Theresa Hill Arriola (also known as Isa Arriola) is a Northern Mariana Islander

cultural anthropologist Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portman ...

and indigenous rights activist from

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, who lectures in critical Indigenous studies in the department of sociology and anthropology at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. She is also the chair of Our Common Wealth 670, an organisation that advocates for demilitarisation of the Pacific

territories of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and Indian reservation, tribal reservations as ...

Biography

Arriola was born in Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands and is

Chamorro Chamorro may refer to: * Chamorro people, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific * Chamorro language, an Austronesian language indigenous to The Marianas * Chamorro Time Zone, the time zone of Guam and the Northern Mari ...

. She attended the Northern Marianas Academy. She studied at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

for a BA in History, then for her MA in Anthropology from the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...

. She studied for her doctorate at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated in 2021. Her thesis explored the how militarism intersects with indigenous identities and the environment in the NMI, with a particular focus on the

and

Refaluwasch Carolinians are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people. They are also known as ''Remathau'' in the Yap's outer islands. The Carolinian word means "People ...

peoples. In 2017 she was awarded a grant by the

Wenner-Gren Foundation Axel Lennart Wenner-Gren (5 June 1881 – 24 November 1961) was a Swedish entrepreneur and one of the wealthiest men in the world during the 1930s. Early life He was born on 5 June 1881 in Uddevalla, a town on the west coast of Sweden. He w ...

to explore the overlapping territorial claims made by the US military and the indigenous Chamorro people. In 2018 she joined the Board of the Northern Marianas Humanities Research Council, and has held the positions of Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. As of 2021 she is Assistant Professor of Critical Indigenous Studies in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at

. She is a member of the Association for Social Anthropologists in Oceania. She is Chair of Our Common Wealth 670, an organisation that advocates for "demilitarisation throughout the Marianas archipelago". She has argued publicly that levels of American military involvement in the region are unsustainable. She has also voiced concern that the US military will look at the Mariana archipelago as an alternative location for its military bases on

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. The organisation, led by Arriola, has encouraged opposition to the US Navy's plans to extend destructive military training in the region.

Publications

*Arriola, T. (2020). "Scenes from Everyday Life in the Northern Mariana Islands during the COVID-19 Pandemic," ''Oceania''. *Arriola, T. (2020). "Securing Nature: Militarism, Indigeneity and the Environment in the Northern Mariana Islands". ''UCLA''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arriola, Theresa H. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American educators 21st-century American anthropologists 21st-century American women scientists Chamorro people Cultural anthropologists Northern Mariana Islands activists Northern Mariana Islands academics People from Saipan Brown University alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Academic staff of Concordia University American women anthropologists