Fanhokkayan #1: Declaration of Human Rights gi Fino' Chamoru

Recently some people started sharing some articles on Facebook from old websites that I used to run such as The Chamorro Information Activists and Minagahet Zine. When I went back to read over some of what they shared, I could feel waves of nostalgia washing over me. These were the days when I was first starting as an activist and working with others for the first time, organizing things and trying to develop our ideas. I cringe when I read some of it because my positions have changed or I have learned more about certain topics.

I've decided to start up a new recurring post series on this blog called "Fanhokkayan" or "Collection." Since these websites are no longer active, no longer being actively updated, they sit there online, and are occasionally visited by students conducting research for their papers. I worry sometimes that at some point they will disappear and they provide an interesting snapshot of Chamorro issues at a particular moment in my life and in time in general.

For the first post in this series I wanted to share something I randomly found on the internet in the days when it was channeled into computers via creaking and squeezing router machines. I was at that time still learning to speak and write Chamorro and I was desperate to find whatever I could that was written in the Chamorro language. I was searching around on the internet for various things, using search engines like Lycos or Northern Lights. I didn't find much, Chamorro in the states at that time had a far greater online network, although interestingly enough in those days the political status task forces for Statehood and Free Association both had websites. That is why I was amazed when I came across this, what I have pasted below, a Chamorro translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Gi ayu na tiempo, na'manman i sinedda'-hu. Ti hongge'on na guaha chumo'gue este. Ti hu tungo' håyi, lao hu gof agradesi. 

The spelling is very Spanish influenced and doesn't follow the standardized orthography, so I wondered who had done the translation. Was is someone in the Department of Chamorro Affairs? From the Commission on Decolonization or Self-Determination? From the Governor's office or the Legislature? The United Nation's website indicates that it was submitted in 1998. It was part of a project to translate this foundational document in the modern world into every major language. You can download it on this page, and it indicates that in 1998 there was 78,000 Chamorro speakers in the world. Na'triste este sa' mas menos på'go. Gi kana' bente na såkkan, manaigue 50,000 na fifino' Chamorro. 

Below is the Chamorro text for the declaration. Look forward to more Fanhokkayan examples in the near future as I head down my Chamorro activist memory lane. 

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UNIVERSAL NA DECLARASION I DERECHO SIHA PARA I TAOTAO

Preambulo

Asi como i recognision pot i inherente (natural)na dignidad yan pot i pareho yan inahenable (tisina maamot) na derechon todo i membron i humano na familia guiya i fundacion i liberta, justicia yan pas gi todo i tano. 

Asi como i dinisatende yan i denisprecia i derecho siha para i taotao manhuyon ti civilisao na finatinas siha ni esta hasen insulta i consencian i taotao yan i finato gi tano anai taotao siha umagosa i libertad kumentos, yan hinenge yan libertad gine minanao yan minalago esta maproclama como i mas takilo na aspirasion (tinanga) i comodo (regular) na taotao siha. 

Asi como necesario, yangin i taotao ti para uenebliga na uespiha recurso (hinagon), como i utimo na fandiskansayan gi rebulasion contra i crueldad yan bahacion enao na i derecho siha para i taotao umaprotehe nui arreglon i lai. 

Asi como necesario na umaadelanta i kinalanten i amestao (inamigo) na relasion siha entalo nasion siha. 

Asi como i taotao i Unidos Nasion siha guaha gi halom i Charter masasegura i hinegen niha gi fundamental na derecho siha para i taotao, gi dignidad yan chatbale ya i humano (taotao) na persona yan i pareho na derecho i lahe yan i palauan yan esta madetermina na umaadelanta progresson social yan mas prisocio na standard siha pot linala gi mas dankulo na libertad. 

Asi como un comodo na kininprende pot este nana umaobtene, gi i cooperasion yan i Unidas Nasion siha, i maadelantan i universal na respecto para yan i maguadian i derechon taotao yan fundamental na libertad siha. 

Asi como un comodo na kininprende pot este na derecho yan libertad siha i mas importante para i kabales na marealizasion este na linala. 

Pago, Pot eso,  

i Heneralna Assemblia  

aproklama este i Universal na Declarasion i Derecho siha para i Taotao, como un comodo na standard i obtenamenten para todo i taotao siha yan todo nasion siha, esta i utimo na kada individual yan kada organon i sociedad, ugagaige ha este na Declarasion todo i tiempo gi hinason niha, ya umafatinas mano i sina gi finanague yan educasion para uma adelanta i respeto para este na derecho yan libertad siha yan gi manera ni progresibo, nasional yan inter-nasional, para umaasegura i universal na maguadian niha, tanto i mangaige na taotao siha gi territorio ni gaige gi papa jurisdicksion niha.

 

Articulo 1.

Todo taotao siha man mafanago libertao yan pareho gi dignidad yan derecho siha, man manae siha hinaso yan consiencia yan debe de ufatinas contra uno yan otro gi un espiritun chumelo. 

Articulo 2.

Todo man qualificao nu todo i derecho yan libertad siha ni manmalatnos gi halom este na Declarasion, sin nihafa na distingasiongi maseha hafa na klase, asi como rasa, kulor, sexso, linguahe, relihon, political pat otro opinion, nasional, pat original social, properdad, parto, pat otro statulo (estao). 

Ademas, taya distinguasion sina umafatinas ni maapela gi i fundamenton political, i jurisdicksional pat i internasional na estao i tano pat i teritorio ni gaige un persona, maseha gui independensia, encargo, ti agobierbena gui pat papa maseha hafa otro na restriksion i minagas gobiernamentonna. 

Articulo 3.

Todo mangai derecho pot linala, libertad yan seguridad i persona. 

Articulo 4.

Taya sina mamantene como esclabo pat servidumbre; esclavitudu yan i commercion esclavo umapribe gi todo i klasen niha siha. 

Articulo 5.

