Colonial Consequences of the Japanese Empire in the Mariana Islands

Descrizione del progetto

Riconciliazione tra popolazioni indigene e non indigene

Gli effetti negativi della colonizzazione continuano ad avere ogni giorno un impatto sulle popolazioni indigene. Il riconoscimento di un passato difficile, fatto ad esempio di scuole residenziali e di violenza di frontiera, è un modo per far avanzare il processo di riconciliazione tra popolazioni indigene e non indigene. Il progetto ColonialConsequences, finanziato dall’UE, affronterà questi temi e approfondirà le conoscenze su come i gruppi indigeni hanno negoziato la loro identità nei periodi coloniali. In particolare, si concentrerà sul colonialismo giapponese nelle Isole Marianne. I ricercatori del progetto registreranno materiali e storie orali del periodo giapponese per comprenderne le influenze sulla cultura indigena. L’obiettivo del progetto è quello di approfondire la nostra comprensione dell’imperialismo giapponese e dei suoi effetti sul popolo delle Isole Marianne.

Obiettivo

Understanding colonial cultural impacts on Indigenous ways of living have come to the fore in recent years. In 2015, both Canada and Australia have urged governments to acknowledge difficult histories such as residential schools and frontier violence in order to advance the process of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Similarly, in the Mariana Islands, scholars have focused on examining colonial impacts on Chamorro and Carolinian identity, largely in response to increased militarisation of the islands by the United States (U.S.) government. Examining the cultural identity of Indigenous peoples in the Marianas works to support Indigenous self-determination and resist further colonial actions by U.S. occupiers. Despite excellent work on Spanish and U.S. influences on Indigenous culture in the Marianas, little work has thoroughly examined the colonial cultural impact of the Japanese Empire in Micronesia. As a result, scholarship endorses a narrative that characterises Chamorro culture as a hybrid of Chamorro and Spanish or American cultural elements. Without an adequate analysis of Japanese colonial cultural impacts, we neglect to fully understand contemporary Indigenous culture in the Marianas Islands, which were occupied by three to four different colonial powers.
My project begins to address this gap by analysing the material remains of Japanese colonialism in the Mariana Islands. Working with the community, my project will record materials and oral histories from the Japanese Period in order to understand Japanese influences on Indigenous culture. The project will further our understandings of Japanese imperialism, its effects on the people of the Mariana Islands and provide necessary analytical comparisons from a part of the Mariana Islands currently underrepresented in the literature. Furthermore, this work will contribute to a growing body of research on the ways Indigenous groups negotiated their identity during colonial periods.