Panel 1: Magellan

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Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães in Portuguese and Fernando de Magallanes in Spanish) Memoria

Omaira Brunal-Perry
Richard Flores Taitano-Micronesian Area Research Center

Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) set out from Spain in 1519 with a fleet of five ships to discover a western sea route to the Spice Islands. This presentation is based on the facts of Magellan’s life and character researched by Historian José Toribio Medina and published in Santiago de Chile in 1920. The work of J.T Medina is so monumental that has guided the study of many historians in the XX Century. In this paper the author is selecting passages of Magellan’s Memoria and translating them to illustrate his ambition and goals of the expedition that change navigation forever.

 

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Deconstructing Pigafetta’s Account of First Contact

Frank Quimby
Department of the Interior

Antonio Pigafetta’s narrative of Magellan’s circumnavigation has been the primary source for all subsequent accounts of this seminal event in world history. Unfortunately, his pejorative description of the expedition’s March 7-9, 1521, visit to Guam has been uncritically accepted and generally repeated in most histories of this historic first meeting of Pacific Islanders and Europeans.

 

Other eyewitness accounts of the expedition’s visit differ substantially from Pigafetta’s Guam narrative, offering an alternative view of this meeting. Moreover, the pervasive pro-Magellan bias guiding Pigafetta’s selection and interpretation of the circumnavigation’s significant events underscores the need for a critical approach to his depiction of Chamorro interaction with the expedition.

This article attempts to place Pigafetta’s account of the Guam visit in the larger context of the expedition’s politics and his Boswellian view of Magellan and to suggest why he chose to cast the encounter in such a stereotypically negative light.

 

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Circumnavigating The History of Circumnavigation

Robert Underwood
University of Guam

 

The circumnavigation of Magellan and Elcano has been described as one of the most significant historical events in human history. It has been described as an initial step towards globalization and analogized to the moon landing. On the opposite end, the anthropologist, Douglas Oliver, stated that the rape of Oceania began with Guam. Of course, this meant that it began with Magellan. But it didn't end there and the confluence of historical forces which played out in Guam and the Marianas Islands in the following five centuries are clearly the most significant of any group of islands in the Pacific. This makes the Magellan voyage and his visit to Guam much more significant than the landing on the moon. The most obvious difference is that there are no people in the moon to interact with and to leave the scene by calling them thieves. The interpretation of Magellan's visit to Guam in 1521 is the single most significant historical contact between Pacific Islanders and others. It deserves our attention and our understanding.

Panel 2A: Rethinking I Tiempon Españot 

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CHamoru “Adaptive Resistance” during the Spanish Conquest and Colonization of the Marianas Islands

David Atienza de Frutos
University of Guam

Mainstream history of the Mariana Islands presents CHamoru as indigenous people who were transformed after the conquest (1668–1700) into a hispanized population. I instead emphasize the role of CHamorus during these years as active participants in their history and vehicles of what I call "adaptive resistance." In this paper I present some of the ideological interpretations that have been accepted and included into the historical narrative without conducting a critical analysis of the sources.

 

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Game of Bones: Re-Visiting The Chamoru-Spanish Wars in a Netflix World

Michael Lujan Bevacqua
University of Guam

During the height of the popularity of the Game of Thrones television show one of my students asked why I didn’t like the show? My response was that I like Guam History and there is enough action in Guam’s History to fill an epic series of its own. As a professor at the University of Guam for more than a decade, working to connect Chamoru students to their history, culture and language, my pedagogy has often focused on trying to bridge the gap between indigenous culture and popular culture. This means finding ways to appeal to youth raised on video games, comics and television and instill an interest in their heritage. This presentation will take the form of a Hollywood pitch meeting, where I will highlight the epic aspects of a potential show “Game of Bones” based on the Chamoru-Spanish war period of Guam History.

