Chamorro people

Pre-colonial society in the Marianas was based on a caste system, Chamori being the name of the ruling, highest caste.[7]

After Spain annexed and conquered the Marianas, the caste system eventually became extinct under Spanish rule, and all of the indigenous residents of the archipelago eventually came to be referred to by the Spanish exonym Chamorro. The name CHamoru is an endonym derived from the indigenous orthography of the Spanish exonym. The digraph ch is treated as a single letter, hence both characters are capitalized at the beginning of a sentence or proper noun, much like ij in Dutch.

Some people theorize that Spanish definitions of the word Chamorro played a role in its being used to refer to the island's indigenous inhabitants. Apart from "Chamorro" being a Spanish surname, in Spanish it also means "leg of pork", "beardless [wheat]", "bald", "close-cropped", or "shorn/shaven/[hair or wool] cut close to the surface".[8][9][10] Circa 1670, a Catholic missionary reported that men were sporting a style in which their heads were shaven, save for a "finger-length" amount of hair at the crown. This hairstyle has often been portrayed in modern-day depictions of early Chamorros. However, the first European descriptions of the physical appearance of the Chamorro people in the 1520s and 30s report that both sexes had long black hair which they wore down to their waists or even further. Another description, given about 50 years later, reported that the natives at that time were tying up their hair into one or two topknots.[11]

Chamorro institutions on Guam advocate for the spelling CHamoru, as reflected in the 2017 Guam public law 33-236.[12] In 2018, the Commission on the CHamoru Language and the Teaching of the History and Culture of the Indigenous People of Guam announced CHamoru as the preferred standardized spelling of the language and people, as opposed to the conventional spelling Chamorro.[13]

The Chamorro language is included in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian family. Because Guam was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, Chamorro has acquired many loanwords from Spanish. An example is how the traditional Chamorro number system was replaced by Spanish numbers.[14]

Chamorro is often spoken in many homes, but this is becoming less common. However, there has been a resurgence of interest in reviving the language, and all public schools on both Guam and the Northern Marianas are now required by law to teach the Chamorro language as part of the elementary, middle, and high school curriculum.

The most spoken phrase in Chamorro is håfa adai, a greeting which approximates “hello” in English.

Chamorro Hunter with Spear, as depicted in the Boxer Codex (1590) of the Philippines

Chamorro Hunter with Bow, as depicted in the Boxer Codex (1590) of the Philippines

The Chamorros are commonly believed to have arrived in the Marianas Islands from Southeast Asia circa 2,000 BC. They are most closely related to other Austronesian-speaking natives from the Philippines, eastern Indonesia (specifically in Maluku and Sulawesi), Taiwanese aborigines, as well as peoples of the Caroline Islands to the south (in particular the outer islands of the Federated States of Micronesia state of Yap). They were expert seafarers and skilled craftspeople familiar with intricate weaving and detailed pottery-making. The latte stone, a megalithic rock pillar topped with a hemispherical capstone, was used by early Chamorros as foundation for buildings and has since been appropriated as a national symbol.

Chamorro society was based on what sociologist Dr. Lawrence J. Cunningham termed the “matrilineal avuncuclan”, one characteristic of which is that the brother(s) of the female parent plays a more primary paternal role than biological male parent of a child.[15][16]

Chamorro girls in the 1930s

Cosmogony and religion

Depiction of latte stone colonnades on the island of Tinian.

According to early Chamorro legend, the world was created by a twin brother and sister, Puntan and Fu'uña.[18] As he lay dying, Puntan instructed his sister Fu'uña to make his body into the ingredients of the universe. She used his eyes to create the Sun and Moon, his eyebrows to make rainbows, and most of the rest of his parts into various features of the Earth. Once her work was complete, she descended on an island called Guåhan (Guam), and transformed herself into a giant rock. This rock split, and from it emerged all human beings. Some believe that this rock was once located at the site of a church in Agat, while others believe it is the phallic-shaped Laso de Fua located in Fouha Bay in Umatac.

