NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For the past few years, two legal cases have overshadowed the quest for decolonization in Guam. One of them is the infamous Davis case or Arnold Dave Davis v. the Government of Guam, over the alleged violation of his constitutional rights, that a decolonization plebiscite would entail. Taya' ganas-hu para bei pacha este na suheto pa'go. Buente bei fangge' put este gi otro biahi pat tinige'. The other case is Tuaua v. The United States, which represents a challenge to the Insular Cases, or the century's worth of legal cases in the United States that formalize their colonial control over their territories such as Guam, American Samoa and Puerto Rico.  American Samoa's relationship to the United States is perhaps even more interesting than Guam's. Although they are a territory and a colony as well, because of the particularity of their history, they are less intimately connected to the US than Guam is. They are technically an "unorganized unincorpo

Some of the local news around the recent decision in Tuaua v. United States.  The decision is the expected one. Guam and the other insular territories are trapped in a maze that has been created by the United States over the past century. It would take a judge or a court that is heavily invested in justice and truly righting the wrongs of history to make a decision that didn't just reinforce the colonial power of the United States in terms of the The Insular Cases. But the tricky part about any challenge to the Insular Cases and American power in general is that even if you win, you may simply be reinforcing said American power and colonial control. If we argue that the place of the territories in relation to the United States is a maze, then even if you win a challenge you may simply be accepting your place in the maze. The problem with the Insular Cases in an international sense or in an objective sense is not that the principles of the United States were not lived up to in

There has been alot of buzz lately around a case that was filed last year on behalf of a group of Samoans, that is a challenge to the Insular Cases and the relationship of people that live in unincorporated territories to the United States. The short name for it is Tuaua v. the United States. Samoa's relationship to the United States is perhaps even more interesting than Guam's. Although they are a territory and a colony as well, because of the particularity of their history, they are less intimately connected to the US than Guam is. If they are born in American Samoa then they are not US Citizens but instead nationals. They have US passports that have a disclaimer that clarifies that they are not truly US Citizens. They have a traditional government system that exists today alongside the government that has come through territorial status. They are not eligible to as many Federal programs as people in Guam, but they have more autonomy and local control. Part of the team

Guam is a colony. Anyone who says otherwise simply doesn't want to confront the truth. One of the mistakes that people often conveniently make when discussing the veracity of Guam's contemporary colonial status is making the assumption that in order to call something colonial, it must be the worst and most horrible thing in the world. Make no mistake, Guam is a colony and it is an unjust and immoral fact, but it is not the worst place in the world because of it. But interestingly enough so many people attempt to argue that Guam isn't a colony, just because it it's political status today isn't that bad. They argue that because it's better than before or because it's not as bad as forms of colonialism from time's past, you can't call it a colony. Part of the problem with this is the simplicity through which people are arguing for something. Simplicity and plain-spokenness is one of the easiest ways to appear to be speaking the truth or speaking of