Voices of the Diaspora

independentguahan
from independentguahan More from this publisher
09.04.2023 Views


Voices of the

Diaspora

Brought to you by

Fanachu! Podcast

@fanachupodcast

Publication design by

Amara Rose

San Agustin

@kimchimara


The Next Great Voyage

Annai kahulo’ yu’ gi båtko

Hinasso-ku gua’ot i langhet

Hinasso-ku na u libianu

Lao ai para hu maså’pet

When I was going up to the ship

I thought it was the stairway to heaven

I thought it would be easy

But no, I am going to suffer

This verse is drawn from a pre-World War II Chamoru song documenting the ups

and downs in the lives of those young Chamoru men who joined the US Navy in the

1930s and left Guam for the United States. Chamoru scholar Robert Underwood

quotes this passage in his 1985 article “Excursions into Inauthenticity: The

Chamorros of Guam” which was one of the first critical articles to tackle the issue of

migration, identity and the development of a Chamoru diaspora.

The Chamoru diaspora to the United States has its earliest origins during the late

Spanish period, the second half of the 19th century, when hundreds and perhaps

thousands of young Chamoru men left island as whalers and settled in places like

Hawai’i and California. The Chamoru diaspora as we know it today has its most

direct origins in those who left the islands through US military service, first through

the US Navy and later through the US Army and other branches of the US military.

These men left island with their eyes dazzling about glorious promises of

opportunity and prosperity in the United States. But as the song makes clear, far from

paradise, life in the diaspora was just as complicated as life back home. It came with

new opportunities, but also new challenges and barriers. The Chamoru diaspora at

this point has evolved far beyond communities around military bases. Chamorus can

be found in every corner of the United States.


Thousands of miles away from their home islands, some families have continued to

maintain a strong connection to the Marianas. Others have minimized or erased those

ties. Across the diaspora some families have found innovative and heartwarming ways

to retain a sense of identity, a feeling of rootedness. Others have not, leaving children

and grandchildren with questions as to what is this heritage that has been kept from

them, and why has it been kept from them at all? The artwork, poetry and writings

collected in this zine are meant to reflect the diverse range and depth of experiences

from those Chamorus who have lived outside of the Marianas sometimes for just a

few years and others for a few generations.

This zine comes at a critical moment where every 10 years a new census reminds us

of the new reality: for the first time in 4,000 years, the majority of the Chamorus in

the world, do not live and breathe most of their lives in the Marianas. Our diaspora,

the communities small and large of Chamorus living across the United States now

represent the majority of the Chamorus in the world.

This zine has not been created in the spirit of lamentation of loss, but is instead

represents call for us to challenge and move past the old ways that our own people

have understood ourselves, our settlements and migration. In the past, the Pacific has

divided our people between those at home and those in the diaspora, and we have at

times accepted this division and reinforced it as if we lived in separate universes or

were distinct species. This way of dividing ourselves must be rejected.

Our resiliency in today’s world, how well we can overcome these geographic divides

re dependent on the stories we tell, the networks we form, the technologies that we

make our own, and the ways we can reimagine things such as chenchule’ and

inafa’maolek across time zones, to create possibility and empower our people.

Our people sailed thousands of miles across uncharted, open oceans in order to the

settle the Marianas. They likely did this long before any other people on this planet.

Some historians call that journey, the first great voyage in human history. Traversing

the diasporic divide is but another great voyage that on our horizon. We hope that this

zine is but one of many stars in the sky that can help guide on our way.

Michael Lujan Bevacqua


CONTRIBUTORS

TÅDDONG GOGUE TEDPAHAGO HA/GUI/ÑA (ALEX M. WHITE)

JESSIE RAÏSA

MINA FLORES-CANTRELL

JACOB JARDEL

ROSWENA BRENNAN

RANDIZIA CRISOSTOMO

ZACHARY BELCHER

MORG/HOBBYOFSLIVERS

DREW DAMES

LADISA DAWN QUINTANILLA

TOR SHIMIZU

CLAIRE TAIJERON JOKERST WHITE

DILLON QUITUGUA

DANIELLE WILLIAMS

SHAYLIN SALAS

DAVID CHARLESWORTH

BRIANA MAZZOLINI-BLANCHARD

JOEY SWATZELL

JOANNA MALPICA

BRIKI CAJANDIG

DEREK NOCHEFRANCA


PATRICIA ANN POCAIGUE BEUKE

DOLORES TAIJERON

LATECIA MESNGON

HOPE MESNGON

KULU’LO’ÑA

TAYLOR ‘PAIGE’ AGUON

GABRIELLE MONIQUE TOVES

COURTNEY BOWEN

ED SABLAN

CARRERA DIEGO

ANGELA CARRIER

HURAO PABLO-COOK

FELISA CONCEPCION

CONNIE ANN EBIO SANTOS

EMILY WOOD

NATALIE "SISSY" SANTOS VELASCO

AREN KERR

JEREMY CASTRO

ROLDY AGUERO ABLAO

GUMA’ GELA’

JAY CASTRO

ISA GAGARIN


"Throws of water

away, drown

drinking

for brush and blood

/ color and such

Look yourself in the

eye and reel,

<< but tell me how

you really feel>>

Mirror holds space

portal through face,

time, water

Daughter, everyone

is afraid of the

ocean."

Jessie Raïsa


ZACHARY BELCHER


“WRITE AS IF EVERYTHING YOU LOVE IS ON

THE LINE.

BECAUSE IT IS.”

JULIAN AGUON (2021)

Randizia Crisostomo


1- prep

a spoonful of rice

passing through my lips, provides a sense of

comfort.

i stand, my mother sits

the sound of metal against plastic board fills the

air.

a spoonful of rice, of home

accompanied by salty meats and sour treats

this is how we care for each other, on soil that is

not made to carry the weight of our name.

a spoonful of rice, of love

passing through my lips, nourishing me as learn

and grow.

2- restituyi (to return, to undergo restoration)

the pure joy upon landing on the tarmac

i am home. the home i will always know,

always yearn and dream of.

i am still suspended in midair

when my family surrounds me.

my life resumes as we order food

from everyone’s favorite places.

laughs on top of laughs fill the home.

Daze of Assimilation

Courtney Bowen

4- growing pains

the earth has settled around me- i

warm under the pressure. the seal of

comfort is thin.

my mind buzzes and blurs. time

passes and goes.

but i relish the whirlwind. the ache is

welcomed.

comprehension be damned.

home is but a memory.

the earth has entered and consumed

me.

my body is indistinguishable from

land.

3- drifting further

constant volley of decisions

needs and wants for comfort.

familiar pains trouble me once again.

arms ache for release.

but what once soothed me has changed,

as the waters surrounding me have.

and struggle against the wind.

the sweet heat of home

settles in my blood.

shall i let the earth swallow me

and reclaim me?

5- acceptance

cold and clear skies over a foreign

home I've grown to love.

the cold bites and I must bite back.

my mother tongue has left me, but I

long for her sweet embrace once

more.

harsh and bumbling words come from

my mouth now.

the rhythm and dance of my

language still

thunder deep inside me.

the cool heat from my native home

calls and calls until I return.

but this once barren and

desolate land I reside in grows lush

with every passing season.


Daze of Assimilation

Courtney Bowen

6- tradition

I wear the face of long dead ancestors.

Have they stories of wondrous victories and memories of peace?

Is there a blessing I have yet to realize?

Do they look upon me and are reminded of glorious youth?

Will my efforts be enough for them and those after me?

My children-

Will they call upon my name and sing their praises?

I shall gift my face to inheritors long after me.

7-a fortress

built up and broken down

o, isolation- my lonely mistress

have i exhausted all my efforts to

stand tall and proud for those before me?

am i bound to stumble and

to be buried under iron and steelthe

instruments of destruction and separation.

to have a fate sealed by other’s greedthe

green eyed monster that stalks the land.

to long for release from perpetual solitudethe

tower of shame and confusion.

the endless view from our point reveals a tired path.

Photo by

Joanna

Malpica


As we sit by the pool,

sucking our sticky-fingers,

slurping the sugary streams that

slowly drip down our elbows,

stillness sits beside me.

Some, we pluck from saplings or

spot sprouting in the sod.

Seedlings of all varieties

seduce our playful kisses,

and we savor each bite- slowly.

Strands sticking in our teeth,

sap of orange spilling across t-shirts,

shucked skin scattering across sand

that soothes the strain of time.

Skies and oceans separate us now.

Seasons pass as if in slumber,

but,

standing at city fruit stands,

some times, these secrets I see.

“A Song for Mångas”

Mina Flores-Cantrell


Over

(Being)

Grown

I drew these two pictures as one art piece that reflects on my life growing up as

a Micronesian American in the states.

My mom is Chamoru and she was raised on Guam but after she married my

Chuukese dad and he joined the Army, we moved to the states where I spent my

whole childhood in the scraggly suburbs of Virginia.

The two pictures show my wildness as a happy child that is overshadowed by

the overwhelming reality of adulthood, something intensified by the realization

that I never got to truly get to know my island culture and my uncles, aunts,

grandparents, and cousins across the sea.

Upon deeper reflection, I like to view this piece conversely as my inner child

forever happy and yelling for adventure — and how I never want to forget that

excited island girl.

Roswena Brennan


Visiting

Grandparents,

2015

Shaylin Salas

Jacob Jardel

“It’s like I know more about Guam than you do.”

He has countless / memories of Guam / from when his dad was stationed there

/ for a couple of years, / remembers it with / a pre-teen fondness / that borders on

infatuation: / eating kelaguen and rice / while his dad did his military work, /

going to Micronesia Mall / with his family, / taking trips to the / touristy parts of

the island / that made him marvel— / things native Chamorus typically bond

over / with our mainland friends. // The Guåhan I remember / comes in faded

snapshots: / eating roast pig / at my nino’s fiestas / while nina shooed flies away /

with a paper plate, / taking baths in outdoor sinks / during visits with my mom’s

cousins, / watching Power Rangers / and playing with my Pogs / while grandma

made rosketti, / visiting my grandpa’s siblings / whose identities blend into / one

collective nginge’, / one collective ñot-ñora— / things that come with the

territory of living on the island. // All I’m missing / is the island— / the part of

the territory / I can’t replicate stateside.

