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NMI registry to be launched on Tinian
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Posted on Sep 13 2005
The Marianas Public Lands will launch the Northern Marianas Descent Registry program on Tinian on Thursday, culminating a three-island event that started on Saipan last month.
The Tinian launch will take place at the Taga House Park in San Jose at 11am, Sept. 15, 2005.
MPLA vice chairman Manny P. Villagomez, who represents Tinian on the board, urged all NMI descent people on Tinian to attend the event.
“The people of Tinian are eager to register in this historic program. We look forward to seeing as many people as possible from Tinian come down to the launch and witness this momentous event,” Villagomez said.
There are about 3,000 people on Tinian, with the majority being individuals of NMI descent.
The registry program was launched on Saipan on Aug. 11 and on Rota on Sept. 8.
Patterned after the Native Hawaiian Registry, the Northern Marianas Descent Registry aims to be the sole comprehensive list of all indigenous people from the Northern Marianas.
The registry can be used to determine whether a person is eligible to receive a homestead, whether a person can own land in the Commonwealth, and whether a person can vote on any proposed amendment to Article XII of the Constitution.
It can also be used to determine whether a person is eligible to receive educational, medical, housing, or other indigenous assistance or programs created by the Legislature.
Article XII of the CNMI Constitution defines a person of NMI descent as one who is a citizen of the United States and who is at least one quarter Northern Marianas Chamorro and/or Carolinian blood. An adopted child of such an individual also qualifies as a person of NMI descent, if he or she was adopted while under the age of 18 years.
A person is considered to be full-blooded Northern Marianas Chamorro or Carolinian if that person was born or domiciled in the Northern Mariana Islands by 1950 and was a citizen of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands before the termination of the trusteeship with respect to the Commonwealth.
