What is Native justice? How does one theorize, debate, and practice just relations with Native people and the wider public? And how might students and teachers alike support such endeavors? In this talk, I will address these questions by exploring the making of the UCLA Guam Travel Study Program from 2017 - 2019. Keith will discuss the ways in which the indigenous Chamorro concepts of mamåhlao (humility), chenchule' (reciprocity), and inafa'moalek (group harmony) informed the program's academic curricula, community partnerships, and public-facing activities. Given this program's focus on Guam, Keith will also offer some historical background about the island's status as a US colony and its prospects for a decolonized and demilitarized future. As a conclusion, Keith will then highlight related efforts to advance Chamorro and Pacific Islander community-based scholarship in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Oceania more generally.
Speaker Bio: Keith L. Camacho is a Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also the author of Sacred Men: Law, Torture, and Retribution in Guam (Duke University Press, 2019) and the editor of Reppin': Pacific Islander Youth and Native Justice (University of Washington Press, 2021).
