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Our Truth: CHamoru Oral History of World War II Events and Its Impact on Guam
Atoigue, Zeta
Atoigue, Zeta
Abstract
Oral history preserves indigenous cultures by providing perspectives beyond text-written, Eurocentric versions of historical events that fail to account for natives’ lived experiences. This research aims to reposition World War II narratives away from the hands of Westerners and back to their rightful place: the hands – or mouths, in this case – of indigenous CHamorus. To accomplish this, I will outline the development of Guam and the United States’s “unique” relationship, focusing on WWII, which reshaped Guam’s geopolitical position as a no-longer sovereign territory. Then, I will consider CHamorus’ personal narratives — some from 1946, and others from interviews that I conducted earlier in March — to not only explore how Guam’s reconstruction affected its people for generations, but to also learn the truth about CHamorus’ experiences during and after wartime, which have been glossed over or altered in Western textbooks.
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2023-05-01
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Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies