‘We want peace’

Lino Olopai, a renowned elder in the CNMI community as well as one of the many champions of the CNMI’s flag as we know it today, expressed his disappointment in the recent events wherein the CNMI’s flag was burned by a man who claims that it’s not a true representation of the indigenous people of the CNMI.

Last April 2, Raymond Quitugua posted a public video—which circulated like wild fire within the CNMI community—of him burning the flag while verbally denouncing it claiming it is not a true representation of the indigenous people of the CNMI.

Because the CNMI Constitution prohibits the burning of the CNMI flag, Saipan Tribune learned that the Department of Public Safety and the Office of the Attorney General launched an investigation into the flag-burning incident but as of press time, no charges have been filed.

In an interview with Quitugua, he said he believes the true CNMI flag was the initial design presented back in the 1970s that featured a latte stone with a star in the front of it on a field of blue.

He claims this flag accurately represents the indigenous people of the CNMI which he believes is the Chamorro community (not including the Carolinian community).

Quitugua added that he burned the flag as a form of protest, and he intends to take the issue to the Judiciary.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Olopai (a renowned advocate for the indigenous traditions of the CNMI as well as one of the champions that fought for today’s CNMI flag design back in the 1970), he said he was very insulted by the flag-burning video that Quitugua posted online.

“The flag-burning was very insulting to all of us, especially to…us who [fought for] the design of [our CNMI flag today]. The flag stands for many things, specifically the indigenous people of the CNMI who are the Chamorros and Carolinians. As we all know, the latte stone represents the Chamorro community and the mwaar represents the Carolinian community. The flag holds a lot of significance. Many of us stand firm in protecting who we are [and] that flag is who we are,” he said.

When asked what he thinks should be done about the flag-burning, Olopai said he believes the crime warrants jail time.

“[I believe] this person who burned the flag should be thrown in jail. We are beyond that. Burning anyone else’s flag, it’s just wrong. We want peace,” he said.

Olopai explained that before the end of the Second World War, there was a lot of discrimination between the two indigenous communities in the CNMI. He added that he believed that the two communities found peace as a result of both communities coming together in marriage through the years. However, it seems as though some people in the community have taken a step back.

“It is not as severe today as it was back then after WWII because there was a lot of inter-marriages seen between the two communities. Today, inter-marriage is a common sighting and I hope it will continue to bring peace. The design of the flag was resolved back then. There was friction when we started out, the Chamorro community was irritated because suddenly our group created a design with a mwaar surrounding the latte stone. It was a big thing back then, but I believed we were over that,” he said.

Olopai also explained how the CNMI’s flag as we know it today came to be and said that when discussions were being made about the CNMI becoming part of the United States, the Chamorro community had a flag—the initial flag design of a latte stone with a star in the front it on a field of blue—and the flag was ready to be honored.

However, after a bit of urging from others, a group of Carolinian community members at the time—Olopai being a part of the group—fought to have a mwaar on the flag as a representation of the Carolinian community as they believed they, too, were indigenous people of the land.

“This initially irritated a lot of people in the Chamorro community. They [disagreed], However, that design was later adopted, and it is more acceptable today than it was back then. I thought we were reaching a point of peace but then this man burns the flag. It’s not right,” he said.

Olopai said he hopes that the discrimination within the islands comes to an end.

“Stop the racism. We are all part of the Pacific Islands. We should maintain peaceful attitude and spirit with one another. Not just between the Chamorro and Carolinian communities, but with other communities across the Pacific,” he said.

Raymond Quitugua