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Bifurcating the “Hagatna Narrative” in 18th Century Marianas Historiography

Michael Clement Jr.
University of Guam

 

Census data from 18th century Guam and Rota paints a picture of a segregated society in which different segments of the Chamorro population had radically different life experiences. The most obvious distinction was that between the ethnically mixed community of Agadña and the more homogenous indigenous communities of the surrounding barrios and rural villages. This presentation examines ways a dominant “Hagatña narrative” obscures these differences. Utilizing Prasenjit Duara’s critique of nationalist history, I argue  that a “bifurcated” history of the 18th  century Chamorro experience brings greater understanding to processes of political and cultural continuity during these years.

 

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Panel 2B: Kumision Chamoru

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I Kumision i Fino’ CHamoru Yan i Fina’nå’guen i Historia Yan i Lina’la’ i Taotao Tåno’

 

The Kumision i Fino’ CHamoru Yan i Fina’nå’guen i Historia Yan i Lina’la’ i Taotao Tåno’ or the Commission on the CHamoru Language and the Teaching of the History and Language of the Indigenous People of Guam was re-established in 2016 through the CHamoru Heritage Commission Act by the 33rd Guam Legislature. The Act set 14 mandates to guide the work of the Kumision. The sitting members of the Kumision will provide an overview of the enabling legislation and highlight the projects and programs that have been accomplished since the Kumision’s inception. The Panel is designed to feature the work of the Kumision and to share efforts to lead CHamoru language revitalization with strategic partners. The Kumision has also reached out to its counterpart in the CNMI. This and other ongoing efforts to collaborate on language documentation will be discussed. The Kumision hopes that participants will provide vital feedback on how to strengthen and improve strategies for executing its mandates.

 

 

Panel 3A: Chamorro Struggle and Global Contexts

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Making Local Sense of a Global Tragedy: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Guam

Anne Perez Hattori

University of Guam

In November and December 1918, over the course of just six weeks, approximately 780 people on Guam died from influenza, roughly 5% of the island’s population of 15,000. Among the deceased were the two sons of my great-grandmother, Luisa Uncangco Leon Guerrero, known to us as “Nana Lisa.” Their deaths, as well as the influenza-related death of her husband shortly thereafter, deeply affected the course of my family’s history. Beyond Guam, of course, the Influenza  Pandemic  was  a  significant  event,  killing  between 50 and 100 million people worldwide -- more deaths than an entire century of the Black Death or the Plague, in Europe, and even more than World War I. Yet despite its severity, few historians have paid it just attention. This paper reflects preliminary research on the subject, offering a glimpse at some of the ways in which influenza, while not physically scarring, nonetheless left its mark on Guam.

 

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Settler Insurgents: Filipino Revolutionaries and the 1901 Chamoru Petition

Kristin Oberiano

Harvard University

This presentation will historicize Filipino revolutionary hero Apolinario Mabini’s incarceration on Guåhan from 1901-1903, and the simultaneous drafting and petitioning for a civilian Guamanian  government  by  Chamoru  elite  in  1901.  Guåhan’s  role  as  a  penal  colony demonstrates the transition of Spanish and American imperial regimes. During the Philippine Revolution, the United States deported Filipino revolutionaries to Guåhan. Meanwhile, the Chamoru people of Guåhan sent the first petition for a civilian government in 1901. Some of the signers had direct relationships with Mabini. We can only speculate if they discussed American colonialism in the Philippines and Guåhan, if they made plains to aid each other’s anti-colonial struggles, or if they were silenced by the guards standing outside the prison. Yet, that they did meet disrupts notions of the completeness of imperial power, and shows how even in spaces of dominance and incarceration, there can be, too, places of resistance.

 

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African-American Influence in Guam History:  Parallels and Intersections

Carla Smith

Guam Department of Education

During an interview on March 27, 2015, Dr. Robert Underwood, stated, “…The most salient example that you have to draw from American society about anything that has racial or ethnic dimensions or issues related to discrimination or unfair treatment is almost always rooted in the African American experience…That’s what makes the African American experience so powerful.”  Accordingly, in this presentation, we will examine how the African American experiences of slavery and segregation provided the historical framework for the colonization of the CHamorus under the American administration. We will also discuss the intersections of African American and CHamoru struggles from the early twentieth century throughout the civil rights/decolonization movements. Finally, this presentation will encourage scholars to think outside the box and expand the analysis through which local issues are investigated.

