Guam History

This paper discusses lacunae relating to the story of empire in the Pacific, in particular how this former Spanish Micronesian region transfigured into a German and then an American one. It argues that such omissions in much of the secondary literature obscure crucial milestones in Spanish, German and United States imperial history. For Germany, taking control of Micronesia from Spain helped to set the groundwork, literally, for the Second Reich. For the United States, which still controls Guåhån and which leases the former Spanish and German Kwajalein Atoll (Kwaj) group from the now independent Republic of the Marshall Islands, the military bases established there have key strategic import. Yet there remains one other reason for studying the method by which Germany took control over Spain's former territories in this region and how the United States maintains Kwaj today. This is that both colonies were procured not in the traditionally perceived way of imperial expansion – by way of conquest – but rather through purchase and lease.

Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores first introduced the " discourse of poverty " to reaffirm the lack of economic interest in the evangelization process of the Mariana Islanders, presenting the Chamorros as 'poor' and 'humble'. The political competitors of the Spanish Crown used this stereotype, although it did not match the real socio-cultural reality of the 'Marianos', to discredit the whole Iberian quest in the light of the violent results of the colonial process. In the 20th century, some U.S. scholars have used this episode-the evangelization and conquest of the Marianos-revitalizing the Spanish " Black Legend " in the Marianas with similar political goals, affecting the Chamorros' current historic self-understanding.

Settler responsibility is a worldview grounded in profound relationships, exchanges, and solidarities between Indigenous and non-native communities. When put into practice, settler responsibility requires constant collaboration, articulation, and radical care to support a rich re-envisioning of peace and justice. Through a critique of white settler colonial discourse, I demonstrate that shared histories of US imperialism link Caribbean and Pacific Islands. Building upon kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui's notion of kuleana consciousness, I argue that decolonial awareness in local spaces is a necessary step towards creating better worlds. Applying the Hawaiian concept of kuleana, my qualitative and archival findings from Bieke (Vieques), Guåhan (Guam), and Hawaiʻi calls settlers to deepen our approaches and ethical responsibilities to the Indigenous peoples whose lands we occupy. Bringing to the fore that Indigenous movements for demilitarisation respatialise dissent in "America" beyond continental borders, I seek to raise white settler consciousness about our own ignorance of these islands, histories, and peoples.

En la segunda mitad del siglo XVII, un grupo de jesuitas españoles desembarcó en las costas de las Islas Marianas, en el Pacífico occidental, con el propósito de evangelizar a los grupos humanos que las habitaban. Sin embargo, este proyecto evangelizador pronto se tornó en un conflicto armado debido, en parte, a que las comunidades nativas se opusieron a adoptar las prácticas y los discursos de género y sexuales predicados por los misioneros.

En este texto empleare las nociones de biopolítica y heterotopía formuladas por Michel Foucault para analizar la forma en que los colonizadores españoles se sirvieron de la cultura material y, en concreto, de las estructuras arquitectónicas, para imponer sus propios estándares sexuales a los colonizados.

Mainstream history of the Mariana Islands presents the CHamoru as indigenous people who were transformed after the conquest (1668-1700) into a Hispanicized population losing their Austronesian cultural tradition. I instead emphasize the role of CHamorus during these years as active participants in their history and vehicles of what I call "adaptive resistance." In this paper I present some of the ideological interpretations that have been included in the historical narrative. They have been accepted without conducting a critical analysis of the sources and have been crucial to establish this narrative. Anthropologists have long accepted, with great relief, that our discipline renounced the search for absolute objectivity demanded, paradoxically, by many other sciences. The acquiescence to reality has allowed us to accept alternative sources of knowledge, such as poetry, novels, or songs. It allows us also to be missionaries, dancers or even pirates, or all at once. We abandoned the schizophrenic use of the third person of the plural in our writings and embraced our authorship, our "I." Claiming our authorship, we acknowledged our passions and mistakes. This acceptance better equipped us to deal with the contradictions and complexities enclosed in historical events and their commemorations. While reflecting on the anniversary of the arrival of Magellan to these islands, we have seen that there are different perspectives of the same historical event. The Government of the Philippines claims today that Lapu Lapu's killing of Magellan should be the main event to commemorate in 2021. Meanwhile, the Spaniards will celebrate with pride Magellan's or Juan Sebastián Elcano's incredible achievement.

