U.S. #2804

1993 29¢ Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

·      Issued to celebrate the Northern Mariana Islands becoming a US territory

·      Part of a loose series of stamps honoring former UN Trust Territories

Stamp Category:  Commemorative

Set:  Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands

Value:  29¢

First Day of Issue:  November 4, 1993

First Day City:  Saipan, MP (Mariana Islands)

Quantity Issued:  87,270,000

Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Printing Method:  Lithographed and Engraved

Format:  Panes of 20; Offset printing plates of 80, Intaglio printing sleeves of 160

Perforations:  11.1 x 11.1

Why the stamp was issued:  To celebrate the Northern Marianas change from a Trust Territory to a commonwealth of the United States.

About the stamp design:  Hawaiian artist Herb Kane provided the artwork for this stamp, using gouache, a type of opaque watercolor.  The stamp features the flag of the Northern Marianas, two latte stones, palm trees, and a native woman.  Latte stones are tall limestone columns that the ancient Chamorro culture of the islands used to build their houses.  These stones stood in the four corners, holding up the rafters.  Some of these stone structures can be found today on the island of Rota. 

The flag of the Northern Marianas pictures a latte stone surrounded by a mwáár ir mar-mar.  The mwáár is a traditional Carolinian (referring to the Southwest Pacific culture) wreath, and represents unity among the islands of the region. The wreath encircles the central image of a single white star shown over a latte stone.

Special design details:  Herb Kane’s original artwork for this stamp pictured a preliminary version of the Northern Marianas flag.  He received a cloth replica of the official flag and re-painted it to make it accurate.

About the printing process:  Stamp was printed on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s six-color offset, three-color intaglio webfed D press. 

First Day City:  Stamp was issued at the Convention Center on Capitol Hill in the Northern Marianas seat of government on Saipan.  The first day of issue was Citizenship Day, celebrating the day in 1986 that resident of the Northern Marianas were officially made US citizens. 

About the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands stamps:   In 1947, the United Nations established the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Administered by the US government, the territory consisted of the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands (except Guam), the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Palau Islands.

In the 1980s, the US and the Trust Territory developed the Compact of Free Association (COFA). This compact was an agreement in which the US government agreed to help each of the included nations to develop their own self-governments and become independent as they saw fit. The compact was approved by Micronesia and the Marshall Islands in 1986. It was several years before Palau was able to approve the compact and the Northern Marianas instead chose to become a US commonwealth.

In 1980, the USPS began planning stamps to honor the territories. It was originally going to be a block of four.  But as the territories were in different stages of the process, the stamps were released when the timing was appropriate.  The first two stamps featuring Micronesia and the Marshall Islands (US #2507-07) were issued in 1990.  Micronesia and the Marshall Islands produced similar stamps in a joint issue to mark the occasion.  This Northern Marianas stamp was not a joint issue, because as a US commonwealth, the Northern Marianas use US stamps.  The final stamp in the series honoring Palau (US #2999) was issued in 1995 and was also a joint issue.

History the stamp represents:  An expedition led by Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 was the first European contact with the native Chamorro.  Magellan landed on Guam, explored the neighboring islands, and called the group the “Islands of the Lateen Sails,” named after the out-rigger sailboats used by the natives.

The initial meeting between Magellan and the Chamorro went poorly.  Chamorro natives stole a boat from the Spanish, who retaliated by burning down a village of about 40 homes and killing half a dozen residents.  The Spanish left and Magellan renamed the islands the “Islands of Thieves.”  The name remained for more than a century.  The Spanish claimed the islands as part of the Spanish East Indies, governed from the Philippines.  

Spanish missionaries began visiting the islands in the 17th century.  In 1668, Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores established a mission on nearby Guam and renamed the islands the “Mariana Islands,” after Spanish Queen Regent Mariana of Austria.  But relations grew worse after a few years, and a Spanish-Chamorro War began that lasted for more than 20 years.  Ultimately, the Chamorro were nearly wiped out, and the Spanish forced the few remaining to live on Guam.

Natives from the East Caroline Islands (to the south) populated the Marianas in the absence of the Chamorro, starting in the early 1800s.  The Chamorro, whose population slowly recovered after the war with the Spanish, were eventually able to return, and both cultures have lived there since.  Today, both the Chamorro and Caroline languages are accepted as official languages in the Northern Marianas, along with English.

Spanish power declined throughout the 19th century, culminating in a resounding defeat in the Spanish-American War in 1898.  As a result, Spain ceded Guam to the United States and sold the Northern Mariana Islands (as well as the Caroline and the Marshall Islands) to Germany.  German possession lasted until World War I when Japan declared war on Germany and took control of the Marianas.

Following the war, the League of Nations (predecessor to the United Nations) granted Japan a mandate to govern the islands.  The Japanese improved agriculture and concentrated on sugar cane production.  The fishing industry also became more successful.  Northern Mariana’s population grew quickly as many immigrants came from Japan and Okinawa.

Japan left the League of Nations in 1935.  By then, the population of the Marianas had grown to more than 30,000, of which only a fraction was native to the islands.  As tensions mounted in the Pacific and war appeared inevitable, Japanese military forces grew to nearly 30,000 on Saipan.

The strategic location of the Mariana Islands made the islands a key focus in World War II.  Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it took several years for the US to conquer Japan’s ring of fortified islands and reach the Marianas.

Finally, in June 1944, the US fleet surrounded Saipan and Tinian and began their assault.  Bitter fighting lasted for nearly a month before American control of the islands was established.  The Marianas were also the site of the last major naval battle of the war in the Pacific, which the US won.  More than 240 Japanese planes were shot down in what came to be called the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.”  Twenty-nine American planes were lost.

Besides acting as an important springboard for further US military action, the Marianas had one other important role in the war.  The small island of Tinian was the launching pad for the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb.  Six years after the war ended, 18 Japanese survivors hiding on the island of Anatahan were the last to surrender.

Following WW II, the United Nations included the Marianas as part of the “Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,” under US administration.  The Trust Territory included Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia, with Saipan as the administrative capital.  In 1986, the United Nations concluded that the US had satisfied its obligation as an administrator.  Several islands became independent states, while others – such as the Northern Marianas – sought to increase ties with the US.  The Northern Marianas had begun negotiations for US Territory status in 1972 and formed a commonwealth in 1978.  It became a self-governing entity in union with the US, and on November 4, 1986, it was officially established as a US territory and all eligible residents were granted US citizenship.

Once full relations with the United States was established, the economy of the Northern Marianas began to improve, although it still relies heavily on US federal assistance.  Tourism became a major industry, coming primarily from Japan.  Tourism now accounts for half the working force and a quarter of the economy.  The dominant industry, however, is textiles.  The Northern Marianas are able to take advantage of more relaxed labor laws than are found elsewhere in the United States.  At the same time, the Marianas are not subject to tariffs and taxes on imported clothing.  Large numbers of foreign-born workers (mostly from China) make up a sizable portion of the labor force.