 

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Panel 3B: War and Warriors in Histories

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Monuments, Memorials, and Public Memory: An Education Program on Guam

Jaclyn Balajadia

Pacific Historic Parks

 

Pacific Historic Parks (PHP) is a non-profit organization that perpetuates the memory of events and honors the people involved in World War II on Guam through supporting and conducting education and interpretive programs, research, preservation, and restoration. During Spring Break 2018, PHP hosted an education program for 23 middle school students titled, “Monuments, Memorials, and Public Memory.” For five days, students toured historic sites on Guam, observing the former battlefields and historic structures that all served as silent reminders of the bloody World War II battles that took place in 1944. On the last day, students presented their own design proposals of a monument commemorating World War II events. This paper will explain the pedagogy of the education program in exploring questions of what we commemorate and why, samples of the students’ designs, and a reflection of this education program in understanding how youth construct new narratives of the past

 

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World War II Education Programs in the Northern Mariana Islands

Nataline Kaneshi

Education Coordinator – Pacific Historic Parks

Jovannalyn Mafnas

Education Specialist – Pacific Historic Parks

World War II greatly impacted the Mariana Islands. Thousands of people lost their lives and our islands were forever changed. Throughout the Mariana Islands there are significant WWII sites that help to tell the history of what took place. At these sites, we remember the brave people who fought for their country and those who were caught in-between.

 

Pacific Historic Parks (PHP) is a non-profit organization that perpetuates the memory of events and honors the people involved in World War II in the Pacific through supporting and conducting education and interpretive programs, research, preservation, and restoration. In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), we work with schools on the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota to conduct education programs that bring focus to our islands’ history. These programs teach students about World War II in the Marianas and encourage them to explore their islands and learn more.

 

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Saving Civilians During the Battle of Saipan: The Case of Guy Gabaldon

Ron McNinch

University of Guam

 

In the classic military treatise, The Art of War, the Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu said that it is best to capture an enemy rather than destroy them. During World War two, there was a general belief that Japanese troops and civilians would not surrender and would fight to the death instead. During the Battles of Saipan and Tinian, Guy Gabaldon, a young US Marine defied conventional wisdom and was credited with capturing over a thousand enemy combatants and civilians, thus saving their lives. This presentation will discuss various aspects of Gabaldon's efforts and how lasting wisdom of his approach endures over seventy years later.

 

Panel 4A: Militarization of Guåhan

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No Other Possession: History of Guåhan in Strategic Thought

 

Kenneth Gofigan Kuper

University of Guam

 

American Naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan once wrote, “No situation in our possession equals Guam to protect every interest in the Pacific.” His proclamation is reflected in the various militarized uses of Guåhan throughout history, from a coaling station to the site of a military buildup today. In this presentation, I examine the intimate entanglement of the strategic value of the island with our current status as an unincorporated territory, using examples from history and the works of military strategists to show how militarization has frequently been the priority over genuine political security. In doing this, I trace the history of military use of the island and demonstrate how the military’s quest for operational unilateralism is a significant factor in the preservation of the political status quo, from an American perspective. Lastly, I demonstrate how American national security has historically been invoked to create favorable conditions for further militarization of the island.

 

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An Internalized Identity: Gendered Narratives of Militarism and Tourism in Guåhan

 

Hannah Sablan

University of Guam

 

This paper will discuss the gendered narratives of militarism and tourism throughout Guåhan’s colonial history and how they have been internalized and perpetuated under American rule. These narratives were forced upon the CHamoru people and have emasculated them into a position of inferiority and sacrificial hospitality that serves the interests of the U.S. military and tourism industry. This new collective identity works against efforts of decolonization with status quo and integration continuing to be the preferred options of self-determination. Dependency goes beyond finances and security - it is psychological too. To counter the colonial canon, certain questions must be asked: What qualities do the CHamoru people possess outside of what they provide and need from militarism and tourism? How have they remained masculine despite the narrative that they have been emasculated? A counter narrative already exists and must be remembered and embraced to move forward in empowerment.

