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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination

CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Indigenous Lenses, Interpretive Essays, Modern Guam Rises, Politics and Government

Guam’s Political Development

 

Guam’s colonized past under Spain. When the Europeans came to the Mariana Islands in the 16th and 17th centuries, they found a vigorous and highly developed community of people with a territory, economic life, distinctive culture and language in common. These Pacific islands were settled over 4,000 years ago by a group of people who came to be known as CHamorus. They were the first group of Pacific islanders to receive the full impact of European civilization when the Spanish began their colonization of the Marianas in 1668.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Politics and Government

Update: Land Ownership in Guam

 

Significant developments relative to the return of lands to the people of Guam have occurred since the original publication of this article in 1996. For instance, the Chamorro Land Trust Act (21 GCA §§ 75101-75117) or the statute enacted in 1975 to provide for the disposition of public lands in a manner that facilitated the social, cultural, and economic well-being of the Chamorro people, has been implemented, albeit on an incremental basis.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, Guamanian Era, Guamanian Era: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Modern Guam Rises, Politics and Government, Post WWII Era, Post WWII Era: Politics

Organic Act of Guam

 

Granted Congressional US citizenship to the people of Guam. The Organic Act of Guam is federal legislation passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by US President Harry S. Truman on 1 August 1950. In general, the act established a non-military, civil government on Guam; granted congressional US citizenship to residents of the island at the time and their descendants; and solidified the island’s political status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly a Spanish colony, Guam was ceded to the US in 1898.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Guamanian Era, Guamanian Era: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Modern Guam Rises, Politics and Government

Book: Secret Guam Study

 

In the 1960s the United Nations issued Resolution 1514 (XV) “Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,” as a call to end colonization around the world. As a result, many nations began the process of decolonization as territories negotiated new political statuses and exercised their rights of sovereignty and self-government.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Indigenous Lenses, Island Life, People and Places, Politics and Government, Villages, Heritage Sites and Island Life

Nasion Chamoru

 

Tinituhun. On 21 July 1991 at Latte Stone Memorial Park in Hagåtña, a small group of Chamorro men and women gathered to form a new organization. This organization would be comprised of a number of different grassroots and family-based groups, who were all connected through a commitment to the Chamorro people and to the protection of their lands, their culture and their rights.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Politics and Government

Commission on Self-Determination

 

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Government of Guam created the Commission on Self-Determination (CSD) to continue the quest for a change in Guam’s political status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. There were two commissions mandated by law: the first was organized in 1980, and the second in 1984.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Island Life, People and Places, Politics and Government, Villages, Heritage Sites and Island Life

We Are Guåhan

 

In 2006, the United States and Japan signed an agreement known as the Roadmap for Realignment Implementation. This bilateral agreement initially involved the realignment of some 8,600 marines from bases in Okinawa, Japan to the US territory of Guam in what would be the largest military buildup in the region since World War II. In addition to the relocation of marines, land would be needed to accommodate live round weapons training, as well as housing for military personnel, families and laborers.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, Historic Eras of Guam, Politics and Government

Guam Congressional Representation Act 1972

 

Places Guam representative in the House. On 10 April 1972, Public Law 92-271 was passed by the United States Congress, establishing the offices of Delegate of the Territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands. The groundbreaking law finally gave Guam and the Virgin Islands representation in Congress for two-year terms.

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CHamoru Quest for Self-Determination, Civic Society, Contemporary Guam Era, Contemporary Guam: Politics, e-Publications, Historic Eras of Guam, MARC, MARC Publications, Other MARC e-Publications, Politics and Government

PASA Conference

 

1974 proceedings of a seminar on political status, University of Guam. In February 1974, the Pacific Asian Studies Association (PASA) at the University of Guam (UOG) held a two-day seminar to discuss political status negotiations that had been ongoing in Micronesia for the past five years.

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