Ancient Chamorros engaged in ancestor veneration, but did not practice a formal "religion”" in the sense of worshiping deities. However, there is at least one account by Christoph Carl Fernberger in 1623, that human sacrifice was practiced to placate a "great fish". This claim may be related to a Chamorro legend about why the island of Guam is narrow in the middle. According to the legend, a gigantic fish was gradually eating away at the island from both sides. Although the ancient Chamorros supposedly had magical abilities, the huge creature eluded them. When the men were unsuccessful in hunting it down, the women used their hair to weave a net, which grew larger as they sang. The singing enchanted the fish, and lured it into the giant net.[19]

Castes and classes

Chamorro performer elder

Chamorro society was divided into two main castes, and continued to be so for well over a century after the Spanish first arrived. According to historical records provided by Europeans such as Father Charles Le Gobien, there appeared to be racial differences between the subservient Manachang caste, and the higher Chamor[r]i, the Manachang being described as shorter, darker-skinned, and physically less hardy than the Chamori. The Chamori caste was further subdivided into the upper-middle class Achoti/Acha'ot and the highest, the ruling Matua/Matao class. Achoti could gain status as Matua, and Matua could be reduced to Achoti, but Manachang were born and died as such and had no recourse to improve their station. Members of the Manachang and the Chamori were not permitted to intermingle. All three classes performed physical labor, but had specifically different duties.[7][20] Le Gobien theorized that Chamorro society comprised the geographical convergence of peoples of different ethnic origins. This idea may be supportable by the evidence of linguistic characteristics of the Chamorro language and social customs.

Father Pierre Coomans wrote of the practice among Chamorro women of teeth blackening/dental lacquering (also a widespread custom in ancient maritime Southeast Asia, Japan, southeastern China, and parts of Indochina), which they considered beautiful as a distinction apart from animals.[11] Fernberger wrote in his account of the Chamorros that “penis pins” were employed as a chastity measure for young males, a type of genital piercing similar to those employed by inhabitants of precolonial Maritime Southeast Asia.[21]

Reception of the Manila Galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, ca. 1590 Boxer Codex

On March 6, 1521 Ferdinand Magellan and his men had after having crossed the Pacific Ocean encountered the first "indios" since leaving South America.[23] Later Spanish visitors named the inhabitants "Chamurres", derived from a local term for the upper caste; this was then converted to "Chamorros", an old Spanish term for "bald", perhaps in reference to the local habit to shave.[23]

Over the centuries, the Mariana Islands have been occupied by several foreign countries (Spain, Germany, Japan, United States), and present-day Chamorro society is almost entirely multiethnic, with the inhabitants of Luta/Rota being the least so. The Chamorros are primarily of Austronesian ancestry, but began to significantly interact with Spanish and Filipinos during the Spanish Colonial Era (1521–1898 AD). Primarily since the late 19th century onward, many Chamorros have intermarried with other Pacific Islanders, mainland Americans, Filipinos, Chinese, and Japanese.

During the Spanish Colonial Era, the Chamorro population was greatly reduced by the introduction of European diseases and changes in society as well as all out war under Spanish rule. Some estimate that as many as 100,000 Chamorros may have populated the Marianas when Europeans first settled in 1667. By 1800, there were under 1,000. Within the parishes, the Spanish eventually focused their efforts on converting the natives to Catholicism. Father Frances X. Hezel stated that Chamorros caught or reported engaging in pagan "sorcery" were publicly punished. Through this, they were given Spanish surnames through Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos or Alphabetic Catalog of Surnames. Thus, a multiracially mixed Chamorro with European descent and a Spanish surname may not necessarily have Spanish blood, any more than Filipinos with Spanish surnames do.

During the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21, 1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898, Spain ceded Guam to the United States effective April 11, 1899. Guam is among the 17 non-self-governing territories listed by the United Nations.

Chamorro performers at PIFA San Diego

Chamorro culture has over the years acquired noticeable influences from Spanish, Mexican, American, Japanese and Filipino cultures, as well as the presence of fellow Oceanic (mostly Micronesian) groups. Influence from the German era in the Northern Marianas is most visible in the form of certain given names and family surnames.

The prehistoric concept of inafa'maolek ("doing good for each other", often translated as interdependence) is a core value of traditional Chamorro culture. Respect for one's family, community, and the elderly (man åmko') are major components, although this varies from person to person and family to family. The culture is now strongly influenced by American customs and values, largely because the Marianas archipelago (partitioned into Guam and the CNMI) is currently possessed by the United States of America, as organized but unincorporated territories; in addition, most people of Chamorro descent now live outside of the Marianas in the United States. The American military has a major cultural influence among the Chamorro; enlistment rates are higher in the Marianas than in any other place in the USA. On Guam, the enlistment rate is around 14 people per 10,000;[24] by contrast, the US state of Montana, which has the highest per capita enlistment, has a rate almost half that, with approximately eight people per 10,000. (See the Guam page for more details about this topic.)

