CHamoru Kada Ha’åni

CHamoru Everyday Interview Series

CHamoru Kada Ha’åni was a program produced by the Guam Museum in 2021 which features interviews with Kumisión board members, ‬Dr‭. ‬Laura M. Torres Souder, Dr‭. ‬Robert A‭. ‬Underwood, and‭ ‬Kumisión staff member, Dr. ‬Francine Naputi‭.‬

Fino’ i Ha’åni

Word of the Day

Fino’ i Ha’åni is an ongoing program which features a CHamoru word and its usage in a sentence. The vocabulary word is defined and a recording provides listeners with pronunciation guidance. This is a fun way to build vocabulary and promote the usage of CHamoru in conversation. Fino’ i Ha’åni entries are posted on the Legislative Channel, in the Guam Daily Post, and other Kumisión social media platforms on a daily basis.

Hinenggen CHamoru

Cultural Vignettes

This video series of cultural vignettes was produced in 2018 to promote our indigenous på’a – a deeper knowledge and understanding of lina’la’ ‬‭‬CHamoru‭. ‬The vignettes emphasize different CHamoru values and traditions such as Ináfa’maolek, Inageftao, Inarespeta and Inayudu. These short video clips are designed to be used as teaching tools by teachers and families‭.‬

The Kumisión developed the vignettes with the support of educators and students from the University of Guam’s CHamoru Studies Program and the Guam Department of Education’s CHamoru Studies and Special Projects Division. Members of the community volunteered their time and services to make this project possible‭.

Linakngos Linakse’

CHamoru Expert Interview Series

This project seeks to document and showcase the cultural knowledge and eloquent use of spoken CHamoru by traditional practitioners and members of our island community who are recognized for their wisdom in a particular area. Interviews with cultural experts are an integral component of our Multimedia Archive. As they are produced, these interviews will be featured in podcasts and other platforms to promote cultural values, customs, traditions, and historical events.

Nina’fitme Ineyak CHamoru

CHamoru Immersion Teacher Certificate Program

Through an Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grant, The Kumisión developed a certificate program to strengthen the teaching of CHamoru as a second language through immersion techniques. ‬The certificate program consisted of 12-credit hours of coursework in direct response to professional development needs identified by our partners Chief Hurao Academy‭, ‬University of Guam (UOG)‭, ‬Guam Community College‭ (GCC), and ‬Guam Department of Education’s (GDOE) CSSP‭/ ‬Faneyåkan. Classes were held at GCC. The grant funded 60 scholarships for four cohorts of teachers. Additional funding is being sought to continue and expand the certificate program.

Nubena yan Kånta Siha

Novena and Songs

CHamoru prayers and songs comprise the most comprehensive collection of written CHamoru in the historical record‭. ‬Many of these prayers and songs‭ ‬were documented by Spanish priests‭, ‬among them Påle’ Roman de Vera in the early 1900s‭. ‬They used the Spanish language spelling canons of the‭ ‬period‭. ‬Nonetheless, novenas and songs are priceless forms of literature containing rich metaphors and‭ ‬samples of the most sophisticated and eloquent forms of CHamoru language use‭. The Kumisión has initiated a long-term project to collect and ortho‭graphically align existing songs and prayers as language-learning tools. This collection will be housed in the Kumisión’s archive and will be made available to the public through our website.

CHamoru Fluency and Proficiency Assessment Tools

Reliable information regarding the number, fluency, and proficiency of CHamoru language speakers is critical for planning revitalization projects and activities. In order to maintain and perpetuate our indigenous language for future generations, we as a community must understand our current status. We need to know how many speakers we have representing different generations so that we can target our efforts strategically.

‬As there are no standardized assessment tools currently in use‭ to measure community fluency and proficiency, ‬the Kumisión sought funding from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) to develop a Fluency and Proficiency Assessment tool for different age cohorts, across the language domains and for each of five levels of language capacity. This tool will be offered on our website to those interested.

The Rationale for Revitalization

In the 1990 Census, the number of CHamoru speakers on Guam was 34,598. This number has steadily declined since. Between 1990 and 2000 there was a loss of 3,890 speakers. Between 2000 and 2010 the loss was 4,881 speakers and between 2010 and 2020 the census recorded a loss of 4,437 speakers. As of 2020 we have 21,390 speakers most of whom are over the age of 65. If this trend continues, by 2060 CHamoru will no longer be spoken.

There is growing awareness in our community about the dire need to produce young speakers and dramatically increase the practice of speaking intergenerationally if we want to reverse this downward trend toward extinction. The emergence of immersion programs, such as Fineyakan Sinipok and the Chief Hurao Academy Charter School are a clear indication that concerted efforts are being made to address this crisis. The Kumisión is dedicated to supporting CHamoru language revitalization in all its projects and programs.

The Kumisión commissioned Dr. Kenneth Gofigan Kuper to conduct a CHamoru Revitalization Study. Entitled, Giha Mas Mona: Planning for the Future of Fino’ CHamoru in Guåhan, the report reviews efforts to date and offers recommendations for future action.

Interviews with Second Language Speakers

The Kumisión has launched a campaign to encourage passive speakers and future learners that it is never too late! A series of products and activities are planned as part of this effort entitled, “Ti Atrasåsao,” which is an urgent call out to those who want to speak CHamoru but have not because they feel intimidated, get embarrassed when making mistakes, and do not have speaking parents who can create a safe and viable language learning nest.

Personal testimonies are a powerful source of inspiration for doing something that seems impossible. So, we launched this phase of the campaign with a series of video interviews featuring second language learners of Fino’ CHamoru. Eleven members of our community share their language journeys and best practices for overcoming the obstacles they have encountered. Their interviews are provided below and are also available on our YouTube Channel.

Interviews with Second Language Speakers

The Indigenous Language Summit was co-sponsored by the Kumisión i Fino’ CHamoru, University of Guam, Young Men’s League of Guam, and the Pacific Indigenous Women’s Network. The Kumisión portion of the sponsorship was paid for by The Office of the Governor through the Educational Stabilization Fund (ESF), Grant Number S425H21004.

Attendees included CHamoru teachers, CHamoru language champions and students from Guam and CNMI, and indigenous language advocates from the Pacific region including Hawaii, Aotearoa, American Samoa and our neighbors in Micronesia.
Island leaders from across the Pacific presented as keynoters and panel participants.

Campaign Slogans

Ti Atrasåsao Book