Taya sina masometido (manamerese) nui agoniado (na chatflik) na kastigo pat nui cruel, ti para taotao pat deshonrao na tratamento pat kastigo. 

Articulo 6.

Todo man gai derecho na ufan marecognisa maseha mano como persona gi menan i lai. 

Articulo 7.

Todo man pareho gi menan i lai yan man gai derecho sin nihafa na descriminasion nui pareho na proteksion i lai. Todo man gai derecho nui pareho na proteksion kontra kuatkuet discriminasion gi kinentran este na Declarasion yan kontra kuatkuet estimular nui eso na discriminasion. 

Articulo 8.

Todo mangai derecho nui un effectibo na remedio ginen i man kaps na nasional na tribunal siha para finatinas siha ni acocontra i fundamental na derecho siha manae gui ginen i constitucion pot i lai. 

Articulo 9.

Taya sina na sometido nu i arbitrario na inaresta, detension pat destierro. 

Articulo 10.

Todo man gai derecho gi kabales na ekualidad nui un faborable yan mababa’para i publico nui un independente yan tai fabor na tribunal gi i madeterminasion i derechona yan obligasionna siha yan maseha hafa na acusasion ni criminal kontro guiya. 

Articulo 11.

1.       Hayi ma akusa gi penan chatmanhu'la mangai derecho para u fanma po'lo como inosenti asta-ki guaha ebidensia na umisao sigun gi lai ya u ma garantia na u mana guaha nisisariu na dinifendi.

2.        Taya sina ma akusa na umisao gi kuatkuet pena pat finatinas yan sinangan como ti guiya umisague' gi papa nasional na lai, gi tiempo anai makumiti i isao. Desde sed ti debi di u mas makat i pena kontra uno ni mas aplikable gi tiempo anai gumuaha pena. 

Articulo 12.

Taya sina masumetido nu i arbitrarion na inentalo gi i secretuna, familiana, gumana pat corespondenciana, oset para uataka i honrana yan reputasiona. Todo mangai derecho nui proteksion i lai kontra eso na inentalo pat inataka siha. 

Articulo 13.

1.       Todo man gai derecho nui libertad na movimiento yan residencia gi halom i rendelon kada stado.

2.        Todo man gai derecho na udingo katkuet tano, incluso i tanona, yan para ubuetta gui guato ti tanona. 

Articulo 14.

1.       Todo man gai derecho na ualigao yan para ugosa gi otro tano siha asilo (linihen) gine kastigo.

2.        Este na derecho ti debe umainvoka gi kaso pot persucusion (kastigo) siha naturalmente dumoko ginen ti political na isao siha pat ginen finatinas siha ni acocontra i intension yan principal siha i Unidos Nasion siha. 

Articulo l5.

1.       Todo man gai derecho nu un nasionalidad.

2.        Taya ni uno sina maarbitariomente maamot nu i nasionalidadna oset marenuncia ni derecho para utulaika i nasionalidadna. 

Articulo l6.

1.       Lalahe yan famalauan ni kabales idad niha, sin nihafa na restriksion kauso pot rasa, nationalidad pat relihion, man gai derecho na ufan asagua yan para ufan gai familia. Mangai derecho siha pot kasamento, duranten umasaguan niha, yan inadespatan i kasamento.

2.        Kasamento debe de umahatme solo que gi libertao yan kabales na consentimenton i para ufan asagua na persona siha.

3.        I familia guiya i natural yan i fundamental na gurupon dinanna i sociedad yan gai derecho gui nui proteksion ginen i sociedad yan i stados (lugana). 

Articulo 17.

1.       Todo persona man gai derecho para ugai properdad namaisa yan loque gi associasion yan otro siha.

2.        Taya ni uno sina arbitariomente ma amot nui properdadna. 

Articulo 18.

Todo man gai derecho para ufan man haso gi libertad, consciencia yan relihion; este na derecho ha inklulusa libertad para utulaika i relihionna pat hinengenna, yan libertad maseha guiya namaisa pat gi dinanna yan otro siha gi publico pat privado, para umanifesta i relihionna pat hinengenna gi finanague, mapractica, inadora yan guinadda. 

Articulo 19.

Todo man gai derecho para libertad na opinion yan expresasion; este na derecho ha inklulusa i libertad para usustiene opinion sin nihafa na inentalo yan para uespia, uresibe yan ulaknos informasion yan idea siha gi maseha hafa na media yan sin considerasion pot nuebon niha siha. 

Articulo 20.

1.       Todo man gai derecho para libertad na assemblia yan asociasion ni pacifico.

2.        Taya sina maobliga para uhalong gi un asociasion. 

Articulo 21.

1.       Todo man gai derecho para ufan naonao gi i gobiernamenton i tanona, derektamente pat ginen i libertad ni maayek na representante.

2.        Todo man gai derecho nui pareho na accesso (entrada) para i servicion publico i tanona.

3.        I minalago i taotao debe de i fundamental i autoridad i gobiernamento; este na minalago debe de umanaanok gi tempo-pot-tempo yan magahet na election siha ni debe ginen i universal yan pareho na boto yan debe de umaconsige gi secreto na botasion pat gi ekuivalenten libertao na manera siha para man bota. 

Articulo 22.

Todo, como membron i sociedad, man gai derecho para i social na seguridad yan gai derecho para managuahan i seguridad, ginen i nasional na prenekura yan internasional na co-operasion yan gi acondancia yan i organisasion yan guinahan i kada uno na stado, i economia, social yan cultural na derecho siha ni tisina machanda i dignidadna yan i libertao na inadelantan i personalidadna. 

Articulo 23

1.       Todo man gai derecho para ufachocho, para libertao na enaye empleo, para virtuoso yan faborable na condision i checho yan para proteksion kontra ti empleado.