Cockfighting and cockfight-related gambling were introduced by the Spanish and have long been a significant pastime in Chamoru culture, especially among men. It is still popular among the members of older generations and with Filipino immigrants, who raise roosters for cockfighting purposes; however, mixed martial arts fighting competitions have grown in popularity as spectator sports, particularly among the members of more recent generations. Large-scale events are held throughout the year on Guam and Saipan, which feature local competitors as well as guest participants from abroad.

Chamorro life has long centered on one's matriarchal clan. The concept of a "clan" stemming from a common female ancestor is still observed. Large extended families remain central to life in the Marianas.

Diabetes and heart disease have become increasingly common among the indigenous population as well as among non-indigenous Oceanic people living in the Marianas, particularly the Carolinian Refaluwasch.[25]

Traditional healers called suruhånu (or suruhåna for women) are still greatly respected for their knowledge of herbal treatments and spirits.

Cuisine

Chamorro red rice

Chamorro cuisine is influenced by various cultures. Examples of popular foods of foreign origin include various types of sweet or savory empanada, originally introduced by Spain, and pancit, a noodle dish from the Philippines.

Archeological evidence from islands in the Marianas reveals that rice was cultivated there since prehistory.[27] Red rice made with achoti is a distinct staple food that strongly identifies Chamorro cuisine among the many dishes of fellow Pacific island cultures. It is commonly served for special events, such as parties (gupot or "fiestas"), nobenas, and occasions such as a high school or college graduations. Fruits such as lemmai, mangga, niyok, and bilimbines are consumed in various local recipes. In the Marianas, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and American cuisine are also commonly available. Local cookies are known as Guyuria.

Locally distinct foods include kelaguen, a dish in which meat is cooked in whole or in part by citric acid rather than heat; Tinaktak, a meat dish made with coconut milk; and kå'du fanihi (flying fox/fruit bat soup). Fruit bats and local birds have become scarce in modern times primarily due to the World War II-era introduction of the brown tree snake, which decimated the populations of local birds and threatens the fanihi (fruit bat) population as well. Illegal hunting of fruit bats also threatens existing populations.[28]

Spam and other canned meats were introduced to the islands after World War II, leading to a dietary shift and numerous health problems.[29]

According to the 2010 census, there are 148,220 Chamorros living in the United States, mostly from Guam, but also from the Northern Marianas and Saipan.[30]

The early Chamorros that migrated to the USA were Guamanians who moved to the USA in the first decade of the 20th century. In the following decades small groups of Guamanians emigrated to Hawaii and the Western of the United States, where worked as farmers.[31] The population of Guam got the American citizenship in 1929.[32] So, after the end of World War II, many more Guamanians emigrated to the USA. Most of them were in the military or married with military people.[31]

In 1950 the population of Guam gained the full American citizenship,[33] which favoured Guamanian migration to the U.S. So, the first major Guamanian migration emerged and more of 160 Guamanians emigrated to the USA in the 50s. Many of them moved to California.[34] In 1952, Guamanian immigrants founded their first organization in USA: The Guam Territorial Society (later renamed as The Guam Society of America), in Washington D.C., where worked for the Department of Defense and developing military operations.

In the 60s hundreds of Guamanians emigrated to the United States. This was the time when the largest number of Guamanians emigrated to this country. Most of them emigrated to the USA fleeing the Korean War and the Typhoon Karen.[35]

In the 70s another wave of Guamanians arrived in the USA. In 1986 USA acquired the Northern Marianas Islands,[36] which favoured migration from Northern Mariana Islands to the U.S.

• Zach Banner (born 1993), American NFL football offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Joe Duarte (born 1993), mixed martial artist
• Susan Pangelinan, Chamorro-American member of the United States Air Force

• History of Guam
• History of Oceania
• History of the Pacific Islands
• Native Hawaiians

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chamorro people.

• Chamorro census information from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community
• Chamorro, Joan plus Andrea Motis play / sing on the digital music album of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band in Barcelona, Spain
• MyChamorroHeritage.com Another resource for Chamorros and those interested in the Chamorro people and culture