Search results for Oral Histories of the Marianas
Gollai Åppan: Starchy Vegetables in Reduced Coconut Cream
A method of boiling starchy foods such as tubers, plantains or breadfruit, in the cream produced by squeezing grated fresh, ripe coconut with water to make “lechen niyok”, or coconut cream.
Magutos i Finihu: Marriage Rituals
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.
Gadao yan Otro Pinenta Siha: Traditional Art
Discussing the pre-colonial arts of Chamorros is a difficult task. Documents by the Spanish who first made contact with Chamorros are limited.
Louis Claude de Freycinet
Louis Claude de Freycinet (1779 – 1841) was born in France, and at the age of 14, he joined the French navy. His early stint with the navy occurred during the tumultuous years of the French Revolution. He was an ardent supporter of Napoleon Bonaparte and shared Napoleon’s interests in science, exploration, and cartography.
Folktale: Puntan and Fu’una: Gods of Creation
Puntan and Fu’una are the Chamorro/CHamoru creation gods. Puntan, a male, and Fu’una, a female, are brother and sister. The account of their creation of the world constitutes one of the most important oral histories of the CHamoru people.
On The Question of Tattoo by Ancestral CHamorus
Interpretive essay: No evidence of CHamoru tattoo from ancient times. Tattoo is often thought to have been a universal cultural practice in the Pacific islands. However, that probably isn’t true. Archaeologists have found no evidence that the CHamoru people of the Mariana Islands used tattoo.
CHamoru Migration to the US
In 1898, at the twilight of the Spanish-American War, the US claimed Guam as a token of war. Though this event would bring an end to more than three centuries of Spanish colonial rule, it would also begin a new era in which the CHamoru people of the Mariana Islands would experience separation from one another.