“Funny how that works.”


Sometimes, we are niyok

Traveling by twilight and current

With hånom from the homeland

Prepped for survival

Sometimes, we are isa

Two feet straddling two lands

Looking to the sky

Untouchable

And sometimes, our leaving

Is also returning

When we meet those

Who help us remember what we have

lost

Together,

We braid and we weave and we root

And we tend and we heal

And we grow

Tor Shimizu

ZACHARY

BELCHER


A Letter

to the

Taotaomo’na

Mañaina,

I can’t seem to explain what I am feeling…

My heart is too heavy with the weight of my

emotions it cannot bear. I miss you with every

fiber of my body and it feels like the longer I

am away from you, the more I decay from the

inside out. I pray for your wisdom and

guidance, because I know you understand

what it is like to travel far from home when

you would voyage through the ocean. Let the

past of our people move me through this

turmoil that is my life.

Do you remember the conversations we

would share as I trekked through our

abundant island? I would imagine the kind of

experience-filled advice you would bestow

unto me when I am acting too rash or being

harsh on myself. Hågu i rason na tumatachu

yu’-you are the reason I am still standingbecause

you act as that quiet voice in the

back of my head saying, “Hoggen maisa hao

yan cho’gue ha’ (Believe in yourself and just

do it)”.

You taught me how to be strong and

resilient by always pushing me to my limit,

but never over the edge. I wish I felt as

strong a connection to you now as I did

back home. Until then, I will continue to

imagine the words of wisdom you would

share with me.

Gof mahålang yu nu hågu. Hågu i

fuetså-hu yan i kinahulo’-hu.

I miss you so much. You are my strength

and my resiliency.

Love,

A Girl Who Misses Home

Gabrielle Toves


Fruit Bats in the Belfry

by Disa Dawn

A novel released December 1, 2022.

Book 4 in the Tennessee England series. Tennessee is part of the

CHamoru diaspora.

As the series progresses, Tennessee reclaims her cultural

identity while battling demons and all sorts of supernatural

misfits.


ZACHARY

BELCHER

THE WIND AND THE SEA ARE ALL THAT I NEED

I CAN THINK OF NO GREATER BLISS.

FOR ON THE DEEP BLUE I FEEL BORN ANEW

AND NOTHING IN LIFE IS AMISS.

IN THE DARK IT’S THE STARS THAT I COUNT ON TO

GUIDE ME

AND THEY DO SO EACH NIGHT WITHOUT FAIL.

IN THE LIGHT IT’S THE SUN GIVING SITE TO THE

WORLD

AND FROM WHOM I HIDE IN THE SHADE OF MY

SAIL.

I SHALL BE NOT AFRAID WHEN THE GULLS

SEARCH FOR LAND

AS THE WORLD BECOMES WINDY AND GRAY.

WITH TILLER IN HAND AND BOW POINTING WEST

MY VESSEL GOES NEVER ASTRAY.

THOUGH I MAY BE TOSSED AND PULLED BENEATH

WAVES

UNDYING IS THE FLAME IN MY CHEST.

FOR MY LOVE OF THE SEA IS WILD INSIDE ME

AND NOTHING MAY PUT IT TO REST.

SHALL BE NOT AFRAID WHEN THE GULLS

SEARCH FOR LAND

AS THE WORLD BECOMES WINDY AND GRAY.

WITH TILLER IN HAND AND BOW POINTING

WEST

MY VESSEL GOES NEVER ASTRAY.

THOUGH I MAY BE TOSSED AND PULLED

BENEATH WAVES

UNDYING IS THE FLAME IN MY CHEST.

FOR MY LOVE OF THE SEA IS WILD INSIDE ME

AND NOTHING MAY PUT IT TO REST.

JOEY SWATZELL


Morg/HobbyofSlivers

In this latest garment, I took inspo from pre-colonial

CHamoru wear, Mestiza, and designs of CHamoru

pottery and blended it with my preference of Alternative

Subculture and also put the Runes on there. "Raidho"

("R" looking rune) to symbolize a "Journey" and "

"Kenaz"("C" looking rune) to symbolize "Torch" which

often associate with passion to pursue knowledge and

truth. This skirt shows how I try to embrace all that love.


JOANNA MALPICA


Zachary Belcher

Snow Flower

Thick, black California cotton could not conceal

the pallor of her welcoming

like the meat inside the fruit of the niyuk tree:

fresh, shredded.

She is a ghost that set foot onto the land

of cocoa skinned warriors

baked bitter and broken

by pressure of the sky’s relentless red

Their slanted brows and hard mouths

the edge of jungle machetes.

They need not eyes to see through the thing.

They need not words to reveal rancor.

They pricked, they poked,

pulled each petal- mixed in to potions and spells

but the sun failed to burn the babe dry.

She bloomed quietly instead.

Mina Flores-Cantrell


ZACHARY BELCHER

ETCHED

KULU’LO’ÑA

ALTHOUGH MY SKIN IS WHITE,

THERE ARE THREE THINGS

I KNOW ARE RIGHT.

MY SKIN IS LIGHT LIKE MY

COLONIZERS’

BUT THE BLOOD I BLEED IS

CHAMORU.

UNDERNEATH THIS SKIN IS

CENTURIES

OF SAINA ETCHED INTO MY

VERY SOUL.

I LIVE AND BREATHE

THE SCENT OF THE OCEAN

AND THE SOUND OF THE

WAVES.

RESPETU, INAFA’ MAOLEK, YAN

CHENCHULE’

ARE ENGRAVED IN MY HEART.

JUST AS I WAS BORN FROM THIS

SACRED LAND,

SO I WILL RETURN TO FO’NA YAN

PONTAN,

ENGULFED BY THEIR LOVING

EMBRACE.


Everywhere my heart

EVERYWHERE

Is Breaking

into fractals

CLAIRE TAIJERON JOKERST WHITE

All at once

Nanoseconds away

Everywhere is

manufacturing silos

To Get Us off

Our balance

Seems like every Child

Naturally Gravitates

Toward Dancing

the Sunlight

through Her veins

whether on the street or field

She radiates upon our faces

She provides the Fruit blood

Reaching Her hands

Through the dirt

Tending to Her/Their seeds

Providing us nutrition

We didn't Know We Needed

Will Always Need

Feel the wind

They breathe out

The water They spin

round and round

Our life force

Tends to Us

as much as We allow

Let me Transmute carbon for You

Let me Keep Dancing for You

Let me Keep Dancing for You


Gof Mahålang-yu

gof mahålang-yu:

to deeply long for something or someone.

Randizia Crisostomo


TWO SONNETS / FOR MOTHERS

DANIELLE WILLIAMS

any foreign mother knows america

has it’s own fees / so do we / the children

the slow erasure / the vessels crossing many

seas / these high-tides strong like rush hour highways

to nowhere / which way is america? / how long

til water becomes dirt? / til the journey brings us

to safety? / safely? / we’ve been promised / lives / land

there is a trigger- / fish stretched over saipan

trace the points along it’s body / let the rising and

setting stars become a guide / find whatever it is that

serves you / in america / being a color / not white / is

like

serving time / chain bolted to feet bolted to ground

the ash of dust / collecting at your ankles / the sound

of the waves / so close / so close / how long til dirt

becomes grave?

any foreign mother will point / you / to the wall

closest to the door / motion for you to take off your

shoes

in her home / my own / mother /

is a complicated woman

for most of our lives / we have been foreign /

to one another

watching afar / biding / waiting for a place to call

our own / we live on the surface / drown with our

backs turned / who knows what we yearn / I don’t

know her well / she doesn’t know / me / I am a rogue

wave / my own way / I am destruction / sometimes

I am / saving lives / my own way / writing away

from the chaos / from the blood / that bonds us

sometimes / I am afraid / to ask / what haunts you?

sometimes / I am afraid / that / you / won’t / bring

yourself

to show me / you / at my home / there is a mat at the

door / for shoes


DILLON QUITUGUA

I was raised in Hawai’i, a world away from Guam.

A world away from nana’s cooking. A world away from Tata’s smoked meat.

I grew up learning about my culture from my father, but never understanding my culture

was more than just my household’s red rice, my household’s hu guiyas haos, or my

households way of prayer.

When my family had enough flight miles, we would go home.

Home to a place where I did not fit in. I was a Chamorro, but I wasn’t.

“He wasn’t raised here” they said. Chamorro was spoken to me, but never spoken back.

I’d look to nana to ask what they said. She’d say, “ they say you're so handsome.”

A foreigner in my own home. Alien to Guam, alien to Hawaii. A third generation child

who didn’t belong where I was from, and who didn’t belong where they lived.

I live now to be just who I am. A Quitugua from Dededo who climbs mountains and runs

hundreds of miles for an island I love and for voices I don’t understand.


REMEMBERING THE DANCE

One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three.

I did not know then what she was doing, my grandmother, calling my sisters and me into her kitchen.

But I smell Gram’s cigarette—smell the cucumbers pickling in soy sauce and vinegar, the spare ribs

simmering, the rice steaming—and I know I’m home.

“Come here, triplets,” Gram says, handing us each a pair of sticks. “I want to show you something from

Guam.” She presses play on the boombox and fills that familiar kitchen with a bouncing waltz and voices

singing in an unfamiliar tongue. Tipi tipi tip, tipi tan,

Kada un kånno’ i kek, kånno’ i pån.

Tipi tipi tip, tipi tan,

Tipi tapi tipi tip.

I had heard Gram use that same language when she phoned her family back on the island, or when that

family flew to visit her, their sister marooned in Massachusetts, gathering in that same kitchen where

Gram now herded my sisters and me.

Here, in her kitchen-turned-dance-studio, Gram joyously sings along to Johnny Sablan as she

demonstrates a Chamorro stick dance. The first step is easy: tap the sticks on the floor—one—then twice

against each other—two, three. “There you go, my boy!” Gram beams, her hands over my hands syncing

my tapping to the beat, then doing the same for Kristen, then Jessica. But things soon unravel. Between

the next step—reaching over my head to tap sticks against my sister’s—and the next—tapping

over the head while touching one foot to hers—Gram does all the work. Maneuvering us into the proper

position, bending down to pick up our feet, she is stubborn, a headstrong puppeteer resolved to make us,

her stiff marionettes, do the dance. But if anything is on display that day in that kitchen, it’s that this stick

dance isn’t sticking.

