The CHamorus often made their fishing nets out of the vascular bundles of fibers from Lo’u, a common seagrass. This seagrass is frequently called turtle grass or eel grass in English, lo’u in CHamoru, and the scientific name is Enhalus acoroides.
CHamoru Seagrass Fishing Nets Read Post »
In 1817 Adelbert von Chamisso recorded the CHamoru terms for what he assumed were cardinal directions: Timi (North), Seplun (South), Manuu (East), Faniipan (West). These terms are sidereal or star directions and not completely analogous to the Western concepts of North, South, East and West. Nevertheless, these sidereal directions (of or with respect to the distant stars, i.e., the constellations or fixed stars, not the sun or planets) are fixed and not situational positions on the horizon and can easily be used as abstract cardinal directions.
CHamoru/Chamorro Sidereal Direction Terminology Read Post »
Largest latte house in the Marianas. Found nowhere else in the world, latte first appeared in the Mariana Islands about 800 years ago, during a period known as the Latte Era of Chamorro/CHamoru culture. Each stone is comprised of a vertical pillar (haligi) topped with a hemi-spherical capstone (tasa). Organized in two parallel rows of three to seven stones, the latte likely served as foundation posts for wood and thatch houses that were built on top of them. Representing the apex of CHamoru latte architecture, the massive stones of Taga House, located in Tinian, are 15 feet in overall length.
Art and History organizations offered workshop to prepare. In 2016, Guam hosted the Festival of the Pacific Arts, a regional festival showcasing the diversity of arts and performances from over two dozen island nations and territories throughout the Pacific.
Cultural Design with History in Mind Read Post »
From where do the original inhabitants of the Marianas originate? How long ago did they first settle the islands? What kind of migration pattern describes the settlement or settlements of the Mariana Islands? These are some of the questions that researchers are trying to answer regarding the origins and relationships of the CHamoru people.
CHamoru DNA Studies and the Origin of the CHamoru People Read Post »
On 15 August 1568 the Spanish galleon San Pablo, anchored off the southwest coast of Guam, was hit by a sudden violent storm, blown onto a nearby coast and battered into a wreck, stranding 132 men from Miguel López de Legazpi’s embryonic Philippine colony.
Galleon: San Pablo Read Post »
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 most prominently mentioned application was canoe construction, a major preoccupation of high status men. The Marianas outrigger canoe played a vital role as the integrating mechanism for the islanders’ cultural unity, connecting their tano’ tasi (land of the sea) via inter-island transportation, communication and trade.
The Matao Iron Trade Part 3: Appropriation and Entanglement Read Post »
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 well as the first encounters with Dutch and English mariners. However, a more significant exchange venue was established in the 30-mile wide Rota Channel to trade with the Spanish ships crossing regularly from New Spain (Mexico) to the Philippines.
The Matao Iron Trade Part 2: Galleon Trading and Repatriation Read Post »
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 commercial exchange between Pacific Islanders and Europeans. From Ferdinand Magellan’s 1521 visit through the establishment of the 1668 Spanish Jesuit mission, these island traders, primarily from Guam and Rota, regularly bartered food staples and craftwork for iron goods with Spanish exploration and trade vessels, Dutch expeditions and English privateers.
The Matao Iron Trade Part 1: Contact and Commerce Read Post »
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 called taotaomo’na which means “the people of before.” It is said that the taotaomo’na were giants, very clever and wise, and that they possessed magical powers.
Folktale: The Young Maidens Read Post »
