500 Sails is celebrating the 10th birthday of Che’lu, a 47-foot indigenous Chamorro sakman.
The nonprofit group said the canoe is well-built, beautiful and based on the Anson drawing of one of the last large Chamorro canoes before they disappeared for over 265 years.
In a joint statement, 500 Sails executive director Pete Perez and secretary/treasurer Emma Perez said Che’lu is a continuation of one of the world’s most successful sailing vessel designs, and much more.
“This canoe represents many thousands of Chamorros in many places over many years. It represents our ancestors who designed and perfected the canoe — the people who sailed them and relied on them for thousands of years,” the Perezes said.
“It represents Chamorros in the CNMI [and] in the U.S. mainland who set out to build a genuine Chamorro voyaging canoe, the people who did the research, raised money, planned the construction, and built the canoe.
The canoe also represents the Chamorros in Guahan who welcomed Che’lu home to her island and to her ocean.
At the 2016 Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture in Guahan, Che’lu welcomed canoes from across Micronesia as the representative of Chamorros in Guahan and the Diaspora.
This canoe’s mission is to restore and strengthen traditional maritime culture in the Marianas, according to the Perez couple.
“Che’lu has been entrusted to us to be used to carry out her mission. She has been entrusted to us because we have the resources to do this important work,” the Perezes said.
They added that 500 Sails has the facilities to maintain Che’lu, the programs to teach people to sail, as well as the seafaring knowledge of Carolinian voyagers and navigators.
“Here in the CNMI we have Chamorros and Carolinians working together to ensure that our maritime traditions are not lost and that our youth will always have canoes in their lives,” they said.
“Recognizing the 10th anniversary of the birth of Che’lu is our statement to those who have entrusted us with this canoe and with her mission that we are up to the task — that we know what this canoe represents, that we are proud to take the lead on this important work, that we will do this work proudly and out of love for our islands, for our ocean, for our culture, and for our people of the Marianas, past, present and future, wherever they live.”
500 Sails invites the community to celebrate the 10th birthday of Che’lu from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 26, at the boatyard in Lower Base, the old Procurement & Supply warehouse next to the Department of Lands and Natural Resources.
A Zoom link will also be made available to those who are interested in joining online.
For more information, contact 500 Sails at info@500sails.org or 285-4268.