After some time, Gram relents, turns away to check the ribs and ash her cigarette. In this brief privacy,

what, I wonder, was Gram thinking? Was she figuring when this pre-dinner diversion would end?

Concerned about overcooking the meat? Or did she interpret this moment within the larger scope of her

story, which was also our story, and her history, which was ours, too? Was she transported to her

earliest memory of the stick dance, reminded of the loved one who first showed her the movements

she’d fossilize and unearth decades later and nearly 8,000 miles away? Seeing our clumsy bodies, was

she overcome with the generational loss, or at least the losing, of her Chamorro customs and culture? Or

did she see in us a kind of hope? For the sweat and sacrifice that so sanctified her life—a life achieved

despite her husband’s vodka breath and violent hands, despite six mouths to feed with little means but

prayer, despite the everyday ache for her island home—were we the reward?

Or the nightmare?

For these questions, I can’t have answers. About a decade after that dance lesson, Gram was stricken

with ALS, a disease that slowly imprisoned her mind in her body. In her final months with us, even the

headstrong puppeteer could not have done the stick dance. What I do have is enough, though. The

sound of her joyous singing mixed with the smell of those soy-soaked cucumbers and simmering ribs.

The glint in her eye and

the awesome charge of her “There you go, my boy!” Her warm hands cocooning mine, shaping a legacy,

showing me the way.

I did not know then what she was doing, my grandmother. But I now know that she was laying seeds to

live on. I now know she was surviving. Once, twice, three times.

D A V I D C H A R L E S W O R T H


Indigenous Lands

MANY THINGS COME UP FOR ME WHEN I REFLECT ON LIVING

AWAY FROM GUÅHAN. ONE THAT STANDS OUT, THOUGH, IS A

CONCEPT THAT I DIDN'T ALWAYS APPRECIATE MYSELF. THE

CONCEPT THAT WHETHER YOU ARE HOME OR NOT, WHETHER

YOU ARE HERE OR THERE, ALL LAND IS INDIGENOUS LAND.

THERE ARE BEAUTIFUL AND DEEP CONNECTIONS WITH

PLACES WHEREVER YOU GO. AND IT'S UP TO YOU TO

CULTIVATE THOSE CONNECTIONS.

BIBA INDIGENOUS LANDS.

Shaylin Salas


TOGETHER AND APART

I Am an island

In the infinite Swallowing

of Life and death

I Am the echo

Isolated in the mud

wind kissed bustle

of so many words

Hunting each other

for the sake of Being seen

I am under the table

Hiding loudly

Wiping the sediment

of your gaze

Sequestering our chaos

Establishing the next call time

What time do You Go on stage?

Where Does it hurt?

As my neurons Codify dopamine

through actions that mean nothing

Feelings that mean more

i Kneel to Pay penance

To the revolutionaries of love

Of feeling

why have We Made

Ourselves islands

To Drown in the noise

Forgetting the thread,

the beauty of mundane touch

and bread breaking

together and apart

CLAIRE TAIJERON JOKERST WHITE


PHOTOS

BY

JOANNA

MALPICA


FELISA CONCEPCION


Scattering seeds

That are near and far

Håfa adai, that is you and me

We have ventured beyond the reef

To find our greatest destiny

But alas, it has always been inside

Within the soul, is home to where our very seeds have been

planted

Our roots connected

As we are all connected as one

One living breathing collective ecosystem

Depending on each other in order to survive

Tåno, Tåsi, yan TauTau

Thanks to you, I am alive

We come from a great land

Full of natural medicine that lies inside her heart,

For our marianas trench you unlock all of life's greatest

mysteries

You are right beside me, no matter how high I fly

Who am I?

I am a warrior

I am a daughter of a chief

I am the daughter of the sea

I am the creation of Fouha

I am a slave to mankind

I am the trees,

I am the very air you breathe,

I am no different from you

As you are no different from me

Diaspora

Paige Aguon

We are all one,

From one seed

We have bloomed into these amazing things called human

beIngs

Colour does not define the path of our very life Instead it

gives us a sense of identity

Americanized

Militarized

Colonized


Diaspora

Paige Aguon

No matter where I go my voice remains unheard

Washington D.C.

Emmitsburg

Maryland

Simply know nothing about me

Oh, so you live inside huts?

As thy bicker and taunt me

Oh, you have no technology?

So how do you know all about me?

I replied..

We have been forced to learn about you all,

And yet you know nothing about our roots.

You have no knowledge in regards to what we do.

I am trapped inside…

Inside the plastic lining of this mass destruction

Who am I?

I am a turtle

I am a wave

I am a cave

I am a coral

I am a whale

I am a phytoplankton

I am a bird

I am a bat

I am the very tree you cut down

I am the land you burn

I am the very trash you effortlessly pass by

I am the change that i’ve been waiting to see

Will you join me?

On this greatest discovery

The voyage of a lifetime

To finally join the fight for what is right.


Patricia Beuke, Todd Beuke, Elise Beuke, Calista Moore,

Madison Moore, Lucas Hoffman, Mark Metzger,

Aidan Moore

GOING TO GUAHAN FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A FAMILY

UNITED US WITH OUR HERITAGE AND

ILLUMINATED CHAMORRO CUSTOMS THAT WE WERE UNFAMILIAR WITH

LIVING IN THE DIASPORA. OUR SOULS WERE

NOURISHED IN WAYS WE HADN’T REALIZED WE WERE STARVED. THE

APPRECIATION WE HAVE FOR THE BEAUTY OF OUR CULTURE IS

IMMEASURABLE. WE

YEARN TO RETURN TO THE MARIANAS

AND ARE EMBOLDENED TO EMBODY THE INIFRESI.

Patricia Ann Pocaigue Beuke

October 16, 2022


Fananchan

Briki Cajandig


ZACHARY BELCHER


Munga Maleffa

Do Not Forget

Jay Baza Pascua “Sinangan”

06.10.06

Submitted by Angela Carrier

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Ekongok i kulo. Guiguifi i mañaina nu hamyo.

(Listen to the trumpet shell. The ancestors are blowing it for all of you.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Ma sasångan na munga maleffa nu siha … sa man gaige ha guine.

(They are saying to not forget … they are still here.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Magof i mañaina sa man li’e maolek i che’cho-miyu. Man li’e siha i metgotmiyu!

(The ancestors are happy to see that all of you are good at the work you do.

They see

your strengths!)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Hunggan, åmko hamyo lao man tutuhon ha i lina’la’-miyu.

(Yes, you are of age however this is just the start of your lives.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Fanu’i i mañainan-miyu på’go na siña mahånao hamyo gi hinanao.

(Now show your ancestors that you can embark on a journey.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Hasso i hinanaon i mañainan-miyu mågi guini gi tåno-ta. Chågu yan mappot.

(Remember the journey of your ancestors here to our land. It was long and

difficult.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Ekongok yu. Fanu’i i taotao lågu metgot hamyo yan i taotao-miyu.

(Listen to me. Show people outside of this land that you and your people are

strong.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)

Chuli i tiningon-miyu på’go … lå’la … na magof i mañainan-miyu.

(Now take your knowledge … use it … make your ancestors happy.)

Munga maleffa i mañainan-miyu! Hasso!

(Do not forget your ancestors! Remember!)


PARA I

FAMAGUON-

TA

I am a CHamoru woman raised in

California, but have always been

rooted in our culture. Last year my

husband and I took our three

children to Guam for their first time.

It took 20+ years for me to go back

and it was the most soul-satisfying

thing I've done in a long time.

It was a dream come true

bringing our famagu'on to see where

their bloodline is from and also

heartwarming to see them

appreciate it all at their young age.

It was something we've planned for

so long and when we finally did it,

all the extra effort we put into

making the trip happen was beyond

worth it.

Although we live stateside,

there's no denying that there's no

place like home.

Photos by

Carrera & Dane

Diego


Photo by Joanna Malpica


GOOD GRIEF

Road paved in glory to our colonizers

Left the island only to join their ranks

Hostage to my own shortcomings and lies

Lies I told myself to excuse shitty behavior

I’ve apologized but haven’t healed

I’ve fled but haven’t found freedom

When you’re taxed and can’t vote

When you’re militarized and can’t fight back

When you’re a territory and can’t self-govern

You make due

I’m past due to return and reconnect

Weighty late fees and patchy signals

Feel like you’ve changed and I've assimilated

Eroding like the coral reef

Degrading like the Ordot dump

Hoping to be patched up like Hamburger Road

Nostalgia feels unfamiliar

A whiff of regret

A taste of a memory

It’s like I can hear the trauma all over again

but I digress

Simplicity in routine

Like watching rotating shapes and balls

Xylophones, chimes, and bells

Finding MIMO was my happy place

I want to rediscover something I’ve buried

No amount of shame or guilt is worth avoidance

No self-righteous church nor toxic school

can stunt my growth

welcome the discomfort

embrace the pain

Anything that’s worth a damn ain’t easy

I’m coming home, Guåhan

DREW DAMES


When I was a young child there was so much I took for granted and didn’t even take the time to

consider. Now as an adult I see what I had missed.

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,

with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

My mom was the island girl who fell in love with the “American dream” got hurt by it and

returned home like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz to find there really is no place like home, Guam.

My mother’s favorite time of year was fall. I remember how we used to gather at the old house in

Chalan Pago. We would help with the set up for Thanksgiving dinner at her house. My kids would

carry chairs from my house next door to make sure there was enough seating for everyone.

Everyone was my parents; my two brothers and their families and me and my kids. So, roughly

about 24-26 people. My mom always wanted everyone to sit at the same table. She would have us

stretch out two dining tables and a folding one end to end covered with table clothes and table

runners down the center that were only used for Thanksgiving. She would also break out the fine

china for this occasion. Each family would prepare food and bring it to my parents for the feast.

But my mom always did the turkey.

