Colonial Consequences of the Japanese Empire in the Mariana Islands

Project Information

ColonialConsequences

Grant agreement ID: 884237

DOI

10.3030/884237

Project terminated on 31 May 2022

EC signature date 11 March 2020

Start date 15 April 2021

End date 12 November 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 172 932,48

EU contribution

€ 172 932,48

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Spain

Project description

Reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples

The negative effects of colonisation still have an impact on indigenous people every day. Acknowledging difficult histories such as residential schools and frontier violence is one way to advance the process of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. The EU-funded ColonialConsequences project will address these issues and further knowledge on how indigenous groups negotiated their identity during colonial periods. Specifically, it will focus on Japanese colonialism in the Mariana Islands. Project researchers will record materials and oral histories from the Japanese period to understand Japanese influences on indigenous culture. The aim of the project is to further our understanding of Japanese imperialism and its effects on the people of the Mariana Islands.

Objective

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.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

• humanities › history and archaeology › history

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions MAIN PROGRAMME
  
• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
  

Topic(s)

• MSCA-IF-2019 - Individual Fellowships
  

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

Call for proposal

H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA

• Net EU contribution: € 172 932,48
• Address: PLACA DE LA MERCE, 10-12 ; 08002 Barcelona ; Spain
• Region: Este › Cataluña › Barcelona
• Activity type: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Total cost: € 172 932,48