Just because I’m living in the States now doesn’t mean that I have left island life far behind. There are many mainland communities with sizable island populations. Living in Erie there is a sizable Palauan population, though mostly our family and relatives. Fort Wayne (IN) has a good size Carolinian community, though again, mostly my son-in-law’s family and relatives. If you live here long enough it is not difficult to link with other island families and expand the network of island people who socialize and keep island community alive.
Our granddaughter is making her First Communion soon. What began as a small family celebration is turning into a major island celebration with Samoan, Hawaiian and even New Zealand friends joining and offering a variety of island treats (tapioca, taro and coconut milk, etc.) and even a pit roasted pig.
A good friend of my daughter’s husband is Samoan and an accomplished tattoo artist. He does tattoos in Samoan and New Zealand styles. He lives in South Bend (IN) and his work has become popular among members of the island community in Indiana. My youngest son is rapidly covering much of his body in traditional sleeve and body designs; though the designs are probably more Polynesian than Micronesian. Having been raised on the mainland, the tattoos seem to be a way for him to assert an island identity; as well as to glory in being different, rather than to feel isolated by his differences.
Culture is important to our sense of identity; out understanding of who we are and our place in the world. Culture shapes our relationships with other people. Culture gives us the stories that shape our values, hopes and dreams. Culture gives us the words, ideas and customs that are the substance of our daily lives. Living in the islands, our culture is simply the way things are. We breath it in with the air and don’t pay much attention to it. It is simply there.
We might notice it if we stop and think about how things were a few decades ago and how our culture has changed. There are other influences now, as the population demographics of the Mariana Islands has shifted over the years, and these outside influences have brought about some changes to life and culture. Some practices may have evolved a bit; novenas may be shorter. Fiestas may be less elaborate. This is to be expected, as culture is a “living” thing. It reflects the lives of the people who make up the cultural community. As the community and its people experience change, that change is reflected in their culture.
Living on the mainland, islanders are under a lot of subtle pressure to adapt to the dominant American culture of the region where they live. That dominant culture can be the “white American middle class” consumerist culture, the “Black Culture” experience, the Hispanic cultural experience, even the Native American experience is an option some places. About the only place where it is relatively easy to fit in as an islander is in Hawaii.
Most of my youngest son’s friends are from the Black community and he functions comfortably in that context, even though he attempts to assert his island identity in various ways, including the tattoos. The older kids tend to have more friends in the Hispanic community or in other Pacific communities, such as the Philippines. While all of this opens the young people to a wide variety of cultural experiences and helps them to appreciate cultural differences, it keeps them at the margins of society much of the time. They are always the outsider. So, when islanders get together and simply be who they are, it is something to be savored here on the mainland. That the excuse for the get-together is a First Communion is an added blessing as it ties into the Church and a cultural practice that is relatively common in the Mariana Islands.
Island life continues even far away from the Pacific Islands, as long as there is an island community who remembers who they are and want to keep that memory alive. God bless them, one and all!