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Five trees planted as Chamorro reminder
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Posted on Sep 27 2008
Representatives for the islands of the CNMI and Guam gathered together yesterday to plant five trees at the Man’akmo Center as a reminder of the Chamorro heritage.
The event took place on the second day of the 3rd Annual Chamorro Conference. This is the first year Saipan has hosted the conference.
“It’s a landmark to show people that the conference is a big step,” said Howard Macaranas, director of Office on Aging and one of the organizers of the Chamorro Conference.
Macaranas said he wanted to do something different, and planting the trees will always be a reminder to people of the Chamorro history.
The trees were planted in the order representing the island’s location.
Tony Palomo, a former three-term senator from Guam, planted that island’s tree.
“From my point of view, it’s to keep the relationships together and keep it for the future,” he said.
The trees should remind people that even though Chamorros are spread across several islands, they are all one people.
“Indigenous people are Chamorros, and we’ve been artificially separated,” he said. “We might never agree politically, but we can agree socially.”
