NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

More than a decade ago, a statue was unveiled in Hagåtña for the late Angel L.G. Santos in the park which bears his name in memoriam.  It has been more than two decades since the passing of this iconic Chamoru figure. It has always intrigued me the way Santos morphed in meaning locally – from a patriotic, military-serving young Chamoru, to a loincloth-wearing taimamahlao chattaotao activist, to politician and defender of human rights, to visage on stickers, T-shirts and symbol of Chamoru strength and pride. Angel Santos and Nasion Chamoru worked hard, in particular in the 1990s, to push to the forefront of the island’s consciousness issues such as Chamoru rights, especially around political status and land.  One of their biggest successes is not the sinahi-necklace-wearing that has become so commonplace, but rather their protest efforts in getting the Chamorro Land Trust implemented and formalized.  Debates over the changing of the rules last year for the Chamo...

This is a fascinating article on many levels.  It features the voices of a number of current and former elected officials from Guam, talking about activism and politics.  Much is said about Angel Santos as being the consulate activist politician, but there is much in the article that isn't really developed sadly.  On the surface I enjoyed the piece, and while it has some great quotes, it accepts too easily the different things that those interviewed are saying, even if they aren't historically true or just end up muddling the issue.  For instance, Angel Santos is definitely the most iconic Chamoru activist and he did become a politician, elected into the Guam Legislature for multiple terms. But he wasn't a particularly effective member of the Guam Legislature, in terms of getting his agenda into policy and converting bills into laws.  But this is part of a larger distinction between those who are leaders and those who are politicians.  A...

Every week I get at least one request for an interview, several requests each week for information related to Guam history or the Chamoru language. Sometimes the requests can become a bit much, as I'm not able to get back to everyone. And sometimes I've responded to people close to a year later (ai lokkue'). But if I had more time I would respond to everyone I could, since the knowledge that I have or have access to, is useless unless there are ways it can get out to others.  After I gave a guest lecture in an English rhetoric class last year, one of the students contacted me asking for some help on understanding Hagåtña and its contemporary and historical place in Guam. I appreciated her wanting to know more about a village that most everyone takes for granted nowadays on Guam. So I wrote up responses to her 8 questions. Here they are below. ******************** 1. What makes Hagatna unique from other villages?  What makes Hagåtña unique is that because...

Two poems written by the late Angel L.G. Santos while he was in US federal prison in the year 2000. I will write more on them another time, but for now, let them stand here as a testament to who he was and the times in which he lived, and also, how he helped to affect the course of Chamoru and Guam history up until today. ************************ Who Are We To Uncle Sam – Friend or Foe? (by Angel Leon Guerrero Santos) As I pen this poem, while I sit in prison, For you silence my voice, in the American tradition; Who are we Uncle Sam, are we friend or foe? If we are your friend, then treat us as so; Our land and our water, the air God giveth,  You came to our island, and then you taketh; We have drinking water, at Fena Lake you will find, You want us to pay “Now!”, cause it’s no longer mine; Our language and our culture, is 4,000 years old, You pass your own laws, “No More!” we are told; We live and we learn, you say we are one, You bui...

I have been traveling for the past few weeks and struggling while conducting research and giving a variety of presentations, to also finish up a couple of articles. One of them is based on the research I did for the Guam Humanities Council a few years ago for their exhibit Sindålu: Chamorro Journey Stories in the US Military. It was an exciting and interesting project on a variety of levels. I got to share some interesting stories that I've come across in my archival and oral history research, some of which haven't really ever been publicized before. I also got to tackle some issues in terms of understanding or unpacking contemporary Chamoru identity. The veteran subjectivity is so pervasive and somewhat hegemonic in Chamoru culture today, that it ends up taking a great deal of space, even for those who aren't veterans themselves. How many people when talking about issues of decolonization and demilitarization feel a inner need to curb their potential voice, their potenti...

Infotmasion put i siudat (mismo songsong, lao i maga'songsong para i Islan Guåhan) gi Fino' Chamoru. Hu tuge' este para un curriculum project dos años tåtte. Ya-hu bei na'huyong guini lokkue', sa' hu Tango' na guaha estudiante pat otro e'eyak ni' sesso manmambisisita guini gi este na blog, ya ma kekealigao este na klasen tiningo'. ********************** Put iya Hagåtña Guåhan i mås dångkolo’ na isla gi islas Marianas. Hagåtña i kapitåt na siudat. Gaige meggai na ofisinan gobietno giya Hagåtña. Gaige lokkue’ i gima’ i Gobietno yan i Lihelaturan Guåhan. I Plåsa de España mahåtsa desdi i tiempon Españot; manggaige guihi i kosas yan estorian i manmasusedi gi duranten i tiempon Españot. Gaige i Plåsa gi fi ʹ on i gima ʹ yu ʹ os Dulce de Maria Cathedral-Basilica.  Dångkolo’ este na guma ʹ yu ʹ os ya ma silelebra i gipot Santa Marian Kamalen gi diha ocho gi Disembre guini. Dångkolo’ este na silebrasion giya Guahan. I hinenggen Katoliko gi...

At the funeral for Maga'låhi Ed Benavente today, I got a chance to talk to former Governor of Guam Felix Camacho. When Felix Camacho was first elected the group Nasion Chamoru was in decline in terms of its political power. Angel Santos had been elected into the Guam Legislature years earlier and formally left the group. Nasion itself had continued to fight and gotten a number of reforms implemented around land for the landless and for families that had lost land after World War II to the US military. Felix Camacho, seeking to make a sort of peace with Nasion Chamoru, which had been a notorious thorn in the side of the previous administration, reached out to Ed Benavente and offered him a position in his cabinet. I remember that time well, as I had already started hanging out with members of the Colonized Chamoru Coalition and so I got to listen in while members of Nasion Chamoru discussed whether or not Ed should join with Camacho. I won't describe the deliberations in detai...