NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I haven't posted much for the past week because I have been rushing to finish up my novel this month for ChaNoWriMo or Chamorro Novel Writing Month. The goal is to reach 50,000 words by the end of November. It is almost the end of November and with two days to go I am at 45,000 words. I should be able to make it this weekend but it has been a long slog.  For three years I have worked on the same story tentatively titled "The Legend of the Chamurai." In it a warrior makahna or wizard during the ancient times has a vision where she witnesses the end of the Chamorro people. In order to prevent that end from taking place all sorts of giant mythical creatures and samurai and Spanish soldiers get mixed in. The first 50,000 words of this story were very focused, establishing the world of ancient Chamorros, the types of powers and spells they might have, the lore and the cultural knowledge that guided them at that time. The next 50,000 words built on t

The Politics of Thanksgiving Day November 26, 2014 Thanksgiving Day is rooted in a myth of friendly cooperation between Native Americans and European settlers, celebrated a year after the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts and nearly starved. But the reality was more of one-sided generosity and two-faced betrayal, as William Loren Katz explains. By William Loren Katz http://consortiumnews.com/2014/11/26/the-politics-of-thanksgiving-day/ As family excitement builds over Thanksgiving, you would never know November was Native American History Month. President Barack Obama publicly announced the month, but many more Americans will be paying much greater attention to his annual declaration of thanksgiving with the ceremonial pardoning of a turkey. Thanksgiving has a treasured place in the hearts of Americans, established as a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to rouse Northern patriotism for a war that was not going well. Since the

Mampos meggai na sina hu sangan pat tuge' put hafa masusesedi giya Ferguson .  Lao fihu hinalang yu' ni i kuentos otro. Sesso i mas a'gang i mas taitiningo' lokkue'. Para i gaihinasso pat gaitingo' na taotao fitme esta i sinangan-na yan hinengge-na. Ti guailayi na u essalaogue i batkada. Lao gi i tiempon pa'go, guaha meggai na prublema siha giya Amerika. Lao ga'o'-niha i pumalu pumupuni siha, kinu umadmimite. Este na prublema ti ma'pos, ti antigu, ti put estoria ha'. Este na prublema put taimanu na dumadana' ha' i ma'pos yan i pa'go. Ko'lo'lo'na para i mangaikulot na taotao. Para i manggaikulot, para i mannatibu Amerikanu siha, para i manattelong (black). I estorian otro (manma'pos) i gigao-mu pa'go.  Para siha, para hafa na ta chathassuyi este. Lao para Hita, este na prublema siha, este na estorian hinekse i oriya-ta yan i minagahet-ta. Guini papa' hu na'chechetton un

I was reading recently a book on "Native American Wisdom." It to be truthful a beautiful book even if it was very simplistic at times. There was a beauty and a power to some of the words, which were quoted from leaders of Native American tribes over the past 300 years. There were ways that in their wisdom I saw the cosmology, the culture of so many other native peoples, Chamorros included. There were ways that they made sense of their tragedies, railed against it, accepted it. The book didn't promote one perspective for Native American identity or world-view, even though it do at some points argue for a harmony or unity amongst the people, and made claims to the way all the different types of Native Americans see the world. There were some who continued to challenge the authority of the US over Native Americans and there were some who accepted it. Some drew a line and argued their spirituality was different than the kind that came with colonization, others argued that t

I nobia-hu Isa ha ayuda mama'tinas Forum gi UOG gi painge put "sexual harassment." Gof impottante este na asunto, lao ti meggai umadmimite este. Ti meggai tumungo' put este na asunto. Guaha famalao'an yan lalahi lokkue', mansinexual harassed, lao ti ma tungo' na ayu hafa masusedi. Hinasson-niha na ossitan ha' pat linachi ha', ya taya' sina u macho'gue put este. Maolek na ha hatsasayi hit este na babao gi UOG. Gi fino' Audre Lorde, ti prinitehi yu' ni taisangan-hu. Siempre ti prinitehi hao lokkue'. Estague iyo-na Live Blog ginen i Forum gi painge. ******************* 5:50 – Excited to see Mary Camacho Torres, senator-elect, and Prof. Ron McNinch in the audience.  Approximately fifty to sixty students are currently present. 6:07 – Dr. KB begins speaking.  “Sexual harassment at the University of Guam.”  Intersectionality.  Privilege, domination, and oppression.  —Imbalance of power relations regarding gender, class

Russell Means visited Guam in 2000 to work in solidarity with the group Nasion Chamoru in their fight for Guam's independence. On the website for Nasion Chamoru is features a thank you to Russell Means for his visit and inspiring people with his message. The section thanking Means features this quote about him: "The L.A. Times has described him as the most famous American Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Russell Means is a natural leader. His fearless dedication and indestructible sense of pride are qualities admired by nations worldwide. His vision is for indigenous people to be free... Free to be human, free to travel, free to stop, free to trade where they choose, free to choose their own teachers ~ free to follow the religion of their fathers, free to talk, think and act for themselves and then they will obey every law or submit to the penalty. The most difficult lesson of all is to respect your relatives' visions..."   I didn't meet R

At the start of the month I was interviewed by the Marianas Variety on the topic of NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. I have participated in this since 2012 and it is the highlight of the later part of the year for  me. The goal is to make it to 50,000 words from November 1st to November 30th. I've done it for the past two years, and I'm struggling to make it this time as well. I lost several days due to curriculum writing (I've already written about 50,000 words in terms of curriculum writing this month). I'm supposed to be at 25,000 words by now, but I'm only at 22,000. I will complete my goal however as the story "The Legend of the Chamurai" that I have been working on for the past three years has to be written and it is exciting to see it take shape each year.  Here is my interview below. ***************** 1. How many years have you participated in NaNoWriMo? This is my third year, I hit the 50,000 mark in

I've been so busy this week with writing Chamorro language curriculum for the I Ma'adahen Fino' Chamorro that I haven't been able to post much or even complete my Guam Political Sign Awards. I wrote up most of the winners in my Marianas Variety column last week, but haven't been able to get the full text together and edit the images of the winning signs. I promise to get to this either over the weekend or next week. ChaNoWriMo hasn't been helping with this much either.

CALL FOR PAPERS :  3rd Marianas History Conference One Archipelago, Many Stories: Milestones in Marianas History Dates: September 4-6, 2015 Location: Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Venue TBA The Northern Marianas Humanities Council, University of Guam, Guam Preservation Trust, and Guampedia are pleased to announce a call for papers for the 3rd Marianas History Conference. It will be held on Saipan from September 4-6, 2015 with a welcoming reception on the evening of September 4th. The conference will cover a full range of topics associated with the Archipelago’s history with a particular focus on the conference’s subtheme “Milestones in Marianas History.” Papers may be submitted under the following general categories: Ancient History; Early Colonial (17th – 18th centuries); Late Colonial (19th – early 20th centuries); World War II; Recent (post-war); and Oral History and Genealogical Research. The organizers also encourage student presentati