Land is Life.
Hita Litekyan is a coalition of CHamoru families in Guåhan advocating for the return of our ancestral land at Ritidian, which is proposed for use as a Surface Danger Zone (SDZ) for a 700-acre U.S. military firing range complex.
Outreach and Awareness
Walk for Water
A CELEBRATION AT LITEKYAN FOR WATER JUSTICE AND NATIVE LAND STEWARDSHIP
We invite you to stand in solidarity with the CHamoru people as we come together for the Walk for Water, a 1-mile healing walk through Litekyan (Ritidian) dedicated to raising awareness about water security in Guam and the wider Marianas archipelago, environmental justice, and the protection of our sacred lands.
The Walk for Water is a collective amut walk or medicine walk led by ancestral stewards of Litekyan, yo'amte, fishers, cultural practitioners, and allies, rooted in the belief that water is life. This walk will honor our ancestors and future generations by calling attention to the urgent need for clean water, environmental sustainability, and the protection of CHamoru rights to our ancestral lands.
Together, we will:
Walk in prayer and reflection
Raise our voices for water justice
Build power through music, community, and solidarity
We encourage everyone-families, youth, elders, and allies
Hita Litekyan’s “Follow the Water” film pitch wins If/Then Shorts and The Redford Center’s Special Jury Selection Category at Mountain Film Festival
"Follow the Water" was honored with a Special Jury Selection in the 2024 Nature Connection Pitch at the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, CO, this May.
This recognition includes funding that will support the production of Follow the Water, a 25-minute documentary short that explores Indigenous land rights, water security, historical contamination, and contemporary community organizing in the U.S. territories of Guam (Guåhan) and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The documentary will be told from a multi-generational Indigenous perspective, focusing on frontline organizers and land defenders advocating for the protection and return of Litekyan, their ancestral land, which has been proposed as a buffer zone for a U.S. Marine Live Fire Training Range Complex.
Ta Na’i Animu Art Exhibition
Hita Litekyan and Micronesia Climate Change Alliance present Ta Nå’i Animu an ARTIVISM event, a perfect synergy of ART + ACTIVISM, designed to educate and raise public awareness about the importance of native land and ocean stewardship.
Hita Litekyan is a coalition of CHamoru families raising awareness about indigenous land stewardship and environmental conservation. Micronesia Climate Change Alliance is a 501c3 non-profit that uplifts and unites Micronesian communities to create culturally-centered solutions that protect and heal our sacred islands, waters, and peoples.
HITA/MCCA Resiliency Hub
a Nå'i Ånimu Resiliency Hub, pronounced tah nah-ee ah-nee-mu, means “to give all your energy your spirit; your best effort” in our native tongue CHamoru. Hita Litekyan and local non-profit Micronesia Climate Change Alliance are building a resiliency hub to create a social justice space for collaboration, organizing, and centering community within the Mariåna Islands in the face of climate change, hypermilitarism, and colonialism.
“Everybody loves birds, and we applaud the Audubon people for trying to protect them. But what about the people of Guam? Who is protecting them from extinction?"
- Joe Murphy, “Pipe Dreams”,
Pacific Daily News
We are descendants of the original landowners of Ritidian, and for over six decades, we have been calling on the U.S. to return our ancestral land. This land was taken from us through eminent domain for national defense purposes to build a Naval Communications Facility and used as a recreation area for military families. Please sign the petition calling for justice for the Ritidian families as we continue t advocate for the return of our ancestral land.