Impact of federalization on local culture hot topic at forum

The would-be impact of federalization to local culture, particularly Chamorro and Carolinian, became a hot topic at a roundtable discussion organized by the NMI Council for the Humanities last Tuesday night at the American Memorial Park Amphitheater.

The panelists were Viola Alepuyo, Greg Cruz, Carmen Fernandez, Sam McPhetres, Edwin Propst, Rep. Tina Sablan, and Irene Tantiado.

Propst said it was a well done forum and he feels that he has got a lot to think about because the issue of cultural impact is something never spoken about when it comes to the issue of federalization.

He said it has always been economics that people are talking about.

“It was a beautiful discussion. Everybody’s opinions added to the success of the forum,” Propst said.

In wrapping-up the discussion, moderator Robert Torres said that despite the differences of opinions, the important thing was that they were able to set a venue to talk about the issue and hear each other’s views.

Propst’s father, Ivan, who has been living on Saipan since 1975, said that this kind of forum demonstrated the value of democracy.

“This would only mean that we are living in a civil setting and that we all have divergent position on a hot topic,” the elder Propst said referring to the highly controversial federalization issue.

He said the panelists stuck to the topic and the most interesting was that not many people are so much concerned about the cultural aspect of federalization issue.

For him, federalization is not really a threat and instead will give culture a chance to flourish.

Ivan Propst believes that long before the federalization issue came to fore, the traditional culture in the CNMI has eroded and transformed into a multi-cultural setting.

He recalled that in the past, all teachers were Chamorros but this has gradually changed when foreign nationals started coming in.

He also observed that domestic helpers from the Philippines have long been taking care of children and do the house chores and eventually influenced the local families.

Chailang Palacios lauded the panelists for being articulate and intelligent, but she said they have not grasped the real importance of local culture just yet.

“They are too green about it,” said Palacios, who is a Chamorro.

This is because, she said, most of the panelists were too young to understand traditional culture.

However, Palacios noted that the forum made everyone realize that it is not just the economy that matters but also culture.

“It gives us the chance to really listen and compare our different views. I am pleased,” she said.

Palacios believes in federalization because “our leaders failed to correct the errors the past 20 years.”

Rabby Syed, a Bangladesh national and president of the Saipan Taxi Association and vice president of the United Workers Union, said it was an excellent forum because it enlightened them a lot about issues and it will pave a way of establishing more relations in a diversified culture.

Even before the forum started, panelists as well as the audience were informed that the discussion was not about the merits of federalization, but rather an insightful dialogue about the direct or indirect impact that it will have on local culture.

Discussions were based on literary materials written by Erla Zwingle and Wade Davis.

The forum is a project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and awarded by the NMICH.