(Press Release) — The Northern Marianas Humanities Council is excited to announce Jack Doyle’s upcoming Community Grant Project “Legends of Rota,” an animated representation of stories told by Chamorro elders in the Chamorro language.
Doyle will be interviewing Rota elders for oral stories and working with Indigenous Affairs Office Program Manager Crispin Ogo to translate and record the story narrations in Chamorro. The final product will feature Ogo’s narration and accompanying animations created by Doyle.
“While furthering my own knowledge, this project will share Chamorro culture and language in a digital format that is accessible for those who want to learn,” says Project Director Jack Doyle. “My goal is to create animations that can teach Chamorro culture and language to children in an interesting way, and to make these animations available online for use by teachers and the Humanities Council.”
Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred Ada has stated that he is in support of this project. “I believe that this grant would result in an invaluable resource for the CCHLS teachers and students, as well as the CNMI community and diaspora as a whole,” Dr. Ada says. “It is paramount that we as a community do everything in our power to promote and perpetuate local culture, and using unique, creative, and entertaining tools like animation to attract attention and inspire interest among our youth could be a major step forward.”
Jonas Barcinas, the PSS Chamorro and Carolinian Language and Heritage Studies Program Director, has expressed his enthusiasm for this project, stating, “I believe that this project will open doors to connect our youths to their history in the preservation and perpetuation of their language and cultural heritage.”
The oral stories will be told by Matias Taisacan, Richard Manglonia, Thomas Mendiola, Sixto Taimano, and Crispin Ogo (in addition to his role as translator and narrator).
This project is made possible in part by funding from the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the council or NEH.
The council supports high quality public humanities programming for the people of the Marianas in accordance with the council’s Gi Hiyong i Mamati — Mwirilóól Woosch Strategic Master Plan.
For more information about the Humanities Council’s Community Grants Program, contact the council at 235-4785; info@nmhcouncil.org; or visit www.nmhcouncil.org
Sample images from Jack Doyle’s animation concept.