2.        Todo, sin nihafa na discriminasion, man gai derecho nui pareho na apas para i pareho na chocho.

3.        Todo man machochocho man gai derecho para virtuoso yan faborable na compensensia asiguridot para guiya mismo yan i familiana un linala bale yan humano (taotao) na dignidad, yan maumentaye (masaplemente) yangin necesario, nui otro medio siha na proteksion social.

4.        Todo man gai derecho para uforma yan usaonao gi inetnon comercio siha para i proteksion i interesna siha. 

Articulo 24.

Todo man gai derecho para udeskansa yan tai ocupasion, incluso mididao na oran choch siha, yan tempo-pot-tempo na haanen gupot ni maapase. 

Articulo 25.

1.       Todo man gai derecho para un standar na linala ni nahong para i hinemlo yan felicidadna yan para i familiana, incluso nenkano, magago, guma yan estiman medico yan necesario na servicion social siha, yan i derecho para seguridad inkaso na tiempleao, minalango, ininutet, biudo pat biuda, inamko pat otro ni fatan i linala gi circumstancia ni tangue gi sisinana.

2.        Maternida (humana) yan infancia (neni) mangai derecho para special na inistema yan ayudo. Todo famaguon, maseha mafango gi estao kasamento pat ahe, debe de ugosa i pareho na proteksion social. 

Articulo 26.

1.       Todo man gai derecho nui educasion. Educasion debe de sin apas, polomenos gi elmentario yan i fundamental na eskalera siha. Elementario na educasion debe de obligao. Teknical yan profesional na educasion debe umana guaha heneralmente yan i latakilo na educasion debe de kabales na hatmiyon para todo sigun i mireto.

2.        I educasion debe de umaderihe para i kabales yan i manametgot i respeto pot derechon humano siha yan fundamental na libertad siha. I educasion debe unadelanta inakumprende, siningon, yan inamigo entalo todo i tano siha, rasa pat gurupon relihion siha, yan debe uomenta i checho i Unidas Nasion siha para i masuseten i pas.

3.        I mManaina man gai primet derecho para uayek i klasen educasion ni para umanae i famaguon niha. 

Articulo 27.

1.       Todo man gai derecho libertao para usaonao gi i cultural na linala i comunidad, para ugosa i arto siha para usaonao gi sientifico na adelantamente yan i beneficiona siha.

2.        Todo man gai derecho pot i proteksion i moral yan material na interes siha umuhuyon ginen todo sientifico, literario (tinige) pat producsion artistico ni eso guiya autor (fumatinas). 

Articulo 28.

Todo man gai derecho para un social yan internasional na arreglo anai i derecho yan i libertad siha ni man mapolo guine na Declarasion usina marealisa kabales.

 

Articulo 29.

1.       Todo man gai obligasion para i comunidad anai solamente i libertad yan kabales na adelanto i personalidadna sina makonsige.

2.        Gi i ninaseben i derechona yan libertadna siha, todo ufan sometado (tokante) nui restriksion siha ni man madetermina gi lai solamente pot i intensiom i ma aseguran i ginagagao na recognision yan respeto para i derecho yan libertad i pumalo siha yan i inafacha i virtuoso na ginagao moral, areglao na publico yan i heneral na prosperidad ni un democratico na sociedad.

3.        I derecho yan libertad siha tidebe umausa gi kautkuet manero ni contrario yan i intension yan i motibon i Unidas Nasion siha. 

Articulo 30.

Taya gi este na Declarasion usina mainterpete como haimplilika (hasasangan) para kuatkuet stado, gurupo pat persona kuatkuet derecho ni para usaonao gi kuatkuet actividad (chocho) pat para ufatinas kuatkuet acto madesigna para i destruksion i kuatkuet derecho yan libertad siha ni man mapolo guine na tinige.

Breathe Life into the Chamorro Language

Tomorrow is the Inadaggao Lengguahen Chamoru at UOG. The forum for senatorial candidates in the Chamorro language will begin at 6 pm in the CLASS Lecture Hall. See my column below for more information on why it is important.
 
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Breathe life in the Chamorro language

Michael Lujan Bevacqua

Pacific Daily News

October 6, 2016

 

From 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at the University of Guam CLASS Lecture Hall, students in the Chamorro Studies program will organize an “Inadaggao Lengguahen Chamoru” or a Chamorro Language Forum. For this event, four senatorial candidates from each political party will be asked questions in the Chamorro language about pertinent island issues, and respond in the Chamorro language. The event is open to the public and refreshments will be provided.

Nowadays it is easy to forget that there are two official languages for this island, Chamorro and English. One of them has been here for a little over a century, the other for thousands of years. Despite changes that have taken place, the Chamorro language has probably been a part of this land, as long as it has hosted people. It is intimately tied to the natural world and it is the tongue that Chamorros have used to describe everything from typhoons to foreign invaders. In recent memory, one language has become dominant, while the other is increasingly quiet.

Due to overt efforts by the U.S. Navy prior to World War II to prohibit and discourage the use of the Chamorro language and postwar choices made by Chamorros to Americanize, the Chamorro language has been steadily declining. After surviving innumerable trials and tribulations, we can almost hear the end of the language on the horizon. Although the 20,000-plus speakers of Chamorro in the world today is positive compared to many smaller languages with just a handful of fluent speakers. Each successive census indicates that rather than stemming the tide of language death, we continue to lose tens of thousands of speakers.

The Chamorro renaissance, which has reversed so many formerly negative self-perceptions that Chamorros have of themselves, has done little to slow the decline of the Chamorro language. Chamorros no longer eagerly accept the idea that the primary value of their language and culture is that it can be sacrificed on the altar of American assimilation, but sadly this has not led to an increase of the number of Chamorro language speakers.

There are many factors that are affecting the decline of the Chamorro language, but the usual reasons that you will hear discussed around your average fiesta table aren’t the real villains. The Chamorro language isn’t being killed by Facebook, iPads, Netflix or anything of the sort. The Chamorro language isn’t dying because of a terrible laziness that afflicts the youth of today or a saddening unwillingness to learn their native tongue. The Chamorro language is declining because those who can speak Chamorro do not speak it to those who don’t, especially if they are younger than them. And furthermore, that who can speak Chamorro tend not to use it around those who can’t.

