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Chamorro Culture

Chamorro Culture, Guampedia Resources, New, Our Heritage, Trends

CHamoru Migration Survey 2021

 

Since 2008, Guampedia.com has been recognized as a valuable community resource for and about the Mariana Islands. With a small managing team and a network of scholars and community partners, we serve a diverse audience of visitors from Guam and around the world who are interested in learning about our islands, our history and our people. Over the years we have continually developed new content to add to our collection of entries on a wide range of topics on Guam/Marianas history, environment, society, arts and culture. Our educational mission compels us to seek opportunities to engage with our audiences and ensure that we meet needs and expectations of the people who use our content

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Art, Architecture, Body Adornment, Music and Food, Chamorro Culture, Contemporary Guam: Health, Food, Health and Medicine, Land (Tano), Natural Environment, Natural Resources, Our Heritage

Health Consequences of Modern Diets on Guam

 

Our food choices. As with most communities, the necessity for food is interwoven with cultural and social needs. For the people of the Mariana Island, food is, and always has been, central to the cultural practices and traditions that have shaped daily life in the community.

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Art, Art, Architecture, Body Adornment, Music and Food, Body Adornment, Chamorro Culture, Creative Expressions, Division of Resources, Natural Environment, Natural Resources, Our Heritage, Resources, Sea (Tasi), Traditional Craft

Hima: Conserving a Cultural Heritage

 

Basic biology. The giant clam is a member of the Phylum Mollusca and the Class Bivalvia. These clams have two shells (called “valves”) that are hinged on what is called an umbo. Their flesh or mantle is the mechanism that secretes the clam’s shell.

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Chamorro Culture, Division of Resources, Island Life, Our Heritage, People and Places, Resources, Villages, Heritage Sites and Island Life

Passion for Pugua

 

Betel nut use. Areca (Betel) nut is the seed of the palm known scientifically as Areca catechu. Betel nut is the fourth most widely used psychoactive substance in the world, following only caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. These substances act upon the central nervous system to alter brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. Over 600 million people chew betel nut worldwide, including Indians, Asians, and Pacific Islanders. In the Mariana Islands, betel nut, or pugua, chewing is a social pastime that extends friendship.

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Ancient Guam Era, Chamorro Culture, Guampedia Resources, Historic Eras of Guam, Indigenous Lenses, Language, Our Heritage, Transportation, Technology and Communications

CHamoru Sidereal Direction Terminology

 

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.

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Chamorro Culture, e-Publications, Guam CAHA Workshops, Our Heritage

CHamoru Cultural Values Workshop

 

Summary Workshop Report epublication. In May-June 2016, Guam is hosting the Festival of the Pacific Arts (FestPac), a region-wide festival celebrating the various arts and cultures of the Pacific. FestPac 2016 will showcase traditional performances, arts and craft displays and demonstrations, music and story-telling. Hosting the Pacific wide festival represents an important and exciting opportunity to highlight cultural identity and heritage among a diverse group of Pacific islanders, many of whom share a colonial past and have felt its impact on traditional practices and lifestyles.

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1751 Anson Map
Chamorro Culture, European Exploration, Trade and Scientific Studies, Galleons, Historic Eras of Guam, Our Heritage, Spanish Era

Manila Galleon Trade Route-La Nao de China: A Legacy in the Marianas

 

First Global Trade Route in the Pacific. From 1565 to 1815, Spanish galleons sailed the Pacific Ocean between Acapulco in New Spain (now Mexico) and Manila in the Philippine islands. In between these two far flung colonies lay the Mariana Islands, known then as Las Islas de Los Ladrones, which became a stepping stone between the Americas and Asia.

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Ancient Guam Era, Chamorro Culture, Chamorro Folktales, Early Historic Accounts, Historic Eras of Guam, Our Heritage, People, People and Places

Taga

 

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.

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