Quite a bit has been written about “cultural preservation”
recently. Does that mean “pickling” culture in the same manner one
preserves cucumbers in brine to prevent spoiling? A process that stops all
biological action and thereby freezes the process of decay or - God forbid
- growth? I started thinking about “culture” as it applies to the great
American ethnic “melting pot.” Since the land mass of the Western
Hemisphere consists largely of North and South America why are only U.S.
citizens referred to as “Americans” and not Mexicans, Brazilians, Canadians
and others? Even a Uruguayan is an American. Carolinians and Chamorros are
Americans and they are not even in the Western Hemisphere. It was Magellan
that caused the confusion since his landfall in 1521 resulted in the
Marianas archipelago and the Philippines being the only western oriented
societies in the Asian portion of the Eastern Hemisphere, at least on this
side of the Date Line and north of the Equator. There is no counterpart
eastern oriented society in the Western Hemisphere that I am aware of.
     What is culture anyway? Bacteria grows in it. Anything made by man
and depicted on a map is referred to as culture. I think it’s safe to state
that people think of the word in terms of past traditions and a desire to
maintain them. Some people want to “freeze” a tradition as it existed
somewhere in time and often recounted by grandparents while believing it to
be something to protect and preserve against all attempts to introduce
change. This frequently takes place through legends, song and dance and its
good that it’s done. I’m a product of 19th century women having been
influenced by my grandmother and I try to instill some of those values in
youth which, hopefully, will be carried into the 21st century. It may be a
losing battle. On the other side of the coin, today’s young students will
one day think back on the classroom culture of today’s computer lab and
wonder how anything could be accomplished on such primitive machines. So
culture changes along with one’s mindset and the march of time.
     The dictionary defines “culture” as: “the development and refinement
of mind, morals or taste. The condition thus produced; refinement. A
specific stage in the development of a civilization. The sum total of the
attainment and learned behavior patterns of any specific period, race, or
people.”
    Nehru once said, “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the
spirit.”  Matthew Arnold in the Preface to Literature and Dogma wrote:
“Culture - the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and
said in the world.”
    Selected tools for cultural enrichment are: education, exposure,
travel, language, etc. Opportunities for such enrichment can be experienced
in: museums, libraries, zoos, universities, lectures, theaters, concerts,
ethnic customs, cuisine, religions, observatories, planetariums and other
people, places and things  and, of course, profuse oratory contests, (of
which American politicians and some writers exhibit an abundant measure).
      Do people confuse “culture” with “traditions” or are they one and the
same?
      One of the problems of assimilation into the “American culture” -
what ever that may be -  is that you probably have to be in the country for
the process to take effect. For a new immigrant savoring the essence of
liberty, a metamorphosis takes place. I have yet to meet one who was not
extremely proud of his new citizenship.  People who immigrate to the United
States and are physically present in the environment are exposed to all
manner of influences both positive and negative within the American scene.
Some try to resist the erosion and dilution of the ways of the “old county”
but the process soon catches up with them - just inquire about the effect
on their  children. One thing about America is the freedom permitted to try
to compete at being the best of anything you can be. Regardless of what the
endeavor might be: basketball, singing or pickling prunes - if you reach
the top of your field in America - you are probably the best in the world.
That’s American culture. Americans freely elect the most powerful man in
the world as their leader and then verbally attack him with impunity. The
culture of America is freedom and liberty and the tool is citizenship. The
right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to
protest; the right of independent thought.  That’s why so many people want
to stay in the Northern Marianas after their work contracts expire and
choose to remain illegally. That’s one reason why U.S. and CNMI immigration
officials now have - and always will have - a problem. How did this come
about?  It’s America’s fault - America is to blame with its culture of
freedom - that “mental narcotic” of the spirit that all people seek -
independence. How did it happen in the Northern Marianas, an area dominated
for more than 400 years by the Spanish, Germans and Japanese colonialists
before finally exercising their own free will in choosing their own
destiny? A destiny sanctioned and encouraged by the United States. Here’s
how.
