NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

One of my jobs this summer is to run community conversations with Nedine Songeni for Humanities Guåhan at the Department of Corrections. I first started doing these types of conversations or civic reflections many years ago, when the Humanities Council introduced them as a means for talking about the military buildup. I along with several others underwent a training period and held these conversations with diverse groups across the island. Since then I've also helped them a few more times on organizing civic reflections. It is an interesting model, and what I've always found nice about it, is that it requires the use of humanities text, whether it be an article, a text, an essay or a short film, as a means to stimulate conversation. Rather than a debate or a lecture, you build from a text which can be interpreted in many ways to sort of try to unpack many of the things members of the community may be feeling and may or may not be talking about. A few years ago Humanities Guåh

I have been wracking my brain for the past few hours and also "tearing apart" at least digitally my computer looking for the source for a quote that I had included in my notes and now need to use in an article I'm completing for The Journal of Okinawan Studies. As of now I have yet to find it unfortunately and I'm hoping that this quote didn't come from a news article that I had photocopied years ago but had yet to scan or transcribe. If that is the case, I may never find the citation for it. Part of the joy, but also the frustration of searches like this, is the random surprises and nostalgia bombs that end up crossing your path. While searching through more than a decade of research, I came across so many bits and pieces of things, some of which ended up being keystones in my academic cosmology, others I had completely forgotten. One thing I came across that I wanted to share was these three articles below. They all come from August 2007, at a time when th

Independent Guåhan invites the public to attend its fifth General Assembly on Thursday, December 22 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the main pavilion of the Chamorro Village in Hagåtña. The meeting will focus on water and what Guåhan can do as an independent country to preserve this precious resource. Water is an essential element for human life across the Pacific and around the world. Hånom is one of the six elements that are invoked each day by thousands across the island when reciting the Inifresi. At present, our access to clean and safe water sources is complicated by the U.S. Navy’s ownership of Fena Lake in the south and the potential damage to the northern aquifer outlined in the Record of Decision should the U.S. continue to increase its military presence on Guåhan. As an independent country, we would be able to control access and use of these resources to ensure that future generations have clean and reliable water. Next week’s General Assembly will focus on policies

Democracy Now! is doing some great coverage of the protests over the North Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Here are some interviews and a column from Amy Goodman after a warrant was put out for her arrest in response to her coverage. If you are able, please consider donating in order to support their continuing efforts. ******************** Native American Activist Winona LaDuke at Standing Rock: It's Time to Move On from Fossil Fuels September 12, 2016 Democracy Now! While Democracy Now! was covering the Standing Rock standoff earlier this month, we spoke to Winona LaDuke, longtime Native American activist and executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota. She spent years successfully fighting the Sandpiper pipeline, a pipeline similar to Dakota Access. We met her right outside the Red Warrior Camp, where she has set up her tipi. Red Warrior is one of the encampments where thousan

Gi i Tasen Pasifiku, guaha dos na klasen isla, takhilo' yan takpapa'. Ti kumekeilekna este na i taotao gi un takhilo' na isla mas maolek pat mas malate' kinu i taotao gi otro. Lao este put i tano' gi ayu na isla yan i tinakhilo'-na gi hilo' i tasi. Iya Guahan, un "takhilo'" na isla. Lao meggai na isla gi Marshall Islands yan gi FSM, manakpapa'. Para i manasaga' gi i manakhilo' na isla siha "climate change" un fihu mapacha na asunto, lao ti magahet, ti atdet i chinathinasso trabiha. Lao para i manasaga' gi i manakpapa' na isla siha, esta gof magahet yan gof atdet ayu. Esta manathinasson-niniha put taimanu na para u inafekta todu gi lina'la', put hemplo gi este na tinige', i hanom ni' ma gigimen kada diha. ******************* Perishing of Thirst in a Pacific Paradise 12/28/2015 02:50 pm ET Peter Mellgard Associate Editor, The WorldPost MAJURO, Marshall Islands -- A few yards from the

Bolivia: 'For a lasting solution to the climate crisis we must destroy capitalism" EurActiv.fr by Cécile Barbière translated by Samuel White 14 Oct 2015 - 08:22 Bolivia's national contribution to the COP 21 describes capitalism as "a system of death" that has to be destroyed to protect humanity and Mother Earth. EurActiv France reports . The Bolivian government's slightly late national contribution to the COP 21 contains many radical proposals for safeguarding the future health of the planet, accompanied by the argument that capitalism is responsible for "consumerism, warmongering and [...] the destruction of Mother Earth". Some 122 countries have now shared their national contributions to the international climate conference in Paris, where countries will attempt to reach an agreement that will limit the global temperature rise to +2°C above pre-industrial ti

Representatives of the group Our Islands Are Sacred delivered the letter below to Governor of Guam Eddie Baza Calvo at 4 pm on September 11th, 2015. The letter expresses the disapproval of many of the military buildup proposals to Guam and the Marianas by the United State and also to Governor Calvo's rhetoric regarding the buildup. The group is inviting community member to also submit letters to Governor Calvo expressing your own thoughts on the military buildup and the recently signed Record of Decision, which is meant to move the buildup plans forward for Guam. ****************** Open Letter to Governor Eddie Baza Calvo September 11, 2015 Hafa Adai Governor Calvo, When we first heard about the military buildup, we were shocked to learn how massive it was. We couldn’t believe the Federal Government would even imagine proposing something so clearly harmful for our island and our people. So we fought and we fought hard. We even took the feds to court and WON! W

It is finally here. Put fin mafatto gui'. Election Day for Guam and the CNMI. I Ha'anin Botasion para todu i Islas Marianas. I have so much to do today but I am hoping to post some of my thoughts on the election before the polls close. Meggaigai na bai hu cho'gue pa'go, lao hu diseseha mohon na sina hu tuge' magi i hinasso-ku put i botasion pa'go antes di machuom i sagan mambota siha. Most importantly, who I plan to give my votes to. Put hemplo, hayi i gayu-hu siha ni' bai hu bobota pa'go. Here are some thoughts from my male' Victoria Leon Guerrero on how to pick a good candidate for you and for this island. Estague i hinasso-na i male-ku Si Victoria LG, put taimanu sina manayek hao maolek na gayu para Hagu yan para i isla.  ****************** FROM VICTORIA LEON GUERRERO: When I vote for a person, I ask myself some important questions. 1. Can I trust this person? 2. If I approach this person with ideas or concerns, will I

Like anything, colonization is a complicated and contradictory process. But when looked back upon by people who wish it hadn’t happened or happened differently, it can take on an all-consuming and oppressive totality. It was something that humiliated, subjugated and tortured a poor helpless people. The worse that you can make it sound, the more it seems to empower the need to seek redress or justice for what happened. History becomes then a list of bad things that happened and ways that the colonized peoples were victimized and marginalized. There can be obvious truth to this, but it tends to cast colonialism in a light that doesn’t ever really exist. Colonization becomes more unified and consistent than it really is. It moves towards feeling monolithic as its sins become more pronounced. Take for example in Guam’s history, the Chamorro Spanish Wars. From this name alone it creates an image of Chamorro warriors fighting bravely against the Spanish invade