Music of the Northern Mariana Islands

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The Northern Mariana Islands are an island chain dependency of the United States. The native people are Chamorro and their folk music remains an important part of the islands' culture, though elements of music left by American, German, Spanish and Japanese colonizers can be seen. There are both Carolinian and Chamorro traditional chant styles. A variant of the Spanish cha-cha-chá is popular, as is a Carolinian "stick dance" which combines improvised percussion and foot stomping A well-known stick dance group is the Talabwog Men Stick Dancers.

The national anthem of the Northern Mariana Islands is "Gi Talo Gi Halom Tasi" (in Chamorro, "Satil Matawal Pacifico" in Carolinian), which was adopted on October 1996. The song's melody comes from a German tune, "Im Schonsten Wiezengrunde".^[1]

Music festivals in the Northern Mariana Islands include the Fiestan Luta, an annual celebration.