NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

CALL FOR PAPERS :  3rd Marianas History Conference One Archipelago, Many Stories: Milestones in Marianas History Dates: September 4-6, 2015 Location: Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Venue TBA The Northern Marianas Humanities Council, University of Guam, Guam Preservation Trust, and Guampedia are pleased to announce a call for papers for the 3rd Marianas History Conference. It will be held on Saipan from September 4-6, 2015 with a welcoming reception on the evening of September 4th. The conference will cover a full range of topics associated with the Archipelago’s history with a particular focus on the conference’s subtheme “Milestones in Marianas History.” Papers may be submitted under the following general categories: Ancient History; Early Colonial (17th – 18th centuries); Late Colonial (19th – early 20th centuries); World War II; Recent (post-war); and Oral History and Genealogical Research. The organizers also encourage student presentati

In July of this year, the Marianas said goodbye to Senådot Ben Pangelinan, a longtime champion of the Chamorro people, their language and their rights. In the context of Chamorro struggles today, Senådot Ben was taiachaigua especially in terms of our elected leaders. Senådot Ben was known for being an outspoken and highly principled person. One of the ways in which this manifested was through his and his office’s support for the decolonization of Guam and his work to help make possible a political status plebiscite. Senådot Ben was born in Saipan and traced his Chamorro lineage to Saipan. This made him ineligible to vote in a political status for Guam. This did not deter him from seeing decolonization as a critical issue and one he should take seriously in his life, as a matter of justice worth supporting and fighting for. Because of the efforts of his office, thousands of people were added to the decolonization registry, pushing it closer than it ever had been before to meetin

Like anything, colonization is a complicated and contradictory process. But when looked back upon by people who wish it hadn’t happened or happened differently, it can take on an all-consuming and oppressive totality. It was something that humiliated, subjugated and tortured a poor helpless people. The worse that you can make it sound, the more it seems to empower the need to seek redress or justice for what happened. History becomes then a list of bad things that happened and ways that the colonized peoples were victimized and marginalized. There can be obvious truth to this, but it tends to cast colonialism in a light that doesn’t ever really exist. Colonization becomes more unified and consistent than it really is. It moves towards feeling monolithic as its sins become more pronounced. Take for example in Guam’s history, the Chamorro Spanish Wars. From this name alone it creates an image of Chamorro warriors fighting bravely against the Spanish invade

Sakman Chamorro Project to take journey to the past Thursday, 05 Sep 2013 03:00am BY MAR-VIC CAGURANGAN | VARIETY NEWS STAFF WITH a nine-man all-Chamorro crew, an outrigger canoe built in San Diego will set sail on the first week of January 2016 and take a 40-day and 40-night journey to a native past. Master Carver Mario Borja said the 47-foot-long sakman, christened “Che’lu,” will travel 7,600 nautical miles from San Diego, to Acapulco, to the Marshall Islands, and finally to Guam. “We are looking for a meaningful expedition,” Borja said in an interview after his presentation of the Sakman Chamorro Project before the Rotary Club of Northern Guam, during the group’s meeting yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Guam. While the idea of taking the Hawaii route “sounds very nice,” Borja said, the navigating group is not keen on doing a luau. He said the canoe will be following the Spanish Galleon route and take the first port stop in Acapulco to ret

Mangguife yu' put Pagan gi painge. Kao mangguife hao lokkue' put Guiya? Gi este na ma'pos na simana maeyak yu' meggai put Pagan yan i ginefpago-na. Guaha fina'nu'i gi i Marianas History Conference put Guiya. Manakuentusi ham yan noskuantos na "activists" kontra Fina'militat gineni CNMI. Ma sangani yu' mas put Guiya. Ma sangani yu' na i guihan guihi mantaima'a'nao. Ti guailayi na un espiha siha. Siempre siha umespiha hao.  Achokka' estaba managa' guihi taotao. Gi tiempon i manmofo'na, guah managa' guihi. Ti durante i tiempon Chapones giya i CNMI, managa' taotao Hapon yan Okinwa guihi lokkue'. Ti mampayon i ga'ga' guihi nu taotao pa'go. Un taotao manna'i gui' unai as Guahu. Hu pacha i inain Pagan gi kalulot-hu. Malago' yu' bumisita gui' mohon.

I'm up late trying to finish my talk for tomorrow at the Marianas History Conference at UOG. The title of my talk is "Jumping the Fence" and it is an evaluation of the impact that Nasion Chamoru and its first Maga'lahi Angel Santos has had on contemporary Guam. I outline a number of changes that they helped to facilitate in terms of culture and politics. Jumping the fence is a metaphor for decolonization and it refers to the infamous incident when Angel Santos, Ed Benavente and several others jumped the fence at former Naval Air Station, or what is today known as "Tiyan." They did this right in front of media and military police, and when they were arrested Santos spat in the face of one of his captors. It was a moment that defined Nasion Chamoru for many people in a negative sense, but can also play a big role in helping us understand just how much they changed the island with their activism. My favorite line thus far in my presentation is as follow

On August 30th I'll be presenting at the 2nd Annual Marianas History Conference at UOG. Here is the schedule thus far for those who might be interested in attending. The website to find more information is: http://marianashistory.guampedia.com/ And here is a video of two of the organizers Dr. Anne Hattori (from UOG) and Rita Nauta from Guampedia giving an interview on KUAM News Extra: Tentative Conference Schedule Thursday, August 29 5:30 pm Welcoming Reception: Paseo, Hagåtña Friday, August 30 8:30-9:30 am Keynote Address, Dr. Keith L. Camacho, CLASS Lecture Hall, UOG 9:30-10 am Break 10 – 11:30 am Session 1 (A and B) Session 1A: Chamorro Agency in the Spanish Marianas David Atienza: The Mariana Islands Militia and the Establishment of the “Pueblos de Indios”: Indigenous Agency in Guam from 1668 to 1758 Carlos Madrid: 1800´s in the Marianas: A Nation in the Making Mariana Sanders, Francine Clement and Carla Smith: Social Realities and Legal Regulations