Chapter 2:

Hami ni’ ManChamorro…

(We the Chamorros)

  On December 17^th, 1901 more than two dozen Chamorros gathered together in Hagatna, Guam, with the political status of Guam heavy on each’s mind. They represented the economic, social and political elite of the island, and the result of their meeting was a document which petitioned the United States of America, which had been governing Guam for less then three years to create a permanent civil government for Guam.

            It is with this act, that the contradictory, yet common colonized stance of moving both closer to and further from the colonizer is inaugurated. This is the document which officially creates a relationship between the United States and the Chamorros. Prior to this, history has little or no place for Chamorros in their own histories. Spanish and explorers’ accounts of Chamorros either villianize them as savages, or victimize them as suffering little natives, cowering beneath the oppressive thumb of Western history. Following the American takeover however, documents concerning the agency of Chamorros are still scarce, but are at last existent. This petition is where it all begins.

            The Petition relating to Permanent Government of the Island of Guam exhibits well the nature of the colonized mind, being (or desiring to be) the same as the colonizer and being (or feeling) different at the same time. The petition’s ultimate hope is that the US Congress would create a civilian government on Guam. The Navy that had been ruling Guam since 1899, and would continue to rule until after World War II was an autocratic regime that had proved itself to be the good at indifference and better at complaining about Chamorro intrinsic laziness. But to say that Chamorros desired to be part of America simplifies the exchange to an almost criminal level.

            While on the surface the petition seems to be the Chamorros bowing before the new principled might of the United States, in actuality, this petition shows much more resistance and critique than supplication. While also creating the context for Chamorro patriotism and loyalty, it also provides a baseboard for resistance to be viewed. While Chamorros are advocating for increased US presence and intervention in the island, they are also cautious of the US and its rhetorical positions and its positions in their/ Chamorro reality.

            In terms of development, the historical lack of governance by the Spanish before, contrasted sharply with the potential for progress by the incoming Americans. There is no doubt that these men saw a better future for them, 8,000 miles west. The possibilities and potentialities in a new American regime were overwhelming. In its most basic offerings were things such as freedom, democracy and capitalism; even if those things could be adequately grown on Guam, it would be an incredible step.

            But the dissent, the critique lies in continuing the above statement, “an incredible step to what?” Although Chamorros saw new opportunities under the red/white/blue, their conversion, their choice to adopt these colors was not achieved through a blinding flash of instant mental colonization or duping. It was not as some cross-cultural contact texts of that period describe, as the light of the West or the white man overpowers, reforms and civilizes the dark natives.

            If anything, the language of the petition arises out of a careful evaluation of options:

A military government at best is distasteful and highly repugnant to the fundamental principles of civilized government, and peculiarly so to those on which is based the American government. 2 

It is not an exaggeration to say that fewer permanent guarantees of liberty and property rights exist now then when under Spanish domain. The governor of the island exercises supreme power in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, with absolutely no limitations to his actions, the people of this island having no voice whatsoever in the formulation of any law of the naming of a single official. 3

                       While the petition is far from aggressive or antagonistic is displays the fact that the mental facilities of the Chamorros are hard at work in dealing with this new regime. The first quote shows the Chamorros deconstructing the actions of the United States, in their creation of a military government on Guam, despite the fact that it contradicts the very principles which the whole American system is ideally to be based on. The second quote is their diplomatic and clear response to the already authoritarian actions of the Naval governors; such as banning all religious processions as well as the ringing of the church bells in the morning.

What this petition amounts to is a race of people wishing to improve their status, to improve their lots in life. It can be construed as a proclamation of filial loyalty to the American empire, which has been done. Or it can be seen as the Chamorro people seeking to create a better life, by taking the Americans at their word, by attempting to hold them to their principles. The fact that the petition is intrinsically critical and does not require to be re-constructed as such proves the presence of Chamorro agency, proves that there was a thought process behind these words, and not just the gruesome fawning of a native people before their new master. Therefore this petition was not written by a group of 32 men who had been blinded and duped into believing the American hype, but in actuality it was written by a group of 32 men who saw improvements, saw progress, saw better lives down the road, and sought to seize that regardless of whatever imperial power was offering it.

Former Guam Congressman Robert Underwood calls this the “height of Chamorro chutzpah. 4 I call it, the point at which two discourses emerge and diverge. The first is constantly heading west, towards California, towards Washington DC, the west. The first is active prior to the war, for it is constantly seeking approval, seeking recognition, seeking completion outside of Guam. It is rooted in patriotism and loyalty to the mother country.

The second discourse finds its home in Guam, and prior to the war is passive. It isn’t necessarily antagonistic against moving closer to the US, however it does not see any real benefits in the move either. At this point, America is hardly a part of Chamorro identity and this fact only compound ideas of Chamorro agency. Despite the rhetoric of patriotic nostalgia, the American taking of Guam in 1898 was hardly a momentous occasion. It was received with little fanfare by Chamorros or Americans. The beginning of the Chamorro and American relationship must be qualified by the following statements from Penelope Bordallo’s text A Campaign for Political Rights on the Island of Guam:

The document is also interesting because it suggests that the native people viewed their political relationship with the United States as essentially a colonial one…There is no doubt that so far as the Chamorro people were concerned, the Americans simply filled in a position established and held by the Spanish for two hundred and fifty years…America simply represented a new and perhaps, a more liberal “Mother Country.” 5

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