NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The United Nations is a strange beast in Guam in turns of its place in the movement for decolonization. Prior to the failure of Commonwealth in 1997, the UN was always a quiet force in the background, but held little authority or played a very minor role in the consistency of arguments or political positions. Even when Chamorro activists were successful in getting people on Guam to recognize the Chamorro people as being indigenous, even though activists were successful in defeating a Constitutional movement on Guam, which would have trapped the island within an American framework, and both of these things rely heavily on discourses which find great potency in the UN and its history, they were not strongly international movements. The UN itself, although still a quiet presence on Guam, is still interpreted in a very American framework, and so regardless of how Guam's relationship to the UN is fundamentally different (it is a non-self-governing territory), people here tend to see

Several years back I posted on Minagahet Zine a page called "Famoksaiyan gi i Rediu" which featured various interviews on the radio given by members and allies of Famoksaiyan regarding issues of militarism, colonialism, decolonization, the UN, cultural revitalization and anything else which someone with a microphone and ten to twenty minutes wanted to chat about. As the years have passed the links for those interviews have gone dead, the files have been moved and even the server for Minagahet Zine itself has changed and is no longer on Geocities but now can be accessed directly at http://www.minagahetzine.com/ Recently, Martha Duenas, who is part of Famoksaiyan West Coast and blogs at Too Late To Stop Now, updated the Famoksaiyan gi i Rediu page, found the new links for interviews and even added some more which have been conducted as the military buildup issue has become even bigger and occassionally garnered the attention of progressive and mainstream national media. I&#

Everytime I've taught Guam History at UOG, I always end the semester with the same project. I divide the class into three groups, each representing a different future possible political status for Guam (Free Association, Statehood and Independence) and they hold a forum where they debate which is the best option for Guam. They have to conduct research and prepare to answer certain questions on how Guam would navigate issues such as taxes, military bases, citizenship, economy, culture and so on depending on which option is chosen. Here is part of my usual intro that I attach to my prompt for the project. The political status of Guam – its existence as an unincorporated territory or colony – is something that affects all aspects of our lives on Guam. From our relationship to the islands around Guam, to our relationship with the United States and the rest of the world, to even simply what we on Guam see ourselves as being capable of, the political status of Guam is central to the

Para Hamyo ni' manasaga' gi fi'on Seattle, Washington, taitai este. Yanggen manggaiinteres hamyo nu este na klasin asunto siha, put fabot, saonao este na dinana'. Yanggen yan-miyu tumungo' mas put Famoksaiyan, chek fan iyon-mami BLOG . *************************************** FAMOKSAIYAN MICRONESIA Kahulu I Taotao Tasi A PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF PACIFIC STUDIES --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2010 CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT 4th Annual Chamoru & Micronesian Research Conference University of Washington, Seattle April 14-17, 2010 THEME: “Health, Environment, and Human Rights in Micronesia” “FAMOKSAIYAN” can be understood as the time to paddle forward or to nurture. In April 2006, a group of Chamorro & Micronesian scholars, organizers and workers held the first annual Famoksaiyan conference at the Sons and Daughters of Guam in San Diego, California. The conference focused on the issues of self determin

I'll have more details soon on this year's trip to the United Nation's, but in the meantime, here's: THE UN report on the Petitioners speaking on The Question of Guam . It contains, summaries of the testimonies presented dealing with Guam. ********************* MICHAEL TUNCAP, of the Pacific Islands Study Group of the University of California, Berkeley, said that as a descendant of a 4,000 year civilization that had existed before the nations of Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States, he requested that the United Nations recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of Guam. The continued occupation of United States military forces in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands was rooted in a system of racial inequality between European Americans, Asian and Pacific settlers and the indigenous Chamorro people. He said that since initial contact with the United States in 1898, massive pacification and military occupation had prevented the people of Gu

MINAGAHET ZINE Volume 6 Issue 5 December 10, 2008 http://www.geocities.com/minagahet minagahet@lists.riseup.net Hafa Adai, yan welcome to i mina'trenta nuebi na Minagahet. Este na Minagahet gof likidu, sa' para u mahokka' gi este, i pinagat i Mañamoru ni' humalom gi i United Nations gi este na sakkån. On October 7, 2008, a delegation of Chamorros testified in front of the United Nations Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) on the question of Guam’s continued colonization. For the first time in years, the Committee received testimony from a Guam elected official. Senator Vicente Pangelinan prepared a testimony, read by Chamorro attorney Aileen Quan. The rest of the delegation included Victoria- Lola Leon Guerrero of I Nasion Chamoru, Craig Santos Perez of Guåhan Indigenous Collective, and Michael A. Tuncap of Famoksaiyan. The delegates discussed the cumulative adverse impacts of U.S. colonization and the current military build-up,