2025/04/03 by Ha’åni Lucia Falo San Nicolas, Mailane Moreira dos Santos · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Multilingual Education and Policy
paper · doi:10.1080/00223344.2025.2474977
openalex publication_date 2025/04/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/13
In Guåhan, fino’ CHamoru (CHamoru language) is considered endangered because of its decline in speakers. Consequently, some individuals push a fatalistic narrative that the language, and by extension CHamoru culture and people, is on the brink of death. To merely say that the language is dying not only ignores the agents and events that have shaped fino’ CHamoru into what it is now but also erases a genealogy of CHamoru resistance to preserve and enliven the language while enduring colonial attitudes and policies. This article highlights key historical moments in Guåhan during the 1900s to today to demonstrate how American colonial policies made at the turn of the 20th century directly affect the vitality of fino’ CHamoru and contemporary approaches to its continuity. We argue that present-day Indigenous efforts to protect fino’ CHamoru are acts of language reclamation that build upon the CHamoru legacy of resistance.