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Conference seeks to ‘rekindle’ Marianas historical narratives
The Northern Marianas Humanities Council’s 3rd Marianas History Conference will start today at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan, focused on “rekindling” the historical narratives of Guam and the Marianas.
Humanities Council executive director Scott Russell said the conference hasn’t been done in the last four years.
The third conference was originally scheduled for 2015, but got pushed back another two years due to Typhoon Soudelor.
The 3rd Marianas History Conference will have three keynote speakers and 36 presentations that all relate to Marianas history, Russell said.
The focus of the conference will rotate among historical events that have happened in the Marianas.
This conference will also focus on patching together the Guam and Marianas historical narratives and possibly restore the two islands’ tied history.
According to Russell, the CNMI and Guam once shared the same history over 4,000 years ago, but got separated in the last 120 years as a result of the Spanish-American War.
“We’re trying to bring the narratives back together, that’s why we have the theme ‘One Archipelago, Many Stories,’” said Russell.
Russell said the conference would feature professional historians, vocational historians, and non-academic historians. “We have opened up our conference for more than just academics.”
The conference is free of charge, from 9am to 5pm today and tomorrow.
“You’re going to learn a lot, I know I’m going to learn a lot and, if you want to know the history and culture of the Marianas, come on out,” said Russell.
Local historian Don Farrell, who was a speaker at the last history conference, urges the community to come out and hear the different topics and presentations today.
According to Farrell, “come to this conference and listen to the people who write the encyclopedia…it’s much more personal, much more dynamic.”
