NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I've been so busy this week with writing Chamorro language curriculum for the I Ma'adahen Fino' Chamorro that I haven't been able to post much or even complete my Guam Political Sign Awards. I wrote up most of the winners in my Marianas Variety column last week, but haven't been able to get the full text together and edit the images of the winning signs. I promise to get to this either over the weekend or next week. ChaNoWriMo hasn't been helping with this much either.

March 29, 2014 Chamorro Cultural Festival San Diego, CA 10 am - 6 pm DIRECTIONS to the Chamorro Cultural Festival - March 29, 2014: Market Creek Plaza is near the corner of Euclid Avenue and Market Street, near the three corners that situate the Tubman-Chavez Multi-Cultural Center, the Malcolm X Library, an d the Elementary Institute of Science. The Plaza's bright and unique architecture is instantly recognizable. Market Street Plaza 310 Euclid Ave., San Diego, CA 92114 (Corner of Market St. and Euclid Ave.) By Car From Downtown, drive east on Market Street and turn right at Euclid Avenue, or go east on the Martin Luther King Freeway (94) and exit at Euclid Avenue going south. Turn right to get to Market Creek Plaza. From Interstate 5, go east on the Martin Luther King Freeway (94) and exit at Euclid Avenue. Turn right to get to Market Creek Plaza. From East County, go west on the Martin Luther King Freeway (94) and exit at Euclid A

This is the of Cetti Bay from the river. Cetti Bay and Sella Bay are both spots in Southern Guam that are favorites for people with boats and hikers to visit. People known them as beautiful secluded places. In truth their history goes much deeper than that. Sella in particular was notorious in the 1970s as a site of protest against US militarization. The US Navy had wanted to build an ammuniation wharf there. Chamorro rights activists, Senators and environmentalists came out to protest this and were able in delaying the process so much the Navy eventually gave up. Before there was Pagat or even Pott's Junction, there was Sella Bay. But even beyond this, if we look at these two villages in ancient times, we can see a tragic lesson they embody. In ancient times these bays were actually villages. Cetti was known as Atte and Sella was known as Sidya. They were on different sides of the Chamorro Spanish Wars. Sidya sided with the Spanish, while Atte sided with rebel Chamorros. A

I heard months ago that Guam had some mentions in Wikileaks, but was never actually able to look into it beyond seeing Guam on the index. Thankfully, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun has saved me the trouble of searching for Wikileaks for some of the juicier Guam mentions. These revelations are pretty significant, they reveal some major problems with the buildup, the plans and even the the reason why there was an early mention of a billion dollar road being built on Guam, that was quickly and quietly swept under the carpet and never mentioned again. We'll see what kind of impact that have locally, and see what sort of response JGPO and others can come up with to try and counter the Wikileaks revelations. ************************ EDITORIAL: Leaked Documents Reveal Shocking Japan-U.S. Diplomacy 2011/05/06 WikiLeaks has published vast troves of internal and confidential government documents that normally would have been kept inaccessible to the public for a certain, usually

This weekend I'll be taking people up to the literal "top of the island," Guam's tallest "peak" Sabanan Lamlam, or Mount Lamlam. It is part of We Are Guahan's "Heritage Hikes." We went to is Pagat two weeks ago, Cetti and Sella Bay last week, and now our third and final hike up to Mount Lamlam. Even though will be the third time to travel up there in the past month, but I'm still excited about it. Here is one of the reasons why. My cognitive map of Guam, the network of images, symbols, ideas, sights, smells, and so on which I use to imagine what Guam is on a daily basis is dominated by my classrooms where I teach in, the apartment complex where I live in, and the things I pass by the side of the roads as I travel. I spend most of my time in the central part of the island bouncing between Chalan Pago, Hagatna, Tamuning, Barrigada and Mangilao. As such, Guam is a pleasant concrete jungle, dotted every once in a while with random clusters