 

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Panel 4B: Manhoben Para Guahan

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Manhoben Para Guåhan: Youth Protests on the Tip of America’s Spear

 

Michael Lujan Bevacqua, (Moderator) – University of Guam

Edward Leon Guerrero - University of Guam

Lawrence Lizama – University of Guam

Mikhael Phelps –  University of Guam

 

One of the most fascinating shifts in Guam community discourse since the 1970s deals with the topic of militarism and militarization. Chamorus emerged from Japanese occupation seemingly ready to fulfill a role as militarized colonial citizens. They served in the US military in record numbers and expressed support for US military actions and bases at higher levels than average citizens in the US. Since the 1990s there have been dramatic shifts in community discourse around military bases and militarism in Chamoru life. Protests or public criticism of the US military, once considered to be unthinkable on Guam, is now a regular part of community debate. Despite these shifts Guam remains a heavily militarized island, where critical discourse can result in social stigmatism. This panel will feature youth activists working promoting decolonization and demilitarization, who will share their thoughts on conducting this type of still controversial work.

 

Panel 5A: History as Storytelling

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Remembering Father Jesus Baza Duenas Through Oral Histories

Judith S. Flores
Richard Flores Taitano-Micronesian Area Research Center

 

Bill M. Paulino
Retired, Chamorro Studies and Special Projects Division Administrator

 

Father Jesus Baza Duenas was an important model of courage, persistence in faith and resistance to the Japanese during their occupation of Guam from 1941 to 1944. World history publications say very little about Guam, and rarely mention the name of this priest. Local publications list the facts of his ordination and particularly his religious leadership, ending with his torture in Inalahan and beheading in Ta’i on July 12, 1944. The particulars of his life continue to be told as oral histories, less frequently as the years go by and witnesses of that time pass away. The people of Inalahan retain a significant body of knowledge about Father Duenas, some of which has been recorded in personal journals by village historians. 2019 being the 75th anniversary of his death, it is especially important to mark this passage with a compilation of stories that contribute to our knowledge about him. As these stories unfold, we begin to get a sense of the personhood of this man, his courage to be true to his faith, to protect and comfort his parish community, and to use his position and resources to keep communications flowing among local underground resistance members. Through sharing of this collected knowledge, we can perhaps encourage small-group discussion and the collection of additional stories. Our goal in this endeavor is to provide a written archive of the activities and achievements as recalled and commented on by those who knew and observed him. Moreover, it is hoped that the collected knowledge can lead to the beatification of Guam’s own hero and martyr.

 

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Digital cultural preservation of the Mariana Islands through collaborative story-telling

 

Sylvia C Frain

Auckland University of Technology

 

Jim Marbrook

Auckland University of Technology

 

As a researcher and filmmaker, we strive for digital cultural preservation through the combination of Oceanic knowledge(s) and new technologies. Our aim is to collaboratively develop digital storytelling methods and document moving images of culture and audio recordings of oral histories of the Marianas Archipelago. Conceptualized as a form of digital participatory action research, our approach includes the communities’ input and vision at every stage to record the forms of knowledge(s) which they deem important for future generations. Our contribution is through technical knowledge and filmmaking expertise combined with access to professional filming equipment and informs our new media research. Visual and audio data collection may include multigenerational interviews, aerial perspectives, drone footage, as well as underwater shots. The intended outcome is to create a Marianas methodology of cultural preservation for digital dissemination and accessible archives across new media platforms.

 

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Panel 5B: Indigenous Voices

 

I Maga'taotao Siha: The Elders Who Inspire Us to Decolonize

 

Monaeka Flores

Independent Guåhan

 

Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero

Independent Guåhan

 

At each General Assembly, Independent Guåhan honors a maga’taotao: a hero or notable figure that has helped guide the island and the Chamoru people on their quest for self-determination. Independent Guåhan draws from a diverse array of Chamoru leaders and community members, highlighting the historic and political context that informed or provoked their wisdom and work to further broaden or complicate conversations about self-determination. Family members of each maga’taotao share their insight and reflect on the lives and contributions of each individual. A wide range of critical issues are examined and demystified through their stories including environmental stewardship, political autonomy, protection of historic and cultural resources, economic development, land use, sustainable agriculture, security, Chamoru language advocacy, education, Chamoru identity and survivorship to name a few.  This presentation will highlight the maga’taotao celebrated in the Independent Guahån series and the important roles they have played in the progress of our people.

