Family History Fireside hosts over 80 participants

A fireside chat at the beachside property of Lino Olopai last Sunday night drew over 80 participants for a project that sought to bridge the divide between the older generation and the new.

Funded by the Administration for Native Americans through the Public School System, the program, called Project Traditional Technology, was an idea that started out eight years ago as a science grant and eventually evolved into what San Vicente Elementary School students saw as an opportunity to receive technology for the school.

However, when SVES teacher and program manager Valrick Welch sought input from the community, he found out that many elders felt that technology was changing the way the youth behaved and communicated.

“They didn’t really want the technology. They said our children are coming home and, instead of eating dinner together and sharing stories, now they’re texting and are seeking [Internet connectivity] to do their homework. So they hated the technology,” he said.

Eventually, it was the combination of the students wanting technology and the elders wanting to spend time with their family that Project Traditional Technology was born. The now three-year project uses technology to preserve the elders’ stories, the main thrust of which is for students to collect stories while spending time with their elders.

“Now the children find out they really enjoy it. Before the typhoon, we were going to the man’amko every Wednesday and the elders and the students would teach each other as they interact,” Welch said.

Although this is the last year of funding for the project, Welch hopes it will continue for generations to come and he is now looking at possible ways to preserve it.

According to Welch, the fireside activity symbolizes the rebirth of storytelling, cultural identity, and preservation.

Advocates for the Chamorro and Carolinian cultures spoke during the fireside chat, sharing stories of women’s roles, oral traditions, and social and political struggles of the CNMI since the 1950s.

Olopai, who hosted the fireside chat, spoke of traditional beliefs stating that, “women are the keepers of everything. They keep whatever the clans own. From the breadfruit tree to the part of the reef.”

Despite the many difficulties brought upon indigenous people through Western contact, ultimately “we are still a community of peacemaking and respect,” he said.

The fireside chat is one of many activities leading up to the Man’amko Memorial Day Memories Program to be held on May 30 of next year.

A total of 12 stories will be chosen for the Man’amko Memorial Day Memories Program, in which students will receive a plaque, a flash drive recorder and be recognized during the event.

For more information on story guidelines, visit pttech.org or email valrick.welch@cnmipss.org.