Betances: Don’t be a stranger on your homeland

The keynote speaker of Day 2 of the Cultural Heritage Month Symposium held yesterday at the Saipan World Resort talked about the dangers of losing a culture and language and how important these two are in preserving the CNMI’s unique heritage.

“The greatest danger, if you do not care for your language and your heritage is that you become a stranger in your own homeland, you become a shadow, instead of the real deal. Humanity is impoverished because every culture and every language has a unique contribution in the fabric of the society. When one culture dies, we impoverish all of humanity, and we can’t let that happen,” said Souder, Betances & Associates Inc. senior diversity consultant and author Dr. Samuel Betances.

He also shared the eternal question plaguing the CNMI. “How do we learn English, perfect English, embrace English, but at the same time, embrace the language of our heritage so that we can be rooted in our culture and effective in the global economy?”

Betances relayed to the high school students in attendance the significance of language, besides the usual means of communication.

“Language identifies us; we belong to a language group. Language is an umbilical cord to culture; it’s what gives continuity to a particular people. Language is a way by which we can also become competent and become educated, because on this island, we need to know more than one language, because language enables us to connect to the world of work as well as our heritage,” said Betances poetically.

“Language is the vehicle that allows us to practice cultural sovereignty and personal sovereignty, so that we could be happy with who we are. God does not make junk; sometimes the outsider comes in and tell us, ‘[English] is better than your language,’ for you, and maybe for business, but not for heritage. So it is important that we understand to appreciate our language that connects us to our culture and how to cross that island-global divide to be effective in the workplace,” added Betances.

First lady Diann Torres shared that the CNMI is slowly creeping up the footsteps of Guam relative to the possible loss of the native tongue. “As we see today, it really is dying. Guam is doing everything they can to save the language, and we don’t want to get there. We are slowly getting there, but if we start now, we will save it,” said Torres.

The first lady shared that at the Torres residence only Chamorro can be spoken. “Honestly, we try to keep it 100 percent Chamorro at home. When my kids come home from school, they start speaking English and I pretend to not understand them. We constantly remind them to speak Chamorro.”

Torres also mentioned that they are trying to make this a family thing. “We also reach out to our family, my mom, dad, brothers, and sisters, to speak to my kids in Chamorro, and that goes for my nieces and nephews as well.“

Torres said that the symposium is important to the students not only for motivating them to speak the language, but also for getting the full cultural experience that comes with the language. “I think symposiums such as these are important because they don’t get it at home. That’s one thing that I learned yesterday, we do speak Chamorro 100 percent, but what we are lacking at home, is practicing some of these. The little things, like buying the kamyu, and I actually thought about that, have my kids do that, and just experiencing the culture and some practices.”

When asked for her thought on culture and heritage hindering economic growth, Torres responded with, “We are really just protecting the culture and the language because we do have a lot of influences outside coming in, and we see that growing. If we start now, we’ll save it.”