GANI REVISITED: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE MARIANA ARCHIPELAGO’S NORTHERN ISLANDS

Authors

Scott Russell, Division of Historic Preservation, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Abstract

The small volcanic islands composing the northern half of the Mariana Archipelago have received little scholarly attention, a situation resulting from their difficult access and small size. Limited archaeological research suggests that these islands, now commonly referred to as the “Northern Islands,” were settled by at least a.d. 1300, and at the time of initial European contact in the early 1500s, all but two had sizable resident populations. During the early mission period, the Northern Islands were the last strongholds of traditional Chamorro culture until their residents were forcibly resettled into church villages on Saipan and Guam in the late 1690s. For the next 250 years a succession of colonial regimes used the islands principally as sites for small-scale economic development, a process interrupted by World War II. This article presents an initial overview of this long-neglected part of the Mariana Islands, which, in spite of a challenging environment, has been the stage for a wide variety of human activities for at least the last seven hundred years.

Recommended Citation

Russell, Scott (1998) "GANI REVISITED: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE MARIANA ARCHIPELAGO’S NORTHERN ISLANDS," Pacific Studies: Vol. 21: No. 3, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol21/iss3/6