NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Infotmasion put i siudat (mismo songsong, lao i maga'songsong para i Islan Guåhan) gi Fino' Chamoru. Hu tuge' este para un curriculum project dos años tåtte. Ya-hu bei na'huyong guini lokkue', sa' hu Tango' na guaha estudiante pat otro e'eyak ni' sesso manmambisisita guini gi este na blog, ya ma kekealigao este na klasen tiningo'. ********************** Put iya Hagåtña Guåhan i mås dångkolo’ na isla gi islas Marianas. Hagåtña i kapitåt na siudat. Gaige meggai na ofisinan gobietno giya Hagåtña. Gaige lokkue’ i gima’ i Gobietno yan i Lihelaturan Guåhan. I Plåsa de España mahåtsa desdi i tiempon Españot; manggaige guihi i kosas yan estorian i manmasusedi gi duranten i tiempon Españot. Gaige i Plåsa gi fi ʹ on i gima ʹ yu ʹ os Dulce de Maria Cathedral-Basilica.  Dångkolo’ este na guma ʹ yu ʹ os ya ma silelebra i gipot Santa Marian Kamalen gi diha ocho gi Disembre guini. Dångkolo’ este na silebrasion giya Guahan. I hinenggen Katoliko gi

When I was in graduate school I spent years collecting Guam mentions. I would hunt for them everywhere. In every database I could find. In every archive. In every index for every book. I would search through websites, through blogs, on Youtube videos. As I was writing my dissertation these Guam mentions represented a significant part of my "data." These were the things I wanted to analyze. These were the things I wanted to find some underlying structure for. It was difficult not in terms of articulating my thoughts, but articulating them in such a way that other people might care. When you are writing about "small" cultures or "small" islands, there is always the burden that your smallness puts on you. There is always a need to force you next to something larger so you can feel more relevant or more familiar. There is a need to put Chamorros next to another group, Native Hawaiians, Puerto Ricans, Filipinos, Okinawans, any other group that might be more

Kao malago’ hao tumungo’ mas put este na islå-ta? Do you want to know more about this island of ours? Kao malago’ hao tumungo’ mas put i kutturan Chamoru? Do you want to know more about Chamorro culture? Kao malago’ hao tumungo’ taimanu fumino’ Chamoru? Do you want to know how to speak Chamorro? Kao malago’ hao tumungo’ taimanu månnge’ gi fino’ Chamoru? Do you want to know how to write in Chamorro? Chamorro Studies is a new major at UOG that can help you with all these things. Chamorro Studies is an interdisciplinary program, where students can choose from a diverse range of electives including Biology, Literature, History, Anthropology and Psychology and can choose what sort of emphasis they want to take in terms of studying Chamorros, their history, language and culture. Email me at mlbasquiat@hotmail.com if you would like to know more about Chamorro Studies at UOG.

History has a way of reminding you that what you take for granted today did not exist in the past, and worse yet, there may have been a point in the past when what you take for granted today was unimaginable. There is one quote from Robert Underwood that sums of this strange way that history can haunt people and deprive them of a feeling of essentialness with the present. It comes from his essay "Teaching Guam History in Guam High Schools" and it talks about the position of Chamorros from 1898-1941 in relation to the United States. The Chamorro people were not Americans, did not see themselves as Americans-in-waiting, and probably did not care much about being Americans. The US relationship during that period was unapologetically colonial. The US didn't have a colonial office as other countries did, but instead just colonized Guam through the US Navy and racist and paternalistic rhetoric/policies. The US Navy preached the glories of its nation in Guam, but Chamor

A few weeks ago I was taking one of my English classes on a short tour around the historic central area of Hagatna. We walked from Angel Santos Memorial Latte Stone Park, through the Plaza de Espana and finally to Skinner Plaza. The point was for students to see the ways in which history is layered upon itself. You can see this in the way the Spanish part of Hagatna is also filled with American history in the way the American came to occupy the same colonial place, even to the point of remaking the primary buildings, such as the palace, in small ways to make it fit their tastes or their mission in Guam. But beneath all of that there is also the history prior to colonialism. It still emerges in so many ways, most of which swing between being overly visible to barely perceptible. Angel Santos Memorial Latte Stone Park is one such place. As both the Plaza de Espana and Skinner's Plaza seem to exist to glorify the colonizers of Guam, the Park seems to attempt to signify something els

This past Saturday I took my Guam History students for a historical scavenger hunt in the historic area of Hagatna. It was a fun experience as I gave them 10 vague clues that were connected to different things in hopes of forcing them to go around and try to find what connections I was referring to. My students learned far more than they probably thought they would, the most important lesson being a simple one; history is everywhere, and it is always there in layers upon layers. Just because you drive by it or have a vague idea of what is there, it doesn't mean that you know it or understand it. People who have been to Hagatna countless times, found that they basically knew nothing about it. While I was waiting for the students to finish their rounds I decided to take some pictures of different sites around Guam's capital and formerly largest village. I found a couple things I hadn't noticed before, which is always nice as a historian. Although I may know more than most a