NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

The PDN has been publishing a series of columns under the banner of "Saonao yan Eyak" or "Join and Learn." These columns are meant to help inform and inspire the community in advance of next year's FESTPAC which will take place in Guam. Hosting a FESTPAC is a massive endeavor. It requires layers of public and private cooperation, as tens of thousands of people descend upon that island in order to experience this cultural Olympics of the Pacific. I first wrote a column for them last month for Ha'anen Fino' Chamoru Ha', which by the way we are working on formalizing and trying to get back to honor at the start of each month. This month I wrote about how much Guam's consciousness has changed over the past four decades and how FESTPAC played a significant role in that. **************** "Guam's made huge stride since 70s" by Michael Lujan Bevacqua Pacific Daily News 4/23/15 When we think of what "Chamorro culture"

Every July Guam becomes transformed into an "island of massacres." As the collection memory of the island becomes focused around recalling and recounting the tragic final weeks of I Tiempon Chapones on Guam, the month seems to move from one horrific story to another. July 1944 was filled with more atrocities and more suffering than the 31 months of Japanese occupation that preceded it. Pale' Jesus Baza Duenas is killed. Chamorros are forced into concentration camps. Massacres take place in Hagat, Yigu, Merizo and Hagatna. War stories from war survivors build towards a brutal climax at this point. This brutal period however is the prologue to the happy end to Japanese rule. Within days or weeks of these atrocities taking place, Japanese guards have disappeared from concentration camps and stories of American troops being spotted are traveling around with lightning speed. War narratives at this point jump from opposite sides of the spectrum. They go from being

The groups Our Islands Are Sacred and Hinasso organized a wonderful event today in order to celebrate the Chamorro new year. Although Guam today uses the 12 month calendar, the Ancient Chamorro calendar was based on 13 months because of the 13 moons of the year. This period of the year is Tumaiguini, the first month of the year meaning "to become like this." The event is Lukao Fuha or a procession to Fouha Rock in Fouha Bay. Fouha Bay was a very sacred place in Ancient times for Chamorros. It was so sacred that the Spanish accounts even recognize its religious significance. This is important because the priests were committed to doing away with most of the religion of Ancient Chamorros and finding ways to subvert it and make it become subordinate to the new Catholic faith. But Fouha Bay in Umatac was noted for being a place where Chamorros from villages around the entire island would travel to hold a ceremony or gathering to honor Fu'una and Puntan, who according to t