The Northern Marianas Humanities Council and Humanities Guahan officially inked an MOU with the Amerika Samoa Humanities Council and Hawai’i Council for the Humanities, forming the Pacific Islands Humanities Network at a regional meeting amid the 13th FestPAC in Hawai’i.

Shelly Lowe is the Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“We are just really excited to be able to provide new funding to these councils for convenings and technical assistance, and to create a regional cultural network and forum,” said Lowe.

Deputy Assistant to the President & AANHPI Senior Liaison Erika Moritsugu echoed that sentiment from the White House.

“The Biden-Harris administration also understands that culture is the backbone of our society…as we deepen our cooperation with our pacific island partners,” said Moritsugu.

The MOU includes four overall goals: Foster a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration. Amplify Pacific Islander community voices and perspectives…especially as it pertains to cultural protection and climate resilience; Facilitate humanities capacity building and professional development, and strengthen community engagement and outreach.

The Northern Mariana Humanities Council and Humanities Guahan shared their comments on a panel before the signing.

“We always talked about wanting this network to elevate pacific island voices and, you know, your work to put this together and other events for us here in hawaii festpac has really helped us to do that,” said NM Humanities Council Executive Director Leo Pangelinan.

“I think something I challenged the agencies and those here to do is to think about ways, to make it accessible for us, to make it accessible for others,” said Humanities Guahan Executive Director CJ Ochoco.