Grant Awards

Grant Award, First Cycle

The award recipient for the first cycle of the Council's 2010 Community Grant program was awarded to the Micronesian Archaeological Research Services (MARS), for their media project entitled, Traditional Fishing on Guam. MARS treasurer and archaeologist, Judith R. Amesbury was the project director and Darlene R. Moore, president of MARS, was the project humanities scholar. Local fishers also serve as traditional teachers for the project.

Traditional Fishing on Guam is a documentary film project about the traditional fishing methods and practices that continue to be an important aspect of Chamorro culture on Guam today. The project consists of a 30-minute film which was produced and aired on KGTF. Additionally, a 24-page booklet for members of the general public, including those interested in fishing, the environment and in indigenous culture will also be produced.

Through the project, MARS aims to preserve, document and celebrate the unique fishing traditions of Guam’s indigenous people.

MARS is a scientific and educational nonprofit organization whose purpose is the pursuit of knowledge about the origin and evolution of Micronesian cultural systems over the last few thousand years.  The organization is dedicated to the study of Micronesian archaeology and the indigenous cultures of the western Pacific.

The Guam Humanities Council, in its mission to provide quality humanities programming for Guam’s diverse population, selected the MARS project because of its focus on an important aspect of Guam’s indigenous culture examined through the humanities disciplines of history, anthropology, ethnic studies and folk life.

For more information about the MARS project, Traditional Fishing on Guam, contact the Guam Humanities Council at 472-4460/1.