NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Decolonization gi Fino' CHamoru: Future Status Options for Guam Discussed in UOG CHamoru-Language Panel Mangilao, GU - On Thursday, March 1, 2018, 6:00-7:30 p.m., the Dean of the School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Guam will host a CHamoru-language panel from the Commission on Decolonization to discuss the status options for Guam/Guåhan: Statehood, Free Association, and Independence.       The event is called "Decolonization gi Fino' CHamoru" (in the CHamoru language).   It will be held in Room 131.   It is free and all are welcome and encouraged to attend.   The panel, co-organized with Commission Director Amanda Blas from the Office of the Governor of Guam, will include special presentations gi Fino' CHamoru (in the indigenous CHamoru language) from representatives of the Taskforces on Statehood, Free Association, and Independence.   Handouts and ot

Ti hu egga' i Commander and Chief forum gi NBC yan MSNBC pa'go. Tinane' yu' ni' mamana'na'gue. Hiningok-hu meggai gi internet put håfa masusedi. Ti makopbla si Trump. Machanda si Hillary. Ti nahong i minagahet gi sinangan-ñiha. Lao, impottante nai na ti ta po'lo na parehu este na dos. Ti chumilong i hinasson-ñiha. Ti chumilong i minalate'-ñiha. Buente ti ya-mu i idehå-ña pat i sinangån-ña si Hillary, lao ti puniyon na gaitiningo' gui'. Lao ai adai si Trump. Annok na ti meggai, ti nahong i tiningo'-ña put este na asunto siha. Ti listo gui' para u presidente. ********************** Clinton: No US Ground Troops in Iraq, Syria; Trump: Steal Iraqi Oil by Juan Cole Informed Comment September 8, 2016 The NBC Candidates Forum continued the shameful corporate coverage of the Great American Meltdown that is our election season. That season has given us a Faux Cable News that runs clips of only one side and p

I started a website five years ago titled " Fino' Chamoru na Inadaggao " meaning a forum for debating or discussing the Chamorro language. This was initially mean to be a website that would support a series of Chamoru Language Senatorial forums held during the 2010 Guam election. From October 19th - 21st that year, all the Guam Legislature hopefuls were invited to a forum where they would be asked questions in the Chamorro language and be encouraged to respond in the Chamorro language. Now as you might imagine/know, in 2010 and 2015 the overwhelming majority of local politicians, including those who are Chamorro, cannot speak the Chamorro language. Because of this, each participant was given the question ahead of time, so as to allow them time to translate the questions and prepare their answers in either English or Chamorro. Candidate were also allowed to have interpreters on stage with them, sitting behind them in case they had trouble following along or remembering w

When the Solorzano skull was brought to Guam there were several events held to discuss the meaning of the skull and also the legacy of the violent time during which the priest Solorzano was killed in fighting between the Spanish and Chamorros. The event that I helped organize at UOG was pretty well attended, with more than 150 people there on a Saturday morning. The discussion never got too heated, with the biggest conflict being over the statement made by Father Fran Hezel that the Chamorro-Spanish Wars was a result of cultural misunderstandings. Religion wasn't touched on much, despite the fact that religion was at the core of the history involved. The Spanish priests were assaulting the religion of Ancient Chamorros. They were forcing them to give up their religion and take a new one. Solorzano himself, as a priest was driven to go into places where he would put himself at risk in the name of his religion and in hopes of dying in the name of his God. But very few people mad

Weekly Address by Speaker Judith T. Won Pat Guam Legislature December 31, 2014 "Reconnecting with History to Better Understand Our Lives Today" Buenas yan Hafa Adai! Last night, a special mass was held at the Cathedral Basilica in which parishioners were able to view the skull of 17th century Jesuit missionary Father Manuel de Solorzano. As we close the year, this occasion reminds us of the importance of looking at our history to better understand the complexities we face today. Father Solarzano was killed on Guam in 1684 during a battle waged by Maga’låhi Hura, who was motivated by the desire to protect our ancestors’ way of life and their connection to the land. This was one of the last major battles of the Chamorro-Spanish Wars, and the closest our chiefs got to reclaiming Hagåtña from the Spanish. However, Hula’s forces were defeated by a group of Chamorros, who had converted to Catholicism and were fighting to protect the Church. This return of So

