BOOKS – Northern Marianas Humanities Council

“If there are tales of courage and endurance, they too are words of actual fact.” – Marie S. C. Castro, Without a Penny in my Pocket

The Council has supported the publication of several books, both under its ongoing Micronesian Authors Initiative and through the award of Community Grants for research and publication. The Micronesian Authors Initiative, established in 2004, gives priority to the publication of literary works of indigenous Micronesian authors.

The following titles were produced under the Council’s Micronesian Authors Initiative:

A book cover featuring a woman dressed in woven green leaves and ferns with a colorful lei of flowers around her head as she looks out over the ocean at a traditional proa with the Statue of Liberty superimposed in the background.

Legacy of a Political Union

by Edward Deleon Guerrero Pangelinan.

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2024. NMI Council for the Humanities.

Through this collection of publications and personal essays, Edward Deleon Guerrero reflects constantly on his admiration for his colleagues, and the hope he has for his people offering his first-hand experience of a pivotal time in world history. The first person from the Northern Mariana Islands to become an attorney, educated in the United States, and then Chairman of the Marianas Political Status Commission, he tells the story of the generation of survivors coaxed out of the island caves at the end of World War II and into its American age.

A Marianas Mosaic: Signs and Shifts in Contemporary Island Life

Edited by Ajani Burrell with Kimberly Bunts-Anderson.

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2023. NMI Council for the Humanities, University of Guam Press, Proa Press.

A collection of essays reflecting on various aspects of life in the Mariana islands from the woman-led movement to demilitarize the Pacific to spirituality, death and traditional medicine to cultural pride and the fashion industry, written by the people of the Marianas themselves.

Microchild: An Anthology of Poetry

by Valentine Sengebau.

Out of stock

2004. NMI Council for the Humanities. xiv + 68 pages. Foreword by Bonifacio Basilius. Illustrated with traditional Palauan images.

Microchild: An Anthology of Poetry offers a collection of poems about cultural identity, politics and love that were written by renowned Palauan poet, Valentine N. Sengebau, who spent the last 20 years of his life in the Marianas. His book was published by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council and is the inspiration for their annual Valentine N. Sengebau Poetry Competition for CNMI’s young writers. The foreword was written by Bonifacio Basilius and illustrations were of traditional Palauan images.

The Rope of Tradition: Reflections of a Saipan Carolinian

by Lino M. Olopai

Out of stock

2005. NMI Council for the Humanities. xviii + 242 pages. Bibliography. Numerous black and white and color illustrations.

The Rope of Tradition examines how indigenous cultures throughout Micronesia have undergone major changes over the six decades since the end of World War II, a situation that has been particularly acute on Saipan, the capitol island of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Written by Saipan Carolinian Lino M. Olopai with the assistance of cultural anthropologist Dr. Juliana Flinn, this account describes Mr. Olopai’s longstanding efforts to document and better understand his rich cultural heritage and to seek a balance between traditional ways and the demands of the modern world.

Estoria-Hu

by Juan A. Sanchez

$15

2009. NMI Council for the Humanities, Saipan. vii +249. Glossary.

Estoria-Hu: Tinige’ siha ginen as Tun Juan Aguon Sanchez is a collection of poems and essays written by Tun Juan Aguon Sanches and the loved ones who inspired his writing. Written in Chamorro, Tun Juan curated these personal narratives of historic events that have impacted the people of the Marianas.

Without a Penny in my Pocket: My Bittersweet Memories Before and After World War II

by Marie S.C. Castro

Out of stock

2013. Northern Marianas Humanities Council. xvi + 181. Numerous black and white photographs.

Without a Penny in my Pocket: My Bittersweet Memories Before and After World War II is a moving personal account by Marie S.C. Castro, a life-long educator born and raised on the island of Saipan in what is not the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Ms. Castro describes growing up in a traditional Chamorro family in the 1930’s, the chaos of the Battle of Saipan during WWII, her career as an educator and entrance into the Mercederian Order, and her eventual relocation – without a penny in her pocket – to Kansas City, Missouri. A rich source of information about Saipan’s history and the strength and struggles of the Chamorro people, Without a Penny in my Pocket provides a first-hand glimpse of a crucial period of Saipan history.

When Cultures Clash: Revisiting the ‘Spanish-Chamorro Wars’

by Fr. Francis X. Hezel, S.J.

$10

2015. Northern Marianas Humanities Council. viii + 99 pages. Bibliography, notes, and illustrations.

Edge of Empire: The German Colonial Period in the Northern Mariana Islands

Dr. Dirk HR Spennemann

$15

2007. Retro Spect. vii + 394 pages. Bibliography, index, and numerous maps and illustrations.

Imperial Germany’s colonial power in Micronesia was brief, but left a lasting impact. Professor Dirk H.R. Spennemann’s Edge of Empire: The German Colonial Period in the Northern Mariana Islands thoroughly examines this 15 year period (between the Spanish-American war of 1889 and the early days of World War I in October 1914), when a handful of German colonial administrators initiated education, economic and social policies that were to forever alter the future of the Northern Mariana Islands and its peoples. Compulsory schooling with instruction in Chamorro and Carolinian, private ownership of land limited to Chamorro and Carolinian homesteading programs and environmental protection are only some of the German initiatives that were both innovative and unique throughout the colonial Pacific.

Beyond Distances: Governance, Politics and Deportation to the Mariana Islands, 1870-1877

Dr. Carlos A. Madrid

$15

2006. Northern Mariana Islands Council for the Humanities. xiv + 254 pages. Apendices, index, numerous illustrations.

Beyond Distances: Governance, Politics and Deportation in the Mariana Islands from 1870 to 1877 provides insights of everyday life in the 19^th century Mariana Islands, using rare documents to bring native Chamorro voices and perspectives. Author Carlos Madrid examines the relationship between significant events in Saipan, Europe, the Philippines and Micronesia, offering a deeper understanding of local events within relevant global contexts. In doing so, this work effectively disrupts common notions of Micronesia as isolated and unaffected by events in the rest of the world.