92 



COMMONWEALTH OF 



THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 



Statement of Jesus C. Borja 



June 1, 1995 



Colonial efforts to eradicate traditional seafaring skills 



During the colonial period efforts were made to eradicate 

 the seafaring skills of the indigenous people. In the 1670s open 

 warfare between the Chamorros and the Spanish had broken out 

 throughout the Marianas islands. In 1695 the Spanish adopted a 

 policy of "redducion" of the islands north of Guam. From an es- 

 timated population of about 40,000 in 1668, by 1710 only 3,539 

 Chamorros remained. The islands north of Rota were completely 

 depopulated and would remain so for more than one hundred 



o 



years. As fighting became more severe on Guam and the heavily 

 populated islands in the south, many Chamorros fled to the 

 north. During this period, the Chamorro flying proas were sys- 

 tematically destroyed by the Spanish colonial government so that 



g 

 our people would not be able to flee to other islands. 



Later, in the late 1800s, the Carolinians were prohibited 

 from sailing between islands of the Marianas by the colonial gov- 

 ernments of Spain and Germany, although they appear to have con- 

 tinued sailing the "metawal wool" back and forth to the Car- 



o 



Farrell, supra , note 1, at 177. 



J. Amesbury, R. Hunter-Anderson & E. Wells, supra , note 2, 

 at 11. 



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