Returning to Fo'na, Returning Home: Rematriating Education for CHamorus in Guåhan

Abstract

This dissertation proposes a Fo‘na Framework to radically decolonize education in Guåhan. It begins with an analysis of how the Guam Department of Education (GDOE) has historically implemented and perpetuated a US colonial agenda through its curricula. My research then turns to ways CHamoru mothers in Guåhan are countering or supplementing GDOE curricula by rematriating education for their children through everyday acts of na‘lå‘la‘. Drawing on interviews with these parents and educators, I present the Fo‘na Framework, a framework which roots education in our ancestors and the stories, lands, and ocean waters of our mother(is)land. In addition to calling for the continued need to decolonize education for CHamorus in Guåhan, this dissertation serves as a resource for CHamoru parents and educators who seek to practice everyday acts of na‘lå‘la‘ and to elaborate Indigenous education through a Fo‘na Framework that attends to its four main parts: Fo‘na; Tåno‘ and Tåsi; Sinangan; and Inafa‘maolek.