 

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The Indigenous Media Scape and Chamorro Magazines

 

Monaeka Flores

Independent Guåhan

 

From glossy covers, photo essays, articles and editorials, Chamorro magazines have created spaces for indigenous representation in media. These magazines reflect the political and historical context of the period in which they were created, while also demonstrating the ways in which Chamorro society has shifted from an American-centric media sphere to an indigenous media sphere, one that examines and reflects the complexities of a colonized society that operates, exploits, and consumes “Western” forms of media. Magazines potentially serve as critical texts or primary sources that chronicle indigenous accounts of and responses to significant moments in history and social, political, artistic and cultural movements. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the overarching themes identified in the magazines and discuss some of the ways the publications promoted indigenous agency by featuring marginalized and counter narratives on political identity, cultural survivorship, indigenous queer experiences, art, and more.

 

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Umespipiha Fino’ CHamoru Among non-fluent CHamorus on Guahan: Articulating CHamoru identity without CHamoru fluency

 

Edward Leon Guerrero

University of Guam

 

It is no secret that the CHamoru language has been exponentially declining with each subsequent generation. For the generation of CHamorus who grew up without the language, what the language means for their CHamoru identity is speculation at best as there has not been a comprehensive study on this subject. This thesis examines whether or not CHamorus millennials and Z's are articulating their identity with the language. It demonstrates this by exploring how CHamorus conceptualize their CHamoru identity from the data gathered from twelve CHamorus. A theoretical model emerges that maps out the relationships in these conceptualizations to understand the processes of CHamoru identity articulations by laying out the various motivating and inhibiting variables that converges to actively learning the language. The model may prove useful for CHamoru language advocates and policy makers in perpetuating the language.

 

Panel 6A: Literature and Revolution

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Literature and Revolution

 

Evelyn Flores

(Convener) University of Guam

 

Literature and revolution go hand-in-hand. Whether it’s Maga’låhi Hurao challenging 2,000 warriors to fight for their culture or Madame Defarge in Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities knitting into her tapestry the names of those who are to die in the French Revolution, the word, either written, spoken, danced, or visualized, catalyzes world-shaking shifts in perspective, which can materialize into physical battles, as it did in both the French and American revolutions, but also more quietly into huge paradigm shifts in values and beliefs, as it has done and as we continue to try to do here in the islands.

 

The presenters on this panel are all activists who have dedicated their lives to such a change---to take away, to take back and to hold ground that has been gained. They will be discussing their experiences and the role that literary production has played in each of their revolutionary movements.

 

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Writing the Guam Bus: Activist Answers to Chamoru Questions

 

Michael Lujan Bevacqua

University of Guam

 

Jack Bevacqua

University of Guam

 

The Guam Bus was a creative company started in 2015 by brothers Michael and Jack Lujan Bevacqua. The aim of The Guam Bus is to empower the Chamoru people through the publication of creative works such as comics or books that are designed to educate them about their heritage and inspire them as to their possibilities as a people. As of today, The Guam Bus has published two Chamoru-themed comic books, two bilingual Chamoru children’s books and a set of Guam-animal flash cards. In this presentation, Michael Lujan Bevacqua will discuss ways in which scholarly sources and methods of inquiry are woven into their products, in order to help youth to question and think more about the state of their island and direction for the future.

 

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Micronesia, Be Brave: Remembering Belau’s Struggle for a Nuclear-Free Constitution 

 

Elicita “Cita” Ngirmang Morei

Palau Community College

 

In July 1979, Palauan voters, by an overwhelming 92%, adopted the worlds’ first Nuclear-Free Constitution. However, that wish for Palauan people and their posterity came true only after decades of struggle, intimidation, fire bombings, death threats and even murder. The late Mirair Gabriela Ngirmang of Koror and women elders rose up to defend their nuclear free constitution, when all else failed. In this presentation, Cita (Gabriela Ngirmang’s daughter) discusses Belau’s conflict/conflict resolution and the role that writing and academia had to play in the political struggle that a resolute group of women took up against the desires of the most powerful country in the world. Cita will also share Palau’s experiences trying to keep the balance between being a “nuclear-free” nation during a period of intense military build-up and continuous military exercises in the region.