Hami yan Si Sumåhi para bei in hanao gi agupa'ña para lågu, ya ti para ta bira mågi Guahan este ki i tinituhun July. Para bei hanao lagu put iyo-ku graduation gi i otro mes ginnen iyo-ku Programman Ph.D. giya San Diego. Gof ya-ñiha i familian-måmi gi lagu na manali'e yan Si Sumåhi. Meggai matulaika-ña siha esta gi i ti apmam na lina'la'-ña. Manlinemlam i familia siempre. Estaba kulang “eggplant” gui', fihu kumetu, ti siña kumuunanaf, ya-ña chumalek lao taya' kuentos-ña. Sesso, (pi’ot annai mampos machalek Si Sumåhi) siniente-ku minahalang para ayu na klasin haggå-hu. Achokka’ ya-hu este na nene-hu på’go na momento, sa’ siña umakuentusi ham, ya esta humuhuyong ginnen Guiya iyo-ña personality, sen mannge ayu na mas hoben na nene lokkue’. Ayu na otro nene mas fa’set para u na’maigo’, ya gof ya-ña mumaigo’ gi pecho’-ku. Este na nene-hu på’go, kada na manna’oppop gui’ gi i pecho’-ku, manggaogao “I wanna baila!” Ai adai, hu komprende na todu i famagu’on mangguaha mi

Joint Guam Program Office Public Meeting January 22, 2009 Agat, Guam *************************************************************** 6:25 – Took pictures of a lovely sunset. The mayor’s office is right on the beach. 6:27 – Met a member of the JGPO who was there at the Critiquing the Military Buildup Forum I spoke at last November. He asks for my info so that we can meet up. Someone behind me whispers not to give him my real email address. I do though. 6:28 – The Agat Mayor Carol Tayama opens the meeting. 6:30 – John Jackson, executive director of JGPO starts his opening remarks. He invokes early the idea that this military buildup is not a transfer or a new move, but is in actuality a “return.” 6:32 – Jackson builds off his previous point, by admitting that the Marines are actually already here. There are four or five of them in the room right now. One of them in fact is marrying a local girl next month (this is not a joke, Jackson actually said this). 6:34 – A woman is introduc

I've realized this week that I could run a blog full-time, just by posting regularly what happens in my classes or what I'm doing in my classes. I'm teaching four Guam History classes at UOG for the month of November, taking over for a professor who is sick and off-island. He's given me space to do whatever I want, and so there were a number of different projects I wanted my students to do, but I'll really only have time for one, and so the description for it I'm pasting below. Its called "Estao Pulitikåt: I Chalån-ta Mo’na," and in it, classes will be divided into three groups, each representing a different political status for Guam, statehood, independence and free association, and they will have to answer "tough" questions from me about what Guam will look like under their political status and why given the island's historical and contemporary problems, is their particular status the best way to go. The first groups have their debate

Estague i chalan siha, nai mamamokkat yu' kada diha. Bula linahayan, yan diniskuti taiguini. Ai adai, esta mampos yafaifau ya puputi i patas-hu.

A few years ago, during the debate over what to "re-name" Marine Drive, I sent a letter to the editor of The Pacific Daily News, contributing my two cents. When finishing up my master's thesis in Micronesian Studies at the University of Guam, I collected all the letters to the editor, editorials and articles about this topic from The Marianas Variety , The Pacific Daily News , and Kuam and wrote about how I saw a very particular cartography or mapping of patriotism and identity taking place in the way people were asserting that this history of eternal dependency and loyalty to the United States, was the history that had to be preserved and passed on. The position that I took was an uncommon one, of the dozens of articles and letters in support of the re-naming of Marine Drive, Marine Corps Drive, me and possibly two other people sent in letters critical of this act. Eventually as we all know, Marine Drive was re-named Marine Corps Drive. I'm posting the text of my l

Para i nobia-hu Si Madonna, gof mahalang sin Hagu... Ti hu tungo' sa' hafa, lao ya-hu i kantan "Moon River," gof simple ya kalang brodie, lao sinembatgo ya-hu. Kao guaha un hungok i kanta ni' mainspired nu "Breakfast at Tiffany's?" Na'an-na "Breakfast at Tiffany's" tinige' Deep Blue Something. Malago yu' umayao ayu na dandan ya fa'tinas i kanta "Atmotsan Shirley's." Na'chalek siempre. Chalan Guinife (Maayao i dandan ginnen i kantan "Moon River" ginnen i kachido "Atmotsan Tiffany's." Chalan i pilan Fedda’ña ki tasi Lao Guiya pau chalani Hagu Empen guinife I amot piniti I ma’lak i chalan-mu Bai hu dalalaki hao Un pokkat Ya pon krusa i tasi Sa’ fina’tinas este tasi Guinife Masumai gi i ma’lak I sumåhi Hagu nai nene Gof bunita na nene I chalan-hu guinife