Chailang Palacios

Last updated
Chailang Palacios
Born1940s
Nationality Northern Mariana Islands

Chailang Palacios is a Chamorro activist, teacher, and speaker from Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. She is a vocal opponent of nuclear weapons tests and is an advocate for international indigenous rights.

Biography

Palacios was born in the early 1940s in Saipan. She worked as a Chamorro heritage custodian and a teacher. [1]

In the 1980s, she advocated against Japanese dumping nuclear waste in the Mariana Trench. In 1984, she travelled to the United Kingdom with Maori elder Titewhai Harawira to speak on the topic of preventing nuclear dumping, as well as bringing attention to the rights to women of Chamorro background or other indigenous groups. As a result of that tour, British women formed the Women for a Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific, a group which sought to garner support for those same issues. [2] The group also raised funds in order to allow more indigenous women to travel to the United Kingdom to tell their stories. [1]

In 2015, she was a member of the TASA Role Model council, a group based in Tanapag, Achugao, San Roque, and As Matuis which seeks to improve the health of those living in that region. [3] Chailang has also spoken out against the tourism industry in the Northern Marianas, stating that its costs outweigh its benefits. She claims that tourism increases natural degradation and harms local culture. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Mariana Islands</span> Commonwealth of the United States

The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is an unincorporated territory and commonwealth of the United States consisting of 14 islands in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The CNMI includes the 14 northernmost islands in the Mariana Archipelago; the southernmost island, Guam, is a separate U.S. territory. The Northern Mariana Islands were listed by the United Nations as a non-self governing territory until 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saipan</span> Capital city of the Northern Mariana Islands

Saipan is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, the population of Saipan was 43,385, a decline of 10% from its 2010 count of 48,220.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinian</span> Political division of the Northern Mariana Islands

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas. Tinian's largest village is San Jose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana Islands</span> Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean

The Mariana Islands, also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east. They lie south-southeast of Japan, west-southwest of Hawaii, north of New Guinea and east of the Philippines, demarcating the Philippine Sea's eastern limit. They are found in the northern part of the western Oceanic sub-region of Micronesia, and are politically divided into two jurisdictions of the United States: the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and, at the southern end of the chain, the territory of Guam. The islands were named after the influential Spanish queen Mariana of Austria following their colonization in the 17th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamorro people</span> Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands

The Chamorro people are the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the encompassing Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. Today, significant Chamorro populations also exist in several U.S. states, including Hawaii, California, Washington, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Nevada, all of which together are designated as Pacific Islander Americans according to the U.S. Census. According to the 2000 Census, about 64,590 people of Chamorro ancestry live in Guam and another 19,000 live in the Northern Marianas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pagan (island)</span> Island of the Northern Mariana Islands

Pagan is a volcanic island in the Marianas archipelago in the northwest Pacific Ocean, under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It lies midway between Alamagan to the south, and Agrihan to the north. The island has been largely uninhabited ever since most of the residents were evacuated due to volcanic eruptions in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latte stone</span>

A latte stone, or simply latte, is a pillar capped by a hemispherical stone capital (tasa) with the flat side facing up. Used as building supports by the ancient Chamorro people, they are found throughout most of the Mariana Islands. In modern times, the latte stone is seen as a sign of Chamorro identity and is used in many different contexts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benigno Fitial</span>

Benigno Repeki Fitial is a Northern Marianan politician who served was the seventh governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The second longest-serving governor in CNMI history, Fitial was elected on November 6, 2005, assumed office on January 9, 2006, and was re-elected to a (five-year) second term in 2009. He was impeached by the CNMI House of Representatives on February 11, 2013, and was scheduled to face trial before the CNMI Senate to determine if he should be removed from office. He resigned on February 20, 2013, after 7 years, 1 month, and 11 days in office.

