Fanohge Columns
s of discussion points on issues of self-determination. I wanted to share them here on my blog:
The Fanohge Coalition is a diverse network of 37 different non-profits, organizations, student associations and businesses that all support CHamoru self-determination. As we have previously argued and steadfastly maintained, CHamoru self-determination is about recognizing centuries of colonial injustices that have impacted the Indigenous people of the Marianas.
Our multi-ethnic coalition recognizes that while we now all call Guåhan home, CHamorus should also be able to decide what happens to their homeland.
Many of us come from communities that have also been impacted by colonial forces. From German and Japanese colonialism in our neighboring Micronesian islands to the brutal slavery of Black Americans, we have been impacted by structural colonial forces in different but connected ways. Although some of us came to Guåhan as refugees or migrants that were looking for a better life, we all believe that supporting CHamoru self-determination doesn’t necessarily threaten our rights.
Moving beyond the status quo will improve the political, social and economic leverage of all who call Guåhan their home. Most importantly, by working in solidarity with one another, we can achieve inafa’maolek’s promise of mutual care and respect.
While class, gender and racial tensions between our different communities still exist, we believe that supporting CHamoru self-determination is an important first step to decolonization. Decolonization can lead to better, decolonial futures for both CHamorus and their allies because of the unfair and unjust realities we face today.
Similarly, the Fanohge Coalition represents our hopes for a decolonial future that recognizes the specific injustices Guåhan’s Indigenous peoples have faced, while also discussing ways we can increase solidarity with one another. Under the guidance of the principle of inafa’maolek, we hope to intentionally create more positive mutual relations between our different communities and in our living environment, no matter how difficult the process might be.
Martin Luther King Jr. said once that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
As a multi-ethnic coalition of 37 different community organizations, we want to highlight that for everyone who loves Guåhan, the simple truth that self-determination and decolonization is not a CHamoru-only issue. The continuing injustice of denying the CHamoru people the right to self-determination and to be treated with dignity in their own island should be something of concern for all who care about this island.
Josephine Ong, M.A., represents Filipinos for Guåhan. Deborah Ellen, Ed.D., represents Talaya Micronesia. Audrea Mendiola represents the Social Work Student Alliance.
The Fanohge Coalition, a network of 37 different nonprofits, organizations, student associations and businesses, was formed this year to help provide accurate information on issues regarding self-determination and decolonization, and help the community understand the importance of this issue. The coalition plans to hold candidate forums and other activities to help elevate public dialogue during the 2020 campaign season.
There is a great amount of distortion in the media and community about terms like CHamoru self-determination or decolonization. The Fanohge Coalition hopes to help address these misconceptions and fill the gaps in knowledge. For example, contrary to what one might read in the news or hear on the radio, the recent end of the Davis case, did not end this movement or even fundamentally alter its trajectory.
In fact, while the 9th Circuit Court did affirm the local district court’s ruling on the Davis case, it also took great pains to clarify that their decision did not speak to whether or not it was appropriate to seek justice or some resolution to the longstanding issues that have impacted the CHamoru people. It was a reminder that even within the problematic maze of federal-territorial legal precedents that often disempower territories, the cause of CHamoru self-determination could still be considered just.
This is why CHamoru self-determination is not a narrow or meaningless issue. It is an issue that goes to the heart of our island’s community. It is built on the premise that the CHamoru people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in their own islands.
A central part of this issue is to give the people most impacted by Guam’s colonial history, a chance to express what they would want for the future. This is standard practice around the world and throughout history by decolonizing nations large and small. It is a process of self-determination whereby those who have long been denied a voice in the destiny of their own lands, are given a chance to voice their political aspirations. For example, Great Britain and France relinquished sovereignty over many colonies, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, and Cambodia, to name a few.
CHamoru self-determination is the first step toward decolonization. Many in the community recoil when hearing the word “decolonization,” associating it with many negative things and primarily with an isolating independence from the world. This is not true. The Fanohge Coalition plans to join other education efforts in the community to bring about more awareness of this issue, so that more people realize there is little to fear from decolonization.
Decolonization for Guam means moving the island to a more equitable political status in which the island enjoys genuine self-government. In its most basic form, this means three basic options, one which moves towards full inclusion within the United States, statehood; one which rests primarily on a compact relationship whereby Guam would associate closely with the U.S., free association; and finally one in which Guam would have more political and economic autonomy, and relate to countries like the U.S. as allies, independence.
CHamoru self-determination doesn’t impede or favor any of these options. It just requires that the CHamoru people be given a chance to express their desires at the start of the process.
Travis Wells is with the The Sanlagu Coalition; Julia Faye Muñoz, I Hagan Famalao’an Guåhan; and Dewey Huffer, Statehood for Guam; are members of the Fanohge Coalition.
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Coalition calls attention to longstanding issue of injustice
by Joni Quenga Kerr, Nolan Flores and Maria Sol Marques
June 11, 2020 - The Guam Daily Post
Last September more than 2,000 people joined the Fanohge: March for CHamoru Self-Determination. It was a momentous event that showed that there is broad support in the community for the CHamoru people’s right to self-determination.
CHamoru self-determination is not tied to any particular political status, but is simply the principle that the CHamoru people have the right to express what they would prefer for their island home and also be treated with dignity and respect in their island. After several centuries of colonization and political marginalization, self-determination is an issue of restorative justice and righting the wrongs of the past.
The process of decolonization has long been delayed by federal interference, most notably the Davis case, which has confused the issue, giving the appearance that CHamoru self-determination is an issue of constitutionality and not about human rights and justice. More than a century ago, the United States made a commitment to the CHamoru people to assist in their political development and the U.S. reaffirmed this commitment by placing Guam on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories.
The recent refusal of the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the government of Guam’s appeal in the Davis Case is not the end of this process. As the Fanohge March last year reminded us, this issue is one of local justice, a conversation amongst all of those who call Guam their home, about the type of community we will be looking ahead. It is one in which, despite federal indifference and interference, those who are the island’s elected leaders, must continue to lead.
In hopes of reminding our elected leaders of the need to address this longstanding issue of local justice, 36 nonprofits, organizations, and networks collaborated to become the Fanohge Coalition. Last month, we wrote a letter to I Maga’hågan Guåhan, all 15 members of I Liheslaturan Guåhan and Guam’s current non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. In this letter, the coalition called on them to affirm their support for the right of the CHamoru people to self-determination.
In response, I Maga’hågan Guåhan Lou Leon Guerrero, Speaker of I Liheslaturan Guåhan Tina Muña Barnes, Sens. Kelly Marsh, Telo Taitague and Therese Terlaje, all wrote statements expressing their full support. A survey was provided to the remaining 11 senators asking for their stance. The remaining 11 senators all answered “hunggan,” affirming their support.
At present, despite several letters, emails and calls, Congressman Michael San Nicolas is the sole elected leader of Guam who has not affirmed his support for the rights of the CHamoru people.
As the election season begins, the Fanohge Coalition intends to continue engaging with current elected leaders, as well as prospective candidates, on the importance of CHamoru Self-Determination. We emphasize that this issue is not for the CHamoru people alone, it is something that sets the stage for our entire island’s future political development. Protecting and exercising this fundamental human right is an important and essential first step in our island’s political betterment.
Joni Quenga Kerr, Guam Community College Ecowarriors; Nolan Flores, University of Guam Political Science Student Association; and Maria Sol Marques, I Hagan Famalao’an Guåhan; are members of the Fanohge Coalition.
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