Press Release
MAY 20, 2006, SAIPAN, CNMI - Organizers of the new "Sakman Chamorro" group met Saturday at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library to sign papers that officially created the non-profit CNMI corporation. Sakman Chamorro's 13 member board of directors will lead the community effort to revive the long lost practice of building and sailing the large Chamorro sailing canoes known as sakman.
Saipan historian and CNMI museum curator Noel Quitugua, an expert on ancient Chamorro history and society, leads the new organization that takes its name from the canoe itself. The group intends to build more than one canoe. A 40 foot sakman will be built using traditional materials and other sakmans will follow, including some made of fiberglass. The idea is not to build one and put it on display. Rather, the group envisions a day when sakmans are once again commonplace in the Mariana islands, much like the outrigger canoes are in Hawaii and the islands of Micronesia.
Says Sakman Chamorro Liason Officer Peter J. Perez, "The sakman is a uniquely Chamorro vessel because of its design -- not because of the materials used in its construction. It has an asymetrical hull that is flat on the leeward side. The outrigger always faces the wind. The bow and the stern are identical. It carries a huge amount of sail in relation to the size of the hull and it has a thin profile that cuts the water with minimum displacement. These technological features are not only what makes the sakman capable of speeds in excess of 20 knots, but they make it unique in the world. The sakman is a Chamorro invention. In olden days the Chamorros made them out of the materials at hand. We will also make them out of wood, but we will make them out of fiberglass too. It will still be a sakman."
Construction of the sakman will be based on historic and archeological evidence, some of which has only become available in recent years, thanks to the work of historians and archeologists here and around the world. First person descriptions by early European visitors to the Marianas will play an important role. This includes drawings made in 1742 by the expedition draftsman aboard Lord Anson's ship, the Centurion, during its round the world voyage. Upon their arrival at Tinian, Anson's crew captured a sakman and its crew of one Spaniard and four "Indians". While there the draftsman dismantled and measured the pieces to make the unusually detailed and precise drawing.
Funding for the Flying Proa Project will come from a variety of sources including businesses in the Marianas and from Chamorro communities worldwide. Fundraising efforts by California-based Chamorro.com includes an English Channel swim by the first all Chamorro relay team made up of six members of one family (familian Gollo). The team, whose members range in age from 18 to 51, is scheduled to make the 21 mile crossing from England to France sometime during the week of August 6-12, 2007 (the exact day depends upon the weather). Other fundraising activites will be planned for Guam and the CNMI.
Sakman Chamorro is looking for help and participation from the community. Those interested in the project can learn how they can help by contacting any of the board members, or by visiting the Sakman Chamorro website at http://www.sakmanchamorro.org.
