NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Gof yayas yu' på'go ya triste yu' didide', sa' ti åpmam bai hu dingu Guahan, ya bai hu dingu lokkue' i haggå-hu Si Sumåhi. Yanggen un atan i mata-ña yan i yommok na fasu-ña siha, siempre nina’triste hao lokkue, sa’ kulang taiachaigua kinute-ña.

I always feel very strange and honored to be one of those kids who come back home to Guam, and amongst all the errands and tasks that they are required to do for family members ( manyayabao, mañuñule’ åmot, manyeyettek, manhuhungok estoria siha put i tiempon åntes), I am also asked to write press releases. For those of you who don't know, my Grandfather, Tun Joaquin Flores Lujan (familian Bittot/Katson) is a bit of a celebrity on Guam, as he is the last traditional Chamorro blacksmith. I will post later I'm sure more details on what exactly this means, what tools he makes and what his many accomplishments are. For the moment however, Grandpa is finishing off year long grant with Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency (CAHA) to train two students, one of whom is i che'lu-hu Si Kuri. In compiling his final report for CAHA Grandpa, wants to include some news coverage of his teaching and passing on this trade, and so he enlisted me in getting some news coverage for him...

Mampos yayas yu’ på’go, pues ti bei fanngge’ nuebu. Instead bai hu na’daña’ ya post, dos na tinige’-hu ginnen i ma’pos na summer. I na’an-ñiha este na dos, “ Why is the grass greener and the fences better painted on the military side of the fence ” yan “ From Invasion of Guam to Liberation of Guam .” An dumaña’, este na dos ma sasångan bula na impottånte na kosas put i asunton linibre yan Ha’ånin Linibre. Despensa put i yinayas-hu på’go, siempre bai hu fama’tinas nuebu na post agupa’. ********************************* Several years ago when I first began what I refer to as my "information activism" there was a Chamorro living in the states who would often email me and respond to the things I would in my zine, Minagahet. One of his statements which stayed with me and profoundly influenced the thesis in Micronesian Studies that I was writing at the time, dealt with the patriotism of our elders. In one piece I wrote about the colonial nature of the American rule of Guam prior to...

There's a possibility next year, that my master's thesis which I did in Micronesian Studies at the University of Guam a few years ago will be published into a book. With this in mind I've been reading over parts of it throughout the summer and both marvelling at how much work I did to complete that thesis, but also how stupid and lazy I could be at times. I think that the thesis will be an important contribution to the general community, even if the theoretical parts people have trouble understanding. The title itself however might intrigue, confuse and upset people, These May or May Not Be Americans: The Patriotic Myth and the Hijacking of Chamorro History in Guam. The basic question which my thesis was written around is, how did Chamorros who were for the most part indifferent to being Americans prior to World War II, become after World War II the super-patriots that we all know today? Through an analysis of pre-war education systems and a description about how the ways i...

Published on Thursday, August 16, 2007 by Democracy Now! Lost Worlds: Is Another World Possible? by Naomi Klein AMY GOODMAN from Democracy Now!: The State Department is coming under criticism this week for refusing to allow a prominent South African social scientist to enter the country. Adam Habib was scheduled to speak at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in New York this past weekend, but the government refused to give him a visa. Ironically, the theme of this year’s sociology conference was “Is Another World Possible?” At the conference, the ASA planned a series of sessions to assess the potential for progressive social change both in the US and in the world and to invite a serious discussion of “economic globalization” and its consequences. One of the most highly anticipated sessions was to feature Jeffrey Sachs, an internationally known economist and a former special advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, versus Naomi Klein, the Canadian journalist ...

In the hopes that my daughter Sumåhi will grow up to be someone who is clear-eyed and well informed about the history of her people and her island, and not someone who speaks of yellow ribbons or tiny American flags as her most prized cultural artifacts, I took her to a number of historic sites around the island today. Although she is young and as many have told me, she won't remember anything that happens to her now, I think its more important that I get myself into the habit of communicating to her, no matter how old she is, issues of history and issues of what must be done, no matter hard or difficult it seems. I've realized that when we have kids, no matter who we are, we have a literal world of dreams of what we will do for our new baby, and what we will do to help her grow as a person. On Guam over the past few decades, so many new parents have made plans that their children will have a different life then they did, and often times make these promises to the universe in ...

Gi duranten I Tiempon Chapoñes giya Guahan, meggai na kanta siha manmafa’tinas nu i Chamoru siha. Considering the intense stress of the war and the fact that other than kantan gima’yu’us, Chamorro songs before the war were primarily Chamoritta , or improvisational songs made up at the top of one’s head to a familiar tune and then passed onto a rival or partner for the next verse. Given this context, songs and stories designed to give hope or release tension were constantly created. Some were humorous and poked fun, not only at the Japanese, but also at Chamorros who collaborated with them. Other songs were harsh and angry, and ridiculed the Japanese and pined for an American return. All were in Chamorro, both because at the time Chamorro was the primary language or Guam, but also because anyone speaking English on Guam could be punished by the Japanese. Most of these songs however were lost or not passed on, and the entire war period tends to be hegemonized or narrated through the el...

Esta chatangmak guini giya Guahan, ya sigi di humasso i nobia-hu Si Rashne. Gof fotte este na sinieñte, pues bai hu dedicåyi gui’ ni’ este na kachido. Hu guaiya hao Baloo-hu.

Last week I posted an newspaper advertisment written and published by the Organization of People for Indigenous Rights (OPI-R) in the Pacific Daily News in 1985. The ad, titled Kao Magåhet Na Manlibre Hit? was written in Chamorro and discussed briefly the minagahet and chatminagahet of the yearly celebration of "Liberation Day" on Guam. For me, these sorts of writings, which are absolutely political and absolutely written in the Chamorro language, are important because they break that stupid stereotype which so many Chamorros, even those who are interested in or at least say they are interested in protecting and perpetuating the language, are stuck in believing. Namely the "socialness" of the language, or that the language is primarily a means of communicating relaxation, kicking back, family business, gossip, and other fun, but generally unimportant things. To believe that there are things, such as politics, history, activism, which Chamorro is not intrinsically o...