In the 1960s and 1970s, the University of Papua New Guinea and the University of the South Pacific redesigned and decolonized their curriculum. They replaced the established British colonial model with Pacific oratory and a growing body of Oceanian writing at the center of the syllabus.

Litekyan, an archeological site at the northern point of Guam, is the birthplace of pre-Spanish CHamoru civilization before it later became a front of the natives’ resistance against the European colonizers. These days, the ancient CHamoru village site embodies the conflict between the growing military presence on Guam and the effort to preserve the island’s culture.

Led by the organization’s original MALI’E’ cohort, participants will explore ancestral spirituality through tending to sacred sites, movement, chant and material cultural practices from Dec. 29 to Jan. 4.