NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Every territory of the US today is different in some ways, but similar in others. All are islands, even if they are in different oceans. All have non-voting delegates. All are US citizenship, except for one and that is American Samoa, where the people there are US nationals. Interacting with people from American Samoa or with ties to American Samoa is always interesting. Those who are elsewhere in the US but have ties to the islands are often very different than those who are still at home. In recent years, alot of this difference has come down to US citizenship. With those who have moved to the US, lamenting that their status as US nationals has limited their opportunities. While those who are still in American Samoa not necessarily wanting US citizenship because they worry it might mean a loss of their cultural and political rights at home.  It is easy to see the territories of the remains of empire of the US and think that the only recourse is to find ways to further include them in

This is a list of items that Independent Guåhan made a few months back following the federal ban on cockfighting in the US territories. That was a very interesting time for IG and for me, since a certain part of the Guam/Chamoru community suddenly became hyper-engaged on issues of political status.  For me personally, what made it interesting is that for a few weeks, everywhere I went I would end up having cockfighters talk to me and ask me questions about what can be done and what's going on. One of these days I'll write more about my reflections on that time, but for now, here is the call to action items we created.  **************** What Can WE Do About the Cockfighting Ban NOW? 1. Cockfighting is Culture!  It is important that we continue to defend and practice our culture in the present. Cockfighting is one of those traditions, and it is imperative that we defend our heritage.   2.  Call Your Elected Leaders ! Finding and influencing elected leaders wh

Next month I'll be back in Washington D.C. to resume my research about federal territorial relations that I began last year. Much of my focus last year was on Guam and its commonwealth movement, but as I conducted interviews and sifted through files, I also found more and more references to the commonwealth of the CNMI as well and found its evolution and devolution to be even more fascinating. Even just the contrast of reading about what has taken place there for the past few decades in federal documents versus local government is striking. Take for example when a number of sovereignty provisions that had been negotiated through the commonwealth were lost about ten years ago. This process was referred to the in CNMI as a "federalization," akin to a takeover by the federal government. Within the federal government however it was referred to as as normalizing of a relationship, whereby those provisions were considered to be only temporary and would eventually be done away

When discussing the future possibilities for Guam in terms of political status change and decolonization, the talk inevitably turns towards the other islands in Micronesia as examples. They are invoked sometimes as cautionary tales, meant to frighten those interested in learning more into accepting less in political terms, and just embracing one's colonial status in order to avoid becoming a place such as the Federated States of Micronesia or FSM. At the same time, a place such as Palau/Belau, which has become a darling of international media lately, is often pointed to as providing a example for Guam to follow. One things that makes this sort of exercise intriguing is the fact that the islands surrounding Guam can all help us understand more about the nature of Free Association, both its advantages, but also its potential dangers. The CNMI to the north of Guam represents Free Association in the sense of intimately connecting oneself to their colonizer, perhaps in a way that re

Not a great day to be Chamorro-anything on Guam lately. Seems like Dave Davis is everywhere in the local legal world. Not only is he challenging the self-determination plebiscite, he's also now mentioned in a probe involving the "constitutionality" of the Chamorro Land Trust. It's only a matter of time until he starts challenging Chamorro Month and "Chamorro Chip Cookies." Here are some articles below: *************************** Davis wants to proceed with trial Wednesday, 08 Aug 2012  BY GERALDINE CASTILLO MARIANAS VARIETY But AG wants delay in plebiscite suit A YIGO man suing the local government in federal court wants his case to proceed to trial despite a magistrate judge’s recommendation for dismissal, but the Attorney General's Office wants a delay until that matter is resolved. Court documents were filed yesterday in the District Court of Guam by an attorney for Arnold “Dave” Davis in response to the AGO's mo