NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Press Release Guagua Tiningo’ February 28, 2016 Ha’ånen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’: March 6th to be a “day of speaking Chamorro only.” Community is challenged to use as much Chamorro as possible to start off Mes Chamoru this year. Mangilao, Guam – Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Kenneth Gofigan Kuper, two Chamorro language revitalization advocates are encouraging people on island and around the world to participate in Ha’ånen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’ on March 6, 2016, or a day of only speaking Chamorro. This will be the second annual Ha’ånen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’ following last year’s successful campaign, in which more than 100 people committed to using as much Chamorro as possible on March 1, 2015. The organizers hope to keep expanded this new effort at revitalizing the Chamorro language, especially with Mes Chamoru or Chamorro month soon approaching and FESTPAC less than three months away. On March 6 th , participants are encouraged to use only the Chamorro language as they go ab...

The Chamorro language is heard less and less around Guam nowadays. I couldn’t speak Chamorro for most of my life and so the Chamorro I heard around me was generally like noise to my ears. My grandmother speaking Chamorro to her friends when I was young was nothing but old people chatter. Sometime it was fun to just watch, but for the most part, I'm sure none of that had anything to do with me. My grandfather speaking Chamorro to other men his age at the barber shop was an irritating soundtrack. There was Chamorro everywhere, but when I was younger I couldn’t understand it and so I didn’t really care. But nowadays it is becoming scarcer. You can still hear it on the radio and sometimes in businesses that play KISH or Isla 630 on the weekends. You can still hear it in church sometimes. You can hear it when older people gather. The last politician who would regularly speak Chamorro in their speeches or on the floor of the Legislature passed away last year. There is even a month o...

For the Importance of Second Language Learning Forum that I helped organize a few weeks ago, we were honored to have a very diverse and exciting panel. Coming at it from different angles, they covered a number of way, some more philosophical and others more practical, as to how learning a second language can be important and as a result, something that should be required at UOG.  The panel featured the following guests: Kenneth Gofigan Kuper, a Ph.D. student in Political Science at UH Manoa and former student of mine. He is a young activist who has taken up both the banner of decolonization and language revitalization. I've been working with him on a number of projects such as Ha'anen Fino' Chamoru Ha' and the upcoming Lalahen Sinahi project. He took Chamorro as his second language requirement at UOG and it changed the course of his life.  Ronald T. Laguana, the current director of the Division of Chamorro Studies in the Guam Department of Education. He i...

The PDN has been publishing a series of columns under the banner of "Saonao yan Eyak" or "Join and Learn." These columns are meant to help inform and inspire the community in advance of next year's FESTPAC which will take place in Guam. Hosting a FESTPAC is a massive endeavor. It requires layers of public and private cooperation, as tens of thousands of people descend upon that island in order to experience this cultural Olympics of the Pacific. I first wrote a column for them last month for Ha'anen Fino' Chamoru Ha', which by the way we are working on formalizing and trying to get back to honor at the start of each month. This month I wrote about how much Guam's consciousness has changed over the past four decades and how FESTPAC played a significant role in that. **************** "Guam's made huge stride since 70s" by Michael Lujan Bevacqua Pacific Daily News 4/23/15 When we think of what "Chamorro culture" ...

Last week I penned a column for the Pacific Daily News on the connection between Ha'anen Fino' Chamoru Ha', a challenge for increasing the amount of Chamorro that you speak for one day at the start of this month and FESTPAC, the largest cultural event in the Pacific. Guam will be hosting FESTPAC in 2016 and representatives from 27 different island will be traveling here to share their own heritage and learn more about what Chamorros have to offer the Pacific.  Each week the PDN is publishing a column on FESTPAC titled Saonao yan Eyak, encouraging people to support FESTPAC and help prepare this island to become the cultural center of the Pacific. My column focused on the need to bring the Chamorro language to a healthy state in order to help represent ourselves in a deeper way. The theme of the festival focuses on uniting our different voices of the Pacific. What kind of message do we send to the rest of the Pacific if the voice we use is English...

Ha’anen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’ is just a few days away. I wrote about this in my column last week, but thought I would revisit it again for those who would like to learn more and hopefully participate.  Ha’anen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’ boils down to this: On March 1 st , those who accept this challenge are to spend the entire day only speaking Chamorro or if they are unable to, at least try to use as much Chamorro as possible, as much as they know or can. This challenge means that no matter who you are talking to or where you go on that day, Chamorro is the language that you will be using. If you are ordering food at Kings, do your best to order in Chamorro. If you are using your Whatsapp on that day, Whatsapp your circle of friends in Chamorro.  After we first announced this challenge, one excited participant, Charmaine West, who currently lives in Idaho created a Facebook page, on which 74 people have already signed up to try their best on Sunday....

Ha'anen Fino' Chamoru Ha' by Michael Lujan Bevacqua Marianas Variety 2/18/15 A constant question in my life, something that I am always considering and pondering and people around me always bring to me seeking answers is, “How can we save the Chamorro language?” Students ask me in class. Elders ask me in line at the grocery store. Random people come up to me at the mall and ask me. Last week someone started talking to me about it while we were at urinals next to each other. People are always seeking big ideas or fantastic innovations. They want to hear about plans involving Rosetta stone or language apps or TECH talks or fancy new curriculum created by people with shiny degrees or ancient words that reveal the true nature of Chamorro cosmology. These are all cool ideas but saving the language can be so much easier and simpler than all that. All we need to do to save Chamorro is that those who know the language use it with those who don’t and those who don’t know how t...