Textbook tells: gender, race, and decolonizing Guam history textbooks in the 21st century

Abstract

Many examples from Guam’s historiography demonstrate women’s influence in Chamorro society, ranging from cosmological accounts of a creator goddess to failed legislation in the early 1900s that sought to restrict occupations available to women. This article examines the representation of women, as well as indigenous Chamorros, in the five Guam History textbooks published since 1964. The findings reveal that the textbooks, including those written with a specifically “islander-centered” approach, teach Guam’s history in comprehensive chronologies that privilege men of political and military power. This telling consequently obfuscates the historical agency of any women, particularly Native ones. This article suggests that a move away from the standard political framework commonly found in textbooks would better assure the recognition of women’s contributions to society. Such a reframing of the historical lens could serve as a vehicle toward the decolonization of textbooks.