NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I write regularly about "the decolonization conversation." I use this to refer to the wider public discussion and sometimes debate about Guam's future in terms of its political status. There are three main options that are to be considered when thinking about Guam's future status. Each of them provides a higher level of self-governance than remaining an unincorporated territory, although they can be slightly to very different. This conversation around Guam's political status has been around for more than a hundred years, although we often don't think about it that way. During the late Spanish period, Chamorus chafed under colonial rule, especially after the rest of the Spanish Empire had achieved independence or was actively rebelling or forming nationalist movements. Nowadays we don't know much about this, because we don't teach our own history very well. If we did take seriously the teaching of our history, we would have a general sense

"Translating the Garrido Manuscript" Michael Lujan Bevacqua Marianas Variety 3/26/14 This Thursday, March 27 a very special presentation will be held at the University of Guam and titled “The Garrido Manuscript: A Unique Glimpse of the Chamorro Language in 1798.” The public is invited to come and learn about the translation of the oldest document known written in the Chamorro language, from 1798, more than 200 years ago. The presentation will begin at 6 pm and take place in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Lecture Hall at UOG. This presentation is sponsored by the Micronesia Area Research Center and the Chamorro Studies Program. Dr. Carlos Madrid, a research associate at MARC has spearheaded the project with essential assistance from Jeremy Cepeda, a Chamorro teacher at Simon Sanchez. Lenoard Iriarte from I Fanlalai’an Oral History Project, Pale’ Eric Forbes, Rosa Palomo from the Micronesian Language Institute and myself also a

--> Anai manmakolonisa hit gi fine’nina biahi, meggai giya Hita manohge para u fanmumu, ya maseha manmapede’ hit gi gera, gi minagahet sigi ha’ hit manresiste lao gi otro manera.  I anten i Maga’haga-ta lala’la’ ha’ gi hagan haga’, I haga’ Famalao’an. Ya maseha meggai na famalao’an Chamorro manasagua yan otro rasa, ma na’siguru na ma kontinuha mafa’na’gue i famagu’on ni’ i fino’-ta yan hayi siha. (komo Chamorro) I ine’son-ta nu i Espanot annok gi che’cho’ Juan Malo, gos petbetso kontra i Espanot. Sesso di ha usa i inutguyosu kontra siha. Sesso di ha fa’chada’ I Espanot yan ha fa’baba nu i salape’-niha.  Gi duranten i 19 th century, dos Chamorro, Si Jose Salas yan Si Luis Baza, mausa diferentes na manera para u ha tachuyi i direcho i taotao-ta. Si Baza matungo’ put anai ha konne’ i Gubietno Espanot para kotte put todu i malabida-na kontra i taotao-ta. Gi 1884 Si Jose Salas, un Chamorro gi i militat Espanot, mamuno’ Gubietno Espanot put i estao i taotao-ta.  An

For the very first showing of The Lone Ranger on island, I took my kids. I have been excited about the film for a long time, for a variety of reasons and was eager to watch it as soon as possible. The previews looked exciting and ridiculous like so many Pirates of the Caribbean movies. There were several key differences however that made me more excited and more intrigued to see The Lone Ranger.   The Lone Ranger wasn't going to be another one of those ridiculous ensemble films where the last 40 mins are just endless resolutions to the mess that the writers and directors have created by having so many famous faces. I'm also a fan of Johnny Depp, even some of his less than popular or weird roles I still find interesting. I have for the past few years had a weird fascination with Westerns. I hated the genre for most of my life because the films weren't very well made and the politics involved were sometimes terrible. I had a few films such as Dances With Wolve

In my World History class recently we discussed the Congo Free State. In my Guam History and World History classes I often create strange lists for students in order to understand the ways in which I see the history that I'm teaching. For Guam History I have two main lists, "The Most Heroic Chamorros That You've Never Heard Of" which features figures Chamorros from Guam History who were heroic and brave and accomplished great things, but don't fit into the usual historical narratives and are either accidentally or intentionally erased. I also have a list "The Assholes of Guam History" which has you might guess is a list of all the jerks in Guam's History. The people who have oppressed Chamorros, slaughtered them, held them back and just caused all sorts of problems. Some of them are Chamorro but most of them are non-Chamorros. These lists evolve as my understanding and knowledge evolve. For example many years ago if I was coming up with an Assh