Self-determination and Political Clarity Can Help to Revive Dying CHamoru Language for All Races of People In Guam
By Adam Leon Guerrero for Just Thinking Aloud, Kandit News & Views
Every Mes CHamoru, we celebrate our culture with music, food, and parades. But behind the festivities, the truth remains: our language is slipping away.
Fluent CHamoru speakers are aging. Most children don’t speak it. In 20 to 30 years, we may have no native speakers left.
This did not happen by accident. Under U.S. Navy rule, CHamoru was banned. Dictionaries were burned. Children were punished. Parents stopped teaching it, fearing the language would hold their kids back. Today, we still feel the effects.
But what complicates this struggle is Guam’s political limbo—our uncertain status as a people. Without political clarity and self-determination, it’s harder to claim who we are culturally and to build the systems that support language and identity. Language and sovereignty are inseparable. One feeds the other.
There are programs like Chief Hurao Academy and CHamoru immersion classes. Young teens lead prayers, and parents learn alongside their children. Their dedication is inspiring—but it cannot carry the burden alone.
As former University of Guam President Robert Underwood said, “You can’t Håfa Adai yourself into language fluency.” Language lives through daily speech, through family, through public life—in schools, stores, government, media, and online.
This is not just a CHamoru issue. It’s a Guam issue. Filipino, Chuukese, American—if you call this home, this fight is yours too. When something sacred is dying in your home, you don’t look away. You help.
We don’t need more speeches. We need action. We need political clarity. We need a strong identity. We need CHamoru to live—and live loud.