One year in particular as my kids and I brought our assigned food items we prepared, my mom

walks out in this blouse with red, yellow, orange leaves and maybe little bit of green pattern, on a

dark brown background. Lol, I remember it so vividly because it was that ugly to me, but I would

never tell her that. What made it worse was it looked a little big on her and had a matching long

skirt. But she loved the outfit. Mona asked her, “Grandma what are you wearing?” To which my

mom proudly announced, “Fall colors”.

Growing up on a tropical island there is no Fall. Fall is basically the same as winter, spring, and

summer; green. As we say in Guam we have two seasons, rainy and dry either way it’s still all

green. And as a young child in the states I never noticed the seasons except winter when we lived

where it snowed. I’ve seen pictures and yeah, they are pretty and all but, there is something to be

said about experiencing it for yourself. Although Salome and I have been stateside for almost 3

years we never really saw the colors of fall. Our first two years here 2020 and 2021, covid kept us

indoors. Rarely did we go anywhere outside the home. When we did venture out it was to travel to

another state to spend time with family. Seems there was a lot of back and forth from Alaska,

California, and Oregon we were so busy with family seems I didn’t really notice the season

changes.

This year, is quite different. I have been able to just sit back and enjoy watching nature unfold

before my eyes through the big picture windows of our apartment. I see changes as I ride my bike

on the hiking trails near our place. And we go on drives just to look at the fall colors. I’ve seen

some reds and purples but my favorite and what covers most everywhere here is the gold and

yellow colors. It makes me think of heaven. I sure hope the streets of gold in heaven are like the

golden leaf-colored streets here and not bricks of gold. I now appreciate the feel, smell, and

sights of autumn. It leaves an impression on my soul. An impression of my mom and her love of

fall and thinking this is why the island girl fell in love with the states for a brief moment in time. I

can see her in her gold slippers as she dances along the gold covered leafed streets in heaven. I

love you mom and fall has quickly become my favorite season.

Streets Of Gold

(Dedicated to my Mom)

Dolores Taijeron


Joanna Malpica


Counting

Hurao Pablo-Cook

Håcha, hugua, tulu, fåtfat

Words fall out of my mouth like the soles of a neni’s feet

Ñateng yan kådåbet

Not only when I try to speak fino’chamoru, but for every sound

That flies from my lips

Håcha

I was born upon a galaide in the middle of an ocean

Metgot yan påpakyo

For my family was pushed out by an imperial tide that valued the land we stood on

But not the bodies we lived in

Hugua

Si nanå-hu taught me how to stand with each crashing wave

If they ever became too much

But I was never shown how to stand with my voice

Ti hu komprende

Tulu

I looked to the sky to navigate us back to our ancestral homeland

But I could only count four stars at a time

Alone in the ocean is where we drifted for eighteen years

Nåna yan låhi

Fåtfat

We would bump into other vessels on our journey

Many were kind as our ripples interlaced

Others would bruise my skin as si nanå-hu cried out from the stern

Classmates.

Neighbors.

Colleagues.

Lovers.

Mockery, fetishization and physical assault is how they held power over me

I wanted to stop rowing.

Until I saw the wings on the horizon.

Håcha, hugua, tulu, fåtfat

I counted the sakman as they appeared before us

With gentle navigators who pointed us to land

I could see the shore

Ma’lak yan kålentådu

It’s been a while now since I’ve felt lost at sea

This year my feet were blessed with a gift

Running through Tamuning and dancing at Tanguisson Beach

My heart has never been fuller, and my mind has never been brighter

And I will keep running, dancing and learning

So if I ever am holding a neni in my arms

With a smile on their face and a glint in their eyes

I can teach them how to count past four.

Håcha, hugua, tulu, fåtfat, lima, gunom, fiti, guålo’, sigua, månot.


B R I A N A

M A Z Z O L I N I - B L A N C H A R D

I was born into the world of the white man.

Their ways trying to teach; trying to preach; trying

to change me from within.

Born into a military regime.

The Naval Station of Guam.

As alien races- we were incapable of understanding

western principles.

Banned from speaking out language.

Denied rights and citizenship.

Abandoned.

Until the day Uncle Sam returned.

Freedom… my elders said.

And there began a patriotism

That would pass down bloodline after bloodline.

Changing everything we knew about who we were.

Assimilate- or lose everything.

But the blood of my ancestors flows inside.

Every step.

Every breath.

Their spirits live and burn.

And when I think about my identity I can hear their

voice shouting:

I am the Land. The air. The sea.

Though they seek to steal and destroy, I live. I am

the earth. Today and everyday.

I am CHamoru.

Fanohge


"SAINA MA'ÅSE

FOR GIVING THOSE

OF US

WHO HAD TO LEAVE OUR HOME

THE OPPORTUNITY

TO SHARE THEIR FEELING

OF DISPLACEMENT...

I MISS HOME EVERYDAY."

-NATALIE"SISSY"

SANTOS VELASCO

"OTGUYU

EMILY WOOD

I LINA'LA GI I TANO'-TA


JOANNA MALPICA


ZACHARY BELCHER


IDENTITY

MY CULTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY IDENTITY. MY PROTECTION.

SMALL AND A LITTLE MISUNDERSTOOD-LIKE ME- SHE ACTS AS MY BACKBONE; REMINDING ME

THAT NO MATTER HOW SMALL I AM OR FEEL THAT I AM CHAMORRO, AND CHAMORROS ARE

STRONG AND POWERFUL BEINGS.

WHEN THERE WAS NOTHING BUT SPACE WAITING TO BE FILLED, THE SIBLING GODS;

PUNTAN AND FU'UNA CREATED THE WORLD. USING HER BROTHER'S BODY, FU'UNA MADE THE

LAND WE WALK ON AND SOIL WE HARVEST. HIS BACK BECAME THE BEAUTIFUL SKY AND HIS

EYES SERVED AS OUR SUN AND MOON. WE WERE GIFTED RAINBOWS FROM HIS EYEBROWS

AND THEN SOON AFTER, FU'UNA CRIED THE LARGE BODIES OF WATER THAT SUSTAIN US. THEY

SELFLESSLY BESTOWED THIS ABUNDANT LIFE TO ME- TO US.

SO HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL MY ANCESTOR'S HARD WORK? HOW DO YOU

DISCOVER SOMETHING THAT WAS NEVER MISSING TO BEGIN WITH AND THEN PROCEED TO

BREAK IT APART, ONLY TO REBUILD IT BACK INTO YOUR IMAGE? YOU DO NOT GET TO MOCK

AND CLAIM SUPREMACY OVER MY PEOPLE WHEN WE PRACTICED NOTHING BUT

INAFA'MAOLEK TO YOU.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TRYING TO REVIVE A DYING LANGUAGE? TO DESPERATELY

REACH OUT WITH THE HOPE THAT IT WILL SOMEDAY CHOOSE YOU BACK. A LANGUAGE I DO

NOT KNOW BECAUSE MY GRANDMOTHER NEVER TAUGHT HER CHILDREN SINCE SPEAKING

CHAMORRO WAS NOT ALLOWED. YOU SIT ON YOUR HIGH HORSE BECAUSE MY HISTORY IS

BARELY EVEN BEING TAUGHT AS AN ELECTIVE, WHILE YOURS IS EMBEDDED INTO THE

CURRICULUM.

TEARS FLOOD MY EYES, AND I WONDER HOW I COULD BE SO UPSET OVER LOSING SOMETHING

I NEVER TRULY HAD TO BEGIN WITH. FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT HOPELESSNESS AND

TRIBULATION FOR MY CULTURE, I BELIEVE I FAILED HER.

MY VOICE IS TIRED FROM PREACHING TO AN IMPERVIOUS CHOIR. TIRED OF REPEATING THE

SAME MESSAGE THAT MY THROAT IS RAW.

"NO WE DO NOT LIVE IN HUTS" "NO WE DO NOT WALK AROUND IN GRASS SKIRTS AND

COCONUT BRAS" "YES MY ENGLISH IS GOOD. ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF GUAM,

THANKS TO YOU." "THANKS TO YOU, I BARELY KNOW MY OWN LANGUAGE." "THANKS TO YOU, I

BARELY KNOW MY OWN CULTURE" "THANKS TO YOU, I BARELY KNOW WHO I AM"

WHO AM I? IF NOT CHAMORRO? IF NOT FROM GUAM?

I SLUMP DOWN FEELING DEFEATED. CONQUERED. COLONIZED. PAINFULLY AWARE OF MY

SHAME.

AND MY CULTURE; THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE FOR ME TO FALL BACK ON, WHO LOVES

ME FOR ALL THAT I AM, AND FORGIVES ME FOR ALL THAT I AM NOT, WRAPS ME IN HER ARMS

AND SAYS IN HER NURTURING AND PROTECTIVE TONE," IF YOU ARE TOO TIRED TO SPEAK, SIT

NEXT TO ME, FOR I TOO AM FLUENT IN SILENCE."

AND I SIT THERE, QUIETLY SOAKING IN HER WARM AND WELCOMING AURA, THINKING TO

MYSELF HOW TOMORROW AND EVERY DAY AFTER THAT, I WILL BE PREACHING TO THE CHOIR

UNTIL MY THROAT IS RAW AND GORY ALL OVER AGAIN, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH TRAUMA WAS

WOVEN INTO MY DNA, I REMIND MYSELF STRENGTH AND RESILIENCY WERE TOO.

Gabrielle Toves


TALAYA 3000

ROLDY AGUERO ABLAO


OCEAN'S BELLY BUTTON

ISA GAGARIN


Forever

CHamoru

Fina’denne’

Song by

Sabyu x Brand Marinade

Fina’denne’ go good with anything

Fina’denne’ bring the best in everything

Fina’denne’ go good with anything

Fina’denne’ bring the best in everything

Yes, it really is simple ingredients

That make this riddim rock

Like when the people sing, together we can bring

Just cut da onion and mix da soyuA better world around

The vinegar, alrightLove, compassion, put into action

Bring some donne‘ and lay it on meThat’s what we’re needing now

The heat, it feels so niceWe’ll bring the unity in the community

It’s so simple, this kinda mixtureNow that’s familia

It’s so easy to get it right

Put it on your dishes, your fishes, your

chicken

And don’t forget the red red rice, woah~Now that’s familia

Now that’s familia, familia

The red red riceNow that’s familia, familia

And fina’denne’ on the sideNow that’s familia

[Spoken: Primo John Henry]

Puedi i che’cho inafa’maolek u giha hit mo’na

Jeremy Castro

Matt Sablan (Music),

Art by Jack Lujan Bevacqua


Red Rice and fina’denne’ (fin-uh-den-ee) sauce is a traditional

CHamoru dish that has been a part of our people for centuries.

