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Re Mayor’s comments on betel nut
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Posted on Aug 27 1999
I would like to respond to a headline story in the Marianas Variety that noted comments from the mayor regarding betel nut chewing and how he deems it not an attribute of Micronesian culture.
While I do not support betel nut price control… to say that betel nut is not a “cultural” practice is quite strange indeed. All you need to do is examine the skeletal remains of Micronesians (including Chamorros) that are hundreds and thousands of years old to see the stain on their teeth.
Would you consider the long pipe smoked by Native Americans a cultural practice? Would you consider the drinking and ceremony revolving around Kava in Fiji a cultural practice? If not, then it is time to hit the history books. If you would conclude that betel nut is not a cultural practice, what would you conclude the Mas (Carolinian dance) to be… just an excuse for people to move around? Would kelaguin be just an excuse for us to eat nearly raw chicken? Would navigation be just an excuse for the men to get some time away from their wives?
Betel nut is no more of an “addiction” than coffee is. I have chewed for nearly 30 years and if I am out.. big deal. I don’t suffer seizures or withdrawals. I have yet to meet an individual who suffers the serious symptoms attributed to drug use, when he or she is out of betel nut.
The European-American cultural machine of McDonald’s, MTV, retirement homes, suit and tie, parking fees, etc. is already ominously eating away at what little of Micronesian and especially Northern Marianas culture that is left. Please Mr. Mayor, don’t be part of that machine.
Name withheld by request
