NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

During last month's HITA Talk at the Guam Museum focusing on expressions of Chamoru identity across time, my four year old Lulai walked up on stage and asked that I hold her while I was presenting.    I had already started to talk about my section of the talk which focused on the pre-World War II version of the Guam Museum which was started in 1932 and destroyed during World War II.    Before I had gone up on stage and started presenting, I had asked Lulai, "Håfa malago'-mu? Kao para un såga guini gi siyå-mu pat kao malago'-mu hao tumattiyi yu' gi piso?" (What do you want? Will you stay here in your chair or follow me to the stage?) Lulai was insistent in that moment "Bai hu såga guini, maolek ha' yu'." (I will stay here, I'm ok)   Part way through my presentation, she started walking up onto the stage, arms out, indicating na malago' gui' mahoggue. I knew it would mean that my focus would be divided, but it also made me happy.   ...

  European museums often contain collections filled with ancestral remains and cultural belongings stolen from peoples across the globe. These historical acts of dispossession are constantly being contested by local and indigenous communities. This work is often difficult however due to great distances between communities seeking the return of the items and the institutions that hold them. For the past three years, Chamoru researchers Samantha Barnett and Andrew Gumataotao have worked on locating and learning the histories of Chamoru ancestral remains in European museums, while organizing efforts alongside the CNMI and Guam historic preservation offices to formally request their return home. The remains of over forty indigenous Chamorus, along with numerous cultural belongings, are currently held in Berlin’s Ethnological Museum. In Spain, the National Museum of Anthropology holds 9 Chamorro and Carolinian ancestral remains, taken from Guam, Saipan, and Ro...

  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...