The rice is stained purposely with achiote, and the fina’denne’

sauce gives traditional dishes like red rice, a pop—a taste that has

you going back for seconds. And like we do with a scoop of red

rice and a drizzle of fina’denne’ on top, this podcast will talk story

—but that’s the pop—that talk that’ll have you coming back for

hours. So, embrace your curiosity as Jaybyrd navigates a

connection to his heritage, the CHamoru from the Marianas

Islands.

Hosted and produced by Jay Castro

Music credits to Sabyu

RedRicePodcast.com


Gå'ga'

Aren Kerr

Fanihi

Koko

Alfredo Torres

"Beautiful persons & views", 1999

Sihek

#LARS


Guma’

Gela’

Guma’ Gela’ is a queer CHamoru arts collective here

on Turtle Island (and on the islands). A few are in

Washington, which help us get together to create and

imagine culture, art and history from Laguas yan Gani

every so often.


Guma’ Gela’

Birds of Paradise


CONNIE ANN EBIO SANTOS

HOMECOMING


Derek

Nochefranca

I am a Character/Prop

Designer and a Freelance

Illustrator. My

submission speaks

towards representation in

both the medium of

animation and within the

industry as a whole. I

believe in spreading our

culture and joy through

storytelling with the

hopes of inspiring

younger generations to

feel included, seen, and

empowered. With

streaming services today,

the animation industry is

a growing field and in

need of authentic

storytellers from all

backgrounds and walks of

life. I aim to represent my

Chamoru familia and the

Island I love.


Left Behind

Ed Sablan

Håfa Adai, guåhu si Ed Sablan yan sumåsaga yu’ giya Portland,

Oregon.

As far back as I can remember, I felt a calling. I grew up on Guahan

before the internet, when everything from mail to TV shows and music,

all came a week late. I constantly felt behind the times. After graduating

from Father Dueñas in 1993, I wanted to leave the island that I felt had

held me back for so many years.

I ended up going to an art school in Portland, Oregon and switched

to two other schools after that to focus on music. I thought studying

music and art would give me purpose. It didn’t. I looked everywhere for

meaning, and noticed that all the jobs I had while going to school were

in restaurants. I felt more at home in front of fire and the heat of the

oven. I got serious about cooking, and graduated from culinary school in

2004, and found work at a French bakery.

The French chef would tell stories about growing up in France,

working at a bakery owned by his father, his grandfather before that. He

showed a sense of familial cultural pride. The chef had so much love for

his French culture and community. It sparked something in me, and I

thought about my own love of CHamoru culture and community. I had

misplaced it somehow.

I started looking back at my life and the choices that brought me

here.

My grandmother (my dad’s mom) was a baker in Barrigåda. When my

grandfather married her, he built them a house with a hotno in the

backyard, so she could bake. My parents told stories of smelling the

bread as it came out of the hotno, creating memories of family and love.

I remember growing up, helping my mom and aunties in the kitchen, my

dad at the grill, uncles preparing for fiestas, just helping out however I

could. For the first time, I began to see my family’s story in who I was

becoming and wanted to be. All those years growing up thinking I was

being held back, our CHamoru culture had been nurturing me, feeding

my soul, and giving me direction. Almost everything I left behind on

Guahan was everything I was searching for.


Left Behind

Ed Sablan

At the time, I couldn't understand why the only

place to experience CHamoru food in Portland was in

the backyard of a CHamoru’s house. So, in 2010, with

love and support from our families, my wife, Marie, and

I opened a food cart and called it PDX671. What started

out as a place serving CHamoru food, soon became a

great spot for the community. Distant families reunited

and new friends were made. It was the first time in a

while I heard the CHamoru language being spoken in

the states, in public, and it was amazing.

Nine years later, we closed the food cart to open

BIBA! CHamoru Kitchen. The restaurant continued our

cultural celebration, but we couldn’t outlast the

pandemic and had to close our doors in October 2021.

It was a difficult decision, but we aren’t discouraged,

and we plan to continue on.

There were countless times I felt so lost, forgotten,

and empty... being so far from home. But now, every

time I see posts online about CHamoru food,

businesses, awareness, language, I am filled with

gratitude and appreciation for their help in

perpetuating our culture. And even though I left

Guahan years ago, I know she has never left me. I hope

to come home soon.






Tåddong Gogue Tedpahago

(Alex M. White)


BIOGRAPHIES

JESSIE RAÏSA

SEATTLE, WA

I'M WHAT I CALL A TERRITORY MUTT: 1/2 CHAMORRO, 1/2 PUERTO RICAN, BORN AND RAISED ON GUAM,

CONSIDERED ON THE MAINLAND TO BE AMERICAN-ISH . I'VE BEEN BASED IN SEATTLE FOR THE PAST 15

YEARS AND, OF THOSE, HAVE SPENT A GREAT DEAL INTERMITTENTLY LIVING NOMADICALLY,

EXPLORING/INTEGRATING WITH MY GLOBAL BROTHERS/SISTERS AROUND MANY OTHER COUNTRIES

AND FINDING HOMES THERE TOO. THESE ARE SOME WORDS AROUND MY EXPERIENCES HAVING CHOSEN

TO LEAVE MY SMALL ISLAND TO UNDERSTAND MYSELF AND THE WORLD AT LARGE.

MINA FLORES-CANTRELL , GUÅHAN

MINA FLORES-CANTRELL IS AN INDIGENOUS DAUGHTER OF CHAMORRO AND OKINAWA ANCESTRY

BASED IN GUÅHAN (GUAM), THE MARIANA ISLANDS. SHE ADVOCATES FOR JUST SOLUTIONS TO THE

CURRENT EXTRACTIVE ECONOMY THAT INTERWEAVE THE LIVED EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM OF

MICRONESIAN COMMUNITIES. MINA IS THE FOUNDER OF NUMA'LO REFILLERY, GUAHÅN'S FIRST ZERO

WASTE STORE HELPING THE COMMUNITY TO DIVERT ITS SINGLE-USE PLASTIC WASTE, AND A PROJECT

COORDINATOR WITH MICRONESIA CLIMATE CHANGE ALLIANCE, A LOCAL NON-PROFIT DRIVEN TO

PROVIDE COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE. SHE IS A COMMITTEE MEMBER OF THE

CLIMATE JUSTICE ALLIANCE’S OUR POWER LOAN FUND AND THE CO-CHAIR OF THE REINVEST IN OUR

POWER WORKING GROUP. SHE WAS ALSO RECENTLY GRANTED A FELLOWSHIP THROUGH THE TISHMAN

ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN CENTER. HER GREATEST HOPE IS TO PROVIDE SECURITY AND CLIMATE

JUSTICE TO THE MARIANA ISLANDS AND TO PLANTS SEEDS OF STEWARDSHIP FOR FUTURE

GENERATIONS TO THRIVE.

ROSWENA SALADIER BRENNAN

PARMA HEIGHTS, OHIO.

ROSWENA SALADIER BRENNAN, OF CHUUKESE AND CHAMORRO DESCENT, GREW UP IN VIRGINIA WITH

HER THREE SISTERS. SHE HAS WORKED IN THE MENTAL HEALTH FIELD AND AS A FREELANCE

ILLUSTRATOR, AND CURRENTLY LIVES IN OHIO WITH HER SON, CASSIAN, AND HUSBAND, SETH.


RANDIZIA CRISOSTOMO (SHE/HER)

O‘AHU, HAWAI‘I

RANDIZIA CRISOSTOMO (SHE/HER) IS AN INDIGENOUS CHAMORU FAMALAO’AN, LECTURER, AND

VISUAL/ILLUSTRATIVE ARTIST BORN AND RAISED IN GUÅHAN (GUAM), AND ON THE UNCEDED COAST

SALISH LANDS OF WASHINGTON STATE. SHE CURRENTLY LIVES IN O‘AHU IN THE OCCUPIED KINGDOM OF

HAWAI‘I AS A PH.D. STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA STUDYING INDIGENOUS POLITICS

WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE. RANDIZIA IS ALSO A GRADUATE ASSISTANT FOR

POLITICAL SCIENCE AND ETHNIC STUDIES WHERE SHE TEACHES INTRODUCTORY-LEVEL,

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES, DESIGNS SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEOS, AND DEPARTMENT VISUAL RESOURCES.

OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM, RANDIZIA SERVES AS A COMMUNITY AND STUDENT FACILITATOR OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON’S RESEARCH FAMILY, A PACIFIC ISLANDER STUDENT COLLECTIVE AT UW,

THAT HIGHLIGHTS INDIGENOUS PACIFIC ISLANDER VOICES, MICRONESIAN ADVOCACY NETWORKS, AND

WORLDVIEWS. SHE ALSO SERVES AS A COMMUNITY OUTREACH COORDINATOR FOR THE CULTURE IS

LIVING EXHIBIT, AT THE BURKE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND CULTURE, A SPACE CREATING

ONGOING DECOLONIAL NARRATIVES THROUGH ART, EDUCATION, AND COMMUNITY NETWORKS. HER

INTERESTS INCLUDE INDIGENOUS INTIMACIES, CREATIVE FUTURES, ANTI-COLONIAL ART, RESURGENCE,

AND STORYTELLING.

