Shifts in traditional landownership

Traditional values is defined as principles or standards followed and revered by a people continuously from generation to generation. We have indigenous traditional values that have been conveyed to generations of indigenous siblings for more than 4,000 years.

There existed, since time immemorial, our relationship with the land and the sea in what’s known as ancestral rights. It has been around with built-in protection employed since 4,800 years ago in the perpetuation of our peoplehood.

Through the centuries “our ways” have been changed by the descent of Christianity and conquerors on these isles. They have changed our affinity with the land and sea that once were strongly associated with family. This started during the Japanese administration of these isles.

This was subsequently followed by the phenomenon of the ‘50s through the ‘70s when our folks moved away from the land and sea into cash paying jobs. We morphed from subsistence to a cash economy. No longer is the head of the family required to farm the land or fish in the lagoon to provide sustenance for his family. It was easier to land a government or private job that puts food on the family dinner table. It was far more convenient than toiling the soil or braving the lagoon for traditional food gathering.

While traditional use of the land may have diminished, there’s only the family end of it that has held the indigenous people in a tight social fabric. It has strengthened harmony and a sense of community through the years. We still refer to land as though it still is our savior. But take another look at our way of life. We no longer use the land as the venue for traditional family sustenance nor the sea for that matter.

I am not taking a definitive position that we should do away with Article XII under the NMI Constitution. After all, this is for governance to decide in 2011. But it is healthy to review its very genesis, essence and what’s at stake in the consistent denial of real ownership to landowners in these isles for three decades now. If we wish to retain and sustain it, do you have compelling reasons to do so? If not, can you present reasonable arguments to repeal it?

Since 4,000 years ago, we have lived and respected nature’s gifts to the indigenous people of the land and sea. These venues have been places where our forefathers have harvested the riches of the land and sea to support indigenous families. It is for this reason that we still hold high regards to both traditional venues used for food gathering. I know of no other reason than ancestral rights.

The Covenant Agreement is the foundation that established our political relationship with the U.S. government. Its very provisions were premised on the United Nations’ sacred documents or case laws supporting our rights to greater degree of self-government. It is the foundation and pillar upon which we have taken the first step in the journey of a thousand miles to island nation building.

As the CNMI progresses toward political maturity, its returning scholars will take over the torch of leadership to continue strengthening and refining our democratic institutions. The journey is a long one and often the key players are derailed by challenges that require real resolve to stay the course. It takes real resolve and the commitment to walk the entire stretch of problem solving right here in paradise.

In other words, the sacred agreement is our working document in the refinement of our democratic institutions with the view toward island nation building. Like a baby, you fall when you take your first step. As your knees gather strength, the other steps are easy to take as you learn to walk the walk of that long journey ahead of you. You morph from toddler, adolescent into adulthood. And as much as we love our parents, there comes the time when we leave them behind to begin a family of our own. Call it independence!

The progressive nature of man in a democracy is primed to working toward goals that foster harmony and economic wellbeing for his fellowman. I wish I could say that such is a given. It is certainly not! It is for this reason that we give our darn best efforts in the thoughtful disposition of what’s best for everyone especially in difficult situations. It is not an easy task but one worth working for from A-Z. Don’t be afraid to dealing with risk. Like a master fisherman, you must transcend your fear of sharks down below in order to catch the best fish for the family dinner table.
[B] John S. DelRosario[/B] [I]Koblerville, Saipan[/I]