By Johanna Salinas
“Our work is more than just creativity; it’s an act of resistance in a world where what is sacred to us indigenous people continues to be desecrated,” said Kaitlin Ngeremokt McManus. “Our land our water our air our culture our way of life our women our children our people.”
McManus is among the indigenous artists featured in “Ta Nå’i Ånimu’,” which opened on July 13 and runs until Oct. 18, at the Guam Museum. The exhibit features a collection of work by CHamoru artists expressing their spirits through various mediums and ideas.
“‘Ta Nå'i Ånimu’ in CHamoru means to ‘give your entire spirit,’ and for me, that means not to hold back or be afraid of what some might think,” McManus said, “to use my passion for re-indigenization and solidarity for the oppressed and colonized and weave that into my artwork.”
Motherhood is another driving force behind McManus’ creativity and it was evident in the live piece she painted during the opening night.
“My live art piece that I did during the exhibit shows women and their children from different places in the world that are facing colonization, genocide or some type of oppression,” she said. “These included women and their children from Guam, West Papua, Kanaky, Native American tribes, Congo, South America and Palestine.”
Her work was accompanied by a quote from the American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin who wrote, “The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.”
Joey Certeza gave all his spirit in his piece titled “På’go ya Hine’yed,” which means the “New Agreement.” He printed a copy of the Organic Act of Guam and reduced it to paper pulp. “I combined it with coconut fiber, black sand from Surf Side in Talofofo, as well as other things to represent what it takes to make a new deal, a new agreement,” he said.
Certeza said “På’go ya Hine’yed” represents the CHamoru people’s sentiments. “We, the people of this island have already suffered 500 years of colonization, 80 years of reoccupation, 75 years of the Organic Act. It’s doing us no good in our fight for self-determination,” he said.
Certeza said the Ta Nå’i Ånimu’ exhibit gave him a chance to take a risk and try something different with his craft. “I really didn't go into the political realm as much before,” he said. “I’ve always been into pro-art or using artivism as a medium. For today, I really wanted to go for a political stance.”
Certeza used recycled and upcycled materials. “This is another good extension of my capacity and to the extent where my artwork may be leading into in the future,” he said.
His work is heading toward environmental activism, which he said will address “the contamination” that art itself brings. “Paint is plastic. Art supplies produce a lot of plastic going all over the place,” Certeza said. “I make own paper. I hope to make my own charcoal pencils, my own water paint set. That’s independence. That’s self-determination.”
Janelle S.N. Torres carves her spirit into her jewelry pieces, to which she said she gave her “entire heart and soul.”
“I really did every inch of me into everything I display. Everything I make is from here—from Guahan. That’s very important,” Torres said. “A lot of us here gather inspiration from living on Guahan—being a son or daughter of the Marianas, being a taotao of Oceania.”
Franceska De Oro believes in practicing Ta Nå’i Ånimu’ every day, no matter the occasion. “In the CNMI, a farewell greeting people give one another is ‘nå’i animu’— like, ‘have your spirit or give it your spirit.’ That everyday sentiment of incorporating your spirit into your everyday life and the work you do is important to me in understanding ‘ta nå’i animu,’” she said.
“When it comes to land rights, activism, CHamoru culture and all the things that we fight for as climate activists or indigenous rights activists, we have to give it the best of our spirits. This work goes beyond us in this life, it’s inherited work from our ancestors and it’s work we need to continue to do for our future generations,” she added.
De Oro’s work, titled “Gehilo’ i Gima,” is a collection of pieces inspired by Micronesian symbols such as the whale tales, the moon, the sun and Gatdao pictographs. Blending into the collection is a Spanish-inspired “Santa Maria” piece, which she altered “so she could be the indigenized symbol of the matriarchs in my family.”
While individual artists have their own unique spirits depicted in their styles, all of the art pieces embrace the Ta Nå’i Ånimu’theme.
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