LADISA DAWN QUINTANILLA

DISA DAWN WRITES COZY SUPERNATURAL ADVENTURES, HOPEPUNK, AND CROSS-GENRE WOMEN’S

FICTION. SHE’S KNOWN FOR WEAVING INAFA’MAOLEK INTO MODERN STORYTELLING AND

REPRESENTING CHAMORU HEROINES IN POPULAR GENRES. AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE UNIVERSITY

OF GUAM WITH DEGREES IN BUSINESS AND PSYCHOLOGY, SHE EARNED A MASTER OF FINE ARTS IN

CREATIVE WRITING FROM THE JACK KEROUAC SCHOOL OF DISEMBODIED POETICS AT NAROPA

UNIVERSITY IN BOULDER, COLORADO. SHE’S A GOLDEN ROSE FINALIST, A NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE

AWARDS CROSS-GENRE FINALIST, AND HER BOOKS HAVE RANKED ON AMAZON BESTSELLER LISTS. DISA

LIVES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH HER FAMILY, A LAZY DOG, AND A SKELETON NAMED CHARLIE.

ZACHARY BELCHER

CHICAGO, IL.LINOIS

WEBSITE: HTTPS://FOCUSINGON.ME/

MY NAME IS ZACHARY BELCHER. I'M A BLACK CHAMORU ARTIST BASED IN CHICAGO, IL. I AM A

MULTIMEDIA CREATIVE FOCUSED ON PHOTOGRAPHY, FASHION, AND DESIGN. THROUGH MY WORK, I AIM

TO AUTHENTICALLY DOCUMENT THE EXPLORATION OF MY EXPERIENCE, IDENTITY, AND SELF.

MORG/HOBBYOFSLITHERS

I I WAS BORN AND RAISED STATESIDE. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO GUAM, BUT I HOPE TO, SOMEDAY(WHEN

FINANCES ALLOW). I STRUGGLED WITH MY IDENTITY FOR THE LONGEST TIME BECAUSE OF MANY

THINGS. THESE THINGS INCLUDE, RACISM, LACK OF GUAM HISTORY IN TEXTBOOKS, BLOOD QUANTUM,

AND SOME OF MY FAMILY NOT CONTINUING TO PASS ON THE LANGUAGE.

DESPITE ALL OF THIS, WE MANAGED TO KEEP THE CUSTOMS, COURTESIES, HOSPITALITY, AND MANNERS.

WE ALSO KEPT THE TRADITIONAL CUISINE, HOSPITALITY, AND STORIES FROM WWII AND POST WWII. I

HAVE BEEN LUCKY THAT I HAD HISTORY TEACHERS WHO WOULD PLATFORM ME TO SHARE WHAT I

KNOW FROM GUAM AND SO THEY CAN HEAR MY PERSPECTIVE. I AM FORTUNATE THAT THE FRIENDS AND

FAMILY(NON-CHAMORU) I GREW UP WITH WOULD MAKE SURE RESPECT AND LEARN EXPERIENCES.


DAVID CHARLESWORTH

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

DAVID CHARLESWORTH IS THE PROUD GRANDSON OF ELIZABETH (BELANG) PEREZ CORREIA, BORN IN

SUMAY IN 1937. HE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN DIGGING MORE DEEPLY INTO HIS FAMILY HISTORY. FOR THE

FIRST TIME THIS PAST SUMMER, HE TRAVELED TO GUAM TO REUNITE WITH FAMILY IN SANTA RITA, VISIT

SUMAY, AND EAT ALL THE CHAMORU FOOD HE CANNOT EASILY GET IN MASSACHUSETTS. HE LIVES IN

THE BOSTON AREA AND TEACHES HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH.

BRIANA MAZZOLINI-BLANCHARD

MY NAME IS BRIANA MAZZOLINI-BLANCHARD AND I AM THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF ROSABELLA

POCAIGUE “BEJA” OF THE POKIKI AND TUGONG CLAN FROM THE VILLAGE OF YONA.

CLAIRE TAIJERON JOKERST WHITE

TERRITORY: NISENAN AND MIWOK

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

CLAIRE TAIJERON JOKERST WHITE IS FAMILIAN TEHA, DICTA, KOKURA, YAN GOLO. SHE IS A FORMER

TEACHER, A POET, AND A POLICY ANALYST WHO HAS BEEN GETTING IN TOUCH WITH OUR ROOTS,

LEARNING CHAMORU AND WHAT IT MEANS TO STEWARD TANO-TA YAN I HANOM OVER THE PAST FEW

YEARS. SHE IS DELIGHTED TO BE A PART OF SUCH AN INCLUSIVE, INTENTIONAL ZINE AND IS COMMITTED

TO SPREADING OUR CULTURE EVERYWHERE SHE CAN. SHE THANKS THE WATER PROTECTORS AND

FREEDOM FIGHTERS ACROSS THE MARIANAS FOR THEIR TIRELESS, LOVE-FUELED WORK AND BELIEVES

WE CAN OVERCOME THE COLONIAL VIOLENCE THAT HAS BEEN PLAGUING OUR LAND, WATERS, AND

PEOPLE.

JOEY SWATZELL, AUSTIN, TEXAS

MY NAME IS JOEY SWATZELL. I LIVED ON GUAM FOR A LONG TIME AND MOVING AWAY IN 2013 WAS ONE

OF THE HARDEST THINGS I’VE EVER GONE THROUGH.

JOANNA MALPICA, (SHE/HER)

LISJAN (OHLONE) TERRITORY

CONCORD, CA.LIFORNIA

JOANNA MALPICA, OF FAMILIAN PUGAI, FAMILIAN BUCHI, AND FAMILIAN DOAK, IS A HOBBY

PHOTOGRAPHER RESIDING IN UNCEDED LISJAN (OHLONE) TERRITORY AKA CONCORD, CA. SHE MAKES

PHOTOS THAT CATCH HER EYE AND FREEZE A PLACE IN TIME. PHOTOGRAPHY SERVES AS A WAY FOR

JOANNA TO EXPRESS HERSELF AND TAKE UP SPACE, AND SHE HOPES TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO

THE SAME.

DILLON QUITUGUA, HAWAI’I

I AM A CHAMORRO ULTRAMARATHON RUNNER WHO'S TRAINING TO SUMMIT MT. EVEREST. THIS

WRITING IS A GENERAL FEELING OF LOSS FROM BEING SO FAR REMOVED FROM GUAM AND MY FAMILY,

BUT BRINGS ME HOPE IN EXPRESSING MYSELF AS WHO I AM- AND NOT WHAT I DO. I AM CHAMORRO

BECAUSE I AM CHAMORRO, NOT BECAUSE I LIVE IN GUAM.


LATECIA & HOPE MESNGON

THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY MY DAUGHTER, HOPE. WE ARE A MILITARY FAMILY. HOPE IS A UNIVERSITY

OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY (UMBC) GRADUATE AND CURRENTLY RESIDES IN LACEY, WA.

BRIKI CAJANDIG (SHE/HER)

BRIKI CAJANDIG (SHE/HER) IS A QUEER, INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY HEALTH ADVOCATE WHO SERVES AS

THE PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE SUICIDE PREVENTION UNIT AT THE NATIVE

AMERICAN HEALTH CENTER BASED IN OAKLAND, CA. SHE WAS RAISED AROUND SOLANO AND YOLO

COUNTIES, BUT CONSIDERS DAVIS AS HER HOMETOWN. SHE COMES FROM A FAMILY OF 7; 3 SISTERS, 1

BROTHER AND HER PARENTS TERRY (LEON-GUERRERO) AND JUAN. SHE HAS COME TO GRAVITATE

TOWARDS HER PACIFIC ISLANDER ROOTS THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF HER LIFE AND IS

CONTINUOUSLY STRIVING TO DISCOVER THE INTRICACIES OF HER CHAMORU DIASPORA IDENTITY. FOR

THE PAST DECADE SHE HAS SPENT THE MAJORITY OF HER TIME IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, RECEIVING

HER BACHELORS IN PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIOLOGY AND HER MPH IN NATIVE HAWAIIAN/INDIGENOUS

HEALTH THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII SYSTEM. SHE CURRENTLY LIVES ON OHLONE TERRITORY

IN THE BAY AREA OF CALIFORNIA WITH HER GIRLFRIEND AND THEIR TWO PETS, MIKO AND OLIVE.

PATRICIA ANN POCAIGUE BEUKE

POULSBO, WASHINGTON

I TEACH KINDERGARTEN-12TH GRADE TEACHERS HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AS A

PROFESSION AND BELONG TO A SMALL WRITING GROUP OF TEACHERS. WRITING POETRY HELPS ME

PROCESS LIFE AND ALLOWS ME TO CREATIVELY SHARE MY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. I ASPIRE TO

LEARN CHAMORRO WELL ENOUGH TO WRITE ENTIRE POEMS IN MY NATIVE TONGUE. MY SON AND I

PARTICIPATED IN THE TWO WEEK ADULT PILOT IMMERSION PROGRAM IN JUNE 2022. SIX FAMILY

MEMBERS JOINED US AFTERWARDS FOR AN ADDITIONAL TWO WEEKS. MY GUINAIYA POEM PAIRED WITH

OUR FAMILY PICTURE SUMMARIZES AND CELEBRATES THE PROFOUND AFFECTION WE HAVE FOR OUR

ANCESTRAL HOMELAND AND FAMILY.

DOLORES TAIJERON

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

MY CULTURE IS IMPORTANT IN THAT IT IS THE REASON FOR HOW WE ACT AND REACT WITHIN SOCIETY

WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT WE ARE DISPLAYING OUR HERITAGE, OUR UPBRINGING, OUR BIASES FOR

THOSE AROUND US TO READ. IT IS IN THE FOOD WE EAT, THE RESPECT WE GIVE, THE ARTS WE MAKE, THE

MEMORIES, EVEN THE SIMPLE WAY OF CLEANING THE HOUSE; CULTURE IS DISPLAYED LIKE AN OPEN

BOOK. AS I LIVE MY CULTURE I AM PASSING IT DOWN TO THE GENERATIONS TO COME.


