ABOUT

Inetnun Kutturan Natibun Marianas/Kkoor Aramasal Marianas (IKNM/KAM)

Chronology of the Association

• • February 13, 2007: Chartered as the Inetnun Amut Natibu/Ammwelil Safeyal Faluwasch (IAN/ASF). President: Emilio Ayuyu; Vice-President, Isidoro Cabrera.
  • March 1, 2010: Chartered as Inetnun Amut yan Kutturan Natibu/Mwiischil Safey e Kkoor Aramasal Faluw. President: Isidoro Cabrera; Vice President, Catalino (Lino) Olopai.
  • September 16, 2021 until present: Chartered as Inetnun Kutturan Natibun Marianas/Kkoor Aramasal Marianas (IKNM/KAM). President: Isidoro Cabrera; Vice-President: Arsene Borja.

The Association expanded its focus to include not only about traditional healers and healing but also related to other cultural practices and languages of the Chamorro and Carolinian peoples in the Northern Mariana Islands. Manuel Flores Borja was hired as the Association’s Project Director during the first few years of the association and later served on a voluntary capacity until 2020. Other members of the Association served in revolving roles (Treasurer, Cindy Reyes; Secretary, Frances Sablan). In 2022, Frances Sablan was elected treasurer and Marjorie Daria as Secretary. Manuel F. Borja assumed the role of advisor. The current members of the Association are listed here.

The origin of the Association goes back to the ANA funded Children of Our Homeland Project at the Joeten/Kiyu Public Library. JKPL Friends of the Library, a non-profit group established to support JKPL received a grant from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) to conduct the project entitled: Children of Our Homeland. One of the major activities of this project was the first ever CNMI-Wide Conference on Traditional Healers and Healing held at the former Diamond Hotel (now the World Resort Hotel) in Susupe. Through the collaboration and strong support from various agencies in the CNMI Government especially the Department of Natural Resources, Language Commission, Indigenous Affairs, the Mayors of each of the islands and many more, the conference brought together healers from Saipan, Tinian and Rota. The conference adopted the theme about traditional healers to acknowledge them, and to protect the medicinal plants from destruction from development projects.

Of great significance was the concerted effort among the healers at the time to participate and share their knowledge, and the deep concern that was expressed by them and all the participants about the imminent loss of traditional healing practices and the plants. Subsequently, a group of volunteers was formed to establish an association focused on traditional healing issues and topics from the conference. Emilio C. Ayuyu, a well-known healer and artist, was elected as its first president. ANA funded the Association’s projects twice. The first was focused on traditional medicine related programs while the second was to establish cultural centers on Rota, Tinian, and Saipan where traditional knowledge and practices can be revitalized and recorded for future reference, including the traditional art form of kåntan Chamorrita. Community programs on traditional foods, medicine, dance, weaving, and other cultural practices were documented.  

The Association conducted numerous community projects in Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, including conferences, workshops and participated in cultural events to support the healers and traditional healing practices. The Office of Indigenous Affairs continues to be an important partner as well as the Chamorro/Carolinian Language Commission and the Office of Carolinian Affairs. Another major contribution in language is the revised CNMI Orthography (2009) in collaboration with the CNMI Chamorro/Carolinian Language Commission that adopted the “one sound, one symbol” system.

As a flow through organization to support the ongoing revision of the Chamorro/English Dictionary, the Association has partnered with the Office of Indigenous Affairs in the construction of the Guma’ Higai projects at Susupe and has received a few grants from the CNMI Humanities Council to conduct cultural talk shows with Marianas Agupa’ hosted by Glenn Manglona.  Other projects supported by the Association is the printing of the Grammar Book by Dr. Sandy Chung and the 2^nd printing of the Traditional Healers Book in three languages. Another pending publication is the Kåntan Chamorrita also funded by ANA, and soon, the publication and/or online as “living dictionary” of the revised and updated Chamorro/English Dictionary. The public will be invited to share their knowledge of the language related to certain words that still need to be edited for the dictionary.

The Association’s website featuring some of its projects and publications and presentations of Chamorro words and their meanings, usage and examples continue to expand and now includes cultural icons, traditional medicinal plants from the traditional medicine book by Manuel F. Borja and Jose S. Roppul among others.

To date, new members have joined and some members have passed on or finished their terms. The Association is now developing a 5-year strategic plan to help focus its activities based on public interest and the association’s capability. The public provided input for the strategic plan in a survey conducted in 2022. The strategic plan will be available on our website around March 2023.

We invite the public to share their thoughts about our cultures and languages by contacting us at iknmkam21@gmail.com on our website: natibunmarianas.org or by emailing us.

Thank you for visiting our website. We will try to improve and add more contents as best as we can within our limited resources and through our volunteer efforts.

…as of January 2023