NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

In December of last year, I met with a friend for breakfast at Shirley's in Hagåtña. The central topic of our meeting with current pushes for Guam's decolonization. This breakfast was happening at the start of a two-week period of activity around educating the island around the issue. The Commission on Decolonization and the Office of the Governor was about to start a series of three village meetings to help educate the island community about political status change. After not meeting since July, the Commission itself was set to meet earlier that week. Through my own political status task force, the Independence for Guåhan Task Force, we started a podcast series named Fanachu! and also held one of our monthly General Assembly meetings. Despite the flurry of recent activity around the issue, my friend wasn’t convinced that anything had really changed. That all of these activities whether they be teach-ins, coffee shop conversations, debates or for

Todu i Chamorro siha ni' mañathinanasso put i kotturå-ta yan i minalingu i lenguahi-ta, debi di u ma tatai este. Anggen ta cho'gue mas kinu manggongongong siña ta na'lå'la' mo'na i lenguahi-ta. Atan este na familia. Manu na gaige i Chamorro siha ni' siña tumattiyi este na hemplo? ********************* Indigenous family bans English to preserve culture by Lynn Desjardins english@rcinet.ca Radio Canada International September 5, 2016 Like many parents, Nancy Mike and Andrew Morrison have to work hard if they want to preserve their aboriginal language. Because so much English is spoken in Iqaluit in the northern territory of Nunavut, they have decided to ban English at home and oblige their two daughters to speak their native language of Inuktitut, reports CBC . “Language is not just language; it’s the way you transmit culture,” said Mike to CBC reporter Sima Sahar Zerehi. Mike said she wanted to be certain the girls were able to speak to

Comedian Samantha Bee bid a fond "adios" to the campaign of Ted Cruz on her show Full Frontal last week. I said "fond" not because of her affecting for Cruz as a politician or what he stood for, but rather because Cruz had been such an incredible mine for political humor. As evidence of this, even in his departure, she was able to tweet at him and mock him in one of the most incisive ways I've ever seen in less than 144 characters. See the tweet below. Ai gof tahdong na tinekcha' enao. Ha botleleha i baba na hinengge-ña yan i gef annok na ti maguaiya gui' gi patidå-ña achagigu. As she said adios on her show, she rattled off a list of the gof na'chalek nicknames that she had given Cruz, which still make me laugh even after hearing them several times. Here is the list, with the video below: "Born Again Tyler Durden" "Princeton's Unwanted Fetus" "Fist-Faced Horse-Shit Salesman" "The World's On

Published on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 by Common Dreams Indigenous Groups: 'No Keystone XL Pipeline Will Cross Our Lands' Native American communities along proposed route vow resistance against 'black snake' pipeline - Sarah Lazare, staff writer  Native American communities are promising fierce resistance to stop TransCanada from building, and President Barack Obama from permitting, the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline."No Keystone XL pipeline will cross Lakota lands," declares a joint statement from Honor the Earth, the Oglala Sioux Nation, Owe Aku, and Protect the Sacred. "We stand with the Lakota Nation, we stand on the side of protecting sacred water, we stand for Indigenous land-based lifeways which will NOT be corrupted by a hazardous, toxic pipeline." Members of seven Lakota nation tribes, as well as indigenous communities in Idaho, Oklahoma, Montana, Nebras

 Stuff from my inbox about the Wisconsin Recall election last week. **************** From the AFL-CIO: Dear Michael, A year and a half ago, Gov. Scott Walker and his friends in the Senate forced through an extremist anti-worker agenda that divided the state. Li Last night, Wisconsin took back its Senate. While Gov. Walker remains in office after being only the third governor in American history subjected to the humiliation of a recall, his divisive agenda has been stopped cold. Though Walker was shielded with a flood of secret corporate cash, Wisconsin made its voice heard. While we came closer to recalling Walker than many expected, we ended up coming just short. The work we did together was about much more than just this one election. We laid the groundwork for a powerful movement to push back against Walker-style anti-working family policies everywhere. The energy and momentum in Wisconsin have inspired working people from all walks of life to stand toget

October 1-8, 2011 Keep Space for Peace Week: International Week of Protest to Stop the Militarization of Space Stop the Drones No Missile Defense End the wars & occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya Bring Our War $$ Home Convert the Military Industrial Complex Local Events (List now in formation) Albuquerque, New Mexico (Oct 5) Showing documentary Pax-Americana & the Weaponization of Space 6:00 pm at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice. Contact Stop the War Machine at 505-268-9557 or citizen@comcast.net Albuquerque, New Mexico (Oct 8) Anti-war and use of space for war protest at the University of New Mexico bookstore plaza, Central Avenue. Contact Stop the War Machine at 505-268-9557 or citizen@comcast.net Andover, Massachusetts (Oct 3) Vigil at Raytheon (where Patriot PAC-3 missile defense interceptors are made) at 7:00 am For more info call 978-686-4418 Bath Iron Works, Maine (Oct 1) Vigil across from administration building on Washington S

Two years ago, the United Nations, after more than 20 years of debating, at long last passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Depending on your particular circumstances as an indigenous person, and what existing "sovereign" nation-state claims your land or your destiny, this was either a hopeful sign or a twisted and sad spectacle. For me personally, the adoption of the Declaration came at the perfect moment. I was in New York the following month testifying before the United Nations about the current situation on Guam. When I got there a few days prior to testifying, I wandered around the streets of New York trying to figure out what to say. I wanted to come up with something that others from Guam wouldn't cover or address, but which I could also speak to with very little reading up or research. In other words, something interesting and unique, that could be written in a few hours. The Declaration seemed like the perfect point to address. Chamorros on