First baptized adult Chamorro

Kepuha (also spelled Quipuha) is remembered for his role in welcoming Father Diego Luis de San Vitores and aiding in the initial efforts of the Catholic Church to establish a mission on Guam. He became the first Chamorro to be baptized and became a protector of the Church distributing advice and land for a church.

On June 16, 1668 the San Diego anchored near present-day Hagåtña. Waiting at his home along with the other chiefs of the village, Kepuha welcomed Father Luis de Medina, Superior of the Philippines, while the rest of the crewmembers remained aboard the vessel. Father Medina acted according to his knowledge of the traditional customs and language of the island in greeting the Chamorro chief.

Kepuha was presented with gifts such as a velvet hat and iron hoops and nails. The missionaries then told the chief their true intentions of teaching them the law of God and the way to heaven. Spanish accounts of the meeting say Kepuha had a favorable reaction, stating, “You please us, Fathers and you bring us good news which will cause joy to our entire nation for we have wanted you here for a long time.”

However, the historical perspective is that the chiefs did not understand that Christianity was going to change Chamorro social order and way of life so drastically. Once the chiefs realized that the class structure would be abolished by Christianity along with the Guma’ Uritaos (men’s houses) and other customs, they changed their minds about accepting it.

As was the common strategy of the Jesuits, they attempted to first convert the Chamorro chiefs in order to convert the people. Upon hearing the priest’s intentions to create churches, the records show that Kepuha volunteered land for the church site. In addition, a large cross was erected on the seashore where the Spanish first landed. Kepuha lived up to his appointed role as protector of the Hagåtña mission. The Spanish reciprocated by giving him the title of Don Juan Quipuha, naming him after St. John the Baptist who they had chosen as the island’s protector.

Controversy would surround Kepuha following his death of natural causes in 1669. In honor of his service to the church, Father San Vitores had him buried at the newly dedicated Dulce Nombre de Maria Church in Hagåtña. Father San Vitores used the death of Kepuha to further establish Christianity on Guam by severing another Chamorro custom and angering many. Chamorro custom dictated that their dead be buried near their family’s residence. Early cultural and religious clashes such as this foreshadowed the Chamorro-Spanish Wars.

A memorial to the memory of Kepuha currently stands next to the Paseo in Hagåtña. Built during the wave of federal funds arriving of Guam as a result of Typhoon Pamela rehabilitation efforts, the monument was completed under the administration of Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo administration in July 1976. The eleven-foot statue was the first memorial built in honor of a traditional Chamorro leader. This year members of the Chamorro Art Association made a sinahi (traditional necklace) and placed it around Kepuha’s neck to honor the leader.

By Nicholas Yamashita Quinata

For further reading

Aguon. Katherine B. Commentary. “Ancient Chamorro Leaders of Guahan.” Guahan Magazine (June 2007). Also available online at Guahan Magazine (accessed April 9, 2008).

Benavente, Eddie L.G. I Manmaga’lahi yan I Manma’gas – Geran Chamoru yan Espanot, 1668-1695. N.p.: Eddie L.G. Benavente, 2007.

Hezel, Francis. “From Conversion to Conquest: The Early Spanish Mission in the Marianas.” Journal of Pacific History 17 (1982): 3-4; 115-37. Also available online at Micronesian Seminar (accessed April 2, 2008).

Le Gobien, Charles. Histories des Isles Marianes. Paris: 1700. A manuscript translated into English is available at the University of Guam Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center.

Levesque, Rodrigue, comp. and ed. History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents. Vols. 1 – 13. Gatineau, Quebec: Levesque Publications, 1992-.

Risco, Alberto. The Apostle of the Marianas: The Life, Labors and Martyrdom of Venerable Diego Luis de San Vitores, 1627-1672. Translated by Juan M. H. Ledesma. [Hagåtña?]: Diocese of Agana, 1970.

Rogers, Robert F. Destiny’s Landfall: A History of Guam. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1995.