 

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Prubido Fumino’ Chamorro: On the Dangers of Speaking Chamorro

 

Peter Onedera

Master Storyteller

 

A two by four ply board sign with red lettered text hung from the ceiling of the hallway of my village elementary school. It read “Prubido Fumino’ Chamorro,” when I entered the first grade. That sign was among three or four more spread throughout the campus and it stayed put as a reminder to us village children for the rest of our elementary years.

 

I felt lost. That sign meted punishment after punishment in those early years. I was educated into thinking that CHamoru was a nothing and a waste of time. Other CHamorus, starting with the teachers, bought into it and it was to be a tremendous embarrassment with reminders and constant reprimands to not speak the language I grew up with.

 

That feeling is still there today.

 

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Panel 6B: Shifting Social Spaces and Demographic Transformations

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Pacific at War: Shifting Social Spaces of the Japanese Residents of Guam

 

Maria Cynthia Barriga

Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies - Waseda University

 

Islander stories are expanding the historiography of the Pacific War, presently dominated by US imperial-military narratives. The image of the islander, however, remains singular; its complexities, yet to be examined. My paper traces how this singular, homogenized image came to be. Employing historical analysis, it focuses on Guam’s prewar Japanese who had, for decades, been straddling between the US, Japan, and the island. It finds that Guam’s Japanese initially mediated between the Japanese military and the local community. However, wartime policies etched a divide between the two “races,” compelling Japanese islanders to choose one. After the war, US racial discourses crystalized these categories, creating homogenized images of “the islander” and “the Japanese.” Through the shifting dynamics of Guam’s Japanese with other islanders, this paper traces the origins and development of the present-day image of “the islander,” showing how the war transformed the island society, and invites further nuancing of this concept.

 

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The Reconstruction of Guam: 1944-1950: Physical and political

 

Don A. Farrell

Author/ Retired, CNMI State Board of Education

 

Volumes of work have been published regarding the history of Guam from “The Liberation” in

1944 to civilian government in 1950. This work uses original documents from local and U.S.

federal archives to paint a collective picture of this tumultuous period.

 

“Operation Stevedore,” the plan to capture and utilize Guam to prosecute the war with Japan, brought thousands of U.S. Seabees to Guam. They constructed a massive naval station at Apra Harbor, B-29 bases on northern Guam, helped relocate Guam refugees into temporary housing, provided a highway for military vehicles to carry supplies from south to north, and rebuilt the village of Hagatña.

 

When the war was over, the DOD and DOI fought over control of Guam. DOI won. Yet, with civil war in China and the Korean War developing, military development continued -- side-by-side with political development.

 

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The Japanese Migration to Guam and Legacy of Kazuji Shimizu

 

Monica Okada Guzman

Galaide Group

 

Frank S.N. Shimizu

Chairman, Guam Nikkei Association

 

The first known record of Japanese arriving into the Marianas was on May 3, 1868 when the British ship, “E.M. Trader” left Japan bound for Guam. Aboard were 40 men and one wife and daughter. The contingent ranged in age from their teens and in their 20’s and 30’s and were paid 3 ryo for travel related expenses.

After 33 days at sea, they arrived in Agaña, Guam on June 8th, 1868 as the first Japanese immigrants to Guam. After fulfilling their 3-year long contract, 28 people returned back to Japan at varying times over a period of 2 years.

 

Subsequent arrival in the late 1800’s of Japanese farmers, fishermen and individuals looking for adventure and a better life overseas. 53 made Guam their home, learning the Chamoru language, marrying local women and starting families. These CHamoru Japanese descendants include prominent business men, educators, career government employees and elected officials.

 

Although a majority of these descendants have lost touch with their Japanese families, there is still a desire and interest for many to rekindle these familial relationships and reacquaint with their Japanese heritage. The formation of the Guam Nikkei Association provides an avenue for this connection.

