150 sign up for NMI descent registry

Some 150 individuals have signed up for the Northern Marianas Descent Registry in the first week since the project was launched.

Marianas Public Lands Authority public information officer Ed Arriola Jr. said many others had been calling the agency to inquire about the registry and had been downloading the registration from MPLA’s website.

Those who have registered were all from Saipan, as the project has not yet been launched on Tinian and Rota, Arriola said.

The project is also expected to draw more interest when the Commonwealth starts observing the “Northern Marianas Descent Registry Month” in September, pursuant to the governor’s proclamation on Aug. 12.

Arriola said MPLA staff would conduct an aggressive information campaign and step up efforts to promote the registry.

Patterned after the Native Hawaiian Registry, the Northern Marianas Descent Registry aims to be the sole comprehensive list of all indigenous people from the Northern Marianas.

MPLA has touted the project as a history project that will reinforce the strength of the indigenous.

The registry, according to MPLA, can be used to determine whether a person is eligible to receive a homestead, whether a person can own land in the Commonwealth, and whether a person can vote on any proposed amendment to Article XII of the Constitution.

It can also be used to determine whether a person is eligible to receive educational, medical, housing, or other indigenous assistance or programs created by the Legislature.

Article XII of the CNMI Constitution defines a person of NMI descent as one who is a citizen of the United States and who is at least one quarter Northern Marianas Chamorro and/or Carolinian blood. An adopted child of such an individual also qualifies as a person of NMI descent, if he or she was adopted while under the age of 18 years.

A person is considered to be full-blooded Northern Marianas Chamorro or Carolinian if that person was born or domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands by 1950 and was a citizen of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands before the termination of the trusteeship with respect to the Commonwealth.

Individuals interested in registering must bring a copy of their birth certificate and passport and visit the MPLA office on Saipan, Tinian, or Rota. Registrants will be asked to fill a registration form and an MPLA staff member will then issue a Northern Marianas Descent ID card.

However, current homesteaders, who have already had their NMI descent status verified, need only to bring a photo ID to register.

Those living abroad may also register at the MPLA website: www.mpla.gov.mp.

Northern Marianas Descent ID cards will only be issued to those 16 years or older.