Sleepless in Wonderland: The Real Big Fish

As a child growing up on Guam, I heard many legends.  Some I learned at school and some my parents told me.  One legend that has been on my mind this past month, is the legend of thebig fish that ate Guam.  You remember the legend, don't you?  It explains why Guam is so narrow in the middle.  As I was told, many many years ago a very large fish was eating away at our island.  Many strong men tried to stop the fish, but none succeeded.  At this time, the young women of Guam had beautiful long hair.  One day the women decided to weave their hair in to a net.  With the net made from their hair the women caught the big fish and saved the land and people from the monstrous fish.

 

The reason this legend has been on my mind, is because I've been looking at many maps of Guam recently.   Yes, our island is narrow in the middle, but I've also noticed that there are many parts of our island that is innaccessible to the people of Guam.  It's as if the big fish has returned.  This big fish is feasting on the graves of our ancestors and land that is lush and beautiful.  Sometimes this big fish spits out the the land, returning it to us, but by that time much of the land is contaminated. 

 

What will our island look like 4 years from now?  How much of it will be contaminated by the big fish?  Where will we be 20 years from now? Will we be telling our grandchildren the story of the fish that annhilated our island? 

 

We must gather together, like the women in the original legend, to defend our home, before there is nothing left to defend.

This is an image of Guam, with the areas our new big fish has eaten photo shopped out, by Nella.  Remember much of the "eaten land" is coastal.  This was created from a map of Guam that showed DOD land as of 1991.  I had a hard time finding a more current map.