opinion, is that while it was a good idea at the onset of the Covenant, Article XII did not achieve its purpose and will, in the long run, only cause further alienation of the very people it set out to protect, descendants of the Northern Mariana Islands. But, let’s explore a little more closely.
“The motive force behind the land restrictions, as part of the political compromise memorialized in the Covenant, was that the people of the Northern Marianas did not want to achieve their long-time ambition to become part of the American political family only to become landless paupers in their new commonwealth.” Furthermore, “the land alienation restrictions are properly viewed as an attempt, albeit a paternalistic one, to prevent the inhabitants from selling their cultural anchor for short-term economic gain, thereby protecting local culture and values and preventing exploitation of inexperienced islanders at the hands of resourceful and comparatively wealthy outside investors.” So, “under the Covenant, the people of the CNMI retained their right to self-government and (were) assured their protection from the loss of their lands. The Covenant protects them from being overwhelmed by aliens who might come to their shores and become U.S. citizens” — maybe we’ll take up the issue of nonresident status another time.
For now, the simple and sad fact is that a significant number of Chamorro and Carolinian people (Taotao Tano yan/bwal Refalwasch), are currently landless and impoverished — if you don’t believe me, check the ethnicity records for food stamp and/or Section 8 recipients. In fact, NMPASI records show that approximately 20 percent of clients receiving housing assistance via the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, or HPRP, are either Chamorro or Carolinian — no doubt that number would be much higher if we hadn’t closed the program to any new applicants. Incidentally, 24 percent of households receiving assistance via HPRP have one or more individuals with disabilities living in them. The point is that Article XII does not in and of itself prevent the people of the land from being displaced. It’s the choices people make that determine how and where their lives and the lives of their off-spring will unfold — the same is true for all people despite race, color, gender, and in some cases disability although some people with disabilities are far more vulnerable to exploitation and more often denied their right to make informed decisions about their own lives.
Going further, any notion that today’s islanders are inexperienced or less sophisticated such that by virtue of being indigenous they remain vulnerable to exploitation and need big brother’s protection is an archaic stereotype from our more primitive days and a direct slap in the face of all islanders in general. Yeah, there are plenty of knuckleheads who will pawn off their land for a new car or a night at the poker room, but that’s true for people from all walks of life and that’s their choice…a ridiculous choice, but a choice nonetheless. Everybody has the absolute, inalienable right to live their lives the way they see fit…inevitably, some people will make meaningful progress and others will stumble, but…c’est la vie. It’s these very concepts of self-determination and choice that make America the greatest nation on Earth — we live in the land of the free — simple as that.
Now, do I think that there should be preferential treatment for indigenous people in terms of land-ownership?
You’re right; I do! These lands belonged to them. Article XII has been an honorable cause, one that aims to protect the rights of Northern Mariana Island descendants, not just pure-bred Chamorros and/or Carolinians, but their children and their children’s children and so on. Because human nature cannot be restrained by the confines of pure ethnic blood lines, at some point, we will all be completely mixed up and the blood of each and every one of our Northern Mariana descendants will flow with a multitude of colors. If it’s not already true, there will be descendants of Chamorro and Carolinian people who do not meet the minimum requirement of one-fourth or whatever the prescribed number is for indigenous blood. At this point, the quickest and most practical way there is to put and/or keep more land in the hands of the indigenous people rests in the homestead program.
The powers that be need to step it up, carve out more chunks of available public lands and catch up on the homestead applicant’s waiting list. The fact that some people have been waiting for a lot since the early nineties is yet another commentary on how the indigenous people are continually being put on the backburner of priorities. Let’s stop the rhetoric on indigenous pride and start giving indigenous people something to be proud of, a piece of land that they can cultivate and actually own. Short of that, people need to work themselves off of welfare programs and start buying land for themselves…simply clamoring over the exclusive right to own land does not translate to actually owning land. Personally, I’m content with a 55-year leasehold interest in the couple of small pieces of land I’ve been able to obtain — I neither plan to live that long nor have I figured out a way to take land to the grave with me — but my children all of who are of Northern Marianas descent should be afforded the right to own and pass on land to their children despite the percentage of indigenous blood in their line — they too are the true people of these islands.
For more information on the prevalence of disabilities in the CNMI and/or on existing programs for individuals with disabilities, please feel free to call the NMPASI office (670) 235-7273/4 [voice] or 235-7275 [fax] or 235-7278 [tty] or contact us on-line at www.nmpasi.com.
JIM RAYPHAND
Executive Director
Northern Marianas Protection
& Advocacy Systems Inc.
//
