Chamorro Culture - Guampedia

Ancient Guam Era

The Matao Iron Trade Part 3: Appropriation and Entanglement

The matao fashioned the iron they acquired from trading with visiting ship crews into traditional tools, including punches, drills, fish hooks and adze blades. The

Ancient Guam Era

The Matao Iron Trade Part 2: Galleon Trading and Repatriation

Between 1565 and 1665, Guam’s southwest coast received sporadic visits from Spanish vessels, including the first wreck of a trade galleon (San Pablo, 1568), as

Ancient Guam Era

The Matao Iron Trade Part 1: Contact and Commerce

Members of the matao, the highest-ranking strata of Mariana Islands society in the 16th and 17th centuries, carried on the first sustained cultural interaction and

Ancient Guam Era

Folktale: The Young Maidens

Åntes na tiempo (a long time ago), the ancestors of the modern day CHamorus came to the Marianas, a mighty race of people. They were

Ancient Guam Era

Folktale: Alu and Pang

In ancient times the people of the Mariana Islands lived in villages ruled by a maga’låhi or maga’håga (chief or high-ranking son or daughter), who

Ladrones/Mariana Islands by Johann Ludwig Gottfried, 1631. Courtesy of the Guam Public Library System.

Chamorro Culture

Matrimony and Social Change in the Marianas during Spanish Times

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,

A village scene depicts the difference in caste through body language and building structures. Also illustrated is the lack of body coverings as being unnecessary. Bachelor’s houses were houses for young CHamoru/Chamorro men in the Mariana Islands from ancient times until the late 1600s. A village scene of the Ancient CHamorus illustrated by JA Pellion from Freycinet’s Voyage Autour de Monde, Paris, 1824. Guam Public Library System

Ancient Guam Era

Ancient CHamoru Kinship and Land Tenure

In CHamoru culture today, the notion of family or i-familia is very important. From rosaries to weddings, funerals to barbecues, many CHamoru social events revolve

Ancient CHamoru Settlement Patterns

White sandy beaches, lush jungles, verdant landscapes and gorgeous sunsets—the Marianas, for many, resemble a tropical paradise. With all this natural beauty, do you ever

Ancient Guam Era

Ancient CHamoru/Chamorro Cultural Aspects of Fishing

Fishing was one of the most important subsistence activities in ancient CHamoru society. Surrounded by the ocean, the CHamorus relied on their fishing skills to

Fishing Tools Featured Image. Ancient CHamorus/Chamorros fishing for the village illustrated by JA Pellion from Freycinet’s Voyage Autour de Monde, Paris, 1824.

Ancient Guam Era

Ancient CHamoru/Chamorro Fishing Tools

The ancient CHamorus were very adept at fishing and used a variety of implements and techniques to procure food from the inland rivers, lagoons and