NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

 A great article that discusses the complexity of the average Chamorro relationship to the United States. It is inundated with sometimes strange feelings of patriotism, desires for inclusion and casual approval of militarism in close to ever facet of life. It feels natural for the most part, but at certain moments, doesn't seem to make sense. As I noted in another article, every once in a while there is a crack in the facade of Americanness for the island, and suddenly the generic patriotism or platitudes of Guam being part of the United States don't make sense. The colonial truth stares out at your through the crack, and if you've spent your life trying to avoid this reality, it can feel terrifying to realize that your relationship to the United States bares little similarity to what you see around you or what is taught to you at almost every level. Si Yu'us Ma'åse' to Jon Letman for his great article, which doesn't just ignore the ambivalence t

This was a picture from the trail at Pagat. There is no way I cannot feel philosophical about this sight. A hilitai, crushed and flattened into the earth. At a place no less which as been controversial for a variety of reasons the past few years. I find it particularly interesting since hilitai have a habit of following me when I hike. The first time I tried to catch a hilitai was at Hila'an. In the area that I call the lemmai grove, I saw one standing atop a lusong. I tiptoed as quietly as I could to try and reach it. Naturally I'm not much of a ninja and so the hilitai immediately heard me. Instead of running though, it just stared at me. Watching me get closer and closer to it. Once I was too close, it plodded off the lusong and started to crawl briskly into the jungle. I raced after it, but couldn't find it. When the rest of my friends arrived I told them about how I had almost caught a hilitai. As I spoke it started to rain. My friend b

Para todus ni' ya-niha umeyak fumino' Chamoru. Taitai i tinige'-na gi gaseta Si Pedro Onedera. Mamange' gui' put meggai na diferentes na kosas, lao ha na'sesetbe i lenguahi-ta. I meggaina na Chamorro siha, ma usa i lenguahi para "na'magof" na kosas yan gi didide' ha' na lugat. Lao para Si Onedera ha u'usa fino' Chamoru para u diskuti yan kubre maseha hafa malago'-na.  Fihu ilek-hu na todu i manggaige giya Guahan pa'go ilek-niniha na ma onra i fino' Chamoru yan gaibali gui'. Lao puru ha' kuentos ayu, yan i kuentos gi fino' Ingles, pues hafa i mismo bali-na? Lao Si Onedera ha na'annok na para Guiya i bali mas ki kuentos taibali. Ha gof guaiya i lenguahi-ta yan ha na'sesetbe todu tiempo. Gi este na tinige'-na ginnen i PDN, mannge' gui' put hinasso-na put i botasion 2012 yan i mamaila na botasion gi 2014.  ************************ Ta Atan i Ileksion Liheslatibu gi 2014

Last year anthropologist David Vine visited Guam as part of a research trip where he visited areas around the world where communities were protesting (in various ways) the presence of US bases near them. While this is his most current research project, he is best known for his work on chronicling the plight of the Chagos Islanders, who come from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. If you are in the military you have most likely heard about the base there. If you are a fan of the live-action Transformers films then you might remember it being featured as a secure location where a sliver of the infamous all-spark is kept safe. If you are someone, who like me keeps lists of the not-so-great-things that have been done by the US over its history, than Diego Garcia is a particularly gross and recent atrocity. Through postwar collusion between the US and British governments, the people living in Diego Garcia were first tricked into leaving their island and barred from returning

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

This is a picture of me about to get hit by a wave. So many different cultures have ways of saying that you should never turn your back on the ocean. They say this for very good reasons. Regardless of the many ways that humans have developed to tame nature or to make it obey or serve their needs, the unknown, the limitlessness, the infinite and the alterity of the natural world persists. The ocean may look lovely and friendly one moment, but can in what appears to be just an instant, turn on you, and become violent and angry. I am standing on the lamasa or limestone shelf at Pagat Point in this picture. I have been there many times over the past year while exploring the Pagat area with Halomtano', and by this point I should have learned not to turn my back on the ocean. The first time I came to Pagat Point with Halomtano', we were hit by a massive rogue wave, which surprised us as we were walking on the shelf, slamming us against the cliffs before dragging us over the rocks

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

Hafa adai, We Are Guåhan is pleased to announce its fourth series of Heritage Hikes: Nå’i Tåtte, Chule' Tåtte. The title translates to "Give Back, Take Back," as this series of hikes will deal with the Department of Defense's complex history of land taking and land returns on Guam. The title he upcoming Heritage Hikes will include 2 new sites, Ague Cove and Pågat Point, as well as a Sunday afternoon hike to Hila’an Village. The hike schedule is as follows: · Saturday, October 22, 2011 – Ague Cove (Difficulty: Easy. Duration: 2 – 2.5 hours) Meet at Former FAA property (near NCS Dededo) · Sunday, October 30, 2011 – Hila'an Village (Difficulty: Very Easy. Duration: 2 – 2.5hours) Meet at Tanguisson Beach Park. · Saturday, November 5, 2011 – Pågat Point (Difficulty: Medium. Duration: 3 – 4 hours) Meet at Pågat trailhead along The Back Road. WHEN: The show-time for the Ague Cove and Pågat Point hikes is 8:45a.m. with a go-time 9:00 a.m. The show time for the

