Ancient Chamorros/CHamorus customarily chose their own spouses, rather than their families dictating who they would choose for a partner. The bride and groom’s families, however, had to approve of the choice. The groom provided gifts ranging from food items to services and even land, to the bride’s family to gain their acceptance.
On the night before a wedding in ancient Guam, the two families met to present the chenchule’ (ceremonial gifts) to the mother of the groom. They brought edible roots (yam and taro), breadfruit, bananas, rice, fish, salt and betel nut.
When a young man and woman were attracted to each other during ancient times on Guam, the man would let his mother know when he wanted to propose marriage. If his mother had already died he would tell his grandmother or another near older female relative who would act as mediator.
In ancient times in the Mariana Islands, three or four days before a wedding the relatives on both sides worked together to beat and clean the rice, which they then ground and mixed with young coconut (månha) into a dish called laulau. On the day before the marriage the female relatives prepared breadfruit, roots, and fish, while the men gathered wood and constructed a temporary shelter for the ceremony.
Prior the Spanish colonization of Guam, Chamorro culture was fairly liberal about issues of romance, marriage and sex, even when compared with the norms of today. With the incorporation of Catholicism into Chamorro culture, however, this changed.
Divorce. The earliest information known about the Ancient Chamorro/CHamoru style of divorce comes from the notes of Fray Juan Pobre de Zamora.
Kottot (pronounced koe-toot) is a rectangular basket made from the leaves of the åkgak (awhk-gak) tree, which is the Screw pine (pandanus tectorious). The kottot was used for a ceremonial presentation of gifts of rice as a type of chenchule’ (CHamoru system of exchange).
Rice was an important ceremonial food during ancient times in the Mariana Islands. At a wedding party, which usually took place in the morning at the bride’s parent’s house, her mother presented the bride to the groom and the couple was officially married.
In ancient CHamoru society, the clan leaders arranged marriages. Women did not marry men in their clan since marriage was a chance to improve clan status and increase influence in gaining hunting, fishing and farming rights in other clan districts.