 

A few families such as the Tajima, Onedera, Shinohara and Shimizu’s remain in touch with their

Japanese relations.

 

Spanning both Guam and Saipan, the legacy of Kazuji Shimizu lives on in the family and business enterprises, contributing to building Guam’s economy and furthering Japanese American CHamoru ties. The presentation for the 4th Marianas History Conference will focus on the migration to Guam, the Guam Nikkei Association and the contribution of the Japanese CHamoru family of Kazuji Shimizu.

 

Panel 7A: Kantan Chamorrita

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The origin and nature of Kantan Chamorrita revisited

 

Michael Clement Sr.

Tiyan High School

 

This updates research on ancient and colonial influences on Chamorro song in the Marianas Islands, specifically, the origin of the extemporaneous song debate melody “An gumupu si paluma” (“Agsp”), and its role as the defining element of Kantan Chamorrita (tsamorita singing). Musical examples link the “Agsp” melody to a folk song introduced in Guam by missionaries and influenced socially by Mexican criollos. This gives an intellectual structure, chronology and historical depth to the development and evolution of this song form. It speaks to the function of song in the Chamorro culture. Musical examples will be presented and compared.

 

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Lina’la’ Lålai – Kåntan Chamorrita  (37 minutes)

 

Elyssa Santos, Michael Clement Jr., Teresita Flores, Anne Rivera and Ray Barcinas

 

Kantan Chamorrita is a traditional Chamorro song form once central to daily life in the Marianas. Today, few possess these ancient skills, but those who do, relish the chance to practice their artform. This short film, originally produced for the Festival of Pacific Arts in 2016, chronicles the life experiences of three singers versed in this art. Teresita Flores, Anne Rivera and Ray Barcinas each grew up within families that kept older musical traditions alive and each share strong feelings about the importance of perpetuating kantan chamorrita in the modern day.

 

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Panel 7B: Preserving Culture and Protecting Innovation: Intellectual Property Rights

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Preserving Culture & Protecting Innovation: Intellectual Property Rights

 

Kelly Marsh Taitano

Legislature of Guam

 

Laura Souder

Guam Trademark Commission

 

 

Intellectual Property Rights are a growing concern in the Pacific Islands. Infringements happen to Indigenous bodies of knowledge and arts as well as to that which is produced or created in their islands. Efforts in the Pacific are underway to protect Indigenous and local intellectual property rights. Among those efforts, the Guam Product Seal was conceived as a mechanism to protect local entrepreneurs and their creations. Additionally, a Guam Trademark Commission has been formed to develop policy direction towards developing a Guam Trademark and Intellectual Property Rights Act and a Guam Cultural Trademark Act.

 

This panel explores how one, through legal instruments, safeguards tangible and intangible aspects of culture, art, and locally produced or conceived items. Explored will be questions such as: Where does the line of cultural appropriation begin and end? Who within a culture determines the rights to a body of knowledge? Given our limited capacities, to what degree does something have to be conceived of or created in the islands to be considered local?

 

Panel 8A: I Tiempon Latte Yan Såkman

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An Ancestral Secret: Discovering an Imbedded Angle on the Sakman

 

Mario R. Borja

Sakman Chamorro Project-Guam

 

Building a canoe does not make you a sailor; but it sure can help. This is about the discovery of an angle we stumbled upon in our quest to build the sakman, a single-outrigger canoe our Chamorro ancestors once built and sailed nearly three centuries ago. It starts with our curiosity about canoes once used to travel from one island to another. Our research led us to uncover more details of our own illusive seafaring history that would provide the data to begin our canoe project. One discovery after another has brought us to Guam with the canoe we have built. It was here in Hagatna Bay that we discovered the purpose of an imbedded angle that laid beneath their very feet, an angle we constructed following ancestral design, an angle that would teach us how to sail the sakman.

