NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

  Ya-hu este na litråtu. Lao guaha råson siha, ni' muna'ti ya-hu lokkue'.    I posted this image a few months ago on the Guam Museum's social media as well as my own.    It shows a Guam classroom in the late 1940s. Manggagaige todu, i ma'estra yan i estudiante siha gi halom un kuatto. Tumotohge i ma'estra gi me'nan i pisåra. Esta matuge' guihi i leksion. Uno na hobensita tumotohge mientras i otro manmata'ta'chong. Håfa ilelek-ña este na påtgon? Kao magacha' gui'? Pat kao gof osgon na estudiante ya ha kehåhayi i otro estudiante lol. Hekkua'.   Regardless of whatever is happening in the image itself, I have mixed feelings about this picture, reasons I really like it and reasons it makes me feel uneasy. I like this picture because it shows Chamorus just a few years after the end of the Japanese occupation, life is returning to normal. Schools have been built or rebuilt. Education which was paused or disrupted for two to three years becau

  Prior to World War II, Sumay was the second largest village of Guam and because of its location near Apra Harbor, was very economically important as a hub for the island in terms of communications and trade. Because of this status, the families with ties there had a great deal of pride in their village identity and community.   The Trans-Pacific Cable Company, which laid the first telegraph wire across the Pacific, set up its station in the village in 1903. Sumay was also the landing site for the China Clipper from Pan American Airways, which built a hotel there in 1935.    Most of the first bombs that fell on Guam in the Japanese attack on the island on December 8th, 1941 were dropped on Sumay because of its strategic importance. The US Marine Barracks and tanks from Standard Oil were both hit. Within days after the Japanese invasion, all residents were evicted.    The bombardment and subsequent re-invasion of the island by US forces in July 1944 almost completely destroyed Sumay. A

 Ai mohon na mås gailugåt yu' yan mås gaifuetsa yu'! Fihu hiningongok-hu ginen otro taotao put i mineggai hu cho'cho'gue yan mampos tinanane' yu'. Ya achokka' hu tungo' na guaha minagahet gi håfa ilek-ñiha, gi minagåhet todu tiempo, hu siesiente na ti nanahong i bidadå-hu. Guaha mås gi este na bånda, gi ayu na bånda, gi este na påtte, put este na prublema, todu tiempo guaha mås siña hu cho'gue. Un maolek na hemplo put este, este na blog.  Gi i ma'pos na simåna, sinangåni yu' nu dos na taotao na hagagas ininspired siha nu este na blog. Ma taitaitai, ma a'atan. Gof maolek na resource este na blog put i litråtu siha, i commentary, i Fino' Chamoru na tinige'.  Hu agradesi este na sinangån-ñiha, nina'magof yu', sa' guaha na biahi pine'lolo-ku na esta manmaleffa todu put este na blog.  Sa' gi minagåhet, mås ki sesso Guahu lokkue' maleleffa yu' put este na blog.  Put enao na råson, na chini'ut lokkue'

When the protest group Nasion Chamoru first emerged decades ago, it created a conflict in the minds of people on Guam. On the one hand you had a group of people who were an emphatically embodying “Chamoru” things.  They were speaking Chamoru, fighting for Chamoru lands and their return, protecting Chamoru rights, and even sometimes sported ancient Chamoru jewelry. But at the same time, for many people, the group seemed to be against everything Chamorus supposedly represented.   Chamorus are supposed to be respectful, gairespetu yan gaimamhlao, do not speak out and politely submit to any form of authority. In the way Nasion Chamoru did not shy away from open defiance and critique of the local and federal governments, they seemed so taimamahlao or tairespetu (without shame or respect). Every culture has their conservative and progressive elements, and an ideological fight always takes place over what is considered to be acceptable and unacceptable. For some, openly fighting fo

  Hagagas i sengsong-ta siha, gof prisisisisu para u ditetmina, para u sinangåni håyi hit. Gi tiempon i manmofo’na na taotao-ta, i sengsong gumo'go'te i hale' i familia yan parientes siha ya mina'gåsi nu i Maga'låhi yan Maga'håga'. Tåya’ rai yan rainai guihi na tiempo. Tåya’ emperådot para todu i taotao-ta. Kada songsong taiguihi un guafak, tinifok todu i familia siha. Guaha na biahi inachaki entre i sengsong siha put asunton tåno' pat yanggen guaha inale' palao'an. Lao ta tungo’ na achokka’ chaddek manmamu, chaddek lokkue’ manasi’i. Gi duranten i Geran CHamoru yan Españot, guaha na songsong siha mandanña' para u ma mumuyi i Españot. Gi 1670s Si Maga'låhi Agualin tumachu para u mumu kontra i Españot, på'go i pumalu taiguihi as Maga'lahi Don Antonio Ayihi tumachuyi i Españot. Gi duranten i mafa'na'an "Reduccion" manafuetsas i taotao-ta gi todu i Isla siha para u fanm

I get asked questions about Guam History all the time.  Almost every day I give an interview to someone who is doing a paper about Guam or Chamoru history, whether it be for middle school, high school or college.  Or it may be someone doing research for a documentary, a TV show, a newspaper or a book.  It could be just someone wanting to know more about their roots.  Or just someone visiting with questions that are bothering them about the contemporary or historical landscape of their temporary home or tourist visit.  Normally I know the answers, or I know where the answers are. Or I know that we don't know the answers. But there are some questions which I'm not quite sure how to answer. It may be because of how they are phrased, often times because whoever is asking the question may be assuming something that isn't in history or in reality, or isn't connected to what is in the facts or the historical data, and so sometimes I can be at a loss as to how to make a connect