Observe your average Chamorro speaker and you’ll see this is true. Chances are good they will use Chamorro among those in their age group, especially if they are above the age of 60. But when it comes to interacting with those younger than them, even within their own family, you’ll see the amount of Chamorro drop dramatically.

Languages remain alive for a single reason; it has nothing to do with status, practicality or speaker community size. They are alive because they are passed on to the next generation.

There are still spaces in Guam where the Chamorro language remains strong and audible. There are still families where it is being passed on to the younger generations. But these spaces and instances are becoming fewer and fewer. As a result, the language becomes quieter and quieter.

Despite the dire state of the Chamorro language today, it is important to recognize that the language does not have to die. It is not destined for linguistic oblivion, existing only in recordings in the Guam Museum. It can be brought back to a healthy state again, but doing so requires far more than current efforts within families and within communities. As UOG President Robert Underwood argued during his keynote address at the Indigenous Language Conference during the Festival of Pacific Arts, you cannot just “håfa adai” your way to language revitalization. Given the deep tissue forms of colonization that convinced Chamorros that their language was useless in the first place, serious interventions are required to re-infuse value and reestablish a sense of linguistic integrity and practical flexibility.

It is common to see the decline of the Chamorro language as tied to technological or cultural changes, but that isn’t how languages work. Languages are adaptive, they can survive just about anything, so long as people continue to use them and pass them on to the next generation. The Chamorro language is disappearing because rather than adapting the language to the world around us, we have reduced the places where it has spoken, ceding more and more territory of everyday life to the realm of English, leaving Chamorro to feel stagnant and static in comparison. In addition to simply using it with our children and grandchildren, we have to expand the things we use Chamorro for and the places where it is natural to use it. This can mean pushing the Chamorro language to evolve in order to be able to accommodate shifts in technology or popular culture, but also use community outreach or public mandates in order to increase the number of places where Chamorro can be used or heard.

Electoral politics was once a place, in the 20th century where the Chamorro language thrived. From pocket meetings to the speeches on the floor of the Guam Legislature, whereas English was the formal language of politics, Chamorro was a necessary companion, feeding a vitality into campaigns. Take, for example, this passage from Pedro C. Sanchez’s "Guahan/Guam: The History of Our Island":

The 1956 election was the first tie that a real contest for legislative seats was experienced on Guam … Popular Party meetings went into the wee hours of the morning. They stayed until they heard Senator James T. Sablan of Agana Heights deliver his nightly “bombshell” blasting the leaders of the Territorial Party slate. His attacks ranged from hilarious uses of the Chamorro and English languages to malicious attacks on his opponents. But the crowd loved it and would disperse only after he finished at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning.

As the number of Chamorro speakers has declined, the number of fluent speakers among our elected leaders has dropped as well. Pocket meetings used to be filled with speakers who would politick in the Chamorro language, but even their numbers are dwindling. Political events will feature common Chamorro phrases, perhaps a single speaker who will emphasis the use of Chamorro, but other than that, politics are now English with local flavor.

The Inadaggao Lengguahen Chamoru is an attempt to push back against this Chamorro decline and stagnation. It is a symbolic intervention aimed at expanding the borders of what we’ve come to commonly associate with the Chamorro language. To help Chamorros of all ages see that the language is so much more than tattoos, T-shirts or food words. But that it will only have as much value, as much life as we breathe into it through our use of it.

Michael Lujan Bevacqua is an author, artist, activist and assistant professor of Chamorro studies at the University of Guam.

Stray Thoughts on Reunification

If you ask just about any Chamorro about their thoughts on reunification or the unification of the Marianas Islands, they would most likely all say "Hunggan, gof maolek enao. Hu gof sapotte enao." In the past, differences between the islands due to colonial divisions and anger over treatment during World War II may have kept Chamorros from the north and the south apart, but that isn't really the case anymore. There maystill  be some latent feelings of superiority that people of one island may have over another, because they feel culturally, linguistically or technologically superior, but even that is started to fade at the political level as all the Marianas Islands are basically territories of the United States now, one with more power than the other.

So while common sense has changed on this issue, there has been little substantive efforts. All governors of Guam that I can remember have at some point expressed interest in unifying the Marianas Islands. They have said so because of culturally similarities, nationalist interests, looking to a decolonized and united future. But what always surprises me is how the leaders who express these things forget that they are the island's leaders, not some random person gi kanton chalan. When leaders express things that they think are good for the island, they have the responsibility to try to make them happen.

Imagine what it would look like if these thoughts, these aspirations were focused? Had a more formal form, rather than simply being pleasant statements of unity that deny realities?

Reunification of the Marianas Islands is very possible, but it would take a great deal of work and require some difficult decisions. But as Guam is pushing stronger than every for the first time in more than a decade for decolonization, and as the CNMI itself has approved the forming of a commission to study the possibility of revisiting their covenant with the United States, no time would be better to try to push seriously for this.

I mina'tuge' yu' nu este, annai hu sodda' este na kattan gaseta ginen 2006.

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Some stray thoughts on reunification
by Felix Aguon
Special to the Saipan Tribune
May 15, 2006

Have you ever asked yourself the question as to why Guam is separated from the rest of the Mariana Islands? Geographically, Guam is about 50 miles south of the island of Rota, about 110 miles south of the island of Tinian and about 128 miles south of the island of Saipan. Since those three islands constitute what has recently been called the Northern Mariana Islands, does that make Guam, the Southern Marianas? Hmmm.

I believe that if you ask any Chamorro living on the island of Guam if we consider ourselves the people of the Southern Mariana Island of Guam you may get a cold stare right back. In fact you will probably get a lot of resistance from the Guam people if you refer to them as Micronesians. To Guam people, Micronesians are those from the islands south or southeast of Guam.

