This month the Guam Museum and Chief Hurao Academy are collaborating to pilot a CHamoru language immersion program for adults. The motivation for this pilot comes primarily from students who have been attending Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua’s free weekly CHamoru language classes held via Zoom, who have been organizing to create more opportunities for them to continue their learning. One of those students, June Pangelinan who was born in Guam but has lived in California for several decades, is the program coordinator for the pilot.

For this two-week pilot 16 of the 17 participants are diasporic, meaning either born and raised outside of the Marianas or currently living in the US for an extended period. The participants range in age from 21 years to 81 years and include parents attending with their children and couples learning together.

This pilot program mixes classroom activities with learning in the natural environment of Guam, as well as cultural workshops around weaving, dance/chant and visits to the youth immersion summer program at Chief Hurao Academy. Should this pilot be successful, future programs may be offered by the Guam Museum for those on-island and off-island who would like to learn more about the native language and culture of the Marianas.

For the fifth HITA Talk for 2022 at the Guam Museum students from the pilot immersion camp will be sharing their experiences over the past few weeks learning their native language and becoming reconnected to their culture. Their HITA Talk “Speaking Our Heritage” will take place this Saturday (6/25) from 10 am – 12 pm at the Guam Museum Theater. This event is free and open to the public and will also be live streamed on the Guam Museum’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.

The HITA in HITA Talks stands for Heritage-Ideas-Traditions-Arts Talks and is a monthly education program and lecture series offered by the Guam Museum.