NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Throughout the year, Independent Guåhan organizes "Håle'-ta Hikes," aimed at bringing the community into the island's historic and culturally sacred sites, in hopes of helping them understand the need to protect them. The last hike happened earlier this year to Litekyan. We had a huge crowd of people show up. Here are some of my pictures from the day. Gefpågo na ha'åni, esta gof annok gi litråtu siha.  *************************************

The  latte  has become a key symbol in expressions of contemporary Chamoru identity and a key means by which they have come to establish a meaningful connection to their ancient ancestors.  Following centuries of colonization, Chamorus had their connection to their ancestors was severely disrupted and felt little intimacy with regards to their ancestors prior to Spanish colonization. They had come to accept that they and much of their culture and beliefs were primitive or savage.  The study of the  latte  and its promotion as a historical artifact in the 20 th century helped create the everyday possibilities for Chamorus to form new positive connections to their ancestors. The  latte  is no longer a discarded remnant from a primitive past, but an icon of ethnic identity, empowerment and sacredness.  As the Chamoru people have undergone significant cultural shifts over the past four centuries, primarily due to colonization, the  latte  has become a quiet but important sym

On Facebook I have a regular informal series titled "Adventures in Chamorro." It ranges from stories of speaking Chamorro with my kids, protests, decolonization activism and also teaching Chamorro at UOG. I have not been on a hike in quite a while and so here are two stories dealing with hiking and my students at UOG. ********************* Adventures in Chamorro #234: For my Chamorro language classes I often have them write up some simple love poetry. I normally begin those assignments by talking about most elderly Chamorros refer to as traditional Chamorro courtship rituals. As Spanish Catholic influence made it very difficult for young unmarried men and women to interact with each other romantically, so much of the courtship happened in secret or through intermediaries known as "chule'guagua'" or "basket carr iers." It was a time of early-morning meetings down by the riverbank, sneaking away to the blindspots behind churches or nig

In Oregon a group of militiamen "peacefully" occupied a federal building at a national wildlife refuge. It has been very strange to see the way in which the media is covering the incident, or not covering it. The possessive investment of whiteness is in clear display today, as media which finds a seemingly endless number of ways to degrade or denigrate people of color protests or social movements, is suddenly being very controlled and very forgiving with their language. Check out the articles below to read more.  ************* A Militia Has Taken Over a Federal Building in Oregon Associated Press 1/2/16 BURNS, Ore. (AP) — A peaceful protest Saturday in support of an eastern Oregon ranching family facing jail time for arson was followed shortly afterward by an occupation of a building at a national wildlife refuge. Ammon Bundy, the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a standoff with the government over grazing rights, told The Oregonian  h

--> A Play Called Pagat Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Marianas Variety 4/16/14 Later this month, the University of Guam will be holding a series of special premiere performances of the locally written and produced play, “Pågat.” This play and these performances are made possible through a collaboration with UOG’s Theater and Chamorro Studies programs and the cultural dance group Inetnon Gefpago. The play will focus on the complexities of contemporary and historical Chamorro identity, through a cast of four modern young adults and the memories of a cast of spirits who share with the audience key moments in the history of the Chamorro people. Full disclosure, I am one of the playwrights for this play and so naturally I am biased in terms of its awesomeness and its potential. This play was originally written by Victoria Leon Guerrero and I for the dance group Inetnon Gefpago. In 2010, their leader Vince Reyes asked Victoria and I to write a play that would celebr

For Immediate Release:                                                        Contact: Michelle Blas April 7, 2014                                                                          mcblas76@yahoo.com   University Theater Presents: Pågat: A locally written and produced play about the Chamoru spirit, culture and identity By Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero April 24-26 and May 1-3                                                         University Theater closes its 2013-2014 season with the play Pågat, written by local writers Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua and Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero, directed by Michelle Blas, and featuring choreography by Vince Reyes of Inetnon Gef På’go.    Pågat explores the complexities of cultural identity and change through the lives of four modern young adults and the memories of a cast of spirits, who share key moments in the history of the Chamoru people. The play is set in a latte site in the jungles of På

If you asked me six years ago if I had any taotaomo'na experiences I would have named just one and a couple of other maybes. But after being a hiking fiend on Guam and spending a great deal of time in the jungle with a wide range of people I can honestly say I have had lots of experiences with taotaomo'na or supernatural phenomena on Guam. Some of these experiences are small and strange, faint feelings, as if there is a glitch out there somewhere and you know it is there, but just not sure where. Others have been full-blown experiences that I cannot explain, where strange, bewildering things happened, and I have seen things that I cannot explain. I always prepare my students for things that might happen and this both excites and scares them. Most people on Guam have heard of taotaomo'na stories and know people who know people where things have happened to them. But even if the stories are everywhere, this doesn't mean people have an intimate relationship to this spi