I can recall when the former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the 1970s made a remark something to the affect of “who cares about 100,000 Micronesians anyway.” In retrospect, I believe he may have been referring to the people of Guam rather than the people of Micronesia. This was about the time when then President Gerald Ford gave permission for Guam to begin talks for a possible commonwealth status that was eventually afforded to the CNMI. History tells us that the leadership of Guam lacked the insight to get this on our plate and we may have lost the opportunity forever. After all Guam had a Democratic governor at the time.

Although many of us share a common past in the area, there have been many events that have happened over the past century that have brought us to where we are today. For instance, Guam became a possession of the United States as part of an agreement with Spain by conquest following the Spanish-American War in 1898. As a possession of the United States because of the events of World War II, Guam came under the control of the Empire of Japan from December 1941 to about August 1944. In July 1944, a large contingent of U.S. forces stormed the shores of western Guam to liberate the island and bring it back into U.S. control.

All in all, we do have a common past and you’d think that the common past we have would make a difference in efforts to try to unify. Together, Guam and the CNMI can form a strong alliance. With this, we could gain a little influence on the worldwide scheme of things rather than be divided, with only a portion of the strength we would have otherwise. As a youth I knew that the CNMI existed because I had some friends who were born and raised on Saipan. In fact, one of my best friends is from there and has offered me a better insight into what the people of the CNMI were like before I eventually ventured into the area.

For whatever the reason, many Guam people disliked the people of Saipan in the past and were never fearful of saying so in public to other people in Guam. Believe it or not there were always a choice few who were not afraid to say this in front of people from Saipan and as embarrassing as it was, this would be uttered time and again. I am not exactly sure if this sentiment still exists in our younger generation but I will not be surprised to hear that it has been passed from parent to child, just as every ill and fault of the world often is.

Power in politics is prevalent throughout the region, where we elect our leaders based on some kind of feeling we think they have about us. Each and every leader in both Guam and the CNMI knows that what power they have is something that they are very reluctant to give up or hand over to another. This is probably one of the reasons why many of the leaders in the CNMI do not look forward to meeting with leaders from Guam to discuss the possible reunification of the entire Marianas. Think about it? Would you be willing to give up control over territory you have jurisdiction over to someone else who may exclude you from any involvement in a leadership role? I really wonder.

In the CNMI, each of the islands—Saipan, Tinian and Rota—have two Senate representatives. If Rota and Tinian work together they could overpower efforts by Saipan to impose its will on either of them if an issue were to come up where it could only benefit Saipan and not Rota or Tinian. Truly, that is indeed strength and power and something difficult to just unload on an entity with a greater population than the entire NMI, which is what Guam has.

Do you think that Guam politicians are above those types of antics and would allow fair play and logic to rule the way they do things with regard to the possible and eventual reunification of the entire Marianas? I guess we can only hope for the best.

(Felix Aguon is a writer based in Guam.)

Third Parties in a Two Party System

Third parties or alternative political parties are such strange creatures in the United States. I have identified as a Democrat for much of my life, although a very progressive Democrat in almost every way, to the point where often times somebody such as Ralph Nader or Jill Stein seems to speak for me more clearer than a Barack Obama or a Hillary Clinton. Part of my weirdness for them is simply the fact that I live in a colony of the United States, and my affinity for one party over the other is pretty irrelevant. Although we can participate in the primary process for Democrats and Republicans, we are barred, like other territories from participating in the general election. So, while I may want a certain candidate to win, may feel "este i gayu-hu hunggan, ha gof kuentusiyi yu'" a lot of it is made pointless by the colonial difference, the political gap between Guam and its colonizer.

But each time there is an election in the United States for President, I always feel like I am going back and forth between Democrats and third party options. I liked so many things about Barack Obama, but I knew full well that he could perpetuate the structures of American imperialism and exceptionalism just like a Republican would. He wouldn't challenge most of the structures of power that set up systems of inequality in the United States, whether they be racially, economic, social or political. Third party candidates would offer me so much more ideological consistency, but at the same time feel so strange, since it never seemed likely that a third party candidate for president could have any effect except to "spoil" the election for someone who is their partial ideological familiar.

I support and believe in third party politics, but sometimes it feels that they live in an alternate reality. Each year, hundreds of people run for president of the United States, Most of them only on the ballot in a single state. Certain major minor parties like the Green Party of the Libertarian party can find their way onto ballots in almost every state, but still rarely gather a significant share of the overall vote. In other similar systems, the purpose of the insurgent or alternative party is not necessarily to take power, since it lacks the popular support or infrastructure to do so, but rather force the parties closer to the middle to change and adopt either more conservative or more progressive positions. That is why in countries that have parliamentary systems, sometimes small parties can have a significant impact, as they can form coalitions with others and demand some concessions for their support. This happens in the US within parties, such as Hillary Clinton adopting portions of Bernie Sander's proposals for remaking the United States, but it is not something that necessarily happens between major parties and third parties. In some cases a major party can shift their platform or approach if they see a third party potentially eating away at part of their base.

But as the political system in the United States is designed in a way to keep out third party candidates, it is curious what the approach is for running national campaigns that do not have much of a national infrastructure. I've heard Noam Chomsky, who is a clear progressive and supporter of alternative politics, discuss the need to build more local and regional powerbases and move up from there. A national candidate can be a voice, can try to put certain issues or ideas out there, but it is ultimately politically useless without any sort of basic structure of political power, whether it be a state where they are consistently strong, or a city, a series of cities, a region. Right now no third party has that level of power, and a national candidate, who gets lost in the static of Democrats and Republicans doesn't do much to help you build that power.

I've thinking of this now because of the post below, which is meant to be a brutal take down on people who are saying they will vote for Jill Stein and refuse to vote for Hillary Clinton in this election. Despite my desire to see third party candidates grow and flourish, I still have to agree with much of what the author says.

