Only the Dead Don't Dream
I matai ha’ na taotao ti mangguiguife” or only a dead person does not dream. Not a common Chamoru wisdom saying, but one with profound meanings on two different levels. In the first, more practical way, everyone, from the richest, to the poorest, to the happiest, to the saddest, wants something more out of life. There may be dramatic differences, and what they want may be big or small. It may rip the fabric of social reality or do nothing more that create a minute ripple. Only those who have passed away are not capable of imagining themselves or the world differently. This saying is meant to nudge someone or remind them that the point of life is change, growth, evolution. That there will be plenty of time for the opposite in death. But the saying also holds extra, critical meaning for Chamorus people as a colonized people, where not just their lands, language and culture have been stolen or hijacked, but even their ability to dream for themselves or their people. Over centur...