GABRIELLE MONIQUE TOVES (SHE/HER)

SILVERDALE, WASHINGTON

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF GUAM. I RECENTLY MOVED TO WASHINGTON AND

AM WORKING AS A MEDICAL ASSISTANT. WRITING AND POETRY HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE POSITIVE

CONSTANT IN MY LIFE. I GREW UP VERY SHY AND QUIET, SO IT WAS HARDER FOR ME TO SHARE MY

EMOTIONS WITH OTHERS. I WAS TAUGHT AT A YOUNG AGE THAT I SHOULDN'T HAVE A VOICE, AND

NOTHING I HAD TO SAY HELD ANY VALUE. POETRY WAS THE WAY I WAS ABLE TO COPE WITH THE

BATTLES I HAD IN MY MIND AND STRUGGLES I WENT THROUGH IN LIFE. IN A SENSE, MY WRITING IS A

RECLAMATION OF MY TRAUMA, AS WELL AS UNLEARNING AND RETEACHING MYSELF HOW TO HAVE A

VOICE, BECAUSE WORDS HOLD SO MUCH POWER AND VALUE AND SO DO I.

CARRERA DIEGO

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

I AM A CHAMORU WOMAN RAISED IN CALIFORNIA, BUT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ROOTED IN OUR CULTURE.

LAST YEAR MY HUSBAND AND I TOOK OUR THREE CHILDREN TO GUAM FOR THEIR FIRST TIME. IT TOOK 20+

YEARS FOR ME TO GO BACK AND IT WAS THE MOST SOUL-SATISFYING THING I'VE DONE IN A LONG TIME. IT

WAS A DREAM COME TRUE BRINGING OUR FAMAGU'ON TO SEE WHERE THEIR BLOODLINE IS FROM AND

ALSO HEARTWARMING TO SEE THEM APPRECIATE IT ALL AT THEIR YOUNG AGE. IT WAS SOMETHING

WE'VE PLANNED FOR SO LONG AND WHEN WE FINALLY DID IT, ALL THE EXTRA EFFORT WE PUT INTO

MAKING THE TRIP HAPPEN WAS BEYOND WORTH IT. ALTHOUGH WE LIVE STATESIDE, THERE'S NO

DENYING THAT THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

HURAO PABLO-COOK (HE/HIM)

LONDON, UK

IG @HURAOPABLOCOOK

I AM A TWENTY YEAR OLD MIXED-CHAMORU ARTIST CURRENTLY STUDYING ACTING IN LONDON. I WROTE

THIS PIECE ABOUT MY YEARNING TO LEARN THE CHAMORU LANGUAGE AND MOVE BACK TO GUÅHAN,

AND MY FEELINGS OF ISOLATION AT TIMES GROWING UP IN THE DIASPORA.

COURTNEY BOWEN

ROHNERT PARK, CALIFORNIA

I AM COURTNEY AND I AM AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT STUDYING ENGLISH LITERATURE. I BECAME

INTERESTED IN LITERARY TRADITIONS OF CHAMORUS IN EARNEST RECENTLY, BUT HAVE ALWAYS BEEN

ACTIVE IN CREATIVE WRITING. IN MY FIRST PUBLICATION, MY WORK SHARES GLIMPSES INTO MY LIFE AS I

EXPLORE MY VOICE WITHIN THE CHAMORU LITERARY TRADITION. MY EXPERIENCE AS A CHAMORU

COLLEGE STUDENT AT A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTION HAS GIVEN MY THE COURAGE TO FINALLY

SHARE MY ART.


ANGELA CARRIER & JAY BAZA PASCUA “SINANGAN”

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

IN DECEMBER 2006, I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF SPENDING ALMOST TWO MONTHS BACK HOME, IMMERSING

MYSELF IN THE CULTURE AND SOAKING UP EVERY MOMENT AND EXPERIENCE. AT THE TIME IT FELT

OVERWHELMING TO BE BLESSED WITH SUCH ABUNDANCE FROM SO MANY ARTISTS ALL AT ONCE. MY

UNCLE JOE "MATATNGA LATTE", MAMA JILL, UNCLE ED, SI RAY, SI FIL, SI RAF AND MANY MORE. I OFTEN

FELT MAMÅHLAO FOR THE BOUNTY OF BRILLIANCE AND GENEROSITY THAT WAS BESTOWED ON ME

DURING THAT VISIT BACK HOME. AS IF I DIDN'T DESERVE SUCH CARE AND HONOR, MY MIND AND BODY

STILL TRYING TO DECOLONIZE THAT SENSE OF IMPOSTER SYNDROME. NEAR THE END OF MY STAY, AT A

FRIDAY ARTISTS GATHERINGS AT THE GUAM GALLERY OF ART, JAY BAZA PASCUA “SINANGAN” SHARED

A CHANT WITH ME AS I PREPARED TO RETURN TO SAN FRANCISCO. AT THAT TIME I RECEIVED IT WITH

HUMILITY AND GRATITUDE, BUT PERHAPS WASN'T READY TO FULLY ACCEPT AND EMBODY IT. I FEEL

READY NOW. OVER THE YEARS, I WOULD PULL OUT THE PRINTED COPY AND READ IT TO MYSELF WHEN I

NEEDED MY SPIRITS TO BE LIFTED OR RECONNECTED TO WHAT REALLY MATTERS. HU TUNGO NA HA

PAGA GI SANHALOMNA I LINALAN I MANAINATA (I KNOW SHE HAS PLACED WITHIN HER BEING THE LIFE

OF OUR ANCESTORS) WITH JAY’S PERMISSION, I SHARE A VERSION OF THE CHANT HERE AND SOME

PHOTOS FROM THE GATHERING.

NTÅDDONG GOGUE TEDPAHAGO HA/GUI/ÑA (ALEX M. WHITE)

COAST MIWOK & POMO TERRITORY, SANTA ROSA, CA

GUAHU SI TÅDDONG GOGUE TEDPAHAGO, LAO I NA’ÅN-HU SI ALEX M. WHITE. CHAMORU YU'.

FAMILIAN LEON GUERRERO WHITE I TAOTAO GINEN MANGILAO YAN DYDASCO CRUZ I TAOTAO GINEN

SANTA RITA YU'. DUMADONKOLO GIYA I ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS OF THE TSÉSTHO’E, NÚU-AGHA-TɄVɄ-

PɄ̱ , AND NDÉ KÓNITSĄĄÍÍ GOKÍYAA. SUMÅSAGA YU’ GIYA I OCCUPIED TERRITORY OF THE GALLINOMERO,

WAPPO AND ME-WUK PEOPLES.

NEVER HAVING HEARD THE WORD "CHAMORRO" UNTIL I WAS 10, IT'D BE ANOTHER TWO DECADES

BEFORE I'D BEGIN IDENTIFYING AS "CHAMORU YU'".

DEDICATED TO I TAOTAO TANO GIYA TODU I LUGAT, OUR CHAMORU RELATIVES ACROSS THE DIASPORA

AND AROUND THE WORLD. ALWAYS REMEMBER: CHAMORU HAO.

AREN KERR (THEY/THEM)

LENAPEHOKING (PHILADELPHIA)

AREN "ÅNI" KERR WAS BORN IN GUÅHAN. THEY WENT TO ART SCHOOL IN LONDON AND HAVE WORKED

AS A DESIGNER AND SOFTWARE ENGINEER. THEY LIVED IN NYC FOR SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE

RELOCATING TO PHILADELPHIA WHERE THEY CURRENTLY RESIDE. THEIR CREATIVE PROJECTS ARE

INSPIRED BY NATURE, STORIES, AND CITIES.

EMILY WOOD, (SHE/HER/HERS)

WASHINGTON, DC

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, EMILY HAS BEEN EXPLORING HER CHAMORU IDENTITY THROUGH THE

LANGUAGE AND ART. THIS PIECE REMINDS US THAT OUR ANCESTORS LIVED OFF THE LAND, AND THAT AS

LONG AS WE TREAD LIGHTLY AND TAKE CARE OF I TANO'-TA, IT WILL PROVIDE FOR US.


JEREMY CASTRO

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

I WROTE THIS AS THE INSERT TO A SONG I MADE WITH CHAMORU MUSICIAN SABYU (MATT SABLAN OF

SAIPAN - WHO NOW LIVES IN SEATTLE). THE TITLE OF THE SONG IS FINA'DENNE'.

JACOB JARDEL (HE/HIM)

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

,

JACOB JARDEL (HE/HIM) IS A CHAMORU FROM GUAM LIVING IN KANSAS CITY WITH ROOTS IN CALIFORNIA

AND OKLAHOMA. HE IS CURRENTLY PURSUING A PH.D. IN ENGLISH AND CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION AT

THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - KANSAS CITY, WHERE HE IS ALSO A GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT.

HE ALSO SERVES AS THE EDITOR OF THE SOSLAND JOURNAL. HIS WORK HAS APPEARED IN THE 580

MIXTAPES VOL. 1, CAMERON UNIVERSITY’S GOLD MINE, AND NUMBER ONE MAGAZINE AND ALSO SERVES

AS THE EDITOR OF THE SOSLAND JOURNAL. WHEN NOT DOING SCHOOL AND TEACHING, JACOB

COLLECTS MAGIC: THE GATHERING CARDS, NEEDS OUT OVER PRO WRESTLING AND VIDEO GAMES, AND

WATCHES BASEBALL OR YOUTUBE WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND AND HIS CAT.

KULU’LO’ÑA

VIRGINIA

,I WROTE THIS WHEN I VISITED HOME (GUÅHAN) OVER THE PAST SUMMER, AFTER 7 YEARS OF BEING

AWAY. I WROTE IT AS A THANK YOU TO ONE OF MY HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS WHO WAS A HUGE

INFLUENCE ON SO MANY PEOPLE, AND WHO PASSED AWAY UNEXPECTEDLY IN 2021. I ALWAYS FELT OUT

OF PLACE GROWING UP AS LIGHT COMPLECTED LIKE I DON’T BELONG, BUT MS SHANNON (BEING MIXED

HERSELF) MADE ME FEEL THAT ALTHOUGH YOU MAY NOT PHENOTYPICALLY LOOK CHAMORU, THAT

DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE CULTURE AND COMMUNITY.

