Guam – Pa’a Taotao Tano’ (way of life of the people of the land), a non-profit cultural organization incorporated in 2001 whose mission is to preserve, promote and perpetuate the Chamorro culture and traditions was awarded a $98,000 one year Language Preservation grant in October 2009 from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) a division of the : Administration for Children and Families: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This year long Chamorro language grant allowed Pa’a Taotao Tano’ to conduct Guam’s 1st island-wide Chamorro Language Assessment Survey in all 19 villages through a door-to-door campaign that took place January – July collecting 6524 survey forms from Chamorro’s living on Guam.
The goal of this grant project is to assess the current status of the Chamorro Language in order to appropriately assist the Chamorro community of Guam in developing and implementing a strategic plan to achieve the long-term goal of preserving and perpetuating the indigenous language – the Chamorro language of Guam. The number of actual Chamorro speakers on Guam today is unknown due to a lack/missing data.
Pa’a Taotao Tano’ will be presenting the Chamorro Language Assessment Survey (CLAS) Grant findings this evening – Monday, September 20, 2010, 7:00 p.m. at the Barrigada Community Center.
