NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

 I recently gave a lecture talking about the Maga'håga spirit and the matrilineal strain that runs through Chamoru culture. In putting it together, I had to scrounge for different quotes from the early accounts of the Spanish, when they encountered Chamorus in the 16th and 17th centuries. It provides a stark contrast in most ways we see gender relations today, but it must have felt nightmarish at times for a Catholic priest of the time. To see women with this much authority over life and over their husbands, I imagine it would have given San Vitores and others plenty a panic attack.  Here are some of the quotes I used in my presentation: *******************   In each family, the head is the father or older relative, but with limited influence. A son, as he grows up, neither fears or respects his father. In the home it is the woman who rules, and her husband does not dare give an order contrary to her wishes, nor punish the children, for she will turn upon him and beat him. If the w

Okinawa Activists on Guam to Share Struggles and Support Community’s Request to Halt Construction of Marines’ Range at Northwest Field   FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE (October 23,2017 – Hagåtña)   A community collective comprised of members of Independent Guåhan, Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian, the Guåhan Coalition for Peace and Justice, Fuetsan Famalao’an and the University of Guam’s Women and Gender Studies Program are collaborating to host a week-long visit with a group of grassroots activists from Okinawa called No Helipad Takae Resident Society.   The No Helipad Takae Resident Society is committed to protecting their village, which is the location of the Yanbaru Rainforest, the main source for fresh drinking water in Okinawa and home to thousands of endemic species, many of which are listed as critical or endangered.  In 1957, the U.S. military began using the Northern Training Area in the Yanbaru rainforest as a jungle warfare-training site for U.S.

Chamorros and others from Guam pushing for the island's decolonization first began visiting the United Nations in the early 1980s. This was after witnessing the United Nations and their role in assisting the other islands in Micronesia in their decolonization, and noticing that Guam and the Chamorro people were being left behind. A visiting mission from the United Nations to Guam in 1979 helped connect the local struggles to the larger international community, where such conversations about independence and self-governance were not taboo, but rather normal and more importantly, necessary.  Part of the postwar strategy of the United States was to develop the islands in Micronesia into a buffer zone, to put space between its potential enemies in Asia. This meant prioritizing for two decades the military interests of the US over the interests or desires of the people in the region. This manifested most clearly in the form of security clearance requirements for those coming in and

Although on Guam, we tend to the see the United Nations as being inefficient and taisetbe because of the way we have waited for decades for decolonization, this issue is actually something that the United Nations has actually been very successful in terms of promoting. Since 1946, more than 80 former colonies, more than 750 million people have decolonized. In looking at the past few centuries of human history, this is a very substantial reversal. At one point a small group of colonizer controlled the maps, planted the flags and draw the lines of the world. We still live with that legacy in so many ways, but one cannot deny the shifts that have taken place. But there are still losers in this game of decolonization. The United Nations recognizes 17 official colonies, which amount to close to 2 million people. If we look beyond this formal level of recognition you could easily add in several dozen more territories or peoples that could be called colonies. We are the ones who are still

Last week was quite a crazy one. Governor Calvo, in his State of the Island address the week before, unilaterally called for a decolonization plebiscite, that instead of following existing GovGuam law, would circumvent it by using the referendum system instead. At the core of the Governor's plan would be the allowing for all people to cast votes in the plebiscite, but only a certain number, would be counted. It was a plan that might solve one problem, but create several dozen more. The past week was filled with meetings about this, in which the Governor eventually came to the understanding that his approach wouldn't necessarily be the best way, although it had been helpful in helping raise public interest in the issue. At present his office and the Commissions on Decolonization have committed to working together on developing an educational plan for a political status vote, and so things are looking up for the moment. Here is a statement that I helped draft in response to

I just submitted my abstract to be considered for a very special journal edition based on indigenous activism and legends or wondrous tales. The special edition seems so exciting, as you can read below it is all based on recaptured the wonder in certain native tales and talking about the way in which they do not remain mere stories, but help to animate and activate political activity or imaginations. For my paper I'll be talking about the legend of how the women saved Guam, sometimes known as the story of why Guam is narrow in the middle. Elizabeth Kelley Bowman, un nuebu na ga'chong gi lina'la'-hu, will be co-writing the piece and helping make a connection between that story and contemporary female activism against US militarization of Guam.  The editors are still looking for more submissions. If you are interested please check out the CFP below. (the image comes from the 2014 Inachaigen Fino' CHamoru or the Chamorro Language Competition held at UOG ear