Richard Flores “Dick” Taitano was a prominent figure in Guam politics and community service following the establishment of the civilian government on Guam. Taitano was a six-term member of the Guam Legislature in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also the first Chamorro to be appointed to serve as the director of the Office of Territories (OOT) in the United States Department of Interior.
Richard Flores Taitano Read Post »
Perhaps no individual figure in Guam’s recent history epitomizes the social and political activism of the 1990s more than Angel Anthony “Anghet” Leon Guerrero Santos, III (1959-2003). Santos was a United States Air Force veteran, a former Senator of the Guam Legislature, and an icon of CHamoru activism. He fought for the implementation of the CHamoru Land Trust Act and the return of excess federal lands, and was an advocate of social justice for the indigenous CHamorus of Guam.
Angel Leon Guerrero Santos Read Post »
Matatnga. In 1993, Angel Leon Guerrero Santos, the spokesman for the Chamorro activist group Nasion Chamoru was invited to Hawaii to join a gathering of indigenous people who were putting the United States on trial. Native Hawaiians organized the proceedings on the 100-year anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
In the 1960s and 1970s, several formal entities were organized by the Government of Guam to help assess the island’s political needs and desires and its relationship with the United States. It was a time of change as Guam transitioned from naval rule to civilian governance under the Organic Act of 1950
Political Status Commissions Read Post »
The Guam Elective Governor Act was passed by the United States Congress on 11 September 1968 and granted the people of Guam the authority to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Guam. Known officially as Public Law 90-497, the Elective Governor Act declared that the majority of qualified Guam voters would jointly choose the Governor and Lieutenant Governor and set the first election date for 3 November 1970.
Elective Governor Act 1968 Read Post »
Guam residents seek more self government. In an effort to address deficiencies in Guam’s relationship with the United States, two constitutional conventions were convened by island leaders. Collectively, the conventions are referred to as ConCon.
Guam Constitutional Conventions (ConCon) Read Post »
In the early 1960s when the United Nations passed Resolution 1514 (XV) declaring that peoples in colonized territories had the right to self-determination, many non-self-governing territories around the world began to negotiate new political statuses and relationships with their colonial governments. The UN asserted that this movement toward self-determination should be a voluntary and democratic process, whereby the people of the territory choose their new relationship or status based on their needs and desires.
CHamoru Registry and the Decolonization Registry Read Post »
When Guam was ceded to the United States after the Spanish-American War in 1898, the island fell under the administrative control of the US Navy. The first half of the 20th century saw thirty-two naval governors appointed to rule over the island and its people, but with no formally established civil rights or offers of citizenship for the people of Guam.
National Attention on Guam’s Postwar Campaign for Citizenship Read Post »
Although Chamorros have a long history of resisting the different colonial administrations that have governed the island, the latter decades of the 20th century are marked by the emergence of formalized indigenous activist groups. These groups mobilized to addressed the island’s ongoing colonial status.
OPI-R: Organization of People for Indigenous Rights Read Post »
Ancient wisdom. Within the region known as Micronesia is a chain of islands called the Marianas, which are the furthest north and the nearest to Asia of all the Pacific Islands. The Marianas are the summits of a vast, submerged mountain range extending south from Japan. Guam is the largest and southernmost of these islands.
Land Ownership in Guam Read Post »