The article gives an overview of Spanish interests in the Pacific Area after it was defeated by the United States. When the Philippines and Guam passed to American Sovereigninty due to the Paris Treaty (1898) and the rest of its dominions in Micronesia were bought by the German empire, Spain departed definitely from the region, but the legacy remained significant for half a century. The most important Spanish presence were the Jesuit missionaries in the Carolines and Marianas, especially during the Japanese period period, but the article explores also the utility of Spanish culture by Guamese Chamorros as a way to counteract American colonialism.

This paper challenges the historiographical conception of a break, of a historical discontinuity in the Mariana Islands, and an annihilation of its native inhabitants by the Spaniards at the end of the Seventeen-Century. The indigenous agency and adaptive resistance was continuously performed asymmetrically but actively in the reducciones, producing organs of power, prestige, and control through military titles and offices that were active until 1791. This adaptive resistance would face two structures of power, the Jesuit pries and the alcaldes or mayors. The history of the relations between them is the history of the villages of Guam and its peoples.

At the end of the 17th century, the Society of Jesus projected a martyrial ethos across Europe’s eastern overseas possessions, places that were of extreme importance for the control of transoceanic trade in the western Pacific. Scars of Faith offers a collection of primary sources that deal with the Jesuit martyrdom in the 17th century Mariana Islands. Facing repression and persecution to the point of death meant that Jesuit missionaries were at the heart of the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, and God and the devil in the Spanish Micronesia. And for the Society of Jesus, frontier missions such as the Mariana Islands meant a discourse of spiritual heroes whose violent deaths helped to spread Catholicism at the margins of the Spanish empire.

The documents and letters that accompany this volume are primary sources, offered in their original languages and in English, from Jesuit missionaries such as Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores, Fr. Luis de Medina, and Fr. Manuel de Solórzano y Escobar.  These documents tell a gripping account of the Jesuits and their encounters with the people of the Mariana Islands, including the native Chamorro people. Scars of Faith traces Jesuit martyrs on the frontier missions of "the Pacific" and their accounts of sociocultural clashes, violence, and efforts for peace and evangelization.

Following the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the illegal overthrow and annexation of Hawai‘i, the US government transplanted its colonial education program to places in the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. Specifically, American Sāmoa, Guam, Hawai‘i, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the US Virgin Islands would all have some aspect of the native boarding school system implemented. In many ways, the colonial education system in Guam was emblematic and exceptional to native boarding schools in the continental United States. Utilizing Guam as a case study reveals how the US military used schools as a site to spread settler colonial policies in an attempt to transform Chamorros into colonial subjects who would support American occupation.

War for Guam. Documentary film, 57-minutes, color and black and white, 2015. Produced, directed, and written by Frances Negrón-Muntaner. A production of Polymorphous Pictures, produced in association with Independent Television Service (ITVS), Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), and CAAM with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Distributed by Third World Newsreel, 545 Eighth Avenue, Suite 550, New York, NY 10018. Available at http://warforguam.com/buy.html

Según la historiografía institucionalmente aceptada de las islas Marianas el indígena chamorro desapareció del archipiélago totalmente tras la brutal represión colonial española en el siglo XVII, dando paso a una cultura mestiza y campesina de origen filipino y español. Sin embargo, el análisis crítico de las fuentes primarias españolas presenta un panorama distinto que nos permite pensar en dinámicas complejas que apuntan hacia la continuidad y el cambio frente a la ruptura total. Encontramos en los textos históricos indicios de estructuras socioculturales indígenas durante gran parte el siglo XVIII que sin duda se integraron como parte del ser chamorro en los siglos posteriores.

As I was finally unpacking a box of household items I had moved during downsizing I came across six beautiful Austrian crystal wine glasses, neatly wrapped. They were always "too good to be used" for our normal dining and I don't think they were ever used. As I looked at them, I remembered where I got them. It brought back some strange memories from the early 1970s and my brief encounter with the war in Vietnam.

La Península Ibérica se ha visto inmersa activamente en redes de intercambio y comercio internacionales desde la Prehistoria hasta nuestros días. Su situación geográfica, unida al continente europeo pero muy cercana al africano, y sus 4153 km. de costa han hecho de este territorio un escenario estratégico para el control geopolítico y económico, así como para el contacto cultural.

