NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

One of Chamorro singer K.C. Leon Guerrero’s most famous songs (and he totally has so many) is Guam U.S.A, which features the very catchy and memorable line that Guam is Good/ Guam is hot/ Guam is just such a little spot . Most people, even those who don’t know anything really about Guam would agree that Guam is truly just a little spot, and that in the context of global events and world history, it doesn’t really matter that much. Even for those of us who live on Guam and love Guam, we might be inclined to agree that even if this little spot is great, it’s still just a little spot. The Guam history book Destiny's Landfall for instance has a heavy ideological load to bear in terms of what story it is supposed to tell and what its own historiographical assumptions require. The book is supposed to be about Guam, it is the most comprehensive history book written about Guam up to this day, but it is also a story about Guam and its meeting with its "destiny," which over the co

This past week I got some of the best news I've gotten in a long time. I defended my dissertation last June, but had some revisions to take care of before I could submit it to my graduate school. Last week after almost two months of waiting, I finally received word from my dissertation committee that the last draft I sent them was acceptable and that I can finally submit it and officially become a Ph.D. Right now I'm working on the finishing touches or small little "details" of the dissertation that need to be taken care of. I'm completing my works cited page, looking for any typos or grammatical mistakes, writing up my acknowledgements and preparing my table of contents. One of the most fun and interesting details that I have left to take care of is choosing my epitaphs for each chapter. These are quotes or passages which are meant to be "teasers" or "sneak peeks" of my chapters. One thing that I've learned is that these sorts of detail

The dreaded DEIS public comment period is finally over. I made the blog banner above (at the top of the page) to help highlight the importance of the past three months. For those of you who can't tell, the image is a drawing of Sumahi, while she is struggling to read through the many volumes of the DEIS, and sitting next to her is a timebomb, whose clock indicates that the amount of time left during which Sumahi has to defuse to bomb is simply "not enough." Annok na ti magof i mata-na, ya gi este na halacha na tiempo, dipotsi todu i manmata-ta (giya Guahan) taiguihi. The past few weeks and months have been crazy, literally too many things happening for me to keep up. As I've been writing about in my " Buildup/Breakdown " posts, the island has changed significantly since last November. The urgency of the deadlines for DEIS comments, generic fears over what sort of negative impacts the buildup would bring to Guam, and the everyday sentiments of colonial fr

Desde i fine’nina na ma mentona este na “buildup” unu ha’ na sinangån-ña Si Maga’låhi Felix Camacho. “Tunas mo’na.” Achokka’ mampos dongkålu este na “buildup” ya meggai na na annok na manera na mannina’dåñu hit ni’ este, tåya’ nai na Si Camacho na guaha sinangån-ña kontra i “buildup.” Kada na Tåya’ nai ha sångan na ti siña ta cho’gue este. Tåya’ nai ha sångan na ti debi di ta cho’gue este. Tåya’ nai ha sångan na båba pat ti possipble este. Tåya’ nai ha sångan todu este na klasi siha…esta ki på’go. Para Hamyo ni’ mangkokontra este na “buildup,” hunggan hu tungo’ na achokka’ matulaika i hinasso-ña i Maga’låhi, ti gof matulaika, sa’ ha sapopotte ha’, lao malago gui’ na mana’parañaihon. Lao gi i mas kabåles na litråtu, este na matulaika gof impottånte . Todu maigi’on, kontodu ayu na kalang mampos dongkålu ya kalang ti fuyong’on, siña maikak. Ya kontudu este na “buildup” maskeseha i pinetpot-ña, siña mana’påra. Ya i mas dikike’ na patte, i mas etigo’ na detail siña tumutuhun i pinedd