University of Guam School of Social Work and the GuåhanCoalition for Peace and Justice present speakers: David Vine American University Anthropology Department AND Leevin Taitano Camacho Attorney We Are Guåhan PUBLIC FORUM:: ISLANDS OF SHAME: BASE DISPLACEMENT FROM DIEGO GARCIA AND GUÅHAN Wednesday, September 28, 2011 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm University of Guam CLASS Lecture Hall

This is what I'll be doing tomorrow. Wish me luck. **************************** HASSO I METGOT-TA July 17, 2011 Southern Guam On December 8, 1941, the Japanese began their attack on Guam, marking the beginning of the war-time occupation of the island. The people of Guam were ruled by the Japanese military until the United States returned to Guam on July 21, 1944. For the over 950 days of Japanese occupation, the Chamorros who lived on Guam experienced great uncertainty, tragedy and suffering. But the Japanese occupation, and the years that followed, are also filled with remarkable stories of determination, love and strength. On July 17, members of the groups We Are Guahan and Halom Tano will walk 19 miles from the Tayuyute’ Ham Memorial in Malesso to the Manenggon Memorial Monument in Yona. The walk, entitled “Hasso i Metgot-ta” or Remember Our Strength, is to remember the Chamorros who died during the war and to celebrate the strength of those who survived the Japanese

We Are Guåhan is pleased to announce its third series of "Heritage Hikes: I Kantan i Latte Siha." The previous 2 series of Heritage Hikes have been a major success with over 240 people showing up to see and learn about Guam’s history. The upcoming Heritage Hikes will include 2 new sites, Hila’an Village and Haputo, as well as a hike to Pågat Village. It also includes We Are Guåhan’s first hike scheduled on a Sunday. The hike schedule is as follows: •June 12, 2011 – Hila’an Village (Difficulty: Easy. Duration: 2 – 3 hours) Meet at Tanguisson Beach Park. •June 18, 2011 – Haputo (Difficulty: Easy. Duration: 2 – 3 hours) Meet at NCS Finegayan. •June 25, 2011 – Pågat Village (Difficulty: Medium. Duration: 2 – 3 hours) Meet at Pågat trailhead along The Back Road. The hike to Haputo is subject to the discretion of the Department of Defense. If you are interested in attending the hike, you will need to submit your Social Security Number to DoD and sign a waiver by June 10.

Despensa yu' na didide' ha' tininge'-hu gi este na ma'pos na simana. Para bai hu falak sanlagu ta'lo gi i otro'na na simana. Esta mas ki dos anos desde sumaga' yu' guihi. Magof hu sa' para bei in hami yan Si Sumahi, i hagga'-hu. Magof yu' na para u fanali'e' Si Sumahi yan i otro na familian-mami giya Kalifotna. I otro na simana i uttimo na simanan gi este na semester-hu, ya humuyongna bubula i che'cho'-hu. Pa'go (put fin) hu na'funhayan un cho'cho' nai hu transladayi GHURA dokumento siha put Fair Housing. Sen makkat este na cho'cho', sa' meggai na sinangan yan palabras gi ayu na papet siha ni' taya' nai hu hungok gi fino' Chamoru. Gi este mamaila na bakashon para bai hu fanaplika cho'cho' ta'lo giya UOG. Esta macho'cho' yu' guini para dos na sakkan, lao ti petmanente i puesto-ku. Este na cho'cho' ni' bai hu aplikayi "tenure track"

The Marianas Variety has a habit lately of putting huge images of people talking on their front page. A few months back, when there was some back and forth debating between JGPO and We Are Guahan at the Rotary Club. The front page of the Variety first had a large, almost poster size image of i matan WAG and my Starcraft 2 bromance buddy Leevin Camacho, in the middle of a word. The week after, they had an image of Colonel Jackson from JGPO, also mid-word. The images weren't that interesting, since it was just people speaking, but the size of them caught me and others off guard. In today's Marianas Variety there was another tall and large frontpage image, yet this time rather than merely representing the act of someone speaking, it was meant to convey deep and serious emotions. The Governor of Guam, Eddie Calvo is standing tall, his hands folded below his waist before him. Rather than the usual images of politicians that we find in the media, which show them staged as happy, bl