One project I was working on a few years ago, but never ultimately put into motion, was to create a number of 60-second spots for KPRG (public radio on Guam) about Chamorro culture, language and history in the Chamorro language. I began working on it after UOG President Robert Underwood asked me to do something … Continue reading
Manhami mañasåga ham yan si nanå-hu biha. Guiya pumulan gui’ sa’ machocho’cho’ si nanå-hu yan si tatå-hu ya annai mana’hålom yu’ gi famulanan famagu’on, sigi ha kumåti yu’. Hu hasso na un diha gigon matagam yu’ ginen i famulanan-hu famagu’on, hu faisen si bihå-hu kao ha chatli’e’ yu’ sa’ ti malago’ ha pulan yu’. Ginen … Continue reading
For this month’s Fino’ Chamoru challenge, I’ll be posting things on Mumun Linahyan to help those who are looking for materials to practice reading in the Chamorro language. The Chamorro language is primarily an oral and spoken tongue, but that doesn’t mean Chamorros haven’t written it down. There are a wide variety of random texts … Continue reading
For years I was part of a collective called “The Chamorro Information Activists” or the CIA. It started as a group of people who all were more liberal or progressive in their thinking coming together after being depressed at how conservative and militarized much of the Guam/Chamorro presence on the internet was. At this point, … Continue reading
There are so many more stories to be told. Stories of the self and (trans)Pacific (trans)positionality. Stories of the global and the other. These stories are told in many venues and many ways, not only from spaces of privilege such as mainstream publishers, the English language, and elite classes. Chamorro poet and University of Hawai‘i … Continue reading
Chamorro Studies has only existed as a program for a short while, but its existence is questioned all the time. During the Chamorro Experience gi Fino’ Chamorro lecture series one elderly Chamorro man asked me flat out, why people should learn to speak Chamorro when the language is clearly on its way out? During the … Continue reading
The Sakima Art Museum in Ginowan City Okinawa is a very inspiring place. When you drive up to the museum you might notice that the fence for Futenma Base is almost too close for comfort, right up to the edge of the road. This is because the land was formerly a part of the base, … Continue reading
