NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

"Confronting Nuclear Legacies and Realities in Guam" The 3/11/2001 tragedy in Japan and the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Genpatsu was the latest reminder of the potential dangers of nuclear energy. Radioactive fallout was carried by wind and water throughout the Tohoku region of Japan, south to Tokyo and even reached the shores of Guam in the Marianas. Although Guam has no nuclear power plants, the use of the island by the United States military has ensured that the risks involved with the weaponization of nuclear energy are always present. This presentation will provide an overview of Guam’s historical relationship to nuclear weapons and also recommendations for how these issues can be more prominently incorporated into public school social studies curriculum.

“Shakespeare gi Guinaiya yan Chinatli’e’” Michael Lujan Bevacqua Marianas Variety 4/30/14 Shakespeare’s Hamlet asks, “ Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?”   Hamlet is paralyzed by the fear of death or suffering, but ultimately moves toward decisive political rebellion.    Similarly, the African-American lesbian poet, scholar, and activist Audre Lorde speaks of the radicalizing crisis in her life when she faced a diagnosis of breast cancer: “I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself.   My silences had not protected me.   Your silence will not protect you.”   Most might assume that it is ridiculous to compare a “great” writer such as Shakespeare to an activist like Lorde. One of them so many seem to accept as the height of human achievement whereas the other is gener

I am presenting next week on the Chamorro creation story, where Puntan and Fu'una create Guam and Chamorros. There are so many different versions of it, most of which follow the same trajectory but focus and leave out certain elements. San Vitores recorded a version of the story. So did other priests. Freciynet did as well. Today there are different theories as to what it means and what the Chamorro relationship to these great spirits was. In some versions Puntan and Fu'una are depicted as equal, while in others they are not and Puntan is firmly in charge with Fu'una his loyal sidekick. For my presentation I will be discussing the way this story was used in the creation of a mural in the village of Humatak and how it can be essential in the project of decolonization. I need to get back to work on it, but I thought I would share real quick one version of the story, written in Chamorro and published by the Department of Education. It is titled "Ha

On September 9th, the Chamorro Studies program will be hosting a meeting with representatives from the Hualien Tribal College in Eastern Taiwan. While I was in Taiwan in July I got to visit Hualien and spend some time in the Taroko Valley there. One thing I noticed about Hualien as opposed to Taipei was that there was a visible presence to the aboriginal Taiwanese there. Native figures were used in advertisements, there were signs at certain places indicating that this area was a native preserve and it was not open to the public. Aborigines in brightly colored clothes were even available for picture taking for a small fee. I don't know much about the Hualien Tribal College, but my communications with them have gone well and others have told me that they are doing good work in Taiwan. I am excited for the presentation tomorrow. If anyone reading this is available it will take place at UOG, in the HSS Building, Room 304 at 2 pm. My excitement doesn't only extend to the pres

This semester at UOG I am organizing a colloquium series for the newly christened Chamorro Studies program. We'll be having four different speakers, a different one each month, to come and discuss with faculty and students their ideas of what Chamorro Studies is or should be, and also what projects they are currently working on elsewhere in the community. Each speaker is someone on island who plays an important role in helping shape ideas of "Chinamorro" or "Chamorroness." For our first speaker we have invited Joseph Artero-Cameron who is the President of the Department of Chamorro Affairs. His talks is titled "I Hinanao-Ta: Our Journey." It will take place tomorrow, January 28th, at 2 pm in the Dean's Professional Development Room in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building at UOG. Here is a description of his talk as well as a bio below: In this colloquium, Cameron, the President of the Department of Chamorro Affairs will provide a dep

This Thursday I'll be giving my first ever colloquium. I've given speeches, spoken at conferences and symposiums and plenty of other types of public engagement, but in terms of having my very own forum or colloquium, taya' nai hu susedi este, ya pues didide' chathinasso yu'. The title of my talk is "The Gift of Imagination: Solidarity in the Asia-Pacific Region," and will be this Thursday, October 7, 3:30 - 5:00 pm at the UOG, CLASS Dean's Professional Development Room. The topic of my talk is based on my research/solidarity trips that I took over the summer to South Korea and Japan, representing Guam and informing others about its current struggles against US militarization, but also learning from farmers in Jeju, hibakusha in Nagasaki or Hiroshima and activists in Seoul. The paper, which I'm still refining slightly as I type this, is an interesting mixture of political activism and theoretical musing, moving between talking about how we might