NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Years ago I was teaching a series of basic Chamoru language classes for The Hurao School, what they call Eskuelan Mañaina. These are the classes that are required for parents of children in the Hurao after school, summer camp and now charter school. They have taken on different forms, and sometimes are attended by dozens of people, sometimes a handful of people. They goal has always been to encourage the parents of children in Hurao's programs to learn and use more Chamoru, to support their children who are also learning. It is one of the sad realities, that some children have been stunted in their language growth because after being immersed in Chamoru at Hurao, they return home and then are surrounded by English.  Nowadays these classes are much more organized and sometimes are divided into different levels of learners, but when I was teaching some of them, it was everyone, fluent, not yet fluent, elders, all mixed together. Sometimes we were able to focus on lessons, drills, act...

  One of of my oldest child's Sumahi’s favorite books growing up was “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak.    She loved the artwork and the story and would sometimes request that we read it for several nights in a row. For those unfamiliar with the story, a young boy Max is causing so much havoc in the house that his mother sends him to his room without supper. While there he undertakes a journey that takes him over a great sea to the land of the wild things. He becomes the leader of the wild things and they dance and have a great time. Eventually Max grows tired of the freedom being a “wild one” gives him, and he decides to sail home. When he arrives in his room he finds he supper waiting for him; and it is still warm. Part of the difficulty with reading books to my kids is the fact that I only speak to both of them in Chamoru. Even if I am reading to them a book like “Where the Wild Things Are”  which is in English, I have to translate it as I’m readin...

There is an wonderfully engaging and educational free exhibit at the Guam Museum right now titled "Yanggen Ti Hita Pues Håyi?" which chronicles the movements for self-determination and decolonization over the past century in Guam. While the exhibit is up, community groups are taking advantage of the space and the history on the walls, to hold events and talks. It is wonderful to be in the space, surrounded by the work, voices and reminders of so many who have gone before. The Guam Bus and the Guam Commissionon Decolonization are holding one such workshop tomorrow titled "Yanggen Ti Hita Tumuge', Pues Håyi?" meaning "If We Don't Write It, Then Who?" It is free for all to attend and will take place tomorrow night, (6/3) in the Guam Museum's rotating gallery from 5:30 - 7:00 pm.   As part of the event, some local writers will share their work, Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero, a writer and head of UOG Press will offer some tips on how to get your wo...

In October 2017, I traveled with Independent Guåhan, and joined the largest delegation ever from Guam to testify at the United Nation. This was a time when North Korea threats were bring new attention to Guam, and President Trump’s rhetoric of “fire and fury” was increasing the temperature in the region. We were joined by Governor of Guam Eddie Calvo and several Guam Senators who also testified about the situation in the island. It was an important moment. After spending a few days in New York, where we spoke at different universities, talking about Chamoru history, culture, militarization in the Marianas, the history of decolonization, I rented a car and drive down south to Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland to conduct research on a variety of topics. I attended a Chamorro Night celebration organized by the Guam Society of America, met members of Håle' Para Agupa' for the first time and conducted some interviews with manåmko' that were living in the diaspora. The real ...

Over the years, as I’ve traveled around Asia and the Pacific, whether for research, for conferences, for solidarity actions, I’ve found a list of places similar to Guam, that you could call ambiguous. They belong to a certain country, but they don’t really feel like it at times. Okinawa is one such place. There is way that history and culture have combined to create a rift between Japan and Okinawa, that is invisible most of the time, but is the stark the next. There was a sense of pride and identity that could not be explained solely through references to regionalism or local love. It was something more, and something very similar to what we see on Guam. The particularities of history have created the situation where you can stand in either Guam or Okinawa and say with great force that these places are either American or Japanese. Colonialism and imperialism have taken these places and remade them. They might have said they did so for the benefit of the people there, but they noneth...

   For all my children, since the moment they were born, no matter what the topic, I only speak to them in Chamoru. This doesn’t mean that every single word is in Chamoru, as sometimes English words, or other words must be used or translated into Chamoru. But given my commitment to perpetuating the native language of the indigenous people of the Marianas, it means we use Chamoru and adapt Chamoru, no matter what the topic or context. Language are however social organisms, which means that for most people, children included, even if you use it with them, unless it is reinforced, and there is a sense of community or value associated with it, keeping the language alive and in turn passing it on will be difficult. Even if you speak Chamoru to your own children, they might speak it back to you, but if they don’t perceive that others around them speak it or that it doesn’t have any value expect in the past or within very narrow means, there is a marginal chance they will ...

