Cruz: Indigenous Affairs Office should be fully funded

Cruz: Indigenous Affairs Office should be fully funded

Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:00 By Richelle Ann P. Agpoon - Variety News Intern

THE Indigenous Affairs Office must be adequately funded so it can help preserve and promote Chamorro and Carolinian cultures, Taotao Tano leader Greg Cruz said.

He said the office has failed to meet its constitutional mandates which include coordinating the development, distribution, adoption and translation of a comprehensive history of the Marianas; ensuring local participation in executive managerial decision-making in the government and the private sector; assisting and promoting local entrepreneurial development; establishing a community foundation in the advancement of the indigenous people; planning for the establishment of the Indigenous Cultural Center and the indigenous hall of fame; developing and implementing a long range plan to assist and promote the entry of the indigenous people into professional and technical institutions of higher education; and serving as an advocate of the indigenous people.

“Have any of those things materialized?” Cruz asked.
The office has yet to have a new director following the death of Gonzalo Q. Santos.