 

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Archaeological Remains of Early Spanish Colonialism on Guam

 

Boyd Dixon

Senior Archaeologist, Cardno

 

The historical record of Early Modern Spanish Colonialism on Guam is reasonably well detailed when using primary and secondary literature to reconstruct significant events, policies, and personalities that affected the general population from 1521 to 1700. It is however, biased from the perspective of the only witnesses who could leave a written record at the time – early maritime chroniclers, later Jesuit priests, and eventual Colonial administrators. The historical record of what exactly was exchanged between Spanish clergy or government officials, Philippine or Mexican military, and Chamorro inhabitants is far less explicit in the literature. This vacuum, if indeed it can be partially filled by archaeological inquiry, is the topic of this paper.

 

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An Assessment of Preserving Latte Sites

 

Dave Lotz

Vice-Chairman of the Guam Review Board for Historic Preservation and the Guam Preservation Trust

Board

 

Latte, the iconic cultural images of the Mariana Islands, are found on at least seven of the archipelago’s islands. Since western presence about 500 years ago, destruction of the latte has occurred under the various colonial rulers: Spain, Japan, and the United States.

 

Loss of latte occurred with Japanese agriculture efforts on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota later followed by World War II and the subsequent Cold War. Since 2000, the military buildup of Guam and military threats to Tinian and Pagan intend to change the islands’ landscape including destruction of latte sites. However significant numbers of preserved latte still remain.

 

This presentation, based upon available documents, current events, and site visits document the disappearance of a number of latte sites, preservation accomplishments, threats of further destruction, and preservation proposals.

 

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Panel 8B: Displacement and Persistence

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An Gumupu Sakman (When the Proa Flies): History of the Chamorro Sakman

Arthur A. De Oro
Director, Community Development Institute – Northern Marianas College

 

The one Chamorro technological achievement that was revered by European explorers of the 16th through 18th centuries was the Chamorro flying proa or sakman. From Magellan’s first sighting of the Marianas to Anson’s drawings of 1742, the sakman was regarded as the Ferrari or Porsche of the sailing world. It was a thing of beauty, speed, and craftsmanship. Chamorros were highly regarded as expert boat builders, sailors and fishermen. That knowledge, skill and innovation was nearly lost when colonization of the Marianas was complete. Fast-forward to the 21st century to find the Chamorro renaissance of the celebrated sakman. 500 Sails, a Saipan based non-profit organization is writing a complete history of the sailing traditions of the Marianas. It includes European accounts, a Chamorro lexicon of nautical terms and parts of the sakman, a sailing curriculum, and the people and organizations that are leading the revival of the Chamorro flying proa.

 

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Lessons from lesser Laguas- Stories of Aguigan

Moñeka De Oro
Our Islands Are Sacred

 

The four main islands of the Marianas are all located in the southern end of the archipelago. Together Rota, Saipan, Tinian and Guahan and the lone uninhabited island of Aguigan/Aguijan make the "Laguas" portion of the Marianas.  All islands north of Saipan collectively create "Gani". This presentation will provide vignettes of history focusing on Aguigan. There is so much significant historical and ecological stories that are not widely shared about Aguigan. For example, Aguigan island is the location of one of the last major battles in the Spanish Chamorro Wars. Aguigan is also the only place where the endangered sheath bats and countless other plant and animal species still exists today. Commonly referred to as "goat island", today there is so much more to know about this island than the invasive goats that inhabit it today.

 

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I Taotao San Lagu and the History of the Sons and Daughters of Guam Club in San Diego

Leiana San Agustin Naholowaʻa
University of Guam

The Sons and Daughters of Guam Club in San Diego, California, is the oldest Chamorro community organization outside of the Mariana Islands and serves the largest population of the Chamorro  diaspora. Begun in 1953, club meetings took place in a veterans’ building in downtown San Diego and would shift to their own community space, becoming the only Chamorro community clubhouse in the diaspora. Early festivities include the hosting of dinner balls celebrating Guam Liberation with its military community, and this tradition continues with Liberation Queen candidates who raise money for the organization. Fiesta groups extend the spiritual and celebratory traditions of home villages and provide “a home away from home.” Community members have gone on to form other groups in the area such as Chamorro Hands in Education Links Unity (CHE’LU) and the Chamorro Optimist Club, and the club has hosted many events and educational opportunities.