NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

  Recently Senator Will Parkinson introduced a resolution to I Liheslaturan Guåhan calling for a full examination of statehood or another autonomous status. In his statement explaining the resolution he equated statehood for Guam with ensuring the island’s survival.   Is statehood really the only choice for Guam’s future?   This Friday, May 2nd from 5:30-7:00 pm at the Guam Museum, Independent Guåhan will be holding a community forum discussing some of the implications of what statehood might mean for the island. This event is free and open to all. Former UOG President and non-voting delegate for Guam Robert Underwood will also offer his reflections as part of the discussion.   Artwork in flyer courtesy of Teihini Davis   **************   Three Things You Should Know About Statehood for Guam 1.         Unlike Independence, where all people have the right to be free and right to self-determin...

 This coming week's episode of Fanachu! will feature an interview with Saina Donald Mendiola, a yo'åmti and CNMI Cultural Icon. I'm excited about this episode, where I'll get to learn more about Saina Donald's journey to becoming a healer, and also the recent recognition he has received in both Guam and the CNMI for his work in the community and in schools. Below is an article from June in the CNMI. ******************** Senate resolution honors traditional healer, educator  by K-Andrea Evarose Limol Jun 21, 2022 Updated Jun 21, 2022 Marianas Variety THE Senate on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution honoring traditional healer and educator Donald Benavente Mendiola. Authored by Sen. Edith Deleon Guerrero, S.R. 22-24 acknowledges and honors Mendiola for his long-lasting contributions to the CNMI. Mendiola has been practicing Chamorro medicine for around 47 years. He was 8 when he began navigating the practice of being a “suruhuånu” or “yo’åmti” under his ...

On Thursday, December 12th, from 4-6 pm, a public hearing will be held on Resolution No. 255-35 (LS) titled " RELATIVE TO SUPPORTING GUAM’S APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP TO THE UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION (UNPO)." Please consider testifying in person on Thursday or submitting testimony via email in support of this resolution.  Written testimonies may be delivered to the Office of Speaker Tina Muña Barnes at 163 Chalan Santo Papa, Hagåtña, Guam 96910or via email to speaker@guamleg islature.org . Joining the UNPO could bring an higher level of visibility Internationally and nationally to Guam's issues. Manny Cruz and I wrote as much in recent weeks in columns and letters to the Pacific Daily News.  ***************************** Group connects marginalized people across the world Michael Lujan Bevacqua Pacific Daily News November 21, 2019 Speaker Tina Muña Barnes has proposed a resolution that would seek Guam’s membership in the UNPO, or the...

Media Shouldn't Defend Colonial Status Quoby Michael Lujan Bevacqua January 5, 2018 Pacific Daily News As we crawl out of the dumpster fire that was 2017 for much of the United States and its territories, we inch cautiously into 2018 and hope for the best.  As someone who has been working over the past few years to elevate the community consciousness about decolonization,  I am most interested in what the coming elections and federal cases will bring in terms of changing the island’s political status. What occupies my thought process is the role of the media in helping build that consciousness or impede it. The media institutions in any society don’t just exist to report or investigate. These institutions also, often in less perceptible ways, promote values and norms, usually on behalf of elite segments of society. In a colonial context, these roles gain a colonial dimension. Both institutions and individuals often will be compelled to defend and natur...

