Cultures of commemoration: The politics of war, memory and history in the Mariana Islands

Most studies on World War II in the Pacific explore the relationships between Japan and the United States. As a result, Japanese and Americans figure prominently in diplomatic, social, military and economic studies of World War II. Rarely do any of these studies seriously consider the role of Pacific Islanders as actors and narrators of the war. This dissertation addresses the issue of Pacific Islander representation in the historical record of World War II. Its purpose is to examine the social construction of memories of the war in the Mariana Islands, and the degree to which they are informed by the politics of colonialism, indigenous cultural agency and, finally, commemoration. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, this dissertation focuses on the indigenous Chamorro people of the Mariana Islands and their experiences with and memories of Japanese and American colonialism in the twentieth-century. This project thus contributes to comparative and indigenous-centered studies of colonialism, conflict and commemoration in the Pacific and elsewhere.