NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Each month Independent Guåhan honors a Maga'taotao or an elite, pioneering or noble person, who has fought hard in some way for the rights of the Chamorro people, especially in terms of self-determination. This month we are honoring the late Clotilde "Ding" Castro Gould who was a war-survivor, an educator, author, song-writer and a master story-teller. She is best known for her creation of the Chamorro language comic strip Juan Malimanga, which appears in the Pacific Daily News six times a week and her role in helping develop the bilingual and bicultural education program in Guam’s public school system. Tan Gould was also a member of PARA (People's Alliance for Responsible Alternatives) and OPI-R (Organization of People for Indigenous Rights), and as a political activist fought hard for the right to self-determination of the Chamorro people.  Para Guahu, there is an extra dimension to this honor, as I, through my work in the Chamorro Studies Program

Going through my files tonight trying to find stuff for my Guam History class that I'll be teaching starting tomorrow and I came across the following list. Every March, people on Guam celebrate Chamorro month. This is a wonderful change from the past when there was little to no positive public recognition of Chamorro culture, language and peoplehood. But at the "national" level, March is also supposed to be a month for celebrating women, as Women's History Month. The list that I found in my notes was from the American Association of University Women and their Guam Chapter, after they researched a list of Chamorro female "firsts" to be presented March of 1991. The list is very interesting and informative even if some of their choices could be questioned. Some of the names might be familiar to you, whereas others might be lost to history. ********************** Rosa Roberto Carter First Chamorro woman to be president of a university (UOG) Doris Flor

“The First of Many” Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Marianas Variety 10/5/11 It is natural in life to be enamored with the aura or the prestige of being “first.”To be the first of something, the first to do something ensures that amidst the seemingly endless throngs of humanity, you may always be guaranteed some significance. Your name may appear in almanacs or encyclopedias. You might become trivia for crossword clues. You and your legacy may be something that nerds use to outdo each other in terms of random knowledge accumulation. To be the first means that when you are remembered people will use active, yet often times cliché metaphors to describe you; you are a trailblazer, pathfinder, boundary buster, glass ceiling shatterer and a history maker. The excitement around the “first” of something can sometimes be peculiar, especially for those receiving the title. Even if it is your name that is written down, it is truly the world that should get the credit. Too often you being “the

It is always interesting how things can change in such a short period of time. Last week the Guam First Commission, something authored years ago in the hopes of creating a unified front for Guam on how it deals with the US Government and the military buildup, was allegedly on the verge of being empaneled by the Governor. All that remained was for one final member, a representative from the Chamorro Rights Groups to be selected and then the Commission could begin its work, whatever that may end up being (sa' achokka' un taitai i lai, ti klaru hafa ayu). The process by which this last member would be selected was a bit confusing. Close to two dozen groups were recognized as having the right to nominate someone for the position. I was nominated by 8 organizations and three other people, Trini Torres, Frank Schacher and Antonio Artero Sablan were each nominated by one group. Unfortunately, many groups thought each group gets to vote for someone and whoever has the most nominations

The Guam First Commission was proposed several years ago as a means through which the Guam Legislature could help participate in the planning of the military buildup for Guam. Since the announcement of the buildup, all information and planning had happened through the Governor's office, and they had been far more secretative than probably necessary about what was happening. He created the CMTF or the Civilian Military Task Force to oversee things, but much of the information that the CMTF collected or reports they made weren't for the public, but were rather to the help the military with the writing of their Draft Environmental Impact Statement. It seemed that Camacho saw the buildup as his baby, his legacy for the island, something that he would shepherd through and be the one responsible for all the fantastic things it would bring to the island. As he kept everything close to his chest, the Legislature, for political reasons as well as general concern, wanted in on the loop.