NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Before we say “Adios” to August, let us look back at this month and how important it has been in the past for Guam, Chamoru and Marianas history. When I first started working as curator at the Guam Museum in 2021, I was given some of the late Tony Palomo’s notes on Guam history. In addition to being a Guam war survivor, an author, a journalist, an elected leader and a historian, Siñot Palomo had worked as the administrator for the Guam Museum towards the end of his life. Part of his duties at the museum was to publish a regular series in the Pacific Daily News highlighting “This Month in Guam History.” It is my honor as the curator of the Guam Museum to continue this tradition. Let’s look at some of the events that happened in Guam and the Marianas in the past during the month of August. ************** 343 years ago: In August 1681, Don Antonio de Saravia was appointed governor of the Marianas, and during the following month, he appointed Chamorus to the positions of assi...

Guahu i nuebu na curator para i Museon Guåhan. Gof magof yu' na ma'apunta yu' gi este na ofisio. Hu ayuda fumå'tinas i petmanente na fina'nu'i para i museo "I Hinanao-ta." Kada såkkan, hu konne' guatu noskuåntos na gurupon taotao (sesso biaheru siha), ya hu esgaihon siha gi halom i fina'nu'i ya hu fa'nå'gue siha put i hestorian i Chamoru. Gi todu i bidadå-hu, ya-hu famanå'gue taotao, maseha guini giya Guåhan,  pat ginen otro tåno' put i irensian yan hestorian i taotao-ta. Para Guahu, gof dångkolo' na onra este, para bai hu representa i taotao gi taiguini na ofisio.  ************************** The Guam Museum From Guampedia Named for the late Senator Tony M. Palomo The  Guam Museum , located at Skinner Plaza in the heart of Hagåtña, Guam, is a government of Guam owned museum focused on the history of Guam. It’s official name is Senator  Antonio M. Palomo  Guam Museum and Educational Facility. The Guam Museum reflects the ...

I write regularly about "the decolonization conversation." I use this to refer to the wider public discussion and sometimes debate about Guam's future in terms of its political status. There are three main options that are to be considered when thinking about Guam's future status. Each of them provides a higher level of self-governance than remaining an unincorporated territory, although they can be slightly to very different. This conversation around Guam's political status has been around for more than a hundred years, although we often don't think about it that way. During the late Spanish period, Chamorus chafed under colonial rule, especially after the rest of the Spanish Empire had achieved independence or was actively rebelling or forming nationalist movements. Nowadays we don't know much about this, because we don't teach our own history very well. If we did take seriously the teaching of our history, we would have a general sense...

This month I reread Island in Agony by Tony Palomo. I have actually read it many times, but decided to take a look at it again as I was writing my weekly columns for the Pacific Daily News about World War II in Guam, and that book had been my first, comprehensive and in-depth look at it when I was a graduate student. In contrast to books by Don Farrell or Robert Rogers which also cover to varying extends the Japanese occupation of Guam, Island in Agony, feels very Chamoru and is in most ways written for Chamorus. When you read the book, you can see Tony Palomo's voice clearly trying to sound like an average American newspaperman. But in how he frames the story and what he chooses to include, you can tell he is trying to write something that will tell the Chamoru side of the story, that will stand as a testament to the Chamoru experience. Most chronicles of the war focus, as you might expect on the militaries involved. The great titans that clash over Guam. Not much attention is...

Independent Guåhan announces July 4 th “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Concert” at Adelup For Immediate Release, June 20, 2017 – After the success of the Respect the Chamoru People Rally in April, where more than 600 people gathered to show their support for the rights of the Chamorro people, Independent Guåhan is organizing the first of its “Na’lå’la’: Songs of Freedom Concert” series. This concert will take place on July 4 th , 2017 from 2:00 - 5:00 P.M. at Adelup Field, and is free and open to the public. Independent Guåhan is an organization that is committed to educating the island community about the importance of Guam’s decolonization and the possibilities should it become an independent country. The organization has spent the past year organizing General Assemblies, teach-ins, petition drives, coffee shop conversations, and podcasts. This concert represents another phase in community outreach, using creative performances to inspire the island commun...

Esta kana' bente años na taigue i Kumision i Fino' CHamoru. Ma'establesi gui' fine'nina gi 1964. Lao mas sen matungo' gui' gi duranten i 1990s', pi'ot annai ha ketulaika i dinilitreha para i palåbra "Chamorro" asta "Chamoru" pat "CHamoru." I yinaoyao put i dinilitreha muna'påra i che'cho'-ña i kumision. Maolek na i ma'pos na Liheslaturan Guåhan yan ma na'lå'la' gui' ta'lo gi lai. Lao ta li'e' kao diferentes i tano' på'go pat parerehu ha'? Kao para u ma'aksepta i kumunidåt i tinago'-ña yan i disision-ña i kumision, pat kao para u ma'embeste ta'lo? *********************** CHamoru Language Commission re-established by Manny Cruz The Guam Daily Post May 9, 2017 For the first time in nearly 20 years, the CHamoru Language Commission became a functioning body once more on Monday. The commission's first order of business: Establish an explic...

For several years I have been assisting Siñora Rosa Palomo and Professor Gerhard Schwab who are my colleagues at the University of Guam with the development of an amazing, new, free language learning website built around the learning of the Chamorro language. Humuyongña i na'ån-ña " Learning Chamorro ."  After years of tirelessly working on building the site, it was launched last week. A Pacific Daily News article about it, was picked up by USA Today and shared several thousand times on social media. The website would not be possible without the love labor of GuamWebz and Rhaj Sharma. Some media on the launch can be found below. Sen magof hu na put fin in baba este na website. ********************** Date: March 12, 2017 We take this opportunity to thank everyone of you for registering and continuously visiting our website. All of us together have visited our website more than 1.7 million times. It is your continuous encouragement and support that has kep...

My first forays into the world of public discourse and engagement came on the pages of the Pacific Daily News through letters to the editor. For years I conducted research in the Micronesian Area Research Center library and through interviews with politicians, activists and manåmko', but the thoughts and ideas that were spawning in my head didn't have many outlets save for discussions in classes or with trusted elders or friends. In 2004 I gave my first public presentation on the issue of decolonization or critical Chamorro Studies, when I shared a section of my research at a forum titled "World War II is it Over?" organized by the Guam Humanities Council at the Agana Shopping Center. I spoke alongside Dr. Patricia Taimanglo, the late historian Tony Palomo and Guam military historian Jennings Bunn. After that, I spent several years in graduate school presenting at conference around the US, often times to empty rooms, as Guam papers tended to be very low on the prior...