HUNDREDS of locals will hold a sit-down strike on Saturday to protest the government’s alleged inaction to preserve the Chamorro culture.
According to Noel Quitugua, community development specialist III at the Indigenous Affairs Office, they will hold the protest action at the pavilion next to the basketball court along Beach Road on May 11 from 7 a.m. to sundown.
Quitugua said they invited Chamorros to participate and sign a petition letter that will be submitted to CNMI leaders.
The protesters want the government to designate an area for a Chamorro Village.
“We demand to have a place for us to revive and cultivate our cultural heritage, our traditions, customs, languages, arts and crafts, our dances and music, our maritime practices and other things such as our fishing techniques and methods, canoe carving, building, sailing and navigating, traditional food preparation and cooking—practically every aspect of our cultural identity as indigenous people of the CNMI,” Quitugua said.
“I cannot understand why we still do not have a place to uphold our culture and traditions,” he added.
The village will have traditional houses adorned with indigenous plants and flowers, and freshwater mini ponds where shrimps and eels could be raised and cultivated, he said.
“The Chamorro Village is not only a cultural and/or educational institution but also a tourist attraction and an outdoor recreational center,” Quitugua said.
“I am sure our elders would rather be in that village to tell his or her story while others weave baskets and other items, demonstrate traditional food preparation and cooking,” he added.
“It’s about time that Chamorros, who are becoming a minority on their own land, assert their rights,” Quitugua said. “It is time to take a radical approach! To all drivers, honk your car if you believe in the good cause,” he said.
