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Engaging Pacific Islander Veterans and Military Families in Difficult Heritage Discussions

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Journal of Maritime Archaeology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A discussion program that engages Pacific Island veterans and military families in examining the experience of war through humanities sources including conflict heritage was recently undertaken in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The program proposes to assist the community with gaining a meaningful and relevant understanding of war as a shared human experience by exploring their local conflict heritage and assisting in integrating Pacific Islander veterans into a sociocultural position of authority in the history of war in their islands. The program is informed by theoretical and practice-based approaches in Indigenous and community archaeology, is interdisciplinary in design, and provides some consideration for future prospects in engagement with descendant and veteran communities.

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Notes

  1. Participants included the participants of the discussion program as well as the trained Discussion Leaders who eventually lead the discussion programs.

  2. According to the U.S. Census, 27,469 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander military veterans live in the U.S. with 685 in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The Marianas is the only U.S. jurisdiction without a VA medical facility, mental and physical health resources, or full-time medical staff. Many veterans must travel off-island, sometimes out of pocket, to get the care they need, and only recently has a licensed clinical social worker been recruited to be based in the Marianas.

  3. http://www.pacificmaritimeheritagetrail.com/.

  4. https://cnmiheritage.wordpress.com/.

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Acknowledgements

The project was funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities: Dialogues on the Experience of War grant. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The authors would like to thank the community of Saipan for their support, particularly the Northern Mariana Humanities Council and the National Park Service American Memorial Park. Special thanks to the Discussion Leaders who embraced the program and propelled it forward with their enthusiasm and dedication. Thanks to all the participants who devoted their evenings and weekends to discussing war, sharing their stories of survival, and opening their minds to consider conflict heritage in different ways. Finally, thanks to the LB retreat for providing a platform by which this project was generated and an avenue to pursue it from conception to publication.

Funding

This study was funded by National Endowment for the Humanities (Grant No. AV-255550-17).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Maritime Studies, East Carolina University, Greenville, USA

    Jennifer F. McKinnon

  2. College of Education, East Carolina University, Greenville, USA

    Anne S. Ticknor

  3. Department of English, East Carolina University, Greenville, USA

    Anna Froula

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  1. Jennifer F. McKinnon
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  2. Anne S. Ticknor
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  3. Anna Froula
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Correspondence to Jennifer F. McKinnon.

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McKinnon, J.F., Ticknor, A.S. & Froula, A. Engaging Pacific Islander Veterans and Military Families in Difficult Heritage Discussions. J Mari Arch 14, 167–181 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-019-09227-y

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