NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For Immediate Release August 13, 2017
People for Peace Rally: Monday, August 14 Guam Groups Organizing A Community Call for Peace
Hagåtña, Guåhan — In a call for peace amid dangerous talks of war, two Guam community groups are organizing a “People for Peace” rally at the Maga’låhi Kepuha loop in Hagåtña on Monday, August 14, 2017 at 5 p.m. Independent Guåhan and the Prutehi Litekyan/Save Ritidian organization are inviting the local community to join them with peaceful signs and positive messages they’d like to share with the world. 
This past week, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un exchanged aggressive threats of attack that included plans for a North Korean missile strike near Guam in mid-August. Historically, Guam has been forced in the middle of other nations’ conflicts, particularly as an unincorporated territory of the United States. As a result, many of Guam’s people know the painful and horrific effects of war as World II survivors and as vete…

There are so many interesting things when traveling to different parts of the world. Environments and landscapes change. Languages and cultures change. The sense of time can feel different. The referents that we use to pin down meaning, to create social and cognitive maps shift. It can be disorientating in a very fundamental sense. You rely on certain things to give a sense of stability. Certain things to be understood by those around you. When those shift it can be bewildering. 

One thing that I've found most interesting from the two UN regional seminars that I've attended, both in Latin America, is the way the pantheon of historical referents shifts. In a Guam context, there are certain figures that can be safely and comfortably referred to and provide a stable sense of communal meaning. Magellan, Yokoi, Hurao, Kepuha, San Vitores, the Archbishop, various Governors, maybe some MMA fighter or a Chamorro musician. People may debate their legacy, their social value or pulsing me…

In the past few weeks, an image and a short activist meme featuring a black and white image of Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo appeared on Facebook. Bordallo has upset alot of people on island over her pushing to authorize the Department of Defense to create a surface danger zone over Litekyan (Ritidian) a popular beach, historically significant area and wildlife refuge as part of their possibly building a firing range on the cliff above.  She introduced a bill to this effect, withdrew it and has now reintroduced it. 
The memes attacking her were built around this premise, "What Would Ricky Do?" The reference is to the late Governor Ricardo Bordallo, Madeleine's husband. He served two non-consecutive terms in the 1970s and 1980s as the chief executive of Guam. He ended his political career on scandalous terms after being investigated by the Federal Government and convicted of several crimes, most importantly witness tampering. He was slated to serve time in prison o…

Sesso nina'triste yu' ni i estorian Maga'lahi Mata'pang. Matatnga na gerreru gui'. Ha kontra i Espanot ko'lo'lo'na i mamale' anai ti meggai na Chamorro kumokontra. Guihi na tiempo meggai mano'sun nu i inentalo', lao i meggaina manma'a'nao nu i atmas i sindalun Espanot. Tumachu Si Hurao kontra siha gi 1671, lao manguahlo'. Kana' ma ikak i Espanot, lao manggineggue siha ni un pakyo'. Mandinestrosa i gima'Chamorro siha, lao tumotohgue ha' sin danu i gima'yu'us Katoliko. Gi 1672 anai umannok Si Mata'pang gi i estoria-ta, ha na'hasso i taotao na debi di u mana'suha i taotao sanhiyong. Ha puno' Si San Vitores yan i ayudante-na, i halacha na mafa'santo na Tagalog as Pedro Calusnor. Si Mata'pang ha fa'nu'i i tiguang-na siha na ti manyu'us i gilagu, sina mehagga'. Gi minagahet esta i Chamorro ma tungo' este, lao manmaleffanaihon.

Gof na'ma'a'se na i hiniyong …

Like anything, colonization is a complicated and contradictory process. But when looked back upon by people who wish it hadn’t happened or happened differently, it can take on an all-consuming and oppressive totality.
It was something that humiliated, subjugated and tortured a poor helpless people. The worse that you can make it sound, the more it seems to empower the need to seek redress or justice for what happened. History becomes then a list of bad things that happened and ways that the colonized peoples were victimized and marginalized. There can be obvious truth to this, but it tends to cast colonialism in a light that doesn’t ever really exist. Colonization becomes more unified and consistent than it really is. It moves towards feeling monolithic as its sins become more pronounced.
Take for example in Guam’s history, the Chamorro Spanish Wars. From this name alone it creates an image of Chamorro warriors fighting bravely against the Spanish invaders. Chamorros did fight brav…

"Historical Scavenger Hunt"
Michael Lujan Bevacqua
2/1/12
The Marianas Variety

LAST Saturday I took my Guam History students on a historic scavenger hunt in Hagåtña. Right now, we are at the beginning of the semester and learning some basic ideas about both what Guam is as a place and what the nature of history is as a concept. For this semester I wanted to try out a new approach to introducing students to Guam, and thought that giving them a “self-motivated” tour around the historic sites of Hagåtña in order to find the meaning of a vague set of clues was ideal.

I have taken my students to Hagåtña several times before over the years because of the way it provides a very clear example of how history is all about layers. Most people think of history as being something determined by a clear line. What is on one side is the past and what is on the other is the present. It is for that reason that if you ask most people why history is important, they will say some…

Dave Davis is a name that is synonymous on Guam with racist rhetoric aimed at Chamorros. He wrote letters to the editor of the PDN for many years and somewhere along the way was given a regular column in the Marianas Variety which he calls very warmly "The Outsider Perspective." In his column he regularly attacks the Government of Guam, Chamorro culture, Chamorro activists, and people who use Federal social services. These are things that everyone on Guam regularly assaults verbally, but the difference is that most people save those conversations for when they are amongst people they know agree with them and can therefore enjoy all the pleasures of racist rhetoric without fear of someone saying "Taimanu un atotga sumangan ennao!"

But what makes Davis particularly odious for most people on Guam is that he doesn't only attack those who people usually attack, but he does also take glee in attempting to eviscerate Chamorro culture. He enjoys arguing that there is n…