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Explorers
The Spanish arrived in the Mariana Islands in the 1500s. Noel
discusses some aspects of their early influence, and the interaction
between the Spanish and the Chamorro society.
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Missionaries
Spanish missionaries in the Marianas led to wars that resulted in the
forced relocation of most of Chamorro population to Guam. While Chamorro
culture there was being transformed under the Spanish, Carolinians arrived
in the Northern Marianas.
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Colony
The arrival of Germans brought on changes to the Northern Marianas.
Georg Fritz, the German administrator on Saipan, was distinguished for
his light hand. The arrival of the Japanese brought a different kind
of administration, and much greater changes.
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People
Under the two colonial regimes, local cultures in the Northern Marianas
underwent gradual transformation. But with the rise of Japanese plantation
agriculture, local people were quickly outnumbered by imported laborers
from East Asia.
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Aftermath
The Japanese era was a time of major developments, particularly on Saipan.
In many ways, this era is remembered fondly, though the social hierarchy
was unfavorable to local people. Jesus and Rosa
Castro remember this time.
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