             At the conclusion of the Second World War the United States,
not desiring to appear as having annexed the islands by virtue of "victor's
rights", placed the islands under the supervision of the Security Council
of the  newly formed United Nations. For a nation to acquire additional
territory,  a government must either annex an area by force of arms or by
purchase from a sovereign government.The Northern Marianas was not a
permanent legal possession of Japan at the time of the war  as it had only
been entrusted to Japan under a mandate by a group of countries through
their organization - the League of Nations. Therefore, the United States
could not strip territory from defeated Japan at the conclusion of
hostilities since the islands were never recognized as a permanent legal
possession of Japan. You can’t take something from someone if you recognize
that they didn’t own it in the first place and the United States did not
recognize Japanese sovereignty over the islands.
       The people of the Northern Marianas by 78.8 percent of the votes
cast in a plebiscite held on June 17, 1975 elected to accept a negotiated
Covenant with the United States. This became U.S. Public Law 94-241 when
enacted by the United States Congress and became effective little more than
a generation ago  on April 1, 1976.  There may still be some people within
the Northern Marianas unfamiliar with the obligations and responsibilities
that are inherent in U. S. citizenship, an honor bestowed upon the
islanders  by Presidential Order.  Unlike other nationalities seeking U. S.
citizenship the people of the Northern Marianas were not required to
possess any  knowledge of American history or appreciation of the
principles of democracy as most Americans perceive them to be.  Most
foreigners seeking U. S. citizenship must study a variety of subjects
related to American history, pass an examination and swear an oath of
allegiance.  This was not required of the people of the Northern Marianas.
Nor during the period did the Trust Territory Government conduct
comprehensive educational programs for self government. Civics and the
duties of citizenship was not taught in the public schools.  To have done
so during this period of the early seventies when political preferences
were being explored -  and to have openly advocated U. S. Commonwealth
status from among the other options available to the people of the Northern
Marianas, namely, maintaining the status quo and remaining a Trust
Territory, independence or free association with the United States - would
have raised the ire of the English, French and Soviet delegates to the
United Nations and precipitate a charge of colonialism against the United
States.  The political education program, what there was of it, had to be
impartial.  So, in the early years, this may have resulted in an
educational deficiency among some in the Commonwealth as to the history of
American democracy and, indeed, an appreciation of the uniqueness of the
Northern Marianas within the American political family.
     No other United States territory or insular possession has a similar
relationship. Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American
Samoa, Guam and other Pacific possessions were all acquired under
circumstances far different than that of the Northern Marianas.
    A lot of blood and treasure has been paid to preserve American freedom,
much of it right here on Saipan. Today people risk shark attacks in the
Florida straits, sneak across the Mexican border, stow away in freezing
aircraft wheel bays, falsify documents, marry for green cards, try to
purchase illegal passports, enlist in the military or hide in dank holds of
rotting foreign ships only to get dumped off American shores to “swim for
it.” Others  attempt to bribe officials and some perhaps even murder to try
to get into the United States. Why? Because it’s the best country on earth
in spite of it’s imperfections. Once while associated with the American
Embassy in North Africa I had a Tunisian acquaintance who visited my home
every evening about dinner time and, of course, was invited to dine with my
family. The entire conversation consisted of his condemning America. One
night I got tired of it and told him that I resented his comments while
enjoying the hospitality of my home and damn near threw him out of the
house whereupon he promptly apologized and said, “I don’t mean to insult
America, it’s just that the country falls so far short of its great
potential.” Then he said, “we look at it from a distance and think if there
is no hope in America - then where is there hope?” How many nations can you
think of that offer “hope” and opportunity? With few exceptions most of
them offer despair and poverty.
     Returning to culture in America and the thoughts of Carl Sandburg: “
If she (America) forgets where she came from, if the people lose sight of
what brought them along, if she listens to the deniers and mockers, then
will begin the rot and dissolution.”
       I hear people talk about preserving their Irish American culture,
the Indian culture,  Eskimo culture, Afro-American and Hispanic culture.
America freely permits and, indeed, encourages such efforts. But I don’t
hear much about American - American cultural preservation. Being part
Scotch and German, I’m a melange, (a polite French word for mongrel), but I
have never been to Germany or Scotland - don’t know anyone there and have
no inherent affinity for either place - can’t speak German and have a hard
time with Scottish, (or is it English), so I don’t have any “old country”
heritage to preserve. I guess I’m just a common, ordinary American -
American at liberty to think and say what I please with a bar of attorneys,
a court of law and the great American judicial system to protect my right
to do so.

Back