NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

I put this together for a Chamoru language curriculum project I was working on a few years ago. It was meant to be an appendix to go along with other cultural components about learning Chamoru. The list started with the work of Malia Ramirez and then I added on a few more here and there. It is by no means meant to be exhaustive or complete. Chamoru family names are still evolving, although perhaps not at the rate they have previously. For every Chamoru, there are a number of names they can claim, but unless they are running for office, tend to only invoke one or two when representing their identity.  I returned to this list recently while discussing the topic in one of my Chamoru language classes. For many Chamorus in the states or who grow up on Guam without much emphasis on their heritage, they assume that their "family name" is their last name. I have had many troubling conversations with young people who assert that their clan name is "Leon Guerrero" or &qu;

2000 was the last time that Guam had a significant and focused conversation around political status. There had been campaigns, big and small, around commonwealth or constitutions. Each time there were discussions, community events and also sometime of plebiscite. 2000 was the last time that there was a big community push around the issue, as that was the year a plebiscite was scheduled and some funds made available for public education. This came after commonwealth had died or stalled in the US Congress, and it was decided to start the process over by having a new plebiscite to help determine the direction of future political status negotiations. This new start to the process never really came. The 2000 plebiscite was delayed several times and never took place. I recently went through more than a year of the Pacific Daily News to get a sense of that time, and came across dozens of letters to the editor and articles dealing with the plebiscite and the three sta

Independent Guåhan to hold Teach-Ins in November, to provide updates on Catalonia and a panel on inter-generational activism Each month Independent Guåhan (IG) holds a Teach-In at the University of Guam aimed at informing the island community about pertinent issues related to Guåhan’s political status and decolonization. This month IG will be holding two Teach-Ins, the first on November 9 th focusing on recent updates on the movement for independence and Catalonia, and the second on November 16 th , which will focus on inter-generational Chamorro activism. Both Teach-Ins will take place from 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM at UOG Humanities and Social Sciences Building (HSS) Room 106. They are free and open to the public. The November 9 th Teach-In is titled “Som Una Nacio, Nosaltres Decidim: Updates on Catalan Independence.” Long-standing desires amongst the people of Catalonia, Spain for greater autonomy has taken concrete form in recent months. Following violent

Commonwealth is a word that continues to haunt discussions of decolonization in Guam. For most younger people, they have no idea what Commonwealth means in a Guam context, although they know of it in the context of the CNMI's political status. It is something that has some very profound meanings for people of a certain age, most older than I am, because of the way it represents nostalgia for a time when political status change on Guam seemed to have a more clearly defined direction. Commonwealth in terms of Guam, was a decades long movement to try to get the island to a new political status, something along the lines of "improved status quo." It involved long negotiations with different presidential administrations, different iterations of Congress, all in the hopes of moving Guam to a slightly better political position. In terms of political status options, Commonwealth would fall between integration and free association. It kept Guam and the US tightly conne

The Independence for Guahan Task Force held their second monthly general meeting last week and it was a significant success, with 70 members of the community coming to listen to educational presentations and provide feedback. Here are some media reports on the meeting, both before and after. As you'll read below the educational portion of the evening focused first on security threats to Guam due to it being a strategically important unincorporated territory of the United States. Second, it contained a presentation on Singapore, the first model of an independent nation that Guam can look to in terms of inspiration as it pursues independence itself. Each monthly meeting will feature a new independent nation to analyze and compare. ****************************** Does the US military turn Guam into a regional target? By Timothy Mchenry Pacific News Center September 20, 2016 The topic was chosen after audience members at the first general assembly co