NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I have often asked people who served in the US military and were stationed overseas or in foreign bases, how much they knew about the places where they were stationed? From Chamorros who were in Vietnam and South Korea decades ago, to Chamorro stationed today in places like Okinawa, Hawai’i and Iraq, the answer is usually, “ti meggai.” Not much. Bases in general, but in particular bases built in foreign countries tend to have a more depressing and tragic history than others. They could have been started during or right after a war. The land was occupied and so even after the war is over, the base stands as a testament to when terrible violent conflict was there. It also can signify land that was taken in war and then held onto despite countries now being at peace. Bases can signify something stolen from a community in so many ways, whether the literal land itself, or the sovereignty of the people who live around it. Those bases may have protest communities.

“Crazy Talk” Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Marianas Variety July 4, 2012 The same scene happens every couple of months at my grandfather’s shop at the Chamorro village. A military family comes into the check out my grandfather’s handmade tools. They look around and are impressed. I answer their questions and give them some background on my grandfather Tun Jack Lujan’s role in perpetuating the Chamorro culture today as a Master Blacksmith. As they are leaving one of them turns to me and says “I want to thank you for showing this to us and answering our questions, you aren’t as terrible a person as I thought you were.” The first few times this scene took place I was taken aback. How did they know anything about me and what did they know that made them assume I’d be terrible? We’d never met before and how could they possess such strong negative feelings to me already? I’ve come to learn that the reason for this is because of my internet presence, primar

Halacha fihu inetdot yu'. Achokka' kalang taya' gi oriya-hu ni' bubulao, kalang manieniente yu' na guaha un malamana na pakyo' gi oriya-hu. Na'ao siempre, lao gagaige ha'. Meggai masasangan put Guahu. Ya ti hu tungo' hafa mismo masasangan, lao hu tungo' ha' na masasangan. For the past few days I've been feeling a bit off, and usually when I get like this it is because of this feeling that I am being talked about, but I don't really know who is doing the talking, or what they are saying. I make regular public statements through this blog, through different events and activities and through my columns in the Marianas Variety and so it is common for my words to travel around the island and around the internet. Things that I barely remember saying on this blog or in public, sometimes become the only things that people remember about me. Sometimes I get used an example for good things about Guam or about Chamorros, sometimes I get used a

Just finished up at the Realizing Our Destiny Rally held at Adelup today and organized by We Are Guahan. Mampos yafai yu', lao mampos malulok yu' lokkue'. It was tiring, stressful, chaotic, lao sen gaibali, absolutely worth it. At least 500 people showed up (by my quick counts) to hear the music of Biggah and Bettah and Rockbottom, to take literature from the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, and also sign up for the decolonization registry. The highlight of the rally was when we formed a human chain around the Adelup field, with more than 300 people, and screamed at the top of our lungs that we would defend this island and that the DOD must hear and pay attention to and act according to what the people of Guam want. Hunggan, esta ma fitme i ROD, lao taya' guaha. Esta hu tuge' gi este na blog, na achokka' ma sangan na makpo' este, a'annok ha' na ti makpo'. Ma diseseha i militat, na yanggen ma fitma este, fitma ayu, fitma enao, para ta f

Minagahet Zine Fatfat'Nga'Fulu'Hugua Volume 8 Issue 2 "Critical Comments" August 25, 2010 There hasn’t been an issue of Minagahet for a few months, because I, like so many people on Guam have been waiting to see what will happen next in terms of the planned military buildup. Now, at last the time has come, and the FEIS ( Uttimo na EIS) is out, but in this issue of Minagahet, I want to take a look back at some of the comments that were made about the DEIS ( Draf na tinige’). The DEIS ( Draft Environmental Impact Statement ) comment period was an incredible three months. The public engagement and critique was far beyond anyone could have expected. 9,000 – 10,000 comments were submitted to the Joint Guam Program Office, thousands and thousands more than they most likely anticipated. The public comment meetings were dominated by people who were either against the buildup or at least suspicious about how this sort of massive movement of people and ra

Halacha, hiningok-hu este na sinangan, ko’lo’lo’na gi entre i manakhilo’ yan i mansappotte i buildup giya Guahan, “Ai gumof matahlek i chalan-ña este na buildup.” Gi i hinasson este na taotao siha, estaba gof “simple” este na buildup. Madisidi todu esta, (ya mungga chathinasso sa’ siempre ma planunuyi hit esta lokkue’), ya gaiprubecho este para i taotao Guahan, kontat ki ti manggongon hit yan ti mamaisen kuestion hit. På’go, ayu i manggof malago na u fåtto (ya u magåhet) i buildup, ma susukne i kumokontra i buildup, put i meggai na mampos annok na prublema na para u katga magi. Gi minagahet, desde 2005, ayu na prublema siha, esta manggaige guini, esta manggaige guihi giya Japan, yan esta manggaige lokkue’ giya Washington D.C. I manmalago i buildup, ti ma admite este siha, achokka’ annok, na guaha giya D.C. yan Japan ni’ ti ya-ñiha este na buildup, ya siña mas piligro gui’ kinu prubecho para Hita, ti ma admite. Instead, ma fa’finu todu. Kontra Hita ni’ sumångan na matahlek yan piligr

Tomorrow my Guam History classes will be conducting their political status forums. For this exercise, which is their last big group project, I divide them into three groups, one for each of the potential future political statues of Guam, and they have to debate which is the best for Guam. I'll write more about this project later, but it is usually the most fun part of my entire semester, since its high energy, usually gof na'chalek, and I'm always happy when students find small and large ways to surprise me with their arguments. One of the highlights of tomorrow will be when some producers who work for the show Dan Rather Reports will be filming one of my classes when they are debating political status, and then interviewing me afterwards about Guam's history. They are on island doing a story about the infamous military buildup which is always looming in a menacing ambigous form on Guam's horizon. They spent a week last month following Congresswoman Bordallo around