Interpreting history, culture, identity and society from an indigenous perspective
In 2013 Guampedia launched a new section that included twenty new entries and a slew of historical documents that highlighted the major issues, challenges and accomplishments related to Guam’s political history. Initially given the generic title “Guam Governance,” the section eventually was renamed “CHamoru Quest for Self Determination.”
Fanohge CHamoru Put I Tano-ta: Charting Our Collective Future Read Post »
Interpretive essay: WWII made indelible impact on CHamorus. To this day, whenever we speak of the period before the “war” and after the “war” we invariably mean World War II. We do this almost subconsciously despite that sons and daughters of Guam have been involved in other wars since World War II: in Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. The invasion, occupation and eventual liberation of Guam made such an indelible impact on our people that it is likely to serve as the benchmark, the road junction, and the springboard for what we do for many, many years to come.
CHamorus Yearn for Freedom Read Post »
This paper complements the film, I Tinituhon: Rediscovering Fo’na and Pontan, and aims to provide a better understanding of the CHamoru origin story by weaving together available linguistic and cultural knowledge to analyze the historical and contemporary literature. Research has revealed that historical records note various spellings of the two ancestors in the CHamoru origin story.
Rediscovering Fo’na and Pontan Read Post »
In 1817 Adelbert von Chamisso recorded the CHamoru terms for what he assumed were cardinal directions: Timi (North), Seplun (South), Manuu (East), Faniipan (West). These terms are sidereal or star directions and not completely analogous to the Western concepts of North, South, East and West. Nevertheless, these sidereal directions (of or with respect to the distant stars, i.e., the constellations or fixed stars, not the sun or planets) are fixed and not situational positions on the horizon and can easily be used as abstract cardinal directions.
CHamoru/Chamorro Sidereal Direction Terminology Read Post »
Project Contributors. Toni “Malia” Ramirez, Antonia Degracia Castro, and Pale’ Eric Forbes, OFM Cap..
Voices of Our Elders Media Files Read Post »
In westernized Guam the cardinal directions are lågu for north, håya for south, kåttan for east and luchan for west. If you examine the map of Guam, produced by the CHamoru Language Commission, that is what you will find in the map legend. However, the directions are different, depending on where you are on the island. Additionally, CHamorus on Saipan say that kåttan is north, luchan is south, håya is east and lågu is west.
CHamoru/Chamorro Directional Terminology Read Post »
Guam’s colonized past under Spain. When the Europeans came to the Mariana Islands in the 16th and 17th centuries, they found a vigorous and highly developed community of people with a territory, economic life, distinctive culture and language in common. These Pacific islands were settled over 4,000 years ago by a group of people who came to be known as CHamorus. They were the first group of Pacific islanders to receive the full impact of European civilization when the Spanish began their colonization of the Marianas in 1668.
Guam’s Political Development Read Post »
Tinituhun. On 21 July 1991 at Latte Stone Memorial Park in Hagåtña, a small group of Chamorro men and women gathered to form a new organization. This organization would be comprised of a number of different grassroots and family-based groups, who were all connected through a commitment to the Chamorro people and to the protection of their lands, their culture and their rights.
Perhaps no individual figure in Guam’s recent history epitomizes the social and political activism of the 1990s more than Angel Anthony “Anghet” Leon Guerrero Santos, III (1959-2003). Santos was a United States Air Force veteran, a former Senator of the Guam Legislature, and an icon of CHamoru activism. He fought for the implementation of the CHamoru Land Trust Act and the return of excess federal lands, and was an advocate of social justice for the indigenous CHamorus of Guam.
Angel Leon Guerrero Santos Read Post »
Matatnga. In 1993, Angel Leon Guerrero Santos, the spokesman for the Chamorro activist group Nasion Chamoru was invited to Hawaii to join a gathering of indigenous people who were putting the United States on trial. Native Hawaiians organized the proceedings on the 100-year anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
