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Senate backs Chamolinian project
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Posted on Mar 11 2006
A cultural preservation project initiated by the Kagman High School faculty has received the full support of the Senate.
The Upper House adopted a resolution Wednesday urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to approve the Chamolinian Project grant application.
The project seeks to provide a permanent, structured educational program that will preserve the Chamorro and Carolinian cultures, provide a display of Chamolinian life in the Marianas both before and after European contact, and groom future cultural experts for the benefit of the community, including the tourism industry.
The teaching staff at Kagman High School, which is spearheading the project, has a pending grant application with the Administration of Native Americans within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
Senate Resolution 15-9, authored by Sen. Felix Mendiola, noted that the Chamorros and Carolinians, both comparatively small groups, are in danger of gradually losing more of their culture and language through integration and adaptation to modern island society.
“Save the Chamorro/Carolinian bilingual program which focuses only on the rudimentary elements of both languages, no other formal, permanently established curriculum exists in the Public School System to educate future generations of the Commonwealth on all that a person, child or adult, should know about the culture and language of the Chamorros and Carolinians,” read a portion of the resolution.
The measure said that the Chamolinian project, which would be carried out in Kagman High School, Tinian High School, and Rota High School, was “a very important first step to create a structured method to ensure the future survival of the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian cultures.”