Driving around the past few days was surreal. It wasn’t because of the change in the air due to the storm. It wasn’t because of the eerie clouds that have been hanging around lately. It was because of something that for a day or two largely disappeared from the island’s landscape, political signs. Si Yu’us Ma’ase to all the candidates who pulled their signs down during the most recent storm warning. It is one thing to have people use your signs as plywood after an election is over, it is another entirely to have your signs appear on Facebook or Instagram after one of them was thrown into someone’s windshield by wannabe-typhoon-force-winds. After months of watching these signs multiple faster than rhino beetles and brown tree snakes put together. After months of watching these signs, like gladiators bravely clash at street corners, in neighborhoods and in empty fields, using cut up American flags, partially hidden Guam seals and plenty of platitudes as their

Achokka' taigue i na'an-hu gi este na flyer, bai hu gaige gi este na panel pa'go na talo'ani. Para u tutuhun i panel gi alas kuatro gi UOG gi i CLASS Lecture Hall. Maila yan ekungok i hinasson-mami put i "hinanhan" ginnen North Korea. Kao magahet este na "threat?" Hafa i mismo na piligrosu guini? Kao magahet na mas safu hit guini anggen mapo'lo mas militat? Kao umaya siguridad yan i mamta' i miltat? Pat kao mismo umakontra este na dos?

From We Are Guahan : This year was an eventful year for We Are Guahan. The organization helped organize over 11 hikes to historic sites on Guam, announced a high school scholarship program and enjoyed a historic legal victory against DOD in the lawsuit to save Pagat Village. We Are Guahan would like to extend a dangkulu na Si Yu’us Ma’ase for your continued support of our efforts. Special thanks to Dr. Miget Lujan Bevacqua for coordinating and assisting in the organizing of the Heritage Hikes, Alissa Eclavea for her efforts to raise funds for the GAPSS scholarship program, all of the artists who have volunteered their time and creativity for the Prutehi yan Difendi campaign and everyone else who supported us this year. We look forward to being involved in more things in the year to come. Below is a chronological summary of just some of the activities We Are Guahan was a part of in 2011: February 2011 •2/14: Sticker-up day to spread awareness about Pagat Lawsuit. •2/25: Relea

The Forum held at the Legislature a few weeks back was both inspiring and disappointing. It was disappointing because it was so poorly attended. You had two titans of community engagement and local leadership (hun) working together on holding a public forum and the room wasn't even filled half way. I got there in the afternoon ya nina'triste yu' nu i ti meggai na manmatto. As I wrote about last week, events that we have held at UOG on the same issue, with a much less star-studded line up of speakers are usually packed. Given that some of that is due to the fact that students are given credit to attend doesn't excuse the Legislature-UOG forum, since students still could have been given credit to attend this forum. In this regard it was almost pathetic to attend the forum, since despite all the senators being there, the people who the forum is partially supposed to exist for, were nowhere to be seen. It was on the other hand inspiring because of the talent that was th

For the past few weeks I've helped organize two public forums at UOG's CLASS Lecture Hall, both of which were completely packed. A forum held in September featuring David Vine talking about Diego Garcia and Leevin Camacho talking about the Pagat lawsuit was attended by well over 200 people. The same was true for a forum on political decolonization featuring expert on the existing Non-Self-Governing Territories Carlyle Corbin from the Virgin Islands and Guam's own human rights attorney Julian Aguon. In both cases, almost every seat was packed, with some lined up watching along the lecture hall's walls. Granted, a good number of those in attendance were students who were there as part of class, but it was still inspiring to see so many people in a single place to learn about issues such as base displacement and decolonization. While Carlyle Corbin was here last month he mentioned how impressed he was with the level of discourse on Guam in terms of decolonization. Compar

In my continuing efforts to make sure that I have way too much to do, I'll be moderating a forum tomorrow on decolonization and self-determination at UOG. Details are below. ************************* Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice and the University of Guam present:. PUBLIC FORUM on Political Decolonization Dr. Carlyle Corbin United Nations Advisor and Internationally recognized expert on decolonization "The Role of the United Nations in the Self-Determination Process" Attorney Julian Aguon Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice "Defrosting the Self-Determination Imagination: The Trajectory of Right Under International Law" Wednesday, October 19 5:30 - 8:30 pm University of Guam CLASS Lecture Hall THE PUBLIC FORUM WILL BE LIVE STREAMED AT THE FOLLOWING CHANNEL FOR THOSE OFF-ISLAND: Tuesday, 12:30 am PST http://www.ustream.tv/channel/we-are-guahan