NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Ti siguro yu' håyi tumuge' este, lao interesånte. Guaha meggai na hestoria put i Chamorro gi Islas Sangkattan gi este na ti gof anakko' na tinige'. Hu sodda' este na tinige' ginen i gasetan Saipan, annai manespipiha yu' infotmasion put Fino' Chamorro gi halom i kottre gi Islas Sangkattan. Ti meggai na infotmasion humuyong, lao hu fakcha'i este. Ti hu tungo' i kilisyanu na fulånu ni' tumuge', lao ya-hu i milalåk-ña i hinasso-ña siha. Frihon yan botlon. ************* The Death of Chamorro Language March 31, 1999 The Saipan Tribune For many years, we were active participants in the death of our local vernacular. It started with the golden days in grammar school when speaking your language lands you some corporal punishment, a fine of five cents, scribbling several pages of “I will not speak Chamorro”; picking up trash outside the classroom after school, among others. Well into high school, there’s the student monitors or J

Un apå'ka na taotao, i na'ån-ña si Paul Zerzan, sigi ha' umalok gui' gi gasetan Guåhan na esta måtai pat esta taisetbe i Fino' Chamorro. Esta ha na'bububu meggai na taotao guini giya Guåhan yan gi sanlagu lokkue'. Estague diferentes na kåtta ginen i PDN ni' kumokontra i taihinasso na tinige'-ña. ************************ Our Language Isn't Dead Yet by Michael Lujan Bevacqua Pacific Daily News 11/3/16 My column this week is written in response to Paul Zerzan’s op-ed  on Oct. 29 dealing with the death of the Chamorro language. Men with the same complexion and attitudes as Zerzan have long felt it their right to determine the life or death of things related to indigenous people in the Pacific. For Chamorros, these sorts of pronouncements are common. We have been struggling against them for centuries and only recently realized that just because a man with a flag comes to claim us, it doesn’t mean he discovered us. Just because a man

One of the most irritating things about life on Guam is that the island is incredibly multilingual as well as multicultural, but because of our colonial past and present, we tend to force everything into very unfortunate monolingual frameworks. It is important to be able to see past the colonial examples presented by the United States and look at the rest of the world, especially where small language communities, who are in similar situations as Chamorros, are struggling to promote and preserve their indigenous tongues. Here are some articles to consider in this regard. *************************** Bilingual Street Signs Herald a New Era of Language Revitalization by Frank Hopper 2/29/16 Indian Country Today Media Network In 1990, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe estimates only eight people knew how to speak the Klallam language. Now they’re putting it on street signs. Earlier this month, the city of Port Angeles, on the north end of Washington State’s Olympic

Todu i Chamorro siha ni' mañathinanasso put i kotturå-ta yan i minalingu i lenguahi-ta, debi di u ma tatai este. Anggen ta cho'gue mas kinu manggongongong siña ta na'lå'la' mo'na i lenguahi-ta. Atan este na familia. Manu na gaige i Chamorro siha ni' siña tumattiyi este na hemplo? ********************* Indigenous family bans English to preserve culture by Lynn Desjardins english@rcinet.ca Radio Canada International September 5, 2016 Like many parents, Nancy Mike and Andrew Morrison have to work hard if they want to preserve their aboriginal language. Because so much English is spoken in Iqaluit in the northern territory of Nunavut, they have decided to ban English at home and oblige their two daughters to speak their native language of Inuktitut, reports CBC . “Language is not just language; it’s the way you transmit culture,” said Mike to CBC reporter Sima Sahar Zerehi. Mike said she wanted to be certain the girls were able to speak to

The film I made with Kenneth Gofigan Kuper titled "Påkto: I Hinekka" is being shown tomorrow at the Fifth Guam International Film Festival at 7:30 at the Agana Shopping Center Theaters. Below is some information on the film itself and its cast. *********************** PÅKTO: I Hinekka - Film Synopsis             “Påkto: I Hinekka” pins nerd ambassadors Ken and Miget in the most epic battle of their lives. While playing the popular fantasy card “Magic: The Gathering” they once again battle to the death, only this time things are different, this time things are in the Chamorro language. “Påkto: I Hinekka” is filled with nerd humor, drama and glory, but more than anything aims to show that it is possible to use the Chamorro language everyday, no matter what one is doing.  The Chamorro language has existed for thousands of years and has recently become endangered as it is no longer being actively transmitted from one generation to the next.

