‘Genealogy is key to understanding Marianas history’

More things can be learned about the rich history of the Northern Mariana Islands by thoroughly studying historical documents, according to Dr. Carlos Madrid.

After two years, the Spanish historian is back on Saipan to discuss his findings based on a research study he conducted in the Philippines in collaboration with the Digital Archive Initiative of the NMI Council for the Humanities. The Digital Archive Initiative involves the conversion of documents related to the history of the islands to digital copies.

Madrid’s well-attended presentation, dubbed “Islas Marianas Digital Archive,” was held Tuesday night at the American Memorial Park Visitors Center.

Madrid said his findings were derived from the historical documents he obtained during his three-month research. Of the 50,000 documents that were obtained, 20,000 of these have already been digitized and now available to the public, he said.

Madrid disclosed that he started working on the digital archive project last year when he was approached by the council, which needed someone to finish the work that began in 2006. “I was honored,” he added.

For the same budget given to the previous scholar who started the project and was only able to photocopy the documents, Madrid said he got the documents scanned and microfilmed.

“No matter what they say, as long as they say Marianas, I’ll have to get [the documents],” Madrid said in an interview after the presentation. “What I showed today was how deep can we go into detailed history of the daily life.”

According to Madrid, genealogy or the study of family ancestries and histories can help in the study of history.

“Throughout the years of coming and going [here], I realized that the most significant way to understand history for the Chamorro culture has to do with genealogy. That’s the focus. And it made sense. Marianas is about the people and genealogy is about people,” he explained.

Among his findings, Madrid found most striking the variety of documents and the depth of information that one can collect about the history of the Marianas. It will now be up to the council on what their next step will be, he said. “Now there is a decision to be made,” he added.

After years of study on the history of the link between Spain, the Marianas, and the Philippines, Madrid feels that this is only “the beginning.”

“This must be the beginning. I feel challenged. I want debate. I don’t have convictions about how history happened here. I’m trying to foster debate,” said Madrid, adding that studies conducted on the history of the islands will give the future generations something to look back to.

Madrid holds a degree in Contemporary History and History of the Americas and a doctorate from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His masteral dissertation on the presence of political deportees in the Mariana Islands became a book, Beyond Distances: Governance, Politics and Deportation in the Mariana Islands from 1870 to 1877.