Under Spanish colonial rule, the introduction of Spanish customs, social systems and land tenure disrupted traditional practices of land ownership and social class structure of the Chamorro/CHamoru people.
The social ranking of individuals, whether by age, gender or social status, has always been important in Chamorro society. In pre-Spanish times, social status dictated occupations and activities, living situations, marriage rules, social etiquette and taboos, and access to power, wealth and prestige in the form of control over land and ocean resources.
The word “låncho” comes from the word Spanish word “rancheria” and refers to Chamorro farms, ranches, gardens, or family property in the hålomtåno’ (jungle), and even properties along beaches. They can be small or large, and can be active farming ventures with crops and livestock, or can be overgrown jungle in which families harvest wild tinanom, fruta yan gollai siha (plants/crops, fruits and vegetables).
God of the underworld. Chaife was the god of the underworld, according to one Guam legend.
Maga’låhi Yula (also spelled Hula or Yura) was a chief from the village of Apotguan in Hagåtña, who is best known for sparking a Chamorro/CHamoru uprising in the summer of 1684.
Maga’låhi Tolahi (also spelled Tetlaje or Torahi) was a chief from Tachuc (immediately south of Malesso), who fearlessly led the southern villages in resistance to Spanish rule. Tolahi believed that Chamorros/CHamorus were entitled to live freely as they had for millennia before the Spanish arrived.
Women today continue to maintain positions of authority in Chamorro/CHamoru society, both at home, in Chamorro families, and in professional careers whether they are Chamorro or of other ethnic backgrounds.
Protectors and providers Mens’ role in societies have always been that of protector and provider. In the Mariana Islands, a change in the level of male authority was manifested with
In Spanish colonial times criollo referred to a full-blooded Spaniard born in the Spanish colonies in Asia and the Americas. It was a term mostly used to differentiate from the peninsulares (full-blooded Spaniards born in Spain) and mestizos (persons of both Spanish and Native American or Asian ancestry).
ndios were defined as the native indigenous peoples in all the Spanish American and Asian possessions. During the Spanish colonial period in the Mariana Islands (17th through 19th centuries) the CHamoru people were classified as indios.
