Adios Chris

Chris Perez Howard was born in 1940 to Mariquita Aguon Perez and Edward Neal Howard. When the Japanese invaded Guam the following year, his father, a US Navy sailor, was taken away as a prisoner of war, leaving his mother and family to care for Chris and his younger sister Helen.

By the war's end, Mariquita would, like hundreds of other Chamorus during the occupation, become a victim of Japanese brutality. As a result, Chris would have few memories of her and soon after his father’s return to Guam at the end of the war, would be taken away from Guam and not return for almost two decades. 

In the 1970s, Chris found his way back to his island home and begin to conduct research into the life and death of his mother. He pored through military archives and also interviewed family and friends, all of which helped him put together a literary portrait of her as an intelligent and resilient Chamoru woman. 

In 1982 he published a biography for her titled, “Mariquita: A Tragedy of Guam.” On the 40th anniversary of Liberation Day, he wrote a letter to her saying “Mother, although you’re not physically present, you are alive within the goodness and beauty of the Chamorro people…Hu guaiya hao.”

For two generations his book was one of the few pieces of Chamoru literature used regularly in Guam’s public schools and has become an inspiration for countless writers and artists, seeking to learn about their own roots or confront the trauma of their past and transform it into something powerful and meaningful. I include myself among those inspired by Chris’ work, after having first read “Mariquita” while still an undergraduate student at the University of Guam. 

 

In the 1970s and 1980s Chris joined different emerging Chamoru activist groups and was a founding member of The Organization of People for Indigenous Rights (OPIR). In 1982 he joined Robert Underwood and Ron Teehan as the first CHamorus to travel to the United Nations and testify before the UN’s Fourth Committee on the question of Guam’s non-self-governing status. Chris also worked for the Commission on Self-Determination and helped to organize its public education efforts on political status change and Commonwealth. 

In a 1989 letter to the elected leaders of Guam he wrote passionately, “I beg you not to give in and compromise our people. I respectfully ask that you continue, full speed ahead, our struggle for recognition and eventually self-determination…May God give you the wisdom, strength and courage to lead us out of the depths of colonization and into the light of freed and dignity.”

In 1980, just Chris and one other individual, protested the presence of four Japanese Self-Defense Force ships at Naval Station, Guam. Despite the arrival of more and more Japanese as tourists to the island at the time, Chris was resolute in his feeling that apologies and restitution must be made for what Chamorus suffered during the occupation. Throughout the 1980s, through working with Senator Chilang Bamba, he became one of the loudest voices in support of Chamorus receiving reparations for the atrocities they endured under World War II Japanese occupation.

Chris would go on to publish two more books, “Edward” a biography retelling his father’s experiences as a prisoner of war and his struggle to deal with the trauma for the remainder of his life. Earlier this year he published his final book “Juanit” which tells the story of a mixed race young Chamoru woman who struggles to find her own identity. To future Chamoru writers he advised, “You got to write from your experiences, no matter what they are. It could be just getting up out of bed, but you got to write from your heart and feel it. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

I feel fortunate to have been able to spend time over the past few years talking to Chris and messaging with him on Facebook. He passed away in August 2023 at the age of 82.

In speaking about what drew him to write and also become a community activist I recall these words, both practical and hopeful that he offered, “A lot of these complex issues may not be resolved over my lifetime, but I honestly couldn’t live with myself, if I wasn’t doing something to forward the Chamorro cause…One victory that’s lasting however, is that once our people are educated on their political rights, they’re never going to give them up. I find it personally gratifying to play a small part in such an important endeavor.”

U såga gi minahgong yan minatatnga.