NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

 I recently gave a lecture talking about the Maga'håga spirit and the matrilineal strain that runs through Chamoru culture. In putting it together, I had to scrounge for different quotes from the early accounts of the Spanish, when they encountered Chamorus in the 16th and 17th centuries. It provides a stark contrast in most ways we see gender relations today, but it must have felt nightmarish at times for a Catholic priest of the time. To see women with this much authority over life and over their husbands, I imagine it would have given San Vitores and others plenty a panic attack.  Here are some of the quotes I used in my presentation: *******************   In each family, the head is the father or older relative, but with limited influence. A son, as he grows up, neither fears or respects his father. In the home it is the woman who rules, and her husband does not dare give an order contrary to her wishes, nor punish the children, for she will turn upon him and beat him. If the w

She Hails from Tribal Chiefs. Now She's Ready to be Idaho's Governor. by Jennifer Bendery 5/9/18 Huffington Post WASHINGTON ― When you think of political dynasties in American history, you might think of the Kennedys or the Bushes. You’ve probably never heard of Paulette Jordan’s family. Jordan, an enrolled member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, comes from thousands of years of intergenerational leadership in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Her grandfathers were chiefs. Her grandmothers were chiefs. Some of her ancestors were very prominent, like Chief Kamiakin of the Yakama-Palus Nation. In 1855, when the territorial governor of Washington forced Kamiakin to sign a treaty of land cessations, Kamiakin later banded together with 14 tribes and waged a three-year war against the U.S. government. “They could lead as chiefs and fight as warrior chiefs,” Jordan said of her grandmothers, one of whom was tribal chair of Colville Confederated Tribes. “They taught me the way.

I followed the recent special election for Senate in Alabama, far closer than anyone on the other side of the ocean probably should. Given the past tumultuous year under Trump and looking ahead to 2018 and what might possibly be different, especially with mid-term elections on the horizon, this election, as so many have written about, representing an important event in terms of scrying what lies ahead. Things look very good for Democrats in the Congress, as Trump ends his first year with historically low approval ratings. Amidst all the coverage of the Alabama, this one article struck out at me, and not for any Alabama related reason really. It is about a 99 year-old Alabama woman, who lived a very interesting life, especially in terms of her at one point being the First Lady of Costa Rica and being referred to as "The First Lady of the Revolution." This sorts of article are common media frames. You take an older person, with unique experiences or with some symbolic rel

--> Na'fanlilisto hamyo! Esta mamagi i finakpo'. Esta siña ta lili'e'. Tåya' otro siña masukne para este.  ******************* "American and the Abyss" by Andrew Sullivan New York Magazine 11/3/16 The most frustrating aspect of the last 12 months has been the notion that we have been in a normal, if truly ugly, election cycle, with one extremely colorful and unpredictable figure leading the Republican Party in an otherwise conventional political struggle over policy. It has been clear for months now, it seems to me, that this is a delusion. A far more accurate account of the past year is that an openly proto-fascist cult leader has emerged to forge a popular movement that has taken over one of the major political parties, eroded central norms of democratic life, undermined American democratic institutions, and now stands on the brink of seizing power in Washington. I made this argument at length in April , when Donald Trump