No obstante, es a partir del siglo IX a.C. cuando por primera vez se establecen colonias permanentes en el territorio ibérico por parte de población fenicia y, más adelante, de población griega. La conquista de la península aconteció siglos más tarde, con la llegada de los cartagineses y de los romanos. Esta última significó la práctica desaparición o asimilación de numerosas poblaciones, el desarraigo de otras y la expropiación de recursos en todo el territorio. El dominio romano, desde fines del siglo III a.C. supuso, además, la imposición de un sistema sociopolítico, económico, cultural y de control administrativo del territorio a nivel peninsular. Dicho sistema, aunque con diferencias, volvió a repetirse primero con la llegada de las poblaciones “bárbaras” a la Península, especialmente los visigodos, y posteriormente con la conquista árabe y la “islamización” de las poblaciones bajo su poder.

La situación cambia a partir del siglo XV, cuando los reinos cristianos de Portugal, Castilla y Aragón culminan su política de dominación peninsular, con la conquista del territorio en poder árabe y la expulsión de los judíos, y comienzan su expansión ultramar. Así, el Imperio portugués y la Monarquía hispánica sumaron a sus posesiones europeas los archipiélagos atlánticos, parte de África, la práctica totalidad del continente americano y territorios en Asia y Oceanía con el beneplácito papal. Muchos de los territorios invadidos y conquistados quedaron en manos ibéricas hasta su independencia en el siglo XIX y XX, y algunos de ellos continúan incluso bajo jurisdicción portuguesa o española actualmente. El tipo de contacto y/o de conquista que se estableció en dichas geografías, como sucedió en el territorio peninsular, dependió enormemente de la respuesta de la población local, de las alianzas, apoyos o resistencias de ésta frente a la llegada ibérica. Asimismo, el tipo de dominio y de control territorial estuvo en gran medida condicionado por ese primer contacto y por el afianzamiento posterior portugués e hispánico, pero en la mayoría de los casos supuso el diezmo de la población, la expropiación de los recursos y la implantación forzosa de un nuevo régimen político, sociocultural y religioso.

Este workshop se presenta así diacrónicamente, comenzando con el período histórico en el que la Península Ibérica fue colonizada, dominada y/o incorporada a otros imperios; para versar después sobre el período en el que tanto Portugal como la Monarquía hispánica invadieron, conquistaron y gobernaron territorios más o menos lejanos que engrosaron sus imperios coloniales. Se pretende, de este modo, mostrar diferentes contextos temporales y geográficos tanto peninsulares como bajo dominio peninsular para facilitar la comprensión del colonialismo en todas sus vertientes. El objetivo último del workshop es trabajar y reflexionar sobre las relaciones que se establecieron entre la población local y la colonial a través del análisis de aspectos culturales, religiosos, políticos, económicos y/o sociales para poder establecer comparaciones, similitudes y diferencias entre unos procesos históricos y otros.

