“I Sengsong San Diego”: The Chamoru Cultural Festival and the Formation of a Chamoru Diasporic Community

Abstract

This essay addresses contemporary migrations of Chamorus tied to the history of US military presence in Micronesia and the ways Indigenous culture and identity are negotiated through the Chamorro Cultural Festival (CCF) that has been held annually in San Diego, California since 2009. The analysis explores how diasporic Chamorus maintain close transpacific connections to the Mariana Islands while also establishing Chamoru communities abroad through the CCF. The festival simultaneously enacts Chamoru identities based in both mobility and rootedness and is a large-scale expression of how Chamorus create and express collective identities.

Relational and collective excellence: unfolding the potential of Pacific early career researchers

“…We reflected this responsibility by taking ownership of our stories. This honouring of stories reflects the values of our collective and many other Indigenous researchers (see : Smith 1999;Trask 1999;Bevacqua 2017;Ka'ili 2017;Na'puti 2019;Bennett 2022). Our responsibility, grounded in relationality, also requires a cyclic approach to our sharing, where we discuss, check, negotiate, make-meaning, and recheck meaning.…”

“…Space here precludes us from highlighting all works that privilege Pacific ways of being, knowing, and doing across Oceania in various nations, islands, and communities. However, work by Heine (2002), Bevacqua (2017), Na'puti (2019) and Bennett (2022) provide an example of how scholars working within the Northwestern Pacific (Micronesia) navigate ways to centre their voices and experiences while their nations remain politically governed by or in a political relationship with the United States.…”