NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

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 o...

Independent Guåhan will present on the risks of drafting a constitution as a territory and honor the late Lt. Governor Frank F. Blas for June GA For Immediate Release, June 18, 2019-  Independent Guåhan (IG) invites the public to attend their upcoming General Assembly (GA) to take place on Thursday, June 27 th ,  from 6:00-7:30 pm at the Main Pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. This GA will focus on the risks involved should Guam decide to pass a constitution as a territory of the US. As part of this educational focus, the group will honor as maga’taotao the late Lt. Governor of Guam Frank F. Blas.  Following the passage of a federal law that enabled Guam to draft a local constitution, the second Guam Constitutional Convention (ConCon) was held in 1977. A constitution was drafted and approved by the US federal government; however, it was rejected at a 4-1 margin by the voters of Guam. There are many reasons why the draft constitution was rejected, b...

Some images I took from the Ayuda i Mañainå-ta Dos event last month. There is a full album available on Independent Guåhan's Facebook page. I was glad to be able to help so many elderly people with their war claims forms, but I could not help but feel upset over my own grandparents not being eligible as they passed away in 2013 and 2015. ***************************

I'm excited to be helping organizing another "Ayuda i Mañainå-ta" event focused on assisting Chamoru war survivors complete their war claims forms. This semester seems like a never-ending parade of interesting and exciting events and this one will be one of the last ones for the next few weeks. I'm excited at all I was able to accomplish this semester, but eager for some rest this summer. ********************** Independent Guåhan organizes “Ayuda i Mañainå-ta Dos,” to assist elders with completing their war claims application ahead of June deadline. For Immediate Release, April 30, 2018 – Last December, Independent Guåhan organized the event, “Ayuda i Mañainå- ta,” which assisted 165 elders in the completion of their war claims applications. In response to public demand, Independent Guåhan is partnering with the Guam War Survivors Memorial Foundation and others to organize “Ayuda i Mañainå-ta Dos,” which will take...

Independent Guåhan organizes “Ayuda i Mañainå-ta,” an event to celebrate our elders and assist them in their war claims applications For Immediate Release, November 30, 2017 – Each December 8 th , Guam commemorates the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Guam that dragged the island into World War II. Earlier this year, after more than seven decades, the US Congress has passed a law providing reparations for Chamorro survivors of the Japanese occupation. While this law is problematic in many ways, it still represents a chance for our manåmko’ to receive some compensation for what they suffered and help give closure to this violent period of Guam’s history. This December 8 th , Independent Guåhan is organizing “Ayuda i Mañainå-ta” an event designed to assist our elders in the completion of their compensation application and a celebration of their lives and struggle. Trained volunteers will be onsite to help them properly document their story, complete ...

I have been wracking my brain for the past few hours and also "tearing apart" at least digitally my computer looking for the source for a quote that I had included in my notes and now need to use in an article I'm completing for The Journal of Okinawan Studies. As of now I have yet to find it unfortunately and I'm hoping that this quote didn't come from a news article that I had photocopied years ago but had yet to scan or transcribe. If that is the case, I may never find the citation for it. Part of the joy, but also the frustration of searches like this, is the random surprises and nostalgia bombs that end up crossing your path. While searching through more than a decade of research, I came across so many bits and pieces of things, some of which ended up being keystones in my academic cosmology, others I had completely forgotten. One thing I came across that I wanted to share was these three articles below. They all come from August 2007, at a time when th...

Independent Guåhan invites the public to attend its fifth General Assembly on Thursday, December 22 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the main pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. The meeting will focus on water and what Guåhan can do as an independent country to preserve this precious resource. Water is an essential element for human life across the Pacific and around the world. Hånom is one of the six elements that are invoked each day by thousands across the island when reciting the Inifresi. At present, our access to clean and safe water sources is complicated by the U.S. Navy’s ownership of Fena Lake in the south and the potential damage to the northern aquifer outlined in the Record of Decision should the U.S. continue to increase its military presence on Guåhan. As an independent country, we would be able to control access and use of these resources to ensure that future generations have clean and reliable water. Next week’s General Assembly will focus on policies ...

War reparations is something that hardly receives much attention anymore. It used to be the issue that could make or break a candidate for delegate in Guam. It was something that people pushed for, and always seemed likely to get in some form, but never materialized. War reparations in the Chamorro context, is about compensation for the atrocities, suffering and destruction that Chamorros experienced during World War II at the hands of occupying Japanese forces. Chamorros did receive some compensation for what had happened in the immediate postwar era, but a commission later determined that they were not given enough information or access to those channels of redress and that further compensation should be awarded. This issue is waning in political importance due to the fact that the war generation is dying out. The number of people who would be eligible for compensation decreases with each year. The impetus is slowly being quashed as time ravages our elders and making the issue ap...

Every few years the issue of decolonization in Guam is taken up in a national or international context. This is always an interesting thing to witness, as so much of it depends on the attitude of the journalist. Guam is not something well-known in any context that is not centered around US military bases, Spam consumption or the travel of Japanese tourists. So, whenever a journalist has to take up the issue of covering Guam, either for a single instance or become the "beat" reporter for US territories, or the Western Pacific or for something else, it can be interesting to observe. Older analysts have referred to the constant rediscovery of Guam in this way, as every new journalist that is tasked with covering Guam has to undergo a short or very short process of learning about it and then making it known to their reading/viewing public. Sometimes they take a securely American position in their crafting of their narrative, and as such Guam is simply a forgotten or disres...

Next week Guam Democrats will be casting their votes in the race for the party's nominee for President this year. Here is the information from Bernie Sander's website about his position on Guam's issues. *********************** Bernie is proud to stand with the people of Guam, and work together with Guamanians to build a better future. As president, Bernie will fight for a more just society with an economy that serves the needs of all Guamanians – not just a handful of those Americans on top. His College-for-All plan would allow students across Guam who study hard to attend college without burdening themselves with mountains of debt. Bernie’s plan to create a Medicare-for-all, universal health care system will make sure Guamanians have the health care they need regardless of how much money they make. His climate plan would fundamentally transform Guam’s energy system away from fossil fuel towards sustainable energy by providing grants to Guam’s communitie...