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Chamorro Cultural Festival: Historical Overview (2010-2018) from the Eyes of Sakman Mario Borja

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Written by: Sakman Mario Reyes Borja

Published: 19 March 2018

2018 marks the 9th year of the Chamorro Cultural Festival that celebrates the Chamorro culture and language. We believe that culture begets language, and language begets culture. Hence, what we do to enhance culture will also lead to enhancing language and vice versa; unfortunately, if we ignore one the other follows.

As we approached our 9th year, we looked back at what has brought us here with such success. We always started the events with an opening prayer of gratitude. 

Our First Year: 2010 – Jacobs Center, San Diego, CA

Theme: “Celebrating the People of the Marianas”

This was more of an introduction of who the Chamorros are. We introduced our “Guma Chamorro” one of the few houses built by members of the inner San Diego communities within the immediate area. We hosted the sakman as it was under construction and the blessing of the Guma Chamorro at the Jacobs Center.  Our programs were focused on getting our children involved in song and dance. 

Our 2^nd Year: 2011 – Jacobs Center, San Diego, CA

Theme: “Celebrating Che’lu, our Chamorro Sakman Canoe”

We focused on our sakman and the story behind its discovery and our commitment to build her. We had the blessing of the sakman and more children programs, especially with the introduction of the workshops that involved them. The Kamyu workshop involved kids learning the art of coconut grating and each one teaching the other. The sakman workshop brought focus on our seafaring story. We had more entertainment using local talent and many from the islands.

3^rd year: 2012 –Jacobs Center, San Diego, CA

Theme: “Hafa Adai, Tungo Chamorro”

This was the year we placed interest in short story telling of experience back on the island. The sakman was here on display with all the tools of the trade from the gachai to the tålåya. Our event brochure included things to keep the kids entertained with pages to color in.

4^th Year: 2013 –Jacobs Center, San Diego, CA

Theme: “Hafa Adai! Ta Fanhita”

This was the first year we had endorsement from the heads of government Guam and the CNMI. Even our delegates in Washington DC offered their remarks and congrats. This just shows that we have gotten their attention on the work we are doing to keep our culture and language alive. Our workshops seemed to be more this year with folks coming form out of town to share their talents. The sakman was there with full lipstick on.

5^th Year: 2014 –Jacobs Center, San Diego, CA

Theme: “Hafa Adai, Man Uno Hit”

This was our last year at this San Diego site. The economics and logistics of running this event have taken their toll. We have outgrown our playground. Not a bad problem; it just means we are growing and success means buying new shoes as demands from our people increase. But the focus still is on culture and language as it has always been. Our workshop listing added more activities. This year we included language a workshop, along with story-telling and flower-making and batik-coloring. These were hands-on activities that were well attended. Kids grating coconuts in the Kamyu house was still the more crowded activity.

6^th Year: 2015– California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA

Theme: “Mantieni Kuttura-Ta”

This was our first year at the San Marcos campus. Our event has outgrown it own britches. Parking was insufficient at our San Diego address. More vendors and increased attendance demanded we seek a much larger place. The San Marcos campus fit the bill well. With a large entertainment stage we were able to bring in more talent. The expansive parking structure meant more attendance without the hassles of finding an open slot. The availability of fermented ale as a beverage choice invited more people to stay till the end.

7^th Year: 2016 – CSU San Marcos, San Marcos, CA

Theme: “Maila Ta Fandaña Ya Ta Selebra I Linalå’-ta”

This was our first year without the sakman. Our sakman was in Guam to celebrate the 12^th Festival of Pacific Culture 2016 on Guam. Many of our dancers and leads were abroad in participation.  Yet the workshops remained open. And the canoe stories were told, the coconuts were grated, and the weavers made more baskets. Focus on teaching our language remained sharp.

8^th Year: 2017 – CSU San Marcos, San Marcos, CA

Theme: “Let Live from Within Our Children- Our Language and Our Culture”

This was the year we focused on hiding our culture and language in our children. This is reflected in the additional workshops in music and instruments. Kids took the lead in building a galaide under the mentorship of our elders. The entertainment lineup added much diversity to the mix to keep everyone entertained.

9^th Year: 2018 – CSU San Marcos, San Marcos, CA

Theme: “Celebrating Life through Language, Health and Culture”

This year aimed to be another banner year for us. Many more dignitaries for the Marianas are coming out to join us. More people are coming as vendors and entertainers. Workshops are expanding their footprint with larger A-Frames to house the few disciplines that have successfully brought kids in on a hands-on “each one, teach one” model. Entertainment line up is getting tighter. Attendance expectation is our optimism.

Summary: Our steady thematic emphasis on culture and language is the reason for our continued presence. Over the years the workshops in a village setup has continued with purpose. The addition of more youth-focused workshop over the years since the start of our event in 2010 is the seed of success of our annual event. This seemed to be a high demand item among parents. And our organizers have responded. More kids got involved through the many more dance groups in the local area and out of state. We placed more attention to sharing our language with everyone. We have attracted even Guam-based artists and entertainers to come. The increase in quality vendors offering island wear and products reflect this is a profitable venue. Steady growth in attendance indicates that the word is getting out and more people are saving the last week of March on their calendars. The help of social media has boosted awareness and has added to our attendance over the years. Families are making this an event to attend in their family vacations. Alumni groups are choosing the same timeframe to schedule their class reunions. Che’lu, the event- coordinating group also reflected an increase in its staff to match the increase level of planning and coordination for such an event. We are attracting volunteer liaisons to work with the governments and cultural groups abroad. This significant attention to this event in that it is also a March event itself has added meaning to March as “Mes CHamoru”.

Perhaps this is just the nature of our diasporic community. As the community furthest from our island home we may feel more vulnerable to losing bonds with our language and culture amidst all the diversities here that we seek to protect such fragile values of culture and language with our committed support and attendance. I know I have.

Si Sakman Mario