A Stirring Place: Indigenous Resistance in the Mariana Islands
Abstract: This project examines local responses to challenge US militarization and colonization in Guåhan (Guam). I argue that efforts to “protect and defend” Guåhan’s sacred sites focus on issues of ancestral land, language, sovereignty, and environmental justice. They also rely primarily on actions that both depend on and reinforce communicative channels directed against the US nation-state. From Guåhan, I navigate outward to the islands of Pågan and Tinian and analyze how these places are also being targeted for extensive military buildup. This focus on the Marianas is concerned with US federal control and the use of eminent domain to effectively remove these spaces from indigenous peoples and public trust. The Mariana Islands are a critical site for struggles over identity, indigeneity, and Americanness. Understanding these struggles offers an important launching point for connecting ongoing resistance and transoceanic dialogues.
Bio: Tiara Na’puti is an Assistant Professor of Communication and an Executive Committee member of BoulderTalks, a new center in the CMCI that fosters community and knowledge through democratic engagement. Her work focuses on rhetoric, indigenous studies, & social movements in Guåhan and throughout Oceania.
