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Fin Chuuk honors its women and culture
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Posted on Feb 27 2006
The Chuukese community held a one-day cultural event at the Garapan Central Park last Saturday to honor all Chuukese women in the CNMI.
Adviser Innocenta M. Sound-Kikku said the newly formed Chuukese women’s group, Fin Chuuk Association, held the event with the intention to “empower the women of Chuuk.”
Sound-Kikku said the group wants all the Chuukese residents in the Commonwealth to go back to their roots and focus on their culture. Sound-Kikku has been residing in the CNMI for the past nine years and she has been working with the Department of Public Safety as a police officer since 1998.
She said being a police officer, she has seen several cases where her people are involved and victims of family violence and other crimes. “It makes me sad and wonder, what’s going on?” she said.
The Fin Chuuk Association is very concerned with several issues involving women such as domestic violence. Of the over 1,000 Chuukese people in the CNMI, there are currently over 100 Chuukese women who are members of the association.
Vice president Linda Jain led the event’s invocation last Saturday while president Narcy Walter provided her brief message for the newly established group. A group of Chuukese youth presented a skit about the degrading cultural awareness of the Chuukese people in the Commonwealth.
The group secretary, Dorlyn Jain, presented the goals and objectives of the organization. Treasurer Mariata Sabong also presented the group’s financial plans.
In the afternoon, the Chuukese women’s association held a mini-beauty pageant where 13 young women, mostly students, vied for the title Miss Chuuk-CNMI. Indoor fun games followed right after the mini-pageant.