Saipan Sucks (SaipanSucks.com) was a politically and socially critical website about the United States's Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), particularly its principal island Saipan. The website sought to call attention to what it alleged to be systemic societal corruption in the CNMI. It was in existence between 2001 and September 2014, and was reported on in a variety of ways in local, regional, and international newsprint and magazine outlets, on ABC Radio Australia, and Internet forums and blogs. The website was the subject of intense debate and scrutiny by the CNMI government, which threatened to sue the website's author. In contrast, the site's author is celebrated in the 2012 novel The Master Blaster by writer and former Saipan Peace Corps Volunteer P. F. Kluge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of the Northern Mariana Islands</span> Overview of and topical guide to the Northern Mariana Islands

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Northern Mariana Islands:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Northern Mariana Islands-related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolinian people</span> Ethnic group

Carolinians are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people. They are also known as Remathau in the Yap's outer islands. The Carolinian word means "People of the Deep Sea." It is thought that their ancestors may have originally immigrated from Asia and Indonesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is Carolinian, called Refaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Carolinians have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs. Most Carolinians are of the Roman Catholic faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the Northern Mariana Islands</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the Northern Mariana Islands have evolved substantially in recent years. Same-sex marriage and adoption became legal with the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges in June 2015. However, the U.S. territory does not ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, except in relation to government employees. Gender changes are legal in the Northern Mariana Islands, provided the applicant has undergone sex reassignment surgery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Torres</span> Northern Marianan politician (R), incumbent governor of the Northern Mariana Islands

Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres is a Northern Marianan politician, who served as the ninth governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, from December 29, 2015 to January 9, 2023. He is a Republican from Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The third longest-serving governor in CNMI history, Torres took office upon the death of Governor Eloy Inos on December 29, 2015 before being reelected as governor in his own right in 2018. He previously served as the tenth lieutenant governor, having been elected to that post in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NMI Museum of History and Culture</span> History museum in Garapan, Saipan

The NMI Museum of History and Culture, also known as the NMI Museum, is a museum in Garapan, Saipan hosting exhibitions about the Chamorro and Carolinian people and also displays artifacts, documents, textiles, and photographs from the Spanish, German, Japanese, and American periods in the Northern Mariana Islands. The museum has repatriated a significant number of historic objects from the Marianas that were held nationally and internationally in private collections and by foreign museums, companies, and militaries. More than one million dollars has been invested in its collections. The historical buildings on the grounds have been renovated to preserve them, prevent further deterioration, and safeguard visitors. The museum is located across from Sugar King Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Northern Mariana Islands gubernatorial election</span> Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Tennessee

The 2022 Northern Mariana gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022 to elect the governor of the Northern Mariana Islands and the lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands to a four-year term in office. Because no candidate received 50% of the vote in the general election, the two highest-placing candidates advanced to a runoff election on November 25, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David M. Apatang</span> Northern Mariana Islands politician (born 1948)

David Mundo Apatang is a Northern Mariana Islander politician who is serving as the 13th lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands since 2023. He previously served as the mayor of Saipan from January 12, 2015 to January 8, 2023. As a Republican, Apatang formerly served in the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives. Apatang was elected lieutenant governor of the Northern Mariana Islands in the 2022 election on an independent ticket headed by Arnold Palacios.

Theresa Hill Arriola is a Northern Mariana Islander cultural anthropologist and indigenous rights activist from Saipan, who lectures in critical Indigenous studies in the department of sociology and anthropology at Concordia University. She is also the chair of Our Common Wealth 670, an organisation that advocates for demilitarisation of the Pacific territories of the United States.

Elizabeth Diaz Rechebei is a Northern Mariana Islander academic. One of the first Chamorro women to receive a graduate education, she went on to hold several educational leadership roles on the islands, including director of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands' Department of Education and head of the Northern Mariana Islands' public school system.

References

  1. 1 2 "Weaving the Web/inars: Pacific Women Say 'NO!' to Nuclear Colonialism". Greenham Women Everywhere. 28 August 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  2. "70 Inspiring Women: Chailang Palacios". Pacific Community. 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  3. "CHL Team and TASA role models receive WHO Healthy Islands Recognition 2015 award". CHL Pacific. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  4. De Ishtar, Zohl (1994). Daughters of the Pacific. Spinifex Press. ISBN   1875559329.