The Indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian people of Saipan identify as having an ancestral connection with the sea that they continue to maintain to this day as they engage in daily activities within their seascape. In 2008, during discussions about the development of a WWII maritime heritage trail in Saipan, Indigenous community members identified a lack of archaeological research on ‘‘maritime-related’’ aspects of their past. As a result, we conducted a project in 2013 to record archaeological sites, oral histories, lived experiences and contemporary understandings of maritime-related heritage and lifeways to define the Indigenous seascape and connection with the sea. The community team documented oral histories, memories and lived experiences, and assessed previous archaeological surveys and historical data for relevant information. The community identified the project as a worthwhile endeavor to record both tangible and intangible heritage and preserve the history and achievements of Chamorro and Carolinian culture regarding their connections with the sea. For her thesis, Julie Mushynsky used this project as a foundation to examine Indigenous coastal and submerged sites and learn about Indigenous maritime cultural landscapes and seascapes in Saipan (Mushynsky 2011).
More information about this project can be found here.