THE Indigenous Affairs Office, the Carolinian Affairs Office, the NMI Museum of History and Culture, American Memorial Park, and the Public School System collaborated on Friday to offer the first Cultural Road Map program of 2025 as part of Chamorro and Carolinian Cultural Heritage Month.
Throughout the month, IAO and CAO will feature cultural activities such as the Cultural Road Map program, which took place on the grounds of the museum and American Memorial Park. The program allows PSS students to meet with cultural practitioners and outreach coordinators for a day of learning outside the classroom.
When Variety visited the NMI Museum, Chacha Ocean View Middle School students were touring the museum facilities. They also met with representatives from 500 Sails, Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, the CNMI Substance Abuse, Addiction, and Rehabilitation Program, native healer Susan Cabrera, slingstone practitioner Oliver Iguel, and the Mariana Islands Nature Alliance. Groups of students took turns listening to presenters.
At Cabrera’s booth, students learned about the benefits of amot Chamorro, or traditional medicine.
“What I’m doing today is encouraging our kids and our people to go back into our traditions and start drinking Chamorro medicine as part of their daily lives, and I also promote the different kinds of oils you will find,” Cabrera said.
On display at her booth were coconut oil and homemade da’ok, or mastwood oil. Cabrera shared that the oil pressed from da’ok seeds — sometimes called tamanu oil — can be sold in pharmacies for $30 or more. She said that with the right knowledge, local medicine can help residents care for themselves sustainably.
Also at her booth was a sample of subikao, a type of native wood that can be boiled for tea to calm the body or help relieve pain.
“In the olden days, that’s what our grandparents resorted to,” she said, speaking of amot Chamorro in general. “It’s good to encourage our kids at this young age and pass it down so that our traditions will continue to live on.”
Oliver Iguel was also present representing Ta Chagi Fan Inc., which teaches acho atupat, or slingstone throwing.
Although students did not throw stones in the museum, Iguel demonstrated how to swing a sling and explained the natural and synthetic materials he uses.
He shared that Ta Chagi Fan began as a way to support his son Roque, who started slinging four years ago at the age of 7.
The slings are handwoven from either thistle-twine fiber or 550 paracord. Iguel explained that Roque has been able to travel as far as Spain to compete in slingstone competitions.
“His first competition was in Tinian, he learned [how to sling] in Rota, and he just came back from a summer camp in Guam — all from slinging,” Iguel said. “Slinging is one way of being outside, staying connected to our roots, being one with nature.”
Oliver Iguel, center, background, teaches students how to swing a traditional sling.
Susan Cabrera teaches students how she uses subikao in amot Chamorro.
Students tour the museum on Friday, Sept. 12
