NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

 I recently gave a lecture talking about the Maga'håga spirit and the matrilineal strain that runs through Chamoru culture. In putting it together, I had to scrounge for different quotes from the early accounts of the Spanish, when they encountered Chamorus in the 16th and 17th centuries. It provides a stark contrast in most ways we see gender relations today, but it must have felt nightmarish at times for a Catholic priest of the time. To see women with this much authority over life and over their husbands, I imagine it would have given San Vitores and others plenty a panic attack.  Here are some of the quotes I used in my presentation: *******************   In each family, the head is the father or older relative, but with limited influence. A son, as he grows up, neither fears or respects his father. In the home it is the woman who rules, and her husband does not dare give an order contrary to her wishes, nor punish the children, for she will turn upon him and beat him. If the w

The Fanohge Coalition formed earlier this year in part as a way of continuing the energy that was captured during last year's Fanohge: March for CHamoru Self-Determination. So far the group has written letters to elected leaders, organized forums and is planning to also send out a candidate survey this month. The Fanohge Coalition is made up of 37 different groups, and represents a wide swatch of Guam society. There are political status task forces, non-profits, small businesses and cultural organizations. Some are more conservative, some are more progressive. All are united however by the idea that the Chamoru people deserve to be treated with dignity in their own land and part of that is protecting their right to self-determination. Another unifying aspect to the coalition is the belief that Guam's political status should be changed to something more equitable. The coalition isn't untied by any particular options, but believes that a new status where Guam and its communit

Every week I get at least one request for an interview, several requests each week for information related to Guam history or the Chamoru language. Sometimes the requests can become a bit much, as I'm not able to get back to everyone. And sometimes I've responded to people close to a year later (ai lokkue'). But if I had more time I would respond to everyone I could, since the knowledge that I have or have access to, is useless unless there are ways it can get out to others.  After I gave a guest lecture in an English rhetoric class last year, one of the students contacted me asking for some help on understanding Hagåtña and its contemporary and historical place in Guam. I appreciated her wanting to know more about a village that most everyone takes for granted nowadays on Guam. So I wrote up responses to her 8 questions. Here they are below. ******************** 1. What makes Hagatna unique from other villages?  What makes Hagåtña unique is that because

Last month for UOG's annual Chamoru Christmas celebration "Puengen Minagof Noche Buena" my Radical Chamoru History class performed their own version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" using Chamoru and also references from the Fanuchånan semester and Guam's recent election. It was a lot of fun watching them write it and as you can see in this picture, they used appropria te props when performing it. Here are their lyrics: "I fine’nina na Krismas, este ma susedi I fine’nina na na palao'an gobietno (The first day of Christmas, this is what took place The first female governor (of Guam!)) I mina’dos na Krismas, este ma susedi Dos na Påkyo (The second day of Christmas, this is what took place Two typhoons (that happened during the semester)) I mina’tres na Krismas, este ma susedi Tres freskon mannok (The third day of Christmas, this is what took place Three fresh chickens (new fresh, faces in the Legislature) I mina’kuåtro na Krismas, este ma susedi Ku

On April 7, 2017, more than 800 people gathered in the field in front of the Ricardo J. Bordallo Government Complex in Adelup, Guåhan for the “Respect the Chamoru People Rally.” The event, organized by a grassroots collective of volunteers, aimed at celebrating the culture of the island’s indigenous people, the Chamorros, and at helping remind the Guam community about the need to maintain a respectful relationship to them in their island homeland. The event was non-partisan, backing no political candidates or agendas. Over the course of the event’s 2 ½ hours, 15 speakers shared stories of the struggles of Chamorros in the past and the need to protect their island and heritage for future generations. Cultural groups offered blessings. Poets and musicians delivered inspiration through powerful words and melodies. Community organizations manned tables providing information on the military buildup, decolonization, and cultural preservation. The Håya Foundation, which seeks to preserve

