NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Last June, M asahide Ota, former Governor of Okinawa passed away. He had been governor of the islands in 1995, when long-time resentment and culture of protest against the US military bases achieved a much greater and more widespread character after the rape of a 12 year old girl by three US servicemen. His was a powerful voice for peace and demilitarization in Okinawa. During a trip in October of 2015 Edward A. Alvarez and I (with the help of the intrepid interpreter Shinako Oyakawa) got to visit him at his Naha office one afternoon. When he learned that we were from Guam, he mentioned several Chamorros that he had met over the years and inquired about them. He told us a number of stories from his life, including as experience after being drafted into the Japanese army during the war. He shared others about the struggles to survive for average Okinawans, after the destruction of their island and displacement in order to build new US military bases. I have long written that Okinawa a

I interviewed so many cool people over the last week in Okinawa and Ishigaki Islands. I did so with the help of Okinawan activist Shinako Oyakawa who I first met in 2010 during a demilitarization study tour to South Korea. I was fortunate enough to join her, Bruce Gagnon and Corazon Fabros on on a trip to South Korea where we visited areas affected by US military facilities and training. Later I met Shinako in the context of solidarity activism in connection with Okinawa. She is a member of an academic association which is pushing for Okinawan, Ryukyu or LewChu independence from Japan. Her group has invited me to several conferences in Okinawa over the years and she is usually stuck translating the mindless things I say into Japanese. Another connection I have to Shinako is that she is a language revitalization activist. She is from Okinawa, one of many islands in what most people consider to be "Okinawa" or the Ryukyu Islands. Most people in Okinawa speak Japanese, but t

I ma'pos na biahi na hu bisita iya Okinawa, tinatiyi yu' ni' pakyo' dangkolu. Matto guihi para un konferensia, lao ma cancel i dinana' put i pakyo'. Gi ayu na hinanao sumaga' yu' gi un kuatton hotet para tres dihas, ya taya' bida-hu. Ti manali'e' ham yan i meggai na atungo'-hu siha guihi. Para kuatro na sakkan hu bisisita iya Okinawa. Kumuentos yu' meggai biahi gi diferentes na klasin dinana' academic pat activist. Hu bisita i diferentes na lugat, taiguihi Henoko pat Takae, nai guaha protest pa'go put taimanu trinatrata i tano' ni' militat Amerikanu.  Guaha otro konferensia guihi gi otro na mes. Malago' yu' na bei hanaogue, lao kalang mappot. Ayu Mes Chamoru, fihu i mas mitinane' na mes para Guahu.  I kinalamten para Independensia guini giya Guahan esta gof machalapon. Guaha na biahi gof annok i taotao ni' sumapopotte gui' gi media, sa' meggai gi gurupun-mami yan-niha manoghe gi kanton chala

One of the articles I am working on this Fanuchan'an is about language revitalization in Guam and the "beautiful lie" or "gefpago na dinagi" that hinders our ability to protect and revitalize our endangered languages. What I refer to as the beautiful lie stage is the point at which language attitudes that once naturalized the uselessness of a native language have been reversed and that a once maligned language is now celebrated, but that the celebration of the language does not necessarily lead to any revitalization. It can lead to commemoration, promotion, to preservation but the beautiful lie is that while the beauty of the language is now an accepted truth, this does not meant that people will actually use it, teach it or see it as something viable and necessary to keep alive. I first got to present this idea at an Endangered Island Language Forum last year at Ryukyu University in Okinawa. I have a couple more months until I have to take my presentation a

Gaige yu' pa'go giya Belau. Este i fine'nina nai hu bisita este na isla. Esta meggai hu taitai put Guiya. Meggai hiningok-hu put Guiya. Hu tungo' na este na nasion i fine'nina ni' tumachu kontra i dano' i atmas nuclear gi este na mundo. Ma pas gi i Constitution-niha i fine'nina na "taya' nukes" na lai. Siha i fine'nina fuma'tinas lokkue' un "fanliheng'an" para i halu'u siha gi i tasi. Achokka' maoriyayi yu' ni' Binelau, hu hahasso ha' iya Okinawa. Manhahami yan Si Yasukatsu Matsushima yan Si Ed Alvarez gi este na hinanao. Si Yasukatsu ha kokonne' magi i estudiante-na siha para u fanmanaligao giya Belau. Esta mambisita siha giya Guahan. Manmanaliligao siha put i islan Guahan yan i islan Belau, yan taimanu giya Guahan ti ma gubetnan maimaisa (ya i hiniyong na prublema) yan giya Belau put taimanu ma gubetnan maimaisa (ya i hiniyong maolek). Malago yu' mohon na bei fanngge

In Okinawa, Talk of Break From Japan Turns Serious The New York Times Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence Party, last month. “Independence is an idea whose time has come,” he said. In a windowless room in a corner of a bustling market where stalls displayed severed pigs’ heads and bolts of kimono silk, Okinawans gathered to learn about a political idea that until recently few had dared to take seriously: declaring their island chain’s political independence from Japan. About two dozen people of all ages listened as speakers challenged the official view of Okinawa as inherently part of homogeneous Japan, arguing instead that Okinawans are a different ethnic group whose once-independent tropical islands were forcibly seized by Japan in 1879. Then, to lighten the mood, the organizers showed “Sayonara, Japan!”, a comedy about a fictional Okinawan island that becomes its own little republic. “Until now, you were mocked if you spoke of independence,” said

When I visited Okinawa last year I was fortunate enough to visit a language school started by a group of activists who are working towards the revitalization of Uchinaguchi or the main dialect of Okinawa. I had met most of them over the years at conferences in the states or on solidarity trips around the Asia-Pacific region. I was impressed with their grassroots efforts and in the year since they even received a small government grant to provide stipends for the community members who were offering their time to teach the classes. In these classes parents and children would work together to learn the language. Unfortunately when I visited last week the school was on vacation and wouldn't start again for several weeks. I thought it would be nice to share some of the photos I took last year. Part of the benefit of these types of trips is not only the inspiration you can feel from seeing people who at work who are committed and dedicated. It is also important to learn about each othe