Overview & Purpose
The ancient village of Pågat is a historic site and there is so much to learn from this village. The spiritual connection the Chamorro people feel for this ancient village is very strong and community's desire to preserve and protect this significant historic site should be embraced and empowered.
VISION
The historic Pågat Village is a community responsibility that is shared through education, cooperation, and advocacy all linking to Guam’s cultural heritage.
MISSION
The Guam Preservation Trust will preserve and protect historic Pågat Village for the benefit our people and our future.
GOALS
· To educate the community about the history and significance of historic Pågat Village;
· To forge alliances to build a powerful advocacy voice to save historic Pågat Village.
Office: Historic Lujan House
157 Padre Palomo Street
Hagatna, Guam 96910
Second Floor
Sign the petition to show your support for saving Pågat.
Children: write a letter to President Obama letting him know why you feel Pågat is important
Join us as we "Celebrate Pågat" with a fiesta dinner on Saturday, May 29, 2010, 6PM at Skinner Plaza. Petitions collected from Mayor's Offices and online as well as the Letters from Children will be presented to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to be delivered to President Obama.
Significance
The island of Guam, the westernmost United States territory in the Pacific, is home to the Chamorro people who maintain a thriving culture dating back thousands of years.
A Spanish colony from 1668 until its surrender to the U.S. in 1898, Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands retain a unique concentration of resources that are central to the cultural identity of the Chamorro.
Dating to 700 A.D., Pågat, one of Guam's most treasured cultural sites, contains remains of prehistoric structural stone foundations, known as lattes, freshwater caves, medicinal plants, as well as stone mortars, pottery and tools of the Chamorro people. One of the island's last remaining and best preserved Chamorro settlements, Pågat is revered by native people who continue to perform thousand year-old traditional cultural practices at the site, and serves as a popular destination for hikers, tourists, and students who are drawn to the area's serpentine beachfront forest and sparkling underwater caves.
Updates
May 19, 2010: The United States military plans to undertake a massive buildup on Guam that is estimated to cause a 45% population increase on the island over the next five years. In addition to concerns about Guam's already overtaxed infrastructure and fragile natural environment, many islanders are worried about the potentially devastating impact on the island's cultural resources. Current plans call for the construction of five Marine Corps firing ranges within several hundred feet of Pågat.
Department of Defense plans for a firing range on a bluff directly above the site would bring military exercises, live ammunition, and security fencing to Pågat. As a result, access to this cherished place will be significantly curtailed, treasured artifacts will be threatened and thousands of years of Chamorro history will be placed at risk.
National Trust for Historic Preservation
named Pågat in Yigo, Guam,
named Pågat in Yigo, Guam,
to its 2010 list of
America's 11 Most Endangered
America's 11 Most Endangered
Historic Places
Updates
The U.S. military already occupies and restricts access to numerous places of cultural importance to the Chamorro people on Guam. The expansion of training facilities to the area surrounding Pågat is unacceptable. We strongly urge the military to reconsider and build these firing ranges at alternative sites.
The U.S. has maintained a sizeable military presence in Guam since World War II, after the Japanese occupied the island for two and a half years. In addition to the firing ranges, the proposed military buildup includes construction of new infrastructure for nearly 9,000 marines and their dependants as well as a deep-draft wharf that would destroy a 71-acre coral reef. The Department of the Navy has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that assesses the impacts to the island, but does not analyze a single realistic alternative to the range location that threatens Pågat. Formal comments submitted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation urge the Navy to issue a supplemental EIS that deals specifically with cultural resources and meaningfully considers other range locations that would lessen the impact to Guam's cultural heritage.
Early northeastern coastal village
One of only two recorded latte sites in this area of the northeastern coast of Guam; Pågat (which means to counsel or advise in the Chamorro language) is an important cultural resource for the Chamorro people; the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands. The archaeological site contains the remnants of a large latte village that is believed to have been a part of a larger exchange network. The area has been included on Guam Register of Historic Places as well as the National Register of Historic Places, since 1974. These designations by the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation and the US National Park Service attest to the historic significance of the site. In 2010, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Pågat on America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Today local healers continue to visit Pågat to seek advice from the spirits and collect herbs for medicines. Fishermen still frequent this coastline, and many others hike in to learn about Guam’s past or to simply reflect on Guam’s heritage and be inspired by the spectacular scenery. Teachers and camp counselors take students and campers there often for field trips. The US military, however, has plans to close the area to the public to make way for a live fire training range for the Marines. A proposal for the military build up on Guam, now under review, states that the public would be allowed to occasionally visit the site when the firing range is not in use, to ensure the public’s safety. The ancient village would not be disturbed by the Marines, but rather it would be off limits to the public as a part of a safety arc.
Pågat
from guampedia.com/pagat
Hafa Adai from the Guam Preservation Trust
What You Can Do
