Mariana Islands Wartime Experiences through Oral Histories

For the Mariana Islands Wartime Experiences through Oral Histories fellowship, Dr. Jennifer Craig worked with partners at Guampedia who recognize the coexistence of spirit and living to conduct a reciprocal process of curation on content for public consumption and embrace fatoigue taotaomo’ma (places and people visited by  ancestral spirits). The fellowship aims to connect ancestors with descendants by engaging in inåfa’maolek para mo’na mañatatti (restoring harmony/balance moving forward or for future generations). Specifically, the project connects ancestor to descendent by sharing oral histories long forgotten in the National Park Services collection — by digitizing the videos and audio to make them accessible. Additionally, the progress project is shared in regular community gatherings.  

From the National Park Service perspective, Dr. Craig’s fellowship has provided the opportunity to do work that is long overdue, but that the parks have not had the capacity to address adequately. “Through the work of Dr. Jennifer Craig, we have been able to better understand the wealth of resources we have and can now begin the process of  finding appropriate and thoughtful ways to make them accessible to the communities they came from and  beyond. In addition, the fellowship has fostered a deeper partnership with Guampedia that we look  forward to growing in years to come.  

Through the fellowship, we have been able to develop an inclusive approach to making accessible oral  histories that have been sitting for nearly 40 years. The Fellow has worked with NPS, partners, and  families to ensure this is done in a culturally sensitive and appropriate manner throughout the layers and  partnerships. Critical to this has been empathy for the stories, those sharing the stories, the people  working with these traumatic war memories and our communities,” the National Park service stated.

Dr. Craig’s work expands collections-based research with heart-centered archaeology and relational practices. In her work, Dr. Craig poses and answers scholarly questions by excavating archaeological collections. Dr. Craig excavates the contents of boxes and old catalogs found deep in repositories, with associates (both living and haunting). Repositories are generated over a period of decades by academic institutions, government agencies, museums, volunteer organizations, and cultural resource management firms. Dr. Craig aims to bring heart-centered archaeology practices to material culture and outreach to peoples with relations.