Displacement, Dispossession, and Survival in Guam A
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UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I LIBRARY FANHASSO I TAOTAO SUMAY: DISPLACEMENT, DISPOSSESSION, AND SURVIVAL IN GUAM A THESIS SUBMmED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAW AI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN PACIFIC ISLANDS STUDIES AUGUST 2008 By James Perez Viernes Thesis Committee: David Hanlon, Chairperson Karen Peacock Terence Wesley-Smith Anne Perez Hattori We certifY that we have read this thesis and that, in our opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Pacific Islands Studies. THESIS COMMITTEE aiairperson ii © 2008, James Perez Viernes iii For Nana Bear, Andy Boy, Saia, and Folole. May you and those of your generation grow to cherish the legacy of maiiaina-ta. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great number of people and organizations are deserving of my deepest un dangkolo na Si Yu'us Ma'iise for inspiring this work and for their support, encouragement, and faith that saw me through to its completion. To those who call themselves taotao Sumay, whose stories I have been so blessed with receiving, no words can express my gratitude for instilling in me a deep love and connection to the place of my roots and the importance of passing on your legacy. I am forever grateful for your willingness to share with me the epic journey that has been your lives. Many thanks to Grandma Ginza (Maria Sablan Pangelinan Perez), Granny (Guadalupe Sablan Santos Viernes), Tan Chong Ano, Auntie Dolly Williams, Tan Julia Borja, Tun Juan Guzman, Tan Upi' Wesley, Auntie Ta Pangelinan, Mr. Greg Borja, and all those sons and daughters ofSumay who have at one point or another shared with me their rich stories. Many thanks and much love to my parents Andy and Zita, siblings Missy and Junior and Rob and Lil, and my many cousins, nieces, nephews, uncles, and aunts. My gratitude goes out to my extended families who have eased my transition to life in Honolulu: the Santos Family of Waipahu and Jaime Cruz and Manny de Vera ofEwa Beach. Your support has been invaluable and your love has been the one thing that has maintained my sanity as a lonely graduate student far away from home. Special thanks for the technical support and last-minute running around by the following individuals to procure photographs, information, and other materials: Uncle Ton and Auntie Ri Perez, Auntie Mary and Uncle Ray Quinata, Auntie Juanit Quintanilla, Sanna, Sessa, and Kiki Sablan, Ria and Medo' Perez, Auntie Tina and Pia v Topasna, and Tiana Duenas. To my friends whose companionship, drinks, kava, betel nut, laughter and unending confidence has gotten me this far, I say thank you to the following: Belta Babauta Mansapit Nauta Simpson, PAri Barney and MAli Cheryl Lujan and family, Taotao Galaide, and Tressa Cundiff. Many thanks to my Pan Pacific family in Hawai'i, who have shown me a side of Pacific Islands Studies that I would have never seen in the classroom: Filifotu Vaai, Alfred Tinitali, Tony Siamomua, and Sia Achica (Samoa); Tutii Chilton, Osedil Uriarte, and Keola Diaz (Belau); Julian Aguon, James Arriola, and Madonna Castro-Perez (Mariana Islands); Paulina Yorupi and Elfriede Suda (Chuuk); Tara, Luisa, Prudie, Germaine, and Noelani Kabutaulaka and Michael Berry (Solomon Islands); Ponipate Rokolekutu, Titilia Barbour, and Amerita Ravuvu (Fiji); Chadwick Pang, Genai U'ilani Keli'ikuli, Ann Marie Kirk, and Carl Pao (Hawai'i); Marata Tamaira (Aotearoa); Trish Shipman and Mike Lemeier (Ohio and Oklahoma via Vanuatu); Evelyn Pusal (papua New Guinea); Ariinatai Lichtle (Tahiti); Joe "Sefa" Brider (Cook Islands); and Aska Hirabe (Japan). I would like to express my gratitude to the following organizations and individuals who eased the overwhelmingly difficult process of research: Lou Nededog, Perry Pangelinan, LaVonne Meno, Carmen Quintanilla, Omaira Brunal-Perry, Marjorie Driver, Monique Carriveau Storie, and the rest of the staff at the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam; Mayor Joseph C. Wesley, Dora Perez, Connie Borja, and the Santa Rita Mayor's Office and Senior Citizens Center; Tanya Mendiola, Shannon Murphy, Nathalie Peredo and the Guampedia team at the Guam Humanities Council; the staff of the Hamilton Library Pacific Collection, University of vi Hawai'i at Manoa; Robert Glass, Julie Haugen, and the staff of the National Archives, San Bruno, CA; Mary Hammond, Mendl Djunaidy, and the East-West Center, Honolulu, HI; and the faculty and staff of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, Univeristy of Hawai'i at Manoa. And finally, to my committee - David Hanlon, Karen Peacock, Terence Wesley-Smith, and Anne Perez Hattori, I express my sincere appreciation for your guidance, constructive criticism, encouragement, patience, sense of humor, and most of all, for giving me an example to follow. To all those who I have left out, please know that I am always thankful for the ways in which you have seen me through this path in one way or another. vii ABSTRACT This thesis explores experiences of displacement, dispossession, and survival as told by the people of Smnay - a pre-World War II village in southern Guam that was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of the island and seized by the U.S. military in its recapture of Guam to begin construction of the present-day Naval Base Guam. Prior to the war, Smnay had grown significantly between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries becoming the commercial, employment, travel, and communications hub of Guam. Nonetheless, the history of Sumay and its people has been nearly forgotten in written accounts and overshadowed by more popular wartime histories. Issues of Chamorro agency, transforming social identities, and history and memory are explored to shed light on the eviction of the Smnay people from their home village and their eventual exile to a newly developed site known today as Santa Rita village. Similar histories throughout Micronesia are considered putting Sumay and Guam into broader regional, historical, and thematic contexts. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ................................................................................................. v Abstract ................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ....................................................................................................... x Preface .................................................................................................................. xiv Chapter 1: Inside the Gate: A Place Called Sumay ................................................. 1 I tiempon manmaloffan ....................... ............. ......... ... .......... ....... ................... 10 On the Shores of Apra Harbor.......................................................................... 16 Chapter 2: "No Place Like Sumay:" Recollections of Sumay ................................ 29 Antes di tiempon gera ...................................................................................... 30 The coming of war........................................................................................... 38 Occupation ...................................................................................................... 44 Sumay lost forever ........................................................................................... 47 Liberation day ................................................................................................. 50 Chapter 3: Out of the Camps and Into Exile: The Aftermath of Liberation ............ 54 Resettlement, compensation, and rehabilitation ................................................ 57 "Civil" matters ................................................................................................. 63 Decisions on displacement ............................................................................... 66 On the slopes of Mount Alifan ......................................................................... 69 Chapter 4: A Phoenix Reborn: i Taotao Sumay in Santa Rita ................................ 74 The men of Sumay........................................................................................... 77 The women of Sumay ...................................................................................... 83 Identity, commemoration, and perseverance .................................................... 90 Chapter 5: History, Memory, and i Taotao Sumay: Interpretations and Reflections on the Past ....................................................... 109 Longing and nostalgia...................................................................................... 116 Reflections of a third generation son of Sumay ................................................ 120 Appendix A: Ostensible Land Owners in the Municipality ofSumay..................... 132 Appendix B: Persons Born in Sumay and Relocated to Santa Rita Following World War II .................................................................. 152 Appendix C: Biographical Information of Interview Subjects ............................... 161 Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 175 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Culture areas map of the Pacific........................................................................ xv 2. Aerial view of Naval Base Guam ...................................................................... 2 3. Main gate (entrance) to Naval