A shining bright example

The year 1998 is pretty significant in my life for various reasons. I finally returned home after sacrificing more than 19 years away from my loved ones to obtain a good education. My homecoming also coincided with the “world premiere” of a historical-cultural documentary video entitled “Lieweila: Navigators’ Children,” which I began co-producing the summer after my first year in law school. It was the buzz that the CNMI and Guam premieres generated that prompted several speaking-engagement invitations. One such invitation came from Sister Kathleen Sarmiento, Mt. Carmel’s then principal, who invited me to address the entire student body at the cathedral. The second invitation came to me from a teacher I hadn’t yet met, my good friend Galvin Guerrero.

I would like to remind our readers that the summer of 1998 was also the time the House proposed a bill to ban the former residents from ever resettling Pagan. According to the bill, resettlement posed dangerous health risks to the former residents. This bill was so concerned about protecting the health of the former residents that it promoted Pagan be utilized instead for mining, eco-tourism, and as an endangered species sanctuary.

Unbelievable! If Pagan were safe enough for endangered species and other commercial and mining interests, then why wouldn’t it be equally safe for those former residents who want to resume their lives there? Would they not walk the same grounds and breathe the same air?

The “Lieweila” (pron: li-ye-way-la) video devotes a segment to the life I grew up in on Pagan. My journey down memory lane showed a once-thriving and vibrant community on Pagan, back when my father, the late Congressman Francisco Borja Kaipat, was the District Administrator for the Northern Islands. The segment is a nostalgic reminder that some of us once found peace, happiness, and contentment just living “the simple life.” I believe that every citizen of this Commonwealth is entitled to live a lifestyle of one’s own choosing. Some of us are quite happy zipping down our paved roads on our way to McDonald’s. Yet, some of us still prefer to walk or ride in bull carts maneuvering down the rough and bumpy roads of our lovely Northern Islands.

Unfortunately, this choice and right to “freely live a simple life” is exactly what many of our elected leaders fail to recognize. The Saures family of Agrigan will tell you that modern conveniences and amenities are nice, but there’s no place like home! Former Mayor of the Northern Islands Danny Castro, his brother Luis Castro and their families have given up hope on the government’s empty promises to officially aid the resettlement of displaced former residents and went ahead and moved themselves back to Pagan this year.

As I stood before Galvin Guerrero’s senior class that day six years ago and talked about the importance of appreciating and preserving our indigenous cultures and traditions (subjects that are well-covered in my “Lieweila” video), I also shared with the class the plight of the voiceless, defenseless, and invisible segment of our CNMI community. Many governors and legislators have come and gone and CIP funding had been drained and replenished time and time again. Yet, the Northern Islands community remained relegated to “nuisance and perpetually ignored” status. I informed the class of ’98, “Imagine that the rights of some of our indigenous Chamorro and Refalawasch peoples who call Pagan and all the Northern Islands “home” are being trampled and subordinated by the rights of mining speculators, tourists and some yet-to-be identified endangered species.”

We locals call it “finagaga.” This type of “finagaga” was what fueled the outrage of the former residents who then turned to me for help six years ago. I quickly gathered up a bunch of former residents for a picture, and on the day of a public hearing that we demanded be held on this matter, we wore t-shirts with our group picture and the words “Endangered Species, Northern Islanders” emblazoned on the front of our t-shirts.

And that is why, my fellow indigenous Chamorro and Refalawasch citizens, I say to you all, how DARE an intruder–who knows no better than to trespass upon OUR shores, live and work on OUR ancestral lands–have the AUDACITY to point a finger in our faces and say, “You’re a SQUATTER!” EXCUSE ME? A squatter–in OUR own homeland?! What the…? Oh, now I remember. He is simply uttering the same sentiments expressed previously on KMCV TV by our very own highest elected public official and Azmar supporter, the Honorable Governor Juan Nekai Babauta!

In sharing the plight of the Northern Islands community, I’d hoped to plant the seed of awareness and sense of civic duty in the fertile intelligent young minds that sat with rapt attention before me. I wanted them to comprehend the magnitude of such unfair treatment being perpetrated against our own people by elected officials sworn to uphold and protect our laws and constitution. My parting message to the senior class of ’98 was to get off this tiny rock in the middle of this vast ocean and get a good advanced education and come back and help me…help me help our people in our community.

One student sitting in that classroom did just that. Her name is Tina Sablan. Imagine how much better our CNMI would be if only we had a hundred more Tina Sablans. Mr. Thomas Arkle, Jr., Tina is a shining bright example of the best of the best of what we could hope for from our fellow indigenous and non-indigenous citizens who truly call the CNMI “home.” Consider yourself invited to a special public ceremony. DING! DING! The ceremony starts nooow…. By the powers vested in UNMIA, PaganWatch and the vast majority of the good people of this great Commonwealth, we hereby confer upon Tina Sablan the title Ph.D.

Cinta Matagolai Kaipat
UNMIA president,
Founding member of PaganWatch

P.S. The Ph.D is in wisdom and good old-fashioned common sense.