NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

For those interested in listening to Chamoru stories in the Chamoru language, please come join the Chamorro Studies Majors and Minors at UOG for this special event: "Na'haspok na Estoria" on April 28 from 12-3 pm at SBPA 131 at UOG. The name "Na'haspok na Estoria" means "stories that fill you up" as the word "håspok" means sated or filled up as in your stomach being full. The event should be very interesting as most of the presenters are around the age of 40 or less, but still fluent in the Chamoru language. Alot of events that I am organizing or participating in lately seem to have this sort of theme, where those of us who are younger learners of Chamoru and often times second-language learners, nai ti mandångkolo' gi halom i mismo fino'-ta, are nonetheless attempting to take up the kulo' for language vitality.

Ti Guahu tumuge' este. I sodda' este gi internet lao ya-hu muna'famta este guini gi iyo-ku blog. Sa' ti meggai na kabåles na tinige' taiguini gi Fino' Chamorro sodda'on gi internet. Gof impottånte este na estoria gi kotturan Chamorro. Gi inaligao-hu put i estoria-ta, esta hu interview fa'na'an mas ki dos siento na manåmko'. I meggaiña manininterview hu faisen este na finaisen "gi dumangkolo'-mu, håfa i lihenden pat estoria na'manman sina un huhungok ginen i mañainå-mu pat i manacha'amko'-mu?" Kalang kada unu sumångan este na estoria put si Sirena. ********************** Estorian Sirena Åntes na tiempo, guåha un familia mañasaga giya Hagåtña . Guåha lokkue' un bunitan palao'an gi familia ni na'an-ña si Sirena . Gus ya-ña si Sirena ñumangu, espesiatmente gi halom i saddok Hagåtña. I nånan Sirena ha sangani gue' na kalan guihan gue' gi halom hånom. Un diha, tinago

If you were to ask me what type of music is my favorite, I will always say Chamorro music. It isn't really that I like every single Chamorro song, but I will purchase every single Chamorro CD or record I can get my hands on, in order to support one of the main ways that the Chamorro language persisted even during the generations which were quietly trying to silence it by not teaching it to their children. Chamorro musicians deserve far more support and credit than most people give them. They are, within recent Chamorro history, the ones who played the most significant, but unheralded role in keeping the language spoken and alive. While most families did not speak it to their children, collections of singers decided to keep using the language to make music, despite immense pressure to simply sing in English and Americanize the way everything else seemed to be going. Within that collection of musicians a few names stand out more than others. There are those who had their names on t

Last week I wrote my column in the Guam Daily Post about the comfort women issue in South Korea and how the governments of Japan and South Korea are working towards a process of restitution over the use of South Korean women as sex slaves during World War II. The issue of the comfort women extends far beyond just South Korea, and is something that affected cultures across Asia and the Pacific. I have been talking more intensely about the comfort women issue over the past year as i nobia-hu Dr. Isa Kelley Bowman has been conducting research into it. It has been difficult for her, as the issue is one shrouded in so many different forms of silence. The lack of writing around the issue in Guam is often thought to be simply a matter of stigma and social shame, with women and their families seeking to keep the issue quiet and not be reminded of what happened. But it is far more complicated than that, and it can be frustrating, how people will accept one level of silence as being the truth

This image is taken from the play Pågat, written by myself and Victoria Leon Guerrero and directed by Michelle Blas. The play was performed at UOG in the Spring of 2014 and received a great deal of attention from the local community. The choreography for the play came from Master of Chamorro Dance Vince Reyes, who has been touring the world recently as a prominent Chamorro folk artist with his group Inetnon Gefpago. This image in particular comes from what he calls the silhouette dance, which was performed to the tune of "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift, except sung in Chamorro. It portrays a Chamorro woman during World War II being beaten and raped by a Japanese soldier. She is able to endure however through the help of other women, who support her. The issue of comfort women and sexual violence on Guam has always been something on the edge of my academic consciousness, as during my oral history research it would also pop up, albeit in vague and impossible to pursue ways.

Both Okinawans and Chamorros had the experience of being caught between empires in World War II. Chamorros leaned towards the United States in terms of their patriotism and affinity and suffered at the hands of the Japanese because of it. Okinawans leaned towards the Japanese and suffered at the hands of the United States and Japanese because of it. Both peoples were not fully accounted for in either nation. Chamorros were not US citizens and were discriminated against in so many ways at the start of the war. Okinawa had been forcibly annexed in the 19th century and later became a prefecture, but Okinawans were treated as if they were inferior and found their language and culture attacked by the Japanese. Each felt closer to one colonizer over the other, but that didn't spare them during the war. It has been particularly difficult reading and hearing more stories from Okinawans about the terrifying and violent place they were in during the Battle of Okinawa. It was bad enough

Ha’anen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’ is just a few days away. I wrote about this in my column last week, but thought I would revisit it again for those who would like to learn more and hopefully participate.  Ha’anen Fino’ Chamoru Ha’ boils down to this: On March 1 st , those who accept this challenge are to spend the entire day only speaking Chamorro or if they are unable to, at least try to use as much Chamorro as possible, as much as they know or can. This challenge means that no matter who you are talking to or where you go on that day, Chamorro is the language that you will be using. If you are ordering food at Kings, do your best to order in Chamorro. If you are using your Whatsapp on that day, Whatsapp your circle of friends in Chamorro.  After we first announced this challenge, one excited participant, Charmaine West, who currently lives in Idaho created a Facebook page, on which 74 people have already signed up to try their best on Sunday. Charmain

When I have my students do oral history projects with elder Chamorros, they often times groan and moan. They knew that Chamorros suffered in World War II and don't need to interview an old person to know it. They know they speak Chamorro fluently and don't need to ask them about it. I generally have my students focus their questions on certain things that elders may have heard or been exposed to when they were very young, which wouldn't necessarily be the things an ethnographer or anthropologist or historian would ask them. For example, one topic I am always interested in hearing about are legends or children's stories. What were the stories that the elders of today were told when they were kids? My students often groan about this because they assume that the stories that were told then were probably the same stories we tell today. So kids today can hear stories about Sirena, Gadao, Fu'una and Puntan and Duendes, these must be the same stories that people told t