Refaluwasch and Chamorro Language Materials in CNMI

CNMI: Refaluwasch and Chamorro Language Materials Show Value of Congressional “Earmarks”

Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 12:51 Written by News Release Wednesday, 31 October 2012 12:45 

Pacific News Center 

Guam News - Guam News 

 

Saipan - Students in 16 Public School System schools are learning and using their Refaluwasch and Chamorro languages as a result of new instructional materials the Public School System has created with a $250,000 earmarked appropriation from Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
The Congressman got to see a selection of the book, flipcharts, and other learning aids that the PSS bilingual program has produced using the earmark funds at this month’s Board of Education meeting. A total of 7,560 books, 150 flip charts, and a series of 16 videos were produced with the congressionally directed funding.

“It’s great to see the results of the work that we did in Congress way back in 2009 finally getting into the hands of our young Refaluwasch and Chamorro language students,” Sablan said.

“Because getting the funding is just the first step. Then there is all of the work to put the money to effective use in our schools: translating the materials, getting everything printed and filmed, and training teachers in how to use these resources.

“PSS and the Chamorro and Carolinian Language Heritage Studies program have done a fine job in that respect.”

Sablan submitted his $250,000 proposal for bilingual study funds during the fiscal year 2010 appropriation cycle; and after making it through the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate the bill with Sablan’s money was signed by the President on December 16, 2009. Altogether Sablan won $1.35 million in congressionally directed funding, or “earmarks,” for the Northern Marianas in FY10. Most went to education.

PSS was formally awarded the funding, after submitting the necessary plan of expenditure, in August of 2010 and has been working on putting the money to use in the intervening years.

PSS bought the rights to translate newly published, Common Core aligned, Bright and Brainy Resource Books for grades K-6 into Refaluwasch and Chamorro. Professional development/work sessions were held for local teachers to work on the translations.


[Congressman Kilili, Board of Education Members, PSS administrators, and students are all smiles looking over books, flip charts, and other instructions materials that have been translated in Refaluwasch and Chamorro and published for use in 16 public schools. The work was paid for with a $250,000 earmark that Congressman Sablan had included in the FY10 congressional appropriation for education. The money also paid for training staff in the use of materials. The project was carried out by the Chamorro and Carolinian Language Heritage Studies program at PSS.]
The grant also underwrote the cost of producing a first-ever televised program that took language lessons right into the homes of Northern Marianas viewers and provided teachers with a total of 16 episodes to be used in classrooms.

FY10 was the last fiscal year that congressional earmarks were available. Senate Republicans, who objected to the earmarking process on principle, killed the FY11 appropriation with the threat of a filibuster. That appropriation contained another $2 million for the Northern Marianas, including funds for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument Visitors Center, a Rota school gymnasium, a Seniors program on Tinian, and another $500,000 for PSS.

“We have seen the last of earmarks,” Sablan said, “as long as Republicans are able to block legislation in this way.

“That makes it especially hard for small places like the Northern Marianas, which now have to compete for funds against states and cities that have a lot more resources to put into grant writing.

“I am glad to see, however, that the funds we did get – for the Refaluwasch and Chamorro language programs, for the Joeten-Kiyu Library roof repairs, for the Garapan Public Market, for the Monument Visitors Center – are being put to use now to benefit the Northern Marianas.”

Guamanian v. Chamorro

Chamorro versus Guamanian:
Terminology in Calvo speech draws criticism

Written by Brett Kelman
Pacific Daily News
March 16, 2011


Gov. Eddie Calvo apologized yesterday to any Chamorros who were offended by his word choice in his State of the Island speech, but he didn't apologize for his extensive use of "Guamanian."

During an interview yesterday, Calvo explained that he used the word Guamanian to include all residents of Guam -- regardless of their ethnicities. The term includes Chamorros, but not solely Chamorros, he said.

"We have Asian Guamanians, we have Filipino Guamanians and a host of people from other cultures," Calvo said yesterday. "These are people who are not Chamorro by birth, but they live here. They have made a home on Guam ..."

'Back of the bus'

During his 70-minute speech on Monday, Calvo used the word "Guamanian" six times as often as the word "Chamorro." After the speech, Democratic Sen. Ben Pangelinan said the Chamorro people were missing from the speech.

" ... It's sad we're relegated in our own homeland by our own governor to the back of the bus," Pangelinan told Pacific News Center in an interview after the speech.

Yesterday morning, Calvo took a call from a K-57 radio talk show on Pangelinan's comment. Calvo said on the show he apologized if anyone was offended by his speech.

"As a person, I don't like to offend people, so I feel bad about it," Calvo told the Pacific Daily News yesterday. "But I'm comfortable with what I said."

So what did he actually say?

According to a copy of the speech released by the governor's office, Calvo used the word "Guamanian" 26 times, but used only "Chamorro" four times.

All four uses of the word Chamorro were referencing ancient Chamorro communities, and one of those is a quote from the late Gov. Ricardo Bordallo.

Here is an example, where Calvo discussed the ancient village of Hila'an, which was recently returned to Guam's civilian communities by the federal government:

"The latte stones at Hila'an are remnants of what used to be," Calvo said in the speech. "Bring to life the illustration of those latte. They stood together on our western shores, with homes filled with Chamorros, prosperous and innovative."

In contrast, Calvo's statements using the word "Guamanian" are general references to the island's modern community as a whole, regardless of ethnicity. He also used the term "my fellow Guamanians" or "the Guamanian Dream."

For example, Calvo said: "The people of Guam want their tax refunds now. ... Paying the refunds in full, right now, will, without a doubt, solve the financial troubles of thousands of Guamanians."

Calvo also said he wanted to welcome Marines from Okinawa with "Hafa Adai, my fellow Guamanians."

Yesterday, when questioned more about his criticism, Pangelinan said he was troubled by the speech because Calvo spoke about Chamorros when he looked to the past, but spoke about Guamanians when he looked to the future.

Pangelinan said the perseverance of the Chamorro culture should have had a larger presence in the speech.

"In being all inclusive, to me it felt Chamorros were being excluded. That
really is how I felt. It's a gut reaction," Pangelinan said. "I really felt sad for the Chamorros. We just weren't relevant."

When referring to a common desire for tax refunds, it would have been more
appropriate to use "people of Guam," Pangelinan said.

The senator wasn't alone in his frustration.

Peter Onedera, a University of Guam Chamorro language professor, said he
listened to Calvo's speech on the radio, cringing every time the governor said "Guamanian."

Eventually, Onedera said he just turned the speech off, disgusted.

"In essence, the word Chamorros encompasses our indigenous roots," Onedera said. "To me the term Guamanians -- and Saipanese, Tinianese and Rotanese -- is a term that was given to us. And I would think it happened without our permission in the first place."

Not just indigenous

UOG political science professor Michael Stoil said yesterday that Calvo had no choice but to use Guamanian. Calvo governs all of Guam, not just the indigenous people, Stoil said.

"For him to replace the term and talk about the benefits of governments for Chamorros, or the need of governments to be responsive to Chamorros, that would be no different than a governor in the mainland saying that his government should be responsive to whites," Stoil said.