The Chamorro language is heard less and less around Guam nowadays. I couldn’t speak Chamorro for most of my life and so the Chamorro I heard around me was generally like noise to my ears. My grandmother speaking Chamorro to her friends when I was young was nothing but old people chatter. Sometime it was fun to just watch, but for the most part, I'm sure none of that had anything to do with me. My grandfather speaking Chamorro to other men his age at the barber shop was an irritating soundtrack. There was Chamorro everywhere, but when I was younger I couldn’t understand it and so I didn’t really care. But nowadays it is becoming scarcer. You can still hear it on the radio and sometimes in businesses that play KISH or Isla 630 on the weekends. You can still hear it in church sometimes. You can hear it when older people gather. The last politician who would regularly speak Chamorro in their speeches or on the floor of the Legislature passed away last year. There is even a month o

The image above is drawn from the universe of Starcraft 2 or as I refer to it in Chamorro " Sahyan Estreyas Dos."      One of the reasons the Chamorro language is dying is because it isn’t used for that many things. I try my best in my personal and professional life to use the language for everything or for as many things as I can. This is one instance. Many Chamorros today will draw a line between their "Chamorro" side or their Chamorro identity and the popular cultural forms, such as video games, movies, books, comics and so on, that they enjoy on a day to day basis in what they often feel is very fundamentally different. For me though, those other popular cultural things are not the enemy of the Chamorro language, but universes and domains in which we can extend the language into, find ways to make it at home there, and to expand our own possibilities with our language. Make no mistake, the Chamorro language is a real language, but over the past century,

“Shakespeare gi Guinaiya yan Chinatli’e’” Michael Lujan Bevacqua Marianas Variety 4/30/14 Shakespeare’s Hamlet asks, “ Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?”   Hamlet is paralyzed by the fear of death or suffering, but ultimately moves toward decisive political rebellion.    Similarly, the African-American lesbian poet, scholar, and activist Audre Lorde speaks of the radicalizing crisis in her life when she faced a diagnosis of breast cancer: “I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself.   My silences had not protected me.   Your silence will not protect you.”   Most might assume that it is ridiculous to compare a “great” writer such as Shakespeare to an activist like Lorde. One of them so many seem to accept as the height of human achievement whereas the other is gener

In order to get through our lives we will divide our consciousness into layers. There will be things that we will let float atop our consciousness on a daily basis because we judge them to be important enough to have access to all the time. There will be things that the context of each day will force to the surface. Things that we maybe didn’t wish would reveal themselves all the time, but will anyways because of what is happening around us. Then there are the things that we will knowingly or unknowingly push down as far as we can and hope they never emerge. These are notions, faint ideas, principles, realizations which pumuha todu. They have the ability to upset everything, like flipping over a jar filled with water and watching everything within be taken away by the momentum of the chaos. These are things that are banished or submerged deep below because they cost too much to acknowledge on a daily basis. They extract so much ideological flesh in their reco

Below is my testimony in support of my cousin Cara's project Nihi. A locally made kids learning show, that I helped to write one of the pilot episodes for. The other day a hearing was held at the Guam Legislature to provide some funding to help get this project off the ground. As someone who helped make it possible, but also somehow who sees the potential for a project like this I was happy to come and show my support. You can read more of my thoughts below. I testified along with my daughter Sumahi, who was on my lap while I was speaking.  ****************************** Tinestigu ginnen Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Guam Legislature 6/12/13 Este i hagå-hu. I na’ån-ña Si Sumåhi. Desde mafañågu gui’ hu fino’ Chamoruruyi gui’ todu tiempo. Humuyonogña, siña gui’ fumino’ Chaomru. Esta kapas gui’ gi fino’ Chamoru. Kada diha kumuentos ham put mubi siha, cartoons, ga’ga’ gi lepblo yan maseha hafa otro gi lina’la’-mami. Lao achokka’ fifi