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If You Are Voting for Jill Stein, Here is What I know About You
by Sasha Stone
Medium
9/15/16

1. I know you are selfish. It’s easy to pretend to care about other people and that somehow protesting the two-party system means you are doing the moral and ethical thing. You think that “what you believe in” matters more than what might happen to other people. Don’t pretend like you care about anyone other than yourself and your image and your brand. Selfishness is the only trait you display in this silly, pointless vote. Just stay home. Don’t bother revealing this ugly trait to the world.

2. You don’t really care about the environment. Whether you’re Greenpeace activists attacking Hillary Clinton, or you’re shrieking about the TPP, or you’re taping your mouth shut and pretending climate change matters to you, or more likely, you’re pushing fracking to the top of your agenda because that is the only way you can adequately target Hillary Clinton, because she has not 100% opposed fracking the way Bernie Sanders has. Never mind that Bernie Sanders 1) could not get the nomination, 2) could not get elected, 3) could do nothing if elected because his policies are too extreme for the American people, let alone Democrats, let alone Republicans in Congress. No, you don’t care about the environment AND STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU DO. You, like the Nader supporters in 2000, DO NOT CARE ABOUT IT. You are willing to risk giving the presidency to someone who not only believes climate change is a “hoax” but who is ready and willing to drill baby drill, anywhere and everywhere. To “take the oil” from war torn regions and to lift all environmental regulations put in place by Obama. If you knew anything about climate change, if you cared AT ALL about what was happening to the planet you would vote for the only Democrat who can win. If you vote for Jill Stein you are a fraud and no one should ever take anything you say seriously and you should stop telling other people the environment is your number one concern. It is not. Your ego is. Your ego is all that matters because you are so wrapped up in being that person who doesn’t vote for Hillary that you are willing to sacrifice the environment — yes, you are and don’t pretend otherwise. At least admit you are selfish and that your ego is all that matters.

3. Stop pretending you care about LGBT rights, women’s rights, black lives, Muslim American citizens in jeopardy. Stop pretending you care because you don’t. Your ego stands in the way of your caring. You are attempting to sabotage yet another US election just so that you can posture and peacock and pretend like your flaccid, pointless, embarrassing throw-away vote matters. You are helping the Republicans win and that means you do not care about the above mentioned people. STOP PRETENDING YOU DO. Just admit who you are — part of the establishment as a valuable tool is preventing any kind of real reform. Face it. You would prefer Donald Trump to get elected because then you can bathe in forever victimhood. Then you can whine and grouse about the government because you have no real way of making any kind of real change happen. You’d rather look cool pretending like there’s a chance in hell our government would “ban fracking.” What Hillary Clinton is offering isn’t good enough for purists like you so let’s just bring on Trump. You should admit this about yourself because you’re LYING IF YOU DON’T.

4. You really don’t care about putting a decent person on the Supreme Court. How else are you going to fill your life with meaning if you don’t have a conservative Supreme Court to blame for everything? God forbid Democrats should mobilize to change the court. Because then what? How will you be cool and edgy with your CSA box and your tats and your pretend-hybrid car and your tiny house and all of the other ways you brand yourself to look like you are the only one who cares when in fact YOU DON’T. You are ruled by a selfish desire to be cool. So guess what that makes you? FOREVER UNCOOL.

5. You desperately need attention. You desperately need other people to notice you. The last thing you care about is what happens to anyone else. You don’t care about the environment. You don’t care about the future of the already endangered animals. You don’t care about the Supreme Court because all you really care about is yourself. Your coolness matters more than the welfare of others. You know that people pay attention to you when you say you’re voting Jill Stein because it means you’re edgy and not a sheep and not a mainstreamer. You’re the target for Starbucks and American Apparel because you think you’re unique and thus, you’re easily manipulated. If your need for attention trumps your concern about the welfare of others that makes you a narcissist. Good luck with that.

Håfa na Klasen Liberation? #25: The True Meaning of Liberation

It is so intriguing the way in which local media covers Liberation Day in Guam, the holiday meant to commemorate the American re-taking of the island from Japanese forces during World War II. Objectively, the American reoccupying of the island in 1944 was not a liberation, at least not in most senses of the word. It's level of "liberation" depends largely on whether or not you exclude the Chamorros, the indigenous people of Guam, who have called this island home for possible thousands of years. It is very bewildering how we predicate the idea of Liberation Day being a liberation on the experiences of the Chamorro people, because so many of them express it as being a liberation, but calling it a liberation requires suspending their human rights and reducing their to a mere colonial effect of the United States. You can refer to July 21st as a liberation from Japanese occupation, as a liberation of US territory from foreign clutches. Even if Chamorros themselves may call it a liberation, because of the joy and relief they felt by having the Japanese and the myriad of daily horrors they represented gone from their lives. But how can it be a liberation in an full formed or true sense if it meant a return to colonial control? If the Chamorro people were liberated from one master and then returned to the control of another? If you don't believe me and think I am just an ungrateful young person who didn't experience the horrors of Japanese occupation and don't understand why we must refer to it as a liberation, don't take my word for it. Take the words of one of the US soldiers who did the liberating, who hits the beaches and expelled the Japanese and partially freed the Chamorro people. Here are the words of Darrell Doss in 2003:

"Fifty-nine years ago, on July 21, 1944, I and more than 57,000 Marines, soldiers and sailors came ashore on the beaches of Asan and Agat, and were honored to be referred to as 'liberators.' But in the end, we failed to accomplish what we had come to do -- liberate you. More correctly, our government failed both of us by not granting the people of Guam full citizenship. Another injustice is not allowing Guam to have equal say, as we in the states do, in governing your island home. Please remember, we men who landed on your shores July 21, 1944, shall never be fully satisfied until you are fully liberated."

