ABSTRACT
On the island of Guåhan (Guam), Litekyan is an ancient village considered sacred to the CHamoru or the indigenous people of Guåhan, owing in part to the remnants of latte or stone pillars of houses, which still stands in their original environment surrounded by strand and limestone forest habitats. These habitats extend up to the cliffs and forested terraces of a place called Tailålo, which is under threat because of the construction of a Live Fire Training Range Complex (LFTRC) by the US Department of Defense. A large surface danger zone will prevent access to most of Litekyan, where yo’åmte or traditional healers collect åmot or medicine. In 2016, a social movement started to protest this LFTRC, advocating for indigenous rights, indigenous traditional practices, the protection of cultural and natural resources, and the return of the lands to the indigenous landowners. Using social movement theory, this ethnographic case study analyzes these social injustices in a historical and current context, examining the social processes and organization of the social movement, and applying a qualitative mixed-method approach using triangulation design (participant observation, in-depth interviews, and archival document analysis) and methods drawn from participatory action research to gain solution-based stakeholder input. This research aims to advance governance participation and decision-making power for indigenous peoples concerning sacred places, the protection of their natural and cultural resources, and their traditional and spiritual lifeways. Three main conclusions emerged from reviewing the colonial history of Guåhan and its current resistance when dealing with the protection of sacred places and their biocultural diversity: (1) the contrast between indigenous and western paradigms drives indigenous peoples to advocate for their place-based belief systems, connected with the land and its natural and cultural systems; (2) the need for inclusivity to advance indigenous rights in the decision-making process over endangered species, natural and cultural resources, and resulting mitigation practices; and (3) Prutehi Litekyan advocates a shift to bottom-up built upon local knowledge rather than top-down governance to ensure indigenous voices of Guåhan are being heard.