SUMMARY: 1. THE HUNGER STRIKERS – 2. RIOTING IN BELFAST – 3. MIGHTY AMERICA – 4. TENNESSEE SUFFRAGE QUESTION IS NOT NEW – 5. BRITISH RULE INDIA – 6. THE MARSHALL ISLANDS – 7. MAC SWENY APPEAL DENIED – 8. FRENCH DEMANDS – 9. JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES – 10. THE INDIAN FRONTIER – 11. GERMANY’S FOREIGN POLICY – 12. RESCUE CREW OF DISABLED SUBMARINE – 13. THE HUGE US NAVY – 14. POLAND COMPLAINS – 15. SETTLING THE TERMS – 16. PLEA FOR MCSWENEY – 17. A NOTABLE TERCENTENARY – 18. STRIKE IN THE US – 19.JAPAN AND AMERICA – 20. IRISH CRISIS – 21. FRANCE COMING BACK – 22. PROHIBITION IN AMERICA – 23. MYSTERY ON INFLUENZA – 24.CROWN PRINCE HIROHITO – 25. LLOYD GEORGE’S VAIN OFFER – 26. REPUBLICAN ARMY – 27. US REGARDED AS A QUITTER, COX SAYS – 28. BRITISH MINERS’ DEMANDS – 29. INDIA AND TURKISH PEACE – 30. DISARMING. THE NATIONS – 31. PRINCESS ANASTASIA – 32. POSITION FOR MR. CHURCHILL – 33. MAYOR MCSWENEY IS MUCH WORSE, REPORT – 34. LEAGUE OF NATIONS – 35. IMMIGRATION – 36. JAPANESE AFFAIRS – 37. ITALIAN UPHEAVAL – 38. PROHIBITION IN AMERICA – 39. REPUBLICANISM’S REVIVAL – 40. COMMUNISM SPREAD [IN JAPAN] – 41. OUTRAGES BY MILITARY IN IRELAND – 42.400 CATHOLICS RESIGN FROM POLICE FORCE IN IRELAND – 43. MANY KILLED AND HURT IN TERRIFIC EXPLOSION THAT ROCKS ALL OF LOWER MANHATTAN, N.Y – 44. JAPAN’S [ISSUES WITH AMERICA] – 45. TUBERCULOSIS VACCINE – 46. BOMB CAUSE OF DISASTER, FLYNN – 47. GERMAN LOSS IN WAR – 48. JAPANESE WOMEN OPEN SUFFRAGE FIGHT – 49. OUR BRAVE SECRET AGENT – 50. FLYNN CERTAIN BOMB – THROWER WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE – 51. POLICE FEAR NEW BOMB OUTRAGES – 52. WALL STREET EXPLOSION – 53. THE CALIFORNIAN TROUBLE – 54.U.S FLEET MOVEMENT – 55. A DANGEROUS MOVEMENT [IN INDIA] – 56. ANARCHIST OUTRAGES IN ITALY – 57. COLBY DEFENDS AMERICAN PROCEDURE IN HAITI – 58. DUTCH MEANS OF DEFENCE – 59. LAMBETH CONFERENCE REPORT – 60. CALIFORNIAN IMMIGRATION PROBLEM – 61. AMERICA AND THE REDS – 62. [REPUBLICAN] FOREIGN POLICY IS CAUSE OF CONCERN – 63. THE LAST WAR – AND THE NEXT 64. JAPS MENACE GUAM’S VALUE – 65. ONE IN EVERY 25 GERMAN INFANTS INHERIT DISEASE – 66. U.S AGENTS NAB AID OF LENIN – 67. BRITISH GIRLS “ON THEIR OWN” – 68. JAPAN AND SIBERIA – 69.BRUSSSELS’S FINANCIAL CONFERENCE – 70. US MARINE ACT – 71. RUSSIAN JEWELS’S SYSTEMATIC CONFISCATION – 72. ARRIVALS IN AMERICA – 73. AMERICA’S NEW TERROR – 74. PROMOTION OF BOLSHEVISM – 75. THE IMMIGRATION QUESTION – 76. DOMESTIC DISSENSIONS CONDEMNED BY NEW FRENCH PRESIDENT – 77. SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE – 78. [FEMALE] BOLSHEVIK RASPUTIN – 79. WAR OR INFLUENCE IN ASIA – 80. [REPUBLICAN] MERCHANT MARINE POLICY – 81. FRENCH IN MOROCCO – 82. THE PILOT’S ANGEL GUARDIAN – 83. DISCUSSION POSTPONED – 84. INDIAN ARMY

Die Island Studies plädieren für ein „archipelagisches“ Denken und die Überwindung schematischer Inseldeutungen. Anhand dieses Ansatzes soll eine neue Perspektive auf die Geschichte der Insel Guam, ein US-Außengebiet im Pazifik, entworfen werden.

Artikel in der Online-Version via <https://www.bpb.de/apuz/273606/guam-als-archipel-einfuehrung-in-die-island-studies>

Heft als PDF/EPUB oder zur Printbestellung via <https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/273610/inseln>

Recopilación de trabajos presentados en el II Congreso de la Asociación Española de Estudios del Pacífico

Fue la consolidación de la Asociación del Pacífico, su segundo Congreso y publicar un segundo libro con los mejores artículos, uno de ellos de Eduardo González Calleja que me dio la pista sobre la importancia de los conflictos entre españoles en Filipinas durante la Guerra Civil. Aprovechando los artículos sobre sexualidad en el Pacífico, aproveché para publicar la única imagen de la Expedición Malaspina que no estaba aún publicada, de una mujer de las islas de Vava’u o Vavao, en Tonga. Nadie me ha protestado por ello, los tiempos han cambiado.