SHAYLIN SALAS

SHAYLIN NICOLE SALAS IS A CHAMORU WRITER AND RESEARCHER. SHE WAS BORN

IN HER HOMELAND OF GUÅHAN AND RAISED IN WASHINGTON STATE. IN 2019, SHE

EARNED HER M.S. IN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY AND SINCE THEN HAS MOVED

BACK HOME TO LIVE ON THE LAND OF HER ANCESTORS AND TO FIGHT FOR A MORE

JUST WORLD ALONGSIDE HER PEOPLE. SHE HAS BEEN STUDYING AND ENGAGING IN

ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE WORK FOR NEARLY EIGHT YEARS. SHE ENJOYS

PLAYING IN THE OCEAN, BEING WITH FAMILY, AND LIVING AND LEARNING

CHAMORU CULTURE.

CONNIE ANN EBIO SANTOS

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

MY NAME IS CONNIE ANN, I AM 31 AND HAVE BEEN RESIDING IN LAS VEGAS MOST OF MY LIFE. MY FATHER

JOINED THE ARMY WHICH LEAD OUR FAMILY TO TRAVEL ALL OVER THE WORLD. MY PARENTS ARE BOTH

FROM THE VILLAGE DEDEDO. IT WASN’T UNTIL 2019 WHEN I HAD LOST MY CORPORATE JOB OF 4 YEARS

THAT WOKE ME UP TO VISIT OUR HOMELAND. I WAS SO PULLED TO MAKE THE VISIT AND LEARN MORE

ABOUT MYSELF. I WAS PURSUING TO BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHER AT THE TIME WHICH INSPIRED ME TO

BRING MY FILM CAMERA. I LOOK AT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS OFTEN TO HELP ME REMEMBER. REMEMBER

WHO I AM, OUR ANCESTORS, THE LAND, OCEAN AND OUR VALUES. THAT TRIP FOREVER CHANGED ME.


TAYLOR ‘PAIGE’ AGUON

I AM A DIE HARD ACTIVIST WHO IS TRYING TO FIGHT FOR OUR LAND BACK, PROTECTION OF OUR NATURAL

RESOURCES, AND SPREADING AWARENESS TO THE FUTURE GENERATION ON THE DECOLONIZATION

MOVEMENT. I AM SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.

NATALIE "SISSY" SANTOS VELASCO

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

KADA DIHA HU HASSO HAO.

GUMA’ GELA’

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

PHOTO: CLAY AFLLEJE MAKEUP: CLAY AFLLEJE, SO’LE CELESTIAL, LOURDEZ VELASCO GRAPHIC

DESIGN: LOURDEZ VELASCO DESIGN AND STYLING: ROLDY AGUERO ABLAO, ROQUIN SIONGCO

MODELS: KALEA, ISI, HUT

,

GUMA’ GELA’ IS A QUEER CHAMORU ARTS COLLECTIVE HERE ON TURTLE ISLAND (AND ON THE ISLANDS).

A FEW ARE IN WASHINGTON, WHICH HELP US GET TOGETHER TO CREATE AND IMAGINE CULTURE, ART

AND HISTORY FROM LAGUAS YAN GANI EVERY SO OFTEN. IN 2018, WE WERE ASKED TO BE A PART OF THE

GRAND OPENING OF THE SEATTLE ASIAN ART MUSEUM, DURING A FESTIVAL HAPPENING AN ENTIRE

WEEKEND. WE HAD JUST COME OFF A FASHION SHOW IN LONDON, SO WE WERE READY TO DO MORE AND

WE’RE INSPIRED BY THE NATIVES BIRDS OF THE MARIANAS ISLANDS. DURING THIS TIME, WE LEARNED

THAT THE KO’KO BIRD WAS COMING BACK FROM ENDANGERMENT, WHICH WE ALL THOUGHT WAS A

CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION. SO WE DECIDED TO CREATE A WELCOME BACK TO THE JUNGLE TYPE OF

EXPERIENCE, WITH ALL NATIVE BIRDS COMING TO JOIN THE GUPOT. WE POSED AND FLUTTERED

THROUGH THE MUSEUM IN OUR POKSI REGALIA, LEAVING FEATHERS AND FANCY EVERYWHERE,

DANCING AND MOVING TO “STAYING ALIVE” BY LIZZO. AS CUSTOM, WE ENDED WITH THE ELECTRIC SLIDE

ON STAGE. HERE WE ARE AT THE END, EACH OF US INSPIRED BY A DIFFERENT BIRD, BOTH HERE AND

GONE, POSING OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM AND IN FRONT OF “BLACK SUN” BY ISAMU NOGUCHI. THERE ARE

ALSO POSTCARDS WE CREATED FOR EACH BIRD TOO. HERE IS A FEW OF THEM.

ROLDY AGUERO ABLAO (HE/HIM),

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

MY DAD LOVE TO REEF FISH, AND USED A TALAYA EVERY SO OFTEN. HE WOULD USE ONE WHEN HE

WOULD GO OUT TO THE WATERS, BRINGING HOME A SALTY SMELLING NET FOR MY BROTHER AND I TO

CLEAN. THERE WOULD ALGAE, SEA GRASS, SPIKEY LEAVES, CORAL, AND ALL SORTS OF REEF BITS THAT

WOULD ALSO GET CAUGHT. THE TALAYA WAS THICK, CLOUDY AND JUNGLE-LIKE, WEIGHTED DOWN WITH

SMALL BALLS OF METAL BALLS, WHICH WE WOULD HAVE TO PUSH AWAY SOMETIMES TO GET INTO THE

INTERIOR OF THE TALAYA. THIS ALSO MADE THE NET HEAVY, WHICH YOU WOULD WRAP AROUND YOUR

BODY AS YOU WADED ACROSS THE REEF. YOU WOULD GO MOSTLY DURING THE EARLY MORNINGS, WHEN

TIDES WERE A LITTLE LOWER, TO SEARCH FOR FISH THAT GOT CAUGHT INSIDE THE REEF. MY DAD WOULD

GO OFTEN, AND ONCE USED THESE AIR JORDANS THAT I GOT IN HIGH SCHOOL AS REEF WALKERS. HE

NEVER GOT THE FANCY ONES FOLKS WOULD USE BUT I ALWAYS DID LOVE THE IMAGE OF HIM WALKING

THROUGH THE WATERS WITH THESE SHOES, A NET WRAPPED AROUND HIS BODY DURING AN EARLY

MORNING LIGHT.


JAY CASTRO (HE/HIM)

ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA

REDRICEPODCAST.COM

RED RICE AND FINA’DENNE’ (FIN-UH-DEN-EE) SAUCE IS A TRADITIONAL CHAMORU DISH THAT HAS BEEN A

PART OF OUR PEOPLE FOR CENTURIES. THE RICE IS STAINED PURPOSELY WITH ACHIOTE, AND THE

FINA’DENNE’ SAUCE GIVES TRADITIONAL DISHES LIKE RED RICE, A POP—A TASTE THAT HAS YOU GOING

BACK FOR SECONDS. AND LIKE WE DO WITH A SCOOP OF RED RICE AND A DRIZZLE OF FINA’DENNE’ ON

TOP, THIS PODCAST WILL TALK STORY—BUT THAT’S THE POP—THAT TALK THAT’LL HAVE YOU COMING

BACK FOR HOURS. SO, EMBRACE YOUR CURIOSITY AS JAYBYRD NAVIGATES A CONNECTION TO HIS

HERITAGE, THE CHAMORU FROM THE MARIANAS ISLANDS.

DEREK NOCHEFRANCA (HE/HIM)

CONCORD, CALIFORNIA

@DEREKNOCHEFRANCA / DEREKNOCHEFRANCA.COM

I AM A CHARACTER/PROP DESIGNER AND A FREELANCE ILLUSTRATOR. MY SUBMISSION SPEAKS

TOWARDS REPRESENTATION IN BOTH THE MEDIUM OF ANIMATION AND WITHIN THE INDUSTRY AS A

WHOLE. I BELIEVE IN SPREADING OUR CULTURE AND JOY THROUGH STORYTELLING WITH THE HOPES OF

INSPIRING YOUNGER GENERATIONS TO FEEL INCLUDED, SEEN, AND EMPOWERED. WITH STREAMING

SERVICES TODAY, THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY IS A GROWING FIELD AND IN NEED OF AUTHENTIC

STORYTELLERS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS AND WALKS OF LIFE. I AIM TO REPRESENT MY CHAMORU

FAMILIA AND THE ISLAND I LOVE.

ED SABLAN (HE/HIM)

PORTLAND, OREGON

I'M ED SABLAN AND I LIVE IN PORTLAND, OREGON WHERE I'VE BEEN COOKING CHAMORU FOOD

PROFESSIONALLY FOR 15 YEARS. THE LAST TIME I WAS ON GUAHAN WAS 2016 AS A MEMBER OF THE

CULINARY DIASPORA AT FESTPAC. MY ESSAY IS A SHORT STORY OF LEAVING THE ISLAND TO FIND

MYSELF.

ISA GAGARIN (SHE/HER)

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

I NA'ÅN-HU SI ISA, YIYINGGA YAN MA'ESTRO YU' YAN SUMÅSAGA GIYA MINNEAPOLIS. MY NAME IS ISA, I

AM AN ARTIST AND EDUCATOR AND I LIVE IN MINNEAPOLIS. I WAS BORN ON GUAHAN, RAISED IN MILILANI,

HAWAI'I AND HAVE LIVED IN MINNEAPOLIS FOR THE PAST TWENTY YEARS. MY MATERNAL LINEAGE IS

CHAMORU (FAMILIAN BIRA YAN GORO) AND EUROPEAN AND MY PATERNAL ANCESTRY IS FROM ILOCOS

NORTE IN THE PHILIPPINES. IN 2020, I STARTED TAKING MICHAEL LUJAN BEVACQUA'S ONLINE CHAMORU

LANGUAGE CLASS. THAT YEAR MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A PERSONAL JOURNEY OF DEEPENING MY

UNDERSTANDING OF WHO I AM AND WHERE I COME FROM. "OCEAN'S BELLY BUTTON" CONVEYS A SENSE

OF FEELING CONNECTED AND FRAGMENTED AT THE SAME TIME, WHICH RELATES TO MY EXPERIENCE AS

A CHAMORU LIVING FAR AWAY FROM MY ANCESTRAL ISLAND.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!