Chamorro Culture Social Stratification

Social control

Grandmother and Child, 1958. Guam Museum collection.
Manåmko'
Manma'gas by Baltazar Bell.
Manma’gas: Leaders

Social organization

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
Mampolitiku: Politics
Show of respect for elder or clan leader. Freycinet collection from the Guam Public Library System.
Manachang
Agriculture on Guam. Freycinet collection, 1824. Courtesy of the Guam Public Library System.
Mannakhilo’ and Mannakpåpa’
Ancient Guam Fishing Scene
Matao and Acha’ot
Chamorro Culture Gender Roles
Puntan Dos Amantes
A village scene of the Ancient Chamorros illustrated by JA Pellion from Freycinet’s Voyage Autour de Monde, Paris, 1824. Illustration from the Guam Public Library System.
Social Classes in Traditional CHamoru/Chamorro Society

Spanish racial hierarchy

Legazpi
Criollo
Agana Chores detail of man. From Freycinet’s Voyage Autour de Monde (Paris, 1824).
Indios
Spanish Era Social Classes
Insulares
Pangelinan - Bordallo Family, 1912. Jacqui Champion-McMahon collection.
Mestizo (Mestisu)
Governor's Garden. Guam Public Library System collection.
Mulatos and Negros
Spears
Natural
At the time of the American capture of Guam in June 1898, the Spanish-built Governor's Palace was in a deteriorated condition.
Peninsulares
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