NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Ti katoliko yu'. SDA i rilihon-hu anai dumadangkolu yu'. Gi entre todu i gima'yu'us siha giya Guahan, i gima'yu'us Katoliko i mas Chamorro. Hunggan, matanom i simiyas para i hineggen Protestante mas ki un siento anos tatte, lao ma'establesi ayu na guma'yu'us gi duranten i Tiempon Fina'amerikanu, ya humuyongna ti gof Chamorro i pengga' Protestante giya Guahan. I rilihon SDA, humålom giya Guahan despues di i Tiempon Chapones, ya put enao manhålom i Chamorro siha gi duranten un mas didok na Tiempon Fina'amerikanu. Anai estaba humålom yu' gi Gima'yu'us Katoliko, meggai Fino' Chamorro hu hungok, gi kanta siha, tinaitai siha yan pinagat lokkue'. Lao gi gima'yu'us-mami, taya'. Achokka' ti hu aksepta i doktrina komo iyo-ku, hu agradesi i che'cho'-na i Gima'yu'us Katoliko gi halacha na tiempo. Sa' siha mas umu'usa i Fino' Chamorro. Estague un hemplo: *****************

For most Chamorros, there is only one religion which gets to be designated as a "Chamorro" religion. That is Catholicism. Even though it has only been a part of Chamorro lives for just a few hundred years, it became intimately connected to so many parts of Chamorro life during that time, that for some scholars and individuals you cannot be Chamorro today unless you are Catholic or participate in Catholic rites. For others the Chamorro religion deals with taotaomo'na or aniti, ancestral spirits, their reverence and worship. We see elements of this in the way that cautious respect for the jungle and other natural areas persisted in a quiet supernatural or spiritual form, even when the overt belief in the spirits of Chamorro ancestors became weakened and almost forgotten. Although positive perceptions and connections to our ancient ancestors are common today, few people accept this as their religion alone. Instead they mix elements that to some might be contradictory toget

People ask me all the time what decolonization means or is. Manhoben, manåmko’, taotao sanhiyong, taotao sanhalom, all hear of this term as they go about their lives, but are unclear as to what it might mean. For most it stirs up fearsome feelings about losing everything that makes life possible and so they are seeking some reassurance that decolonization couldn’t mean that. I have a variety of answers, anecdotes, theoretical lens and concept ready to go, but it always depends on the context. Are they speaking to me about decolonization in a political context? Or is it cultural? Linguistic? Economic? Spiritual? People will conceive of decolonization differently based on their particular interests or their set of phobias. Many will instinctively define decolonization in a particular way because of their fears of feelings of dependency. Others will want to define it in a certain way because of their interest in something changing. You can conceive of decoloniza

It is the one year anniversary of the passing of my grandmother, Elizabeth De Leon Flores Lujan. Family and friends held a gathering recently to remember her and celebrate her. As part of the gathering we sang some Christmas songs, both in English and Chamorro. It was a bit strange though because even though I spent several Christmases and in fact most Christmases in my grandparents' house in Mangilao, we never sang Christmas songs. We didn't do much decorations either. I've wondered if this is because grandma was already older and not as interested in those things, or because of her strong religious beliefs. Something that we would do for Christmas and at regular points through the year is sit around the dinner table and read bible lessons and bible verses. This is how I think grandma would probably want us to remember her and honor her, but reading the bible together. This past week I wrote about the new movie "Saving Christmas" and reflecting on the origins of

Mina'sais na Lisayu 12/20/13 You could say that religion was a central part of grandma’s life and a key part of her family’s legacy to this island. Her families, both from her mother and her father, helped build the foundation for two different churches during the 20 th century. The seeds of Protestantism had already been planted in the island during the Spanish period. Whalers from the United States brought it in small doses towards the end of the Spanish period. In fact the first concerted effort to build a non-Catholic community came from two Chamorros who had left as whalers and returned as evangelists, the Custino Brothers. On both her mother’s and her father’s side, grandma’s relatives were among the first Chamorros to convert to Protestantism. Both grandma’s mother’s and father’s family were of the first generation of Chamorros to convert. In fact grandma’s grandfather, my great great grandfather Jose Aguon Flores (Tatan Engko) was th

I remember many years ago hitting a wall in my learning of Chamorro. I had gotten the basics and could carry on conversations with people. I could express myself in a casual and sort of everyday way. The basic topics of how is this person doing, how is this going, weren't any problem at all. But when the conversation would become a little bit more complex, when the subject matter got more detailed or more sophisticated the Chamorro language would politely be set side and English would prevail. Chamorro would make cameo appearances afterwards, but never ever truly gain control over what was being said, until the "adios, esta agupa." For me this would happen because I was still learning the language and there were still plenty of thing I wasn't sure how you were supposed to talk about in the Chamorro language. But what depressed me was that sometimes it would be the other person, the one who was far more fluent than myself in the language, who would switch to Engl

I have a feeling that when Calvo's Insurance on Guam named their health care program "Select Care" they were envisioning that it would convey images of this being a "choice" health care program, and something only a select few could have the privilege of having. But after some drastic changes were made to their health plan for GovGuam employees this year, I see the "Select" in "Select Care" more in the way it is sometimes used to name generic sodas or products. The way the name mocks you for not getting a "real" brand name soda, but instead trying to save a couple cents, and because we have all been so conditioned to see branded goods as value or trustworthy goods, you cannot help but wonder if this Select Doctor Rocket soda is actually soda. With the new changes to Calvo's made in response to the passage of Health Reform earlier this year, I regularly get that feeling of having health care but not really having health care.