I have been wracking my brain for the past few hours and also "tearing apart" at least digitally my computer looking for the source for a quote that I had included in my notes and now need to use in an article I'm completing for The Journal of Okinawan Studies. As of now I have yet to find it unfortunately and I'm hoping that this quote didn't come from a news article that I had photocopied years ago but had yet to scan or transcribe. If that is the case, I may never find the citation for it. Part of the joy, but also the frustration of searches like this, is the random surprises and nostalgia bombs that end up crossing your path. While searching through more than a decade of research, I came across so many bits and pieces of things, some of which ended up being keystones in my academic cosmology, others I had completely forgotten. One thing I came across that I wanted to share was these three articles below. They all come from August 2007, at a time when th

I'm currently in Okinawa doing research on resistance to militarization, but things were heating up this past week back in Guam with regards to our own recurring strain of militarization, known infamously as "the military buildup." The Governor of Guam Eddie Calvo met with a group over more than 50 activists and community members to discuss their concerns about the recent signing of the Record of Decision, which means the Department of Defense plans to move ahead with their plans for militarizing Guam. I wish I could have been there, I saw photos on Facebook and saw this article from the Pacific Daily News. Mambanidosu yu' nu ayu siha ni' mantachuchuyi i taotao gi este na asunto. ************ Activists voice concerns over buildup by Jerick Sablan Pacific Daily News 10/22/15 Several local activist groups met with Gov. Eddie Calvo on Tuesday to discuss their concerns about the military buildup. Despite the recent release of the Record of Decision — a d

Biba Ha'anin Mannana! Happy Mother's Day! This Mother's Day I cannot help but think of my grandmother, Elizabeth Flores Lujan, who passed away last December. She exemplified for me so much of what is awesome about Chamorro culture and Chamorro women, even if at the same time she also endured under the problematic ways in which we conceive of women's power and women's roles in Guam within a Chamorro context. With each passing Mother's Day there are no doubt so many mentions and passing thoughts of our mothers and our grandmothers as maga'haga siha and empowered and women who kept their house and their family in line. Our memories are often filled with the moments of potent female power, where women who struggled much and put up with much, seemed to fill our family lives with quiet miracles. There are different ways in which these sorts of stories of minute female empowerment and the woman as the glue that holds families together emerges. The most comm

This is the of Cetti Bay from the river. Cetti Bay and Sella Bay are both spots in Southern Guam that are favorites for people with boats and hikers to visit. People known them as beautiful secluded places. In truth their history goes much deeper than that. Sella in particular was notorious in the 1970s as a site of protest against US militarization. The US Navy had wanted to build an ammuniation wharf there. Chamorro rights activists, Senators and environmentalists came out to protest this and were able in delaying the process so much the Navy eventually gave up. Before there was Pagat or even Pott's Junction, there was Sella Bay. But even beyond this, if we look at these two villages in ancient times, we can see a tragic lesson they embody. In ancient times these bays were actually villages. Cetti was known as Atte and Sella was known as Sidya. They were on different sides of the Chamorro Spanish Wars. Sidya sided with the Spanish, while Atte sided with rebel Chamorros. A

"Famalao'an" Michael Lujan Bevacqua May 2, 2012 The Marianas Variety When the Spanish first began their colonization of Guam, there must have been so many things that disgusted and bewildered them. When contact through colonization takes place, this sort of disgust isn’t simply because of two alien cultures interacting, it serves a much more central purpose. It is not a mere byproduct of contact, but something essential to the process of colonization. When the colonizer finds things that are so different and so alien to itself, it doesn’t see them as merely different, it sees them as being inhuman, abnormal, savage. These traits are what become the basis for justifying colonization and the colonizer’s presence. The savagery of the natives is the reason why they should be there, in order to help them and get rid of their pagan and backward ways. Everything from the nakedness of Chamorro to their more open nature of sexuality to their use of human skulls in anc