§ 461. Establishment
TITLE 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS § 461. Establishment. There is hereby established a monument in memory of those beloved ones who were lost at sea surrounding the Northern Marianas and whose bodies were not recovered. Source: PL 5-45, § 2. Commission Comment: PL 5-45, the “Bodies Lost to the Sea Memorial Act of 1987,” took effect October 27, 1987. According to PL 5-45, § 1: Section 1. Short Title, Findings and Purpose. (a) Short Title. This Act may be cited as the “Bodies Lost to the Sea Memorial Act of 1987.” (b) Findings. Many men and women have been lost while at sea in the waters surrounding the Northern Mariana Islands, and in several cases the victim’s body has not been recovered and properly [interred] by our sacred customs and faith. (c) Purpose. While the loss of a loved one is a deeply mournful agony to the family under any circumstance, it is particularly heart-rending[] when the body cannot be recovered and [interred] in holy ground; where there is not [an] identifiable resting place of the body[] where bereaved family members and friends can gather and offer their prayers. It is therefore the intent and purpose of this Act to consecrate a plot of land on the island of Saipan as the final resting place of all those lost at sea and whose bodies have not been recovered, and on the plot of land to erect a monument bearing the names of the lost ones, thus providing a shrine for their souls, to be known as “NAFTAN I TASI” (Tomb of the Sea); and to provide a specific day of observance of their memory, a day when all the people of the Commonwealth would unite in prayer at this tomb or shrine for these relatives and friends.
Source: CNMI Law Revision Commission