NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The relationship between Chamorros and the United States has always been stimulated and frustrated by the United States military. When Chamorros were initially promised the greatness of the United States in terms of democracy, freedom and liberty in 1899, they instead met with the US Navy which governed by island for half of a century not allowing any of those three things to exist in any formal sense on the island. When Chamorros began to join the US military as a way of improving their lives and learning the importance of service and patriotism and how the greatest of any community are those who take on the sacrifice of sacrificing for all others, instead they were met with racism that relegated them to only serving in the lowest ranks of the US Navy, being just mess attendants. Even when Chamorros finally felt and learned first hand the liberating potential of the US military when it expelled the Japanese during World War II, they also learned that the US military h

"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 wi

I wrote about last week that I was working with the Office of Senator Frank Blas Jr. on their Real Stories. Real People. project, which has been working to collect the stories of our manamko' who survived World War II and also push for war reparations with the US Government. Most of the discussion on island around World War II happens around July of each year when the island transforms itself to celebrate Liberation Day. This year the Senator's office wanted to do something different and try and get the island to remember its history and this important event, not when the war ended, but when it began, in December. Part of my job with the office was conducting researching and helping the Senator write four columns on what sort of lessons we might draw about the war, by looking at it from its tragic and traumatic beginnings, rather than its celebratory and grateful ending. These columns were published in the Marianas Variety over the past month. I've decided to collect them