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Guam?s militarized past and present is inscribed in its landscape. At times, the island sometimes feels more like a symbol of US military power than the island of the indigenous Chamorro people. As B52 bombers fly overhead, giant tanks roll through civilian streets, and uniformed military personnel casually walk around town, the island is filled with militarized experiences, all within an island ?Where America?s Day Begins.? Rather than perpetuating a militarized narrative, however, this lecture will uncover the history of US militarization, the expropriation of Chamorro land, and the migration of Filipino laborers after World War II. In doing so, it emphasizes the relationship between Filipino and Chamorro people on Guam as one example of the complicated political and social climate between settlers of color and indigenous peoples in the US-occupied islands in the Pacific.

Kristin Oberiano is a history Ph.D. student at Harvard University, studying in the history of Guam, the Pacific, and the United States. Born and raised to Filipino parents on the island of Guam, she became aware of the lack of Guam history in American textbooks in her primary and secondary school education. Determined to contribute to the field of Guam history, she earned a BA with honors with distinction in History and American studies at Occidental College. Kristin is primarily interested in the relationship between indigenous peoples and immigrants in the Pacific islands, and the historical and present effects on indigenous self-determination.

Contact

[[fjtang, Francis Tanglao-Aguas]]

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