  On February 1 st , 2014, 12 years ago, a group of activists, cultural practitioners, scholars, students and artists, through groups such as Our Islands are Sacred and Hinasso organized an event called "Lukao Fuha." It was a pilgrimage, a special walk from Humåtak Bay to Laso' Fouha or Fouha Rock, that was meant to symbolize for Chamorus, walking in the ceremonial footsteps of our ancestors in a variety of ways. Firstly, Fouha Rock is thought to symbolize an important part of the Chamoru creation story, as it represents the body of Fu'una, who with her brother (whose body is the land itself) gave up their forms and their energy to create the Chamoru people and our islands. Secondly, early Spanish accounts discuss that the largest gatherings for ancient Chamorus in the 16th and 17th centuries took place around a large rock, and part of these gatherings was the retelling of the creation stories and other legends that went back connecting centuries and generations of st...

Independent Guåhan has organized a petition to give voice to the community's opposition to Senator Will Parkinson's Bill 242-38 which would eliminate the right of the Chamoru people to self-determination in a decolonization plebiscite. The petition text is below. It'll be presented to the Guam Legislature on Wednesday, February 18th at the public hearing for the bill.  *********************  We, the undersigned, express our steadfast opposition to Bill 242-38, which eliminates the ability of the CHamoru people to exercise their internationally recognized right to self-determination. The bill seeks to open eligibility to participate in a decolonization plebiscite to all registered Guåhan voters. One merely has to have lived on the island for 30 days to establish residency and be able to register to vote in Guåhan’s elections. This means that new or even temporary residents with no ancestral, cultural, or historical ties to the island, and who have not suffered fro...

Amongst Guam and Chamoru legends, you will find different themes, different archetypes. Some of them are familiar, common, while some are much more complicated and show clear layers of intervention and influence. This legend for example, which goes by many different names and has lots of different versions is one such fascinating example. It clearly shows European elements. You can see in it tropes that are common in other cultures, where deities visit the human world to test or view real, unvarnished life. And then from these experiences some one or some group is chosen to represent the best that humanity has to offer and others are punished.  There are versions of this type of story that go back to the Spanish era, but then there are others that show the editing or altering due to educators or writers adapting them in certain ways. One of the things that I enjoy most about this type of Chamoru legend though is how it becomes a creation story for the Chamoru people, after coloniza...

The art scene on Guam has been growing in recent years, and I am excited that part of this is due to the work that we have been doing at the Guam Museum. The museum has been hosting, collaborating with and just in general creating more and more spaces large and small for non-profits, groups, individuals to showcase their artists work, sell it and just in general build more capacity within our island’s creative community. Due to the unfortunate closure of the café and gift shop at the Guam Museum during the pandemic, the space was turned into a café art gallery through the work of artist Dawn Lees Reyes, the Guam Museum Foundation and the Flame Tree Freedom Center and since last year has been hosting almost monthly new art exhibits. Currently in the space you can visit the group show “I Tutuhon” which features works from almost a dozen local artists. Across the lobby on the first floor of the museum you’ll find the rotating gallery, where we have a large exhibit that changes eve...

  2026 is the 100-year anniversary of the dream of the Guam Museum for the Chamoru people, at least as far as we know. What does that mean historically and what does that mean for this year? The October 1926 edition of the Guam Recorder, featured an article titled “Guam to Have a Museum.” It discussed how the Guam Teachers’ Association has taken up the issue of Guam’s culture and history disappearing at its September meeting, and that a call to the community would be made for the collection of artifacts and other materials. Ramon M. Sablan who would later to become the first Chamoru medical doctor was put in charge of organizing the collecting. The article mentions that the island’s 3,000 school children and also the Guam Militia would also be utilized to help stir up community interest and donations. It is unclear today how effective this effort was because the Guam Museum itself wasn’t started until several years later and under very different circumstances. But nonetheless t...