John Borja takes us around a dreamy volcanic island.
DISCLAIMER: There are no monkeys on Pågan.
informative, with cheesy music!
Showing posts with label our islands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label our islands. Show all posts
Former residents of the Northern Islands and those who have ties to the area are threatening to file a class action lawsuit against the U.S. military if the planned militarization of Pagan pushes through.
This consensus was made following a two-hour town hall meeting Wednesday night at the Carolinian Utt in Garapan where those who attended also said they feel neglected.
“We are mostly looking at getting the focus together and pushing the interest they [Northern Islands] have for islands in the north. Because nothing is being done for the folks of the Northern Islands,” said Jerome Aldan of the Northern Islands Mayor’s Office.
He pointed out that Commonwealth laws also apply to the Northern Islands because they are part of the CNMI, yet “it seems like they treat the Northern Islands differently and are excluded from all these privileges…privileges like homesteads.”
“For many years the Northern Island folks are lost. They don’t know what is going on and how to get their lands back prior to being exiled here to Saipan after the volcanic eruption,” Aldan added.
The Northern Islands Mayor’s Office earlier said that in the past 20 years alone, 18 applications for land for agricultural homestead for the Northern Islands have remained pending with the Department of Public Lands.
Aldan said that a census conducted in 1969 showed that Pagan was home to 49 residents. The oldest resident was born in 1903 while the youngest was born in 1968.
Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council adviser William Torres, who also made a presentation at the meeting, said that just recently the House of Representatives passed House Bill 18-108 to force DPL to issue homesteads to residents of the Northern Islands.
Northern Islanders Lino Olopai, Cecilia Kaipat Selepeo, Moses Castro, and others also expressed concerns about the future of Pagan.
Castro said that he was born in the Northern Island on Sept. 19, 1942. “I got married there and had three kids, but after the volcano erupted we were sent here,” he said.
Olopai said the government seems to be waiting for a bigger investor to develop the Northern Islands. He also highlighted the clash between Western concept of ownership and the indigenous rights to their property.
“Like this slipper [that I’m wearing], do I need legal documents just to own this slipper? Do I need a lawyer to go through court to own this? Olopai said in Chamorro. “Why not the traditional way? This slipper will get passed on to my children, then it’ll pass on to their children, then generations to come. That’s the traditional way, our property needs to continue to get passed through the generation with no documents,” he added.
Selepeo told Saipan Tribune about her late father, Francisco Borja Kaipat, the first district representative of the Northern Islands who was assassinated in April 1972.
“The following day we had no choice but to come to Saipan from [Pagan]. My mother was shot in the head. My brother who was 11 years old at that time was shot in the shoulder but he had to be brought to Guam,” she said. “But also because our mother was disabled, we had no choice but to stay here.”
She was born in Pagan in 1970 and has longed to go back to her birth island. Last year on August 2013, she finally managed to join a trip going to Pagan.
“To finally reach the place 42 years later brought back a lot of memories. That’s why when I came back to Saipan after the trip I felt that I needed to get a property up there,” she said.
Now that she is in her 40s she is willing to go back to Pagan, which she described as a healing place.
Aldan said that it is sad to see that nobody is entertaining their concerns.
“It’s all a mater of justice to these folks, they’ve waited so many years. Some of our ancestors, elders, and some folks of the listed census for the Northern Islands are probably gone as we speak right now,” he said.
“Despite where you are in the Northern Islands, we are still in the CNMI,” he added.
http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=154608&cat=1
Viewed by Itself, Pacific Islander Experience Looks Very Different (Full Report)
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities and Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders lag the rest of the country in attaining college degrees, according to a new report released jointly by Empowering Pacific Islander Communities and Asian Pacific Islanders Advancing Justice.
But a new report released Tuesday morning underscores just how much more difficult the Pacific Islander experience can be when it comes to education, health and staying afloat financially.
“Those are some of the issues that in many ways are undergirded by poverty,” said Iosefa Aina, an associate dean at Pomona College and a board member for Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, or EPIC.
EPIC, which is based in Los Angeles, co-authored the report with frequent collaborator Asian Americans Advancing Justice. The groups say the report is one of the most detailed looks at Pacific Islanders living in California and other parts of the mainland.
Key findings show:
- During the recession, the number of unemployed Pacific Islanders
rose more than any other racial group — 123 percent — and the number
living in poverty grew by 56 percent.
-
Rates of diabetes and obesity are higher than the national average.
Aina said that has a lot to do with sedentary lifestyles and consuming
processed food because of the low cost and accessibility.
- About 18 percent of Pacific Islanders, including Native Hawaiians, have a bachelor's degree, lower than the national average. In this regard, they share some similarities with some immigrants from southeast Asia for whom rates of educational attainment also lag the general population.
Joanna Lee, a principal researcher with Asian-Americans Advancing Justice, said the report will help show policymakers that the Asian & Pacific Islander community is not a monolith.
While the number Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders living in the US now tops 1.2 million, that's "masked under the 18 million or 17 million Asian Americans that live in the country," she said.
"So it's really important to look at this data to really understand the community and understand how to better serve the community," Lee said.
California is home to the largest Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population outside of Hawaii. Aina said that many households took root in the state after World War II , when many people moved to the mainland to serve in the military and were followed by relatives.
Population growth has been steady in California over the last decade. The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community has expanded 29 percent to nearly 286,000 people.
Despite some discouraging news in the report, Aina described the potential for change, especially within the community's large segment of young people. (The median age is 26.5 for Pacific Islanders, the lowest among racial groups.)
“What we see is an opportunity to train our young people, to build the capacity within our community to do research, become doctors and lawyers," Aina said.
Read the full report here:
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