That is why it is so interesting when the media attempts to grapple or explore what the true meaning of the day is. Patriotism is constantly mentioned as being what the root of the event is meant to be. Patriotism to the United States and gratitude for what they did in freeing us from Japanese oppression. The problem though, as we look to the future and look to our postwar history, is that this traps us in a particular subservient relationship to the United States, and becomes a way of enthusiastically and patriotically explaining away our colonial present. The most common way in which patriotism or our potential attachment to the United States is articulated is not critical, does not move us forward, but pushes us to accept what we currently have, and that we should appreciate everything Uncle Sam is kind and generous enough to gift us.

Instead, we should re-imagine Liberation Day in a way that benefits us, provides the lessons for us looking to the future. Gratitude to the United States can be a part of this, but not patriotism to a country which is our colonizer and our most formal and fundamental connection is that they own our island and our rights. We can commemorate this event as it is so important in our recent history, but we should organize it in such a way that it pushes us forward, towards true liberation, self-determination or decolonization.

Below are some articles where the "true meaning" of Liberation Day are broached.

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Remembering the true meaning of Liberation Day
by Sue Lee
Pacific Daily News
July 19, 2016

This year marks the 72nd anniversary of the liberation of Guam.

With more than seven decades passed, the significance of Liberation Day has been buried for some. For those like John Gerber, a former Marine sergeant and founder of Pacific War Museum, they strive to remind future generations of the meaning behind July 21, says Mel Gerber, president and managing director of Pacific War Museum Foundation.

The idea for the museum came when Mel Gerber’s late husband, John, was watching the news. When asked what Liberation Day meant to them, for the most part people said it was a day off or it was a day to go down and watch the parade with the family.

“He thought, ‘Wow, everyone is losing sight of what this day actually means,” Mel Gerber says.
Spurred by those comments, John Gerber made it a mission to remind others of what really happened on Liberation Day, and honor those that fought for the island in 1944. John Gerber had already collected a significant amount of artifacts and memorabilia to display in the Pacific War Museum. The rest came from military surplus and donated items. The museum officially opened right along with Liberation Day in 2008.

“Just this morning, we had a guy come in from the States to drop off a framed photo of his friend. The friend passed away 2015. He earned a purple heart from getting wounded in Guam back in 1944. He believes that was what also saved him. He would have moved on to the Battle of Iwo Jima, which also means he would have been in Japan when they dropped the nuclear bomb,” Gerber says.
Although it’s summertime, teachers still bring their students to the museum to supplement their lessons on Liberation Day.

In public schools, Guam history is emphasized at the fourth-grade level and is also a high school graduation requirement, says Jon Fernandez, Guam Department of Education superintendent.
“I remember being taught about it during Chamorro class, but we learn about it during Guam History classes in high school,” says Lovely Sejalbo, an incoming senior at Okkodo High School.

“In the district’s K-12 level … students learn about the systems of beliefs, knowledge, values and traditions of various cultures and how those aspects influence human behavior,” Fernandez says.
This leads up to the fourth-grade level Guam History, which includes the origins and significance of local celebrations, including Independence Day, Liberation Day and the Feast of Santa Marian Kamalen.

Fernandez says he wants to teach students about how historical events like Liberation Day have changed and affected lives. “We need to remind our young generation not only during our annual Liberation Day festivities, but every day by continuing to practice our cultural values,” he says.
However for some students that are not part of the Guam DOE system, they have to be proactive in order to learn the history behind July 21.

“We don’t touch on it because it’s not a requirement in the test that we do for home schooling,” says Stephanie Kohn, 17, who will be a senior this Fall. “We learn about world history and American history. They don’t really mention (Guam). I feel like it should be a requirement because we live here, but I do know about it and that the Japanese occupation was terrible. I learned about it at the Pacific Heritage Youth Summit that my mom sent me to.”

Exploring the history

The Pacific War Museum is another way kids and adults can learn about Guam history. At the entrance of the museum, visitors can sign a guestbook before touring the exterior, or walk into either of the two enclosed sections filled with photographs, memorabilia and artifacts – to the left is the American wing and to the right is the Japanese.

Included in the American wing is a red plaque listing the names of the 1,548 Marines, 226 Army and 110 Navy soldiers killed while liberating Guam from Japan in July 1944.

In the Japanese wing, among the weapons used during that time are stories of Japanese soldiers hiding in the jungle, even beyond the liberation. One of the most well known is Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant who hid in the jungle from 1944 to 1972 before he was captured.

A Japanese flag and a plastic bag with a Japanese newspaper found in a cave by John Camacho in 1972 hang on the wall.

Outside, you will find over a dozen war vehicles, including one each from the Vietnam War and Korean War. A machine gun and the tail end of a Japanese bomber are also on display to remind visitors of tragedy.

Although Liberation Day is a time to celebrate, it’s a day of remembrance, Mel Gerber says. The right education and organizations such as the museum help ensure the significance of July 21 won’t be forgotten.

Content Coach Hannah Cho Iriarte contributed to this story.

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Liberation Parade Changes Direction
by Allyson Chu
KUAM
July 19, 2014
 
Guam - Liberation Day paradegoers will be treated to something a little different this year. Here's what you need to know when you head down to the annual celebration in the island's capitol.

Several changes are in store for this year's Liberation Parade. One, for instance, is the fact that it will now travel north to south. The parade will now start from the Paseo Loop and end at Adelup.  Liberation Parade chairperson, Dededo mayor Melissa Savares, told KUAM News, "If you're coming from the north and parts of central, you'll see that it's congested and most of those areas will be closed off. The main road from Routes 1 and 4 through Adelup will be open until 7am. The back streets in Hagatna are open. Another change that they will see different this year is that skinner plaza there's more vehicle flow or traffic flow at that place because the grandstand is not right in front of skinner's plaza. It's going to be in the front parking lot of Chamorro Village, so there'll be a little more space to move around that area, not to put up any canopies but for people to watch the parade."

