Indigenous Blues in Guam

Living in Micronesia, many of us are aware of the plight of Guam, the U.S. Territory in the region that is basically one large U.S. military base with all four branches of the U.S. Armed Forces having bases on approximately 210 square miles.  That place in Micronesia that doesn't think it is located in Micronesia.  That U.S. Territory in Guam where you must fly through to get to Yap or Palau on the only airline, United Airlines, that services Micronesia.  We all know about Guam, here in Micronesia (where Guam is supposedly ONLY located geographically, but in reality is not a part of the region). 

Over the years, Micronesians living in Guam have been treated like they are living in some faraway land, far removed from the Islands they call home, in the same region of Micronesia.  Consider the opening of an article written by one of the most distinguished Guamanians of the day, Dr. Robert Underwood:

The confluence of a series of seemingly disconnected events surrounding the freely associated states in Micronesia, the status of migrants, and the erratic emotion-laden debate about Micronesians in Guam combine to demand coherent policy.

Guam has always had a problem with the influx of "migrants" from neighboring Micronesian islands, which many have called the "outer islands of Guam".  Even Micronesians on Guam have resorted to airing their opinion and concerns on this phenomenon, consider a Micronesian journalist reflecting on a similar issue in the USA:

For Micronesians on Guam, the list of challenges is long: discrimination, language barrier, health insurance and housing, among others. These are not at all different from the situation my Mexican friends found themselves in, decades ago in Oregon.

Now, the latest issue from Guam on their unique identity and relationship with their colonial masters sounds like a cry for help from a people identifying as another people. In an article titled:

‘It sucks’: Guam’s complex Indigenous Chamorro people relationship with US

It's a sad state of affairs for the Guamanians, who identify as Chamorus.  They wanted to be Americans at first, proud of their connection to their colonial master, even abandoning their language and culture to be "Americanised", only to look across the fence and see their Pacific Island brothers thriving in their own culture and language.  

So, while Micronesian migrants were pouring into Guam, the Guamanians or chamorus, were looking down on and even despising these people who were living as close to their language and culture as any indigenous people can be, something they now aspire to be.  They made fun of them, with the leading newspapers in Guam painting pictures of Micronesians as ignorant and uneducated criminals, ignoring the vast majority of Micronesians who were taking menial jobs, paying taxes, and living the quiet life in Guam.  

I'm reminded of a saying that goes like this, "Be careful of what you wish for".  The Guamanians wished to be something other than what they were, and through that process found out the truth, that "It Sucks" to be them.