NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

In his uneven, albeit interesting book "The Fire and the Tale (2017)," Italian political theorist Giorgio Agamben provides an anecdote from the history of Judaism that struck an chord for me in terms of debates over Chamoru authenticity in culture, the issue of contemporary Chamoru cultural dance, and our relationship to our past. Here is the anecdote, which is the source of the title for this book on aesthetics.  “When Baal Schem, the founder of Hasidism, had a difficult task before him, he would go to a certain place in the woods, light a fire and meditate in prayer; and what he had set out to perform was done. When a generation later, the Maggid of Meseritz was faced with the same task, he would go to the same place in the woods, and say: “We can no longer light a fire, but we can pray.” And everything happened according to his will. When another generation had passed, Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov was faced with the same task, and he would to the same place in t

My two columns from earlier this year published in the Pacific Daily News on the ban of cockfighting in the US territories. I've been slowly working towards an article on this topic, targeting two main aspects.  First, the debate over whether or not we can consider cockfighting to be part of Chamoru culture or whether it is really Chamoru or not. This is deployed in very interesting ways in this debate, as people seem to feel that if it isn't really Chamoru then it is ok and right to ban it. Whereas others tie to a strong, grounded sense of authenticity in contrast to perceived sort of softness of Americanized life.  Very interesting sort of discursive dancing around authenticity.  Second, the role that Guam's political status plays in the cockfighting ban. Some people argue that we don't necessarily see Guam's colonial status at play here, since this is just another way that big government in Washington, the elites impose things on the little man. This way of

Some of the posts about the Andrea Smith, is she or isn't she Cherokee issue. My thoughts on this are currently larger than my energy level to write or type. Today was a long day, with plenty of things happening and so I'm not sure I could tackle a topic like this right now. There are ways that this brushes up against Chamorro issues, but also ways that I see this as being distinct and a facet of Native American life, the ways that they determine authenticity, the sources and forces in which it is formed. ******************** Why Realness Fails Us in Native Studies Chris Finley https://againstpoliticsofdisposability.wordpress.com/ In the shadow of the Rachel Dolezal scandal, mostly non-Cherokee Indigenous academics have raised an alarm about Andy Smith’s identity once again.  I want to point out that it is mostly tenured faculty that are doing this.  I want to know why you have an investment in Andy’s identity in particular.  Indian identity has always

Dinana' Minagof, the annual Chamorro dance competition sponsored by Pa'a Taotao Tano' is happening this weekend. On July 5 and 6th at the UOG Field House you will see different houses or guma' within the Pa'a' Taotao Tano' family competing through dances from ancient, Spanish and contemporary periods. I've been to many Dinana' Minagof competitions over the years, but I am most excited this time around because I will be a judge for the competition! I have always sat in the audience or sat at a table selling my grandfather's tools. This time I will be judging the performances of so many students and fafan'ague that I know. Pa'a Taotao Tano' does such amazing work in the community, especially in terms of building Chamorro identity and a sense of cultural continuity. For years people criticized Frank Rabon and his groups for "making things up." This criticism makes no sense when you think about it, but as culture is one of t