THE Northern Marianas Humanities Council and Gov. Arnold I. Palacios honored this year’s recipients of the Governor’s Humanities Awards on Friday, Oct. 18 at the Kensington Hotel.
The awards recognize outstanding contributions to the humanities by individuals and organizations in the community.
The awardees this year are:
• Dr. Isa Arriola for Research and Publication in the Humanities. The award celebrates “original scholarly research in one or more of the humanities fields that resulted in a manuscript or in the publication of a book or article.” Research topics must directly relate to the NMI. Arriola is a cultural anthropologist, professor at Concordia University, and co-founder of Our Commonwealth 670.
• Dina Kaliga of the Talaabwogh Women’s Stick Dancers for the Preservation of Traditional Cultural Practices. The award honors “significant contributions to preserving traditional cultural practices relating to such topics as language, subsistence, medicine, law, kinship, religion, construction and transportation.”
• Jonas Barcinas and Elsie Johnson received the Outstanding Humanities Teacher Award for their “significant contributions to humanities instruction.”
An educator in the CNMI Public School System, Barcinas is also known for his cultural dance practice. Johnson, for her part, is a longtime Chamorro language instructor at PSS.
• John Castro for Preservation of CNMI History. He has been deeply involved with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs’ seafaring programs. The award recognizes significant contributions to preserving history relating to the Northern Mariana Islands. Such contributions may take the form of film and video projects, recording oral histories, and other projects that record and examine important aspects of local history.
• Don Farrell for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities. Farrell is the author of many history books regarding the Marianas, one of which is used as a textbook by the Public School System.
He is also an authority on Tinian’s role during World War II. He has authored books on the topic, including “Tinian and the Bomb” and “Seabees and Superforts at War: Tinian’s Critical Role in the Ultimate Defeat of Japan.”
As he accepted his award, Farrell thanked numerous people, including former Education Commissioner Dr. Rita Sablan, former Sen. Justo Quitugua, PSS Senior Director Jackie Quitugua, and other education officials.
He also thanked his wife Carmen, son Richard, as well as his advisors and publishing collaborators over the years.
“Creating a book from scratch, I have to say thank you so much to the Public School System because they recognized what a difficult, expensive and time-consuming job it was going to be,” he said.
Farrell wrote the first NMI history textbook. Through federal funding, PSS was able to send him to the U.S. National Archives where he collected original documents and photos that were included in the textbook.
“The History of the Northern Mariana Islands” was first published in 1991. An updated version, “History of the Mariana Islands to Partition” came out in 2011.
This year’s awardees pose for a photo with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Northern Marianas Humanities Council officials.
The Talaabwogh Women’s Stick Dancers perform during the awards ceremony.
Dina Kaliga with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios.
John Castro receives the Humanities Award for the Preservation of CNMI History.
Elsie Johnson is the other Outstanding Humanities Teacher awardee.
Elsie Johnson is the other Outstanding Humanities Teacher awardee.
Isa Arriola receives the award for Research and Publication in the Humanities.
