Registration is now open for three public workshops in July in Saipan, Tinian, and Rota aimed at documenting and mapping the maritime heritage sites and practices in the archipelago. Additional mapping sessions are scheduled with specific target groups toward the goal of spreading a wide net to capture community input.

The maritime mapping workshops will document maritime heritage sites and practices of both tangible (i.e. physical) and intangible aspects, including shipwrecks, canoe landings or sea lanes, fish traps, places related to origin stories, traditional fishing and gathering places, navigational aids, and other heritage related directly to Chamorro, Carolinian and other cultures’ connections to the sea.

Saipan outreach will be held on July 13 from 3-7 p.m. at Smiling Cove Marina in Garapan as part of the Saipan International Fishing Tournament Festival. The Tinian workshop will be held on July 15 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jones Beach pavilion in San Jose. The Rota workshop will be held on July 21 from 3-7 p.m. at the Rota Roundhouse in Songsong.

The workshops are conducted by East Carolina University in collaboration with local partners and supporters, including the Office of the Mayor of Rota, the Office of the Mayor of Tinian, and Team PDI.

From the shoreline to the edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone, these workshops will be looking at it all. We welcome any and everyone – young and old – who has knowledge to share in helping to create a written record of these places and practices of importance to the people of the Marianas.

Part of the larger study, Maritime Heritage of the U.S. Pacific Islands – funded by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) – the workshop welcomes heritage practitioners and knowledge holders to focused workshops based on their experience and expertise. Maps created with community input will be compiled into a community-controlled database to inform local communities and the Federal Government about heritage sites potentially impacted by Federal actions. No sensitive or personal information will be collected.
Targeted workshops will also be held on July 8 & 9 with 500 Sails, traditional navigators, and canoe builders; on July 10 from 9-11 a.m. with cultural practitioners, artists, and historians; and on July 14 from 9-11 a.m. for agencies and department employees and in the evening at the Saipan International Fishing Tournament.

If you have knowledge you would like to contribute, please stop by the fishing festival on July 13 or register for one of our other more-structured workshops. This is important work that we hope will serve the Marianas community for generations to come.

Register today at https://bit.ly/4k9nWgl. Each workshop lasts about two hours, and no prior mapping experience or materials are needed.

For more information, email Dr. McKinnon at mckinnonje@ecu.edu.