By By Robert A. Underwood For Pacific Daily News,Courtesy of University of Guam

Copyright guampdn

For anyone who has visited the Guam Museum during the past few years, one of the most engaging and dramatic experiences is to watch the film about the origins of the CHamoru people as CHamorus themselves have been stating for thousands of years.

It is the story of Puntan and Fu’una, a brother and sister who together provided the natural environment that we call home in the Marianas.

It is an origin story that is unique because it highlights the roles of male and female in more equitable terms than Adam and Eve and tells us about clan relationships.

It is about brother and sister and how we are connected to our relatives. It also hints at the truly remarkable experience of the CHamoru people as the first people in human history to conquer the remote ocean.

When official tours organized for the Department of Defense (and now Department of War) come to the museum, the managers of the museum were discouraged from showing this film to the tours.

You heard it right.

According to Michael Bevacqua, Guam Museum curator, local MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation on military bases) managers earlier this year came and offered that piece of friendly advice.

This was done in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning DEI initiatives.

I wasn’t aware that Puntan and Fu’una was a story made up to foster diversity, equity and inclusion.

Puntan and Fu’una are now on the chopping block of some DoD interpreters about what it means to be politically correct. They are trying to cancel them.

It is remarkable in its arrogance and disrespect to the CHamoru people and provides ample evidence of the narrow mindedness of some individuals and institutions.

It is also an indicator that there is a chilling effect on freely discussing the unique origins of other peoples who are neither white nor American. In fact, DODEA school field trips to the Guam Museum have been virtually non-existent this year as opposed to previous times.

Moreover, some civilian and military personnel report that the use of phrases like “Hafa Adai” and “Si Yu’os Ma’ase’” are being discouraged. Sometimes this is subtle and other times it can be heavy handed.

Of course, all of the diversity offices and workers have been re-assigned to other duties. Maybe they are now monitoring speech and activities to enforce some sense of purity and objectivity.

All of this stands in ironic contrast to last week’s Guam Defense Forum which should really have been labelled the Guam War Forum. In that event, the top brass couldn’t say “Hafa Adai” often enough and garble their way through “Si Yu’os Ma’ase’.”

Of course, there were many self-satisfied smiles and grins as these traditional words were stated amidst statements about loving and respecting the CHamoru culture and people. This was from every general and admiral and from all of the services.

The newly minted Department of War is busily constructing an enhanced, integrated air missile defense system here on Guam. They are also constructing divert air fields in Tinian, Palau and Yap. All of this is in preparation for potential conflict with China.

Armed with phrases like “peace through strength” and emphasizing the “lethality” and “violent effect” of military activities, today’s American military forces can face any foe.

They will be able to deal with Chinese missiles, cyberattacks, rockets from North Korea and any challenge to Naval supremacy in the entire Pacific. But there is one foe that worries them.

It is the couple of Puntan and Fu’una. Their story is just so strong, that it is dangerous and offensive to see or hear it.

I got news for all of these hypersensitive, hypermasculine forces that are arrayed here in the homeland of the CHamoru people. If you think Puntan and Fu’una are tough people, wait until you have to deal with the Taotaomo’na and Guela yan Guelo’. They might be coming after you.