To get concrete data on the use of indigenous\u2014Chamorro and Carolinian\u2014languages within the CNMI, the Chamorro and Carolinian Language Policy Commission will launch a community survey possibly by the end of this month to determine the types of programs needed to maintain and preserve these languages.<\/p>\n
According to Commission executive director Candido Taman, the survey is part of a project funded by the Administration for Native Americans Grant, a competitive grant offered only to the NMI, Guam, American Samoa, and the natives of Hawaii and Alaska, all of whom are categorized as Native American Pacific Islanders. The grant is also extended to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CNMI was granted $226,000 to do a language survey,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this language survey, the objective is to determine the status of our indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian languages usage in the families.\u201d<\/p>\n
A similar survey was conducted earlier in the year within public schools. Results of the survey will be disclosed at a later date, upon approval of Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Juan L. Babauta and the Language Commission board.<\/p>\n
Taman said results of both surveys would present the Commission and its board an idea of what steps need to be taken to address the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very fortunate to get this grant from the ANA because anyone can speculate on the deterioration of our languages and cultures, but we need concrete evidence because we need to rely on funding sources in order to assist us in our long-term planning and long-term implementation,\u201d he said. \u201cSo all these things that we are doing will help us design these effective programs to\u2026preserve the language and the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taman asked the public\u2019s help and cooperation during the survey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is to make our people aware of what we\u2019re doing because we cannot accomplish this by ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to have the general support of the public\u2026so that we can partner with them [and] accomplish our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taman said the results will enable the Commission and its board to design long-term plans that will help the CNMI compete for more grants from the ANA in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a multi-million dollars federal funding source, but it\u2019s competitive and it\u2019s extended to not only the Commonwealth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Taman disclosed that he, along with Babauta, Historic Preservation Office and NMI Arts Council executive directors Epiphanio Cabrera and Robert Hunter recently took part in the 3rd Annual Native Hawaiian Conference in Hawaii. An invitation to the conference was extended to the NMI sometime last July.<\/p>\n
At the conference, held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, Taman served as a panelist and presented the NMI\u2019s project through the grant, as well as the experience, accomplishments, and challenges in addressing language preservation issues. <\/p>\n
Other ANA grant recipients also took part in the conference.
\nBabauta, Hunter, and Cabrera also presented several artifacts as well as the history of the CNMI. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very fruitful conference because a lot of people from across the Pacific don\u2019t really know where CNMI is. It was very nice for us to make our small islands known to the rest of the other entities,\u201d Taman said.<\/p>\n
School contests<\/p>\n
Taman said the survey is just the first phase of the project. Other phases include essay, jingles, and commercial advertisement contests within schools, primarily with students in the bilingual programs. <\/p>\n
The Commission will begin conducting the contests next week, commemorating September as Cultural Heritage Month. Results of the contests will be announced by the end of the month. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have written a letter to Commissioner of Education soliciting their support on this so that we can [go] to the various schools and conduct the activities. That part of our ANA grant is going to be very exciting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Winners will receive prizes, which will be specified at a later date.<\/p>\n
Taman said the grant will fund the development of a pamphlet that will \u201centail what this project is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copies of the pamphlet will be distributed to the Joeten-Kiyu Library, as well as the Legislature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To get concrete data on the use of indigenous\u2014Chamorro and Carolinian\u2014languages within the CNMI, the Chamorro and Carolinian Language Policy Commission will launch a community survey possibly by the end of this month to determine the types of programs needed to maintain and preserve these languages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}