Community organizations announce the Walk for Water 2025 at Litekyan in Guam

The community is invited to the Walk for Water 2025, set to take place on December 13, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. at Litekyan (Ritidian National Wildlife Refuge) in Northern Guam. This gathering calls the island together to affirm our human right to clean drinking water, uplift efforts to shut down the firing range constructed above the Northern Lens Aquifer, and stand in solidarity with the ancestral landowners of Litekyan.

Walk for Water 2025 arrives during a time of escalating environmental concern on Guåhan. Communities continue to grapple with the impacts of water contamination, including PFAS exposure, military construction runoff, and compromised access to clean freshwater. These conditions highlight a critical reality across the Mariana Islands: environmental health, cultural survival, and climate justice remain intersectional and interconnected.

The Walk for Water raises awareness of these threats and centers collective action, cultural knowledge, and environmental stewardship as essential components of protecting Guam’s most critical natural resource.

The Walk for Water will take participants on a 1-mile walk through Litekyan, led by ancestral stewards, yo’amte (healers), fishers, cultural practitioners, and community leaders. 

Participants will join in Chamoru chants, offer prayer through the lisåyu, and engage in educational activities rooted in Indigenous environmental teachings. The program includes:

1. Opening Ceremony led by Gi Matan Guma’ and students from Maga’låhen Hurao Academy Charter School honoring land, water, ancestors, and the ancestral landowners of Litekyan

2. Musical performances by local artists such as: Teihini, Microchild,  DJ Everything, and a special performance from Litekyan Family Members, Tom Bejado, Auntie Cat, & Paradis Jolie

3. Keynote speakers addressing water contamination, Indigenous rights, and environmental justice such as Dr. Robert Underwood and Litekyan family members.

4. Åmot Walk and educational demonstrations highlighting the ecological importance of traditional medicine by Saina Lourdes Manglona.

5. Accessibility seating and shaded areas for manamko’ and community members who would like to participate, and an alternate 0.25-mile route for participants needing a shorter option

   A Call to Protect Guam’s Aquifer

This year’s walk highlights the urgent need to address the risks posed by the firing range constructed above the Northern Lens Aquifer—Guam’s sole-source drinking water supply. Organizers emphasize the importance of safeguarding the aquifer from further contamination and protecting the surrounding lands that hold deep cultural and ancestral significance.

“The community is invited to come together to uplift our human right to clean drinking water. In the Marianas, we face many threats to our water: dieldren, PFAS, agent orange, military live fire training, bombing, deep sea bed mining,” said Maria Hernandez, MCCA co-Director and Hita Litekyan organizer. “At the Walk for Water, we will walk together in prayer and reflection, and raise our voices for clean water for our community and generations to come. Our commitment to stopping the firing range above our aquifer and over Litekyan remains unwavering. Lina’la’ i Hanom. Water is life.”