{"id":364148,"date":"2022-03-15T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T20:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=364148"},"modified":"2022-03-15T06:00:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T20:00:38","slug":"two-uog-students-selected-for-museum-institute-for-indigenous-pacific-islanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/two-uog-students-selected-for-museum-institute-for-indigenous-pacific-islanders\/","title":{"rendered":"Two UOG students selected for museum institute for indigenous Pacific Islanders"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The inaugural cohort of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and East-West Center\u2019s new museum institute during the first meeting in January of the six-month program.\u00a0(UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA)\u00a0
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two University of Guam students are embarking on a journey to become stewards of Micronesian history. It\u2019s a six-month training opportunity\u2014specifically for indigenous Pacific Islanders\u2014to learn how to care for and exhibit museum and cultural heritage collections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program\u2014called\u00a0\u201cWeaving a Net(work) of Care for Oceanic Collections\u201d\u2014is a new institute hosted by the University of Hawaii at M\u0101noa\u2019s Department of American Studies, in partnership with the East-West Center, made possible by a\u00a02021 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Selected by a peer-review panel to be part of the inaugural class of 20 students are Tyler Warwick, a senior in the UOG Anthropology Program, and Nicole DeLisle Due\u00f1as, a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Micronesian Studies Program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cohort began the program virtually on Jan. 24.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nIndigenous stewardship and ownership in museum work\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThe institute participants include students and early- to mid-career museum and cultural center workers and curators indigenous to Saipan, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Hawaii, Samoa, American Samoa, Kiribati, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and California.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enthusiasm has been overwhelming, but we are most excited by the selection of our cohort, which represents the depth and diversity of our Oceanic communities,\u201d said project director Noelle Kahanu.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
Duena<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Due\u00f1as said the institute provides an important opportunity to connect with others in the Pacific toward the goal of centralizing indigenous knowledge in museum work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Many] indigenous Pacific collections are associated with histories of colonization and the appropriation or recontextualization of our sacred cultural objects and ancestral remains,\u201d she said. \u201cThis program is important because it\u2026brings people from Oceania together to determine ways museum work can shift from its colonial underpinnings to bringing indigenous stewardship and ownership back into the picture and into practice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With an interest in indigenous histories and stories of the Mariana Islands, Due\u00f1as has previously worked for the Guam Museum in educational programming and community outreach and has also worked with Humanities Gu\u00e5han on humanities-related cultural projects. She is presently writing her master\u2019s thesis on early colonial anthropology and archaeology in Guam.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nLearning to care for artifacts that hold history\u00a0<\/strong>
\nWarwick applied to the museum institute to learn skills to preserve cultural artifacts, create proper exhibits, and network with those doing similar work in the Pacific.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis [institute] is important because it allows us to learn the proper ways to protect and care for artifacts that are valuable and crucial pieces to our culture as they each hold a piece of our history,\u201d Warwick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Warwick is looking to put what he learns to use in his current apprenticeship with\u00a0the Seafaring Traditions Program\u00a0of the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture, where he is\u00a0learning to build traditional canoes and a traditional canoe house in Saipan\u00a0under the tutelage of John Castro and master canoe carver and navigator Antonio\u00a0Urmeyang Piailug.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThis institute will provide the necessary tools in learning the proper ways of working in a museum as well as bringing a connection between the cultural preservation of our artifacts and the living cultural heritage that exists in our community.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Warwick and Due\u00f1as will be in the museum institute virtual until July, when they will join the rest of their cohort at the East-West Center in Honolulu for a four-week, in-person culmination of the program.\u00a0(PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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