As for the grandstand it will be now located in front of Chamorro Village, so instead of liberators and survivors of the Japanese occupation viewing the parade last - they will be first. "We're celebrating 70 years and one of the things I thought really hard in the committee, we brainstormed about this. We talked to many groups, especially public safety because you know it's going to be a safe area and a safe thing to do," the mayor added. "We have seven liberators who are 88 and 90, we want to let them see everything first. They usually see everything at the end when everything's melted down, the makeup's all smeared. This is our way of thanking the liberators but also honoring the survivors because we also have a survivors tent that is attached to the reviewing stand and the man'amkos are more than welcome to come and join and watch the parade from there."

Although the route changed, all other aspects of the Liberation Day festivities will remain the same. An early fireworks display will be set off Sunday night at 8 o'clock for the campers along the parade route in addition to the evening of liberation day at the Tiyan carnival grounds.  The Liberation Fireworks Family Show lights up at 7pm while the big show - the Platinum Fireworks Spectacular - kicks off at 10pm.

The theme of this year's liberation is generations of service and sacrifice. According to Savares it's exactly why we celebrate and commemorate this special day. "The people coming together and seeing our survivors that are still able to come out and participate because that's why we're celebrating liberation because of the hardship they went through during the hardship that they went through during the occupation of Japanese forces," she said. "But also the stories that they share, they don't only share it with their families but when they're all together you can hear the stories and that's the memorable part that's really the true meaning of our celebration."

Happy Liberation Day, Guam!

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Guam Celebrates 69^th Anniversary Of Liberation Day
Parades honor day the American military landed on Guam

By Frank Whitman 

Marianas Variety

July 22, 2013

 

HAGÅTÑA, Guam, Liberation Day – the celebration of the 21st of July 69 years ago when the American military landed on Guam to end two and a half years of brutal occupation by Japanese forces during World War II – has become a celebration of the island, its people and its heritage, and a day to honor those who suffered, sacrificed and died during that dark period of the island’s history. Like celebrations of similar days of national celebration elsewhere, Liberation Day festivities have special meaning for participants.

Yesterday, as usual, thousands of island residents and visitors lined the parade route from the Governor’s Complex at Adelup to the grandstand just past Skinner Plaza. Many who had reserved spots spent Saturday putting up canopies, preparing food and then spending the night to keep an eye on their site.

The parade was successful thanks to the hard work of the Mayors' Council of Guam and countless others who built floats, cleaned up along the parade route before and after the event, organized recycling bins, and maintained order. A fireworks show entertained those in Hagåtña on Saturday night and another was provided in the Liberation Carnival in Tiyan on Sunday night.

And while residents have come to expect rain as part of the Liberation Day tradition, yesterday’s parade took place under blue skies, though the temperature made the route uncomfortable at times.

Santos

Marching in the parade this year, as he has done for the past 32 years, was Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Santos of the Guam Army National Guard’s 1224th Engineer Company. Santos is the last active member of the Guard from the original group 32 years ago. "On July 21, 1981 there were 32 of us swearing in right in front of this grand stand," he said. "Gov. Paul Calvo was our governor at the time, and 30 years later I re-enlisted into the Guam National Guard."

Santos was deployed to Afghanistan for 18 months and to Arizona twice to participate in the construction of the border fence. He said being in the Liberation Day Parade is an honor. 

"[When I first joined] I never thought I’d still be here," he said. "I enjoy it and I challenge everybody in the Guam Guard to stay in as long as I did." He said he intends to stay in until he is forced out by age – on March 31, 2017. 

The parade was a not-common-enough family get-together for Larry Cruz, his wife Elaine, son Jeff and daughter Lauren. Larry Cruz is a civilian Navy employee who grew up in Barrigada but took federal employment elsewhere during the Navy downsizing of the 1990s. He currently works and lives in Okinawa. Elaine, also a Navy employee, was on Guam after recently relocating to a job in Italy, and Jeff, who has lived in San Diego since the 1990s, had extended a visit so he would be on island for yesterday’s celebration. 

Larry Cruz had arrived Saturday afternoon and is to return to Okinawa today. "I was in Okinawa and I was watching a DVD of a Jesse and Ruby concert," he said. "It made me think so much of the island. I knew that my son was here and I thought, ‘Even if it’s just for the weekend, I want to be here with family.'"

The family – Larry Cruz’s brothers, sisters and cousins – had a canopy on the parade route as they have done as long as he can remember, and several of the relatives had spent the previous night there. "We’re second and third cousins, but we’re still so close," he said "It’s just a good feeling – having family here – and these guys do this every year."

Duenas

Alyssa Duenas, 23, also has personal tradition associated with the Liberation Day Parade since it falls on her birthday. "We try to come down here every year," she said. "My sister is here visiting, so this year we decided to do it big. ... It’s been on and off over the years, but we always have a sign [on our canopy] so people will know."

She remembers being told that the festivities were being held in her honor. "They tricked me," she laughed, "They even told me the fireworks and the whole island coming out was to celebrate my birthday."

The Aguon-Crisostomo family’s spot on the beach side of the route was particularly well-decorated with coconuts, leaves and other adornments, including a Guam Seal quilt made especially for the occasion. "We come to the parade every year, but this is the first year we got our own spot," said Abby Aguon Cruz. "It’s hard to get a spot by lining up [at the Department of Parks and Recreation to reserve a spot]. So we got a spot and we decorated."

While the quilt took a week to complete, the rest of the work was started the day before. "We had plans [to put up more items]," Cruz said. "But by 2 this morning, we were just tired. It was hard work, but this is for family."

A group of visiting students from Osaka Business Frontier High School enjoyed their first Liberation Day Parade. They are participants in the University of Guam’s English Adventure Program, in which they stay with local families, study English, and take part in business internships during their stay. The parade was a good opportunity for the students to experience a different aspect of culture and life on the island, said Carlos Taitano, program outreach coordinator. "The timing couldn’t have been better," he said.

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