“Tinestigu put Resolusion 294-34” November 22, 2017 Michael Lujan Bevacqua Buenas yan Håfa Adai, mansenådot yan mansenådores guini gi este na gefpå’go na ha’åni, pi’ot hågu Senadot San Nicolas. I na’ån-hu si Michael Lujan Bevacqua. Profesot yu’ gi Programan Inestudion Chamorro gi Unibetsedat Guåhan yan gehilo’ yu’ para i inetnon kumunidåt “Independent Guåhan.” Lao guini på’go gi me’nan-miyu ti hu kuentusisiyi ayu siha. Tumestitigu yu’ guini på’go komo un Chamorro yan taotao Guåhan. Hu agrådesi i oppotunidåt para bai hu fata’chong guini på’go ya bai hu sangåni hamyo ni’ didide’ ginen i hinasso-ku put este na resolusion yan i meggai asunto ni’ pinapacha.   Put resolusion 294-34, ti hu sapopotte gui’. Ya para bai hu na’klåru i pusision-hu put este na asunto gi este kuatro na punto: Fine’nina: Gi tinituhon este na resolusion, guaha infotmasion put NEPA, i National Environmental Policy Act. Mafå’tinas este na lai para u na’siguro na i gubetnam...

Testimony to the Fourth Committee of the United Nations From Michael Lujan Bevacqua, Ph.D. Co-Chairperson, Independence for Guam Task Force October 3, 2017 Buenas yan håfa adai todus hamyo ko’lo’ña si Maga’taotao Rafael Ramirez Carreño i gehilo’ para i kumuiten Mina’Kuåtro, gi este na gefpå’go na ha’åni. Magof hu na gaige yu’ guini på’go para bai hu kuentusi hamyo yan kuentusiyi i taotao Guåhan put i halacha na sinisedi gi islan-måmi. (Hello to all of you on this beautiful day. I am grateful to be here now so that I can speak to you, in particular H.E. Rafael Ramirez Carreño, Chair of the C24, and speak on behalf of the people of Guam about recent events that transpired in our island home.) My name is Michael Lujan Bevacqua and I am a professor of Chamorro Studies at the University of Guam. I am also the co-chair for the Independence for Guam Task Force, a community outreach organization tasked with educating our island about the possibilities should...

At this year's Regional Seminar for the Committee of 24 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, attendees were treated to two presentations by experts on decolonization from the UN perspective. I'll discuss both presentations through my "Decolonization in the Caribbean" posts, but today I wanted to focus on the remarks from Dr. Carlyle Corbin, from the US Virgin Islands, who is a longtime ally with Guam and the Chamorro people in their struggle for self-determination. He offered a number of recommendations that the Committee could take up in terms of moving ahead with its mission of eradicating colonialism from the world and assisting the remaining non-self-governing territories. What is refreshing in terms of the seminar overall is the way it mixes scholars and experts with diplomats or government reps. The debate or discussions between country representatives and committee members tends to move in familiar and sometimes frustrating directions. Regardless of what is t...

Paul Zerzan frequently references me in his columns in the Guam Daily Post and also his letters to the editor of the Pacific Daily News. For those of you who don't know who Paul Zerzan is, it isn't truly critical that you know him or what he stands for. He is a white male living on Guam, who constantly takes polemical and often times ignorant positions on things such as Chamorro language and decolonization. It is sometimes difficult to engage with someone like him who seems very willing to impulsively shout loudly about the things that they believe, but doesn't ever seem to investigate or research what they are claiming prior to speaking/writing. Gi Fino' Chamorro ta sångan, "hasso åntes håfa para un sångan, mappot pumañot tåtte." This is something that Paul Zerzan doesn't seem to know much about or take seriously. Last year I and several others wrote letters and column about his assertion that the Chamorro language is already dead and it is useless to...

On August 28, 2015 the Department of Defense signed the Record of Decision (ROD) for their proposed military buildup to Guam. The military buildup and its impact on Guam has long been a topic of public debate. What has often been lost in the discussion of socioeconomic and environmental impacts is what effect a military increase of this magnitude may have on the Chamorro quest for self-determination and the decolonization of Guam. Since 2011 I have been a member of the Commission on Decolonization, and although many people might think of issues of self-determination and military increases as being separate, we should think of them as being more closely connected. The overall mission of the Commission on Decolonization is to educate the island community on issues of political status, in particular related to the holding of a political status plebiscite in which those who are legally qualified will vote on one of three future political statuses for Guam (integration, free associat...