Over the past few years I have been on many hikes here on Guam. I have seen so many beautiful things on these hikes. I have found artifacts that hundreds had probably walked by, but never noticed before. I have found latte stones that may have gone unseen for centuries before I stumbled upon them, literally. I have seen sunsets sitting on rocks that seemed to be created strictly for the purpose of allowing ones eyes to swallow the sky in massive gulps. I have seen the ocean in so many types of blue at a given moment that it both looks like one massive solid color and a multitude of disagreeing blues at the same time. Throughout these hikes the history and beauty of Guam has come alive in so many ways. I feel not only a stronger connection to the present day Guam, but also to so many versions of its throughout the past. Walking amongst latte stones where Chamorros walked hundreds of years before. Exploring caves where Chamorros and Japanese soldiers huddled hiding from American bo

Although Okinawa is a small island, like anywhere, distances are relative. Although to get from one end to the other is far easier than getting from one end of California to another, or one end of Greenland to another, southern and central areas of the island are distinct and detached in many ways from the less densely populated and more natural northern forests. For the past six years there has been a protest camp in Takae in Higashi village in Yanbaru Forest. The camp consists of several barricades in front of the entrances to US military training areas where they are currently building six helipads. Because this area is "far" away from the island's population centers, the protest gets less attention. I wanted to help publicize the continuing struggle of the villagers in Takae, and so below I'm uploading several pictures. ***********************

After several days of lecturing, presenting and meeting with people for our Okinawa trip, Ed Alvarez (the Director of Guam's Commission on Decolonization) and I were given a rest day. One of the organizers of our trip Yasukasu Matsuhima, a professor of economics at Ryukyu University in Kyoto took us on a tour of various parts of central Okinawa. One of the highlights of the day was when we were taken to a string of islands to the Eastern coast of Okinawa all connected by bridges. On one of the islands Hamahiga, we visited an utaki, a sacred place where one would pray to spirits for various things ranging from having a safe journey, to increasing the harvest for a season, to helping increase the chances of a woman getting pregnant. Women played a significant role in this aspect of Okinawan religion as often the chosen women alone, or uta would be able to visit these places. In the area around Shuri Castle in Naha, there was an utaki which eventually became a private sacred place f

‘The Fadang Between US’ by Michael Lujan Bevacqua The Marianas Variety 1/4/12 IN NOVEMBER of last year, I travelled with 10 others as delegates to the 2011 Japan Peace Conference in Okinawa. This conference is held annually in any prefecture in Japan that hosts U.S. military bases, and is attended by thousands from every corner of Japan who discuss issues of peace, demilitarization and nuclear abolition. As delegates from Guam, we spoke about the military buildup, the Pågat lawsuit, and our ideas for peace in the region. It is not hyperbolic to say that my trip to Okinawa was a dream come true. After reading so much about Okinawa since the military buildup was first announced, it was very enriching to finally visit the place and see things for myself. The fates of our islands have recently been tied together by the strategic and political interests of the U.S. and Japan, but this entwining is very cursory, ti tahdong. In the week prior to my trip, I spe

For the past week I've been pasting pictures of my many hikes to the Pagat area of northern Guam. In a one year period I hiked down there 14 times, and in the process exploring so many different areas there and finding lots of cool things. I don't have thousands of pictures of my trip, since more than once I lost a camera down there. But I do have enough to show different aspects of the Pagat area, most of which people don't really know. Pagat proper is the trail that takes you to the freshwater cave and then through a trail of lusong, past a single latte house, to get to the natural arch and the cliffs. Pagat is so much more than this, and I've been blessed to be able to explore and see so much more. On the Pagat loop trail you can see the limestone wall there which no one seems to be able to explain how it was made (but there are many fun theories). At Pagat point you can see two massive limestone rocks known as Chelef's Hands, named after a 17th century C

I love going to Anao in Yigo. I've only been there a few times, but I really enjoy it each time I go. For those of you who haven't heard of Anao, it's north of Hanom, almost on the edge of Anderson. In order to get there you hike for about 20 mins through some jungle and then get to the cliff's edge where a trail will take you down several hundred feet to the rocky limestone shore. There are some pretty cool features once you reach the limestone shore for those who love natural beauty. There is a massive rock that some people call "the pinnacle" that sticks conspciously out of the rest of the fairly flat limestone. When I took my History of Guam and World History 2 students to Anao last week, we explored to the north and found a pretty neat cove. There was a large rock, well over twenty feet high that stuck out past the shore, and was connected by a narrow land bridge. Several of my students and I climbed up it to take pictures. I recommend visiting Anao

Not many people on Guam know about Okinawa, with the exception of the major bases involved in the transfer of Marines from Okinawa to Guam. I've discussed it earlier in my posts from Okinawa, the situation in Takae Village in the Yanbaru Forest in Northern Okinawa. I thought that it would be a good idea to post the following below from the website Okinawa Outreach . It gives a very good overview of the stakes involved with the protests in Takae Village. ************************ Save Takae ! Voice your opposition to the resumed US helipad construction ! On November 15, the Okinawa Defense Bureau (ODB) returned to Takae in the Yanbaru forest to resume the construction of six new helipads for US military for the first time in 8 months. According to Yamashiro Hiroji, a sit-in protester, about 70 people including 30 OBD staff members and 30 security guards showed up around 10:18 am in front of the Gate of N-4 Point with heavy machinery, demanding that the local residents and the