Module 1: CHamoru Wayfinding Beyond the Mariana Islands
Is CHamoru migration a choice?
And there’ll will be times when we’ll feel adrift, without itinerary
or destination. We’ll wonder: What if we stayed? What if we
return? When the undertow of these questions begins
pulling you out to sea, remember: migration flows through
our blood like the aerial roots of i trongkon nunu. Remember:
our ancestors taught us how to carry our culture in the canoes
of our bodies. Remember: our people, scattered like stars,
form new constellations when we gather. Remember:
home is not simply a house, village, or island; home
is an archipelago of belonging.
– Craig Santos Perez 1
These moving words by CHamoru poet, Craig Santos Perez, touch on the deep connections the CHamoru people have to the Mariana Islands, despite the flow of Islanders to, from, between, and away from their ancestral lands over time. Perez’s phrase, “Remember: home is not simply a house … home is an archipelago of belonging,” highlights the complexities of what it means to be a diasporic CHamoru.
Perez’s words bring the diasporic experiences into a CHamoru context, focusing on the outmigration of Islanders from the Mariana Islands and community-making in the United States. This chapter examines the colonial pressures on the Mariana Islands that created pathways for CHamorus to relocate beyond their shores and how connections are maintained to their home islands regardless of physical location.
This module explains who CHamorus are and where they call home. It also lays the foundation for understanding CHamorus and by extension, other Pacific Islanders, as mobile people of the ocean.
Listen to
“Off-Island Chamorros” by Dr. Craig Santos Perez
Audio 21.01.01 — Listen to Dr. Craig Santos Perez, CHamoru poet and 2023 US National Book Award Winner, read the above excerpt from his poem, “Off-Island Chamorros.”
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Where do CHamorus call home?
What is the role of the ocean in CHamoru movement and identity?
How did the CHamoru diaspora start?
