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SAES, PTA officers unveil cultural project
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Posted on Mar 21 2000
The parents of San Antonio Elementary School and its PTA Officers has initiated a cultural project promoting the ancient Chamorro canoe carving as part of parental involvement in education. On Friday, March 24, beginning at 9:00 a.m., the public is invited to witness the school’s ongoing Chamorro Canoe Project at the school campus under the palapala at the southern side near t he beach.
The purpose of this project is to revive the ancient Chamorro canoe carving, building, sailing, navigating and other maritime practices, customs and traditional knowledge for the purposes of preserving, promoting and protecting the cultural heritage of the Chamorro communities in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and abroad.
Also, the school is in the stage of having a semi-permanent cultural site within the campus which will eventually become an outdoor cultural learning center in which the cultural heritage, traditions, customs, knowledge such as basket and fishing net weaving, wood and stone carvings, music and dances, arts and crafts and other activities depicting the cultural identity of the Chamorro communities will be taught.
Noel Quitugua, historian and artist, said he will be supervising the project, as he expressed hope that they will be able to showcase in the upcoming Flame Tree Festival paddling canoe, or galaide. As part of the project, he added, they hope to construct a traditional seafaring canoe called sakmang.
For more information, please contact Mr. Quitugua at 664-2481 or fax number 235-6753.
