Searching for the People of Magua'


 

In 2018, our island community was re-introduced to a place called Magua', located behind US military fences on what is today known as NCTAMS (Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam). This re-introduction was bittersweet however, since it also was coupled with the news that the remnants of the area had been destroyed by construction for the US military buildup.

Since that time however, more and more information has been unearthed about the CHamorus who once lived in Magua', from ancient settlements up until those displaced by the post-World War II US military land-takings. These revelations indicate that Magua' and its destruction may represent a failure on behalf of federal and local governments to protect Guam's cultural and historic sites.
For the first HITA Talk of 2022, author, veteran and advocate for environmental and cultural preservation on Guam Dave Lotz will be presenting "Searching for the People of Magua'," on Thursday (2/24) from 2 - 3:30 pm (ChST) live on the Guam Museum Facebook page. In this presentation, Lotz will provide a timeline of settlement in the Magua' area, from ancient times to the present and also discuss the need to strengthen Guam's historic preservation laws. He may be joined in this presentation by representatives of families who were living in the area until the 1940s and 1950s when the US military took their properties.
The HITA in HITA Talks stands for Heritage-Ideas-Traditions-Arts Talks and is a monthly education program and lecture series offered by the Guam Museum. This will be the first HITA talk offered since the start of the COVID pandemic.

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