A WEEK after Rota opened its Chamorro Village Cultural Center, Saipan also opened its own on Capital Hill on Saturday morning.
The opening was in partnership with the Indigenous Affairs Office and organizers said it marked a new era for cultural experts and the community.
The Chamorro/Carolinian Cultural Center is designed to preserve indigenous cultures and traditions and keep then alive for the future generations.
Inetnon Åmot yan Kutturan Natibu/Mwiischil Safey me Kkoor Aramasal Falúw, or IAKN/MSKAF, the Association of Native Medicine and Culture president Isidoro T. Cabrera said they will be adding more displays and exhibits at the newly opened cultural center.The Center was funded by the grant from the U.S. Administration for Native Americans through IAKN/MSKAF, a non-profit organization created to support traditional healing and preserve indigenous culture in 2007.
The $245,385 grant was aimed to establish cultural village centers on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
(Indigenous Affairs officials and island leaders cut the ribbon during the opening of the Chamorro/Carolinian Village Cultural Center on Saturday. From right- Cong. Greg Kilili Sablan, Administration of Native American grant consultant Lino M. Olopai, cultural expert Andrew Rapoulug, Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos, Indigenous Affairs resident executive Ignacio DLG Demapan, ANA Grant project director Manny F. Borja, and Association of Native Medicine and Culture president Isidoro T. Cabrera. Photo by Raquel C. Bagnol)
The center on Rota was opened on March 19. The one on Tinian may be opened next year, Cabrera said.
The cultural center, he added, will offer classes for weaving, wood and stone carving, preparing traditional medicines and on other subjects that preserve Chamorro/Carolinian culture and traditions.
The center has invited local artist Noel Quitugua who arrived here from Washington last week and will be staying until May 12.
Quitugua, who created the miniature Chamorro house now displayed at the CNMI Museum, will be giving lectures to students, teachers and the community about authentic Chamorro houses, tools and canoes and how to make miniatures to preserve this craft.
The Saipan center is located at 1213 Capitol Hill Rd., across from the Workforce Investment Agency office and below the Board of Parole Office. For more information, call 322-0278.

He processed the negatives, inserted them into individual folders, and turned the results over to the front desk day after day.
Blossoms Floral Depot office manager Carlyn DLG. Hofschneider said Valentine’s has always been their busiest week but this is one time of the year where individual preferences are being given top priority.
The first annual sweet potato festival on Rota was in progress and guests had a grand time forking food into their plates and sampling the delights laid out on the table. From simple grilled sweet potato to the most complicated pies, tarts, cakes, fritters and other colorful and appetizing desserts to casseroles blended with herbs and spices, salads — everything was gone in a few minutes, and one could already hear the rave reviews of the guests.
The Rota Chamorro Village Cultural Center at the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs resident office in Songsong was officially opened on Saturday morning.
Juggling her diversified chores as marketing officer/human resource department head and executive secretary of McDonald’s Saipan president/owner Joe Ayuyu is not an easy task, but prioritizing is the name of the game, and before Anna Olaes leaves her table to do a routine check on how things are going at the fastfood, she has her day mapped out before her.
Imagawa Kayo, a 31-year-old office secretary from Osaka, Japan, bested 112 other players when she maximized her bet and ended with 21,200 chips in the final round on Saturday night.
Young entrepreneurs Rob Travilla, Chris Santos, and Dustin Camacho, who all have regular jobs, planned to put up a store where they can introduce urban culture to the islands, develop their talents and skills in arts, and earn at the same time.