First visited Guam in 1565. Miguel López de Legazpi (1502-1572) was a colonial official in New Spain, Pacific explorer and conquistador who led the Spanish expedition that began the colonization of the Philippines and launched the first Asia-American trading line.
Miguel López de Legazpi Read Post »
Eleven CHamoru men, kidnapped in Guam by Alonso de Salazar’s crew of the Victoria on 10 September 1526, to work the ship’s water pumps, became the first known Pacific crew members of a European based vessel. The Victoria was the only surviving ship of a seven ship fleet dispatched by Spanish Emperor Charles V.
Whaling Influence in the Marianas Read Post »
The matao fashioned the iron they acquired from trading with visiting ship crews into traditional tools, including punches, drills, fish hooks and adze blades. The most prominently mentioned application was canoe construction, a major preoccupation of high status men. The Marianas outrigger canoe played a vital role as the integrating mechanism for the islanders’ cultural unity, connecting their tano’ tasi (land of the sea) via inter-island transportation, communication and trade.
The Matao Iron Trade Part 3: Appropriation and Entanglement Read Post »
Between 1565 and 1665, Guam’s southwest coast received sporadic visits from Spanish vessels, including the first wreck of a trade galleon (San Pablo, 1568), as well as the first encounters with Dutch and English mariners. However, a more significant exchange venue was established in the 30-mile wide Rota Channel to trade with the Spanish ships crossing regularly from New Spain (Mexico) to the Philippines.
The Matao Iron Trade Part 2: Galleon Trading and Repatriation Read Post »
Members of the matao, the highest-ranking strata of Mariana Islands society in the 16th and 17th centuries, carried on the first sustained cultural interaction and commercial exchange between Pacific Islanders and Europeans. From Ferdinand Magellan’s 1521 visit through the establishment of the 1668 Spanish Jesuit mission, these island traders, primarily from Guam and Rota, regularly bartered food staples and craftwork for iron goods with Spanish exploration and trade vessels, Dutch expeditions and English privateers.
The Matao Iron Trade Part 1: Contact and Commerce Read Post »
The 19th century trepang trade was a profit-driven industry throughout the Pacific, most notably in Melanesia and the western Pacific, and lasted as a viable industry until the early 1940s. Today, it is a cottage industry in many parts of Melanesia.
The Treaty of Zaragoza was ratified in 1529 between the king of Spain and Emperor Charles V, and João III of Portugal, regarding the areas of influence of both countries in Asia in general and over the Moluccas, Indonesia (known as the Spice Islands) in particular.
Treaty of Zaragoza Read Post »
The Treaty of Tordesillas was ratified by the Crown of Castile and the King of Portugal in 1494. The treaty divided the newly discovered lands outside of Europe into two equal halves, the east side belonging to Portugal, and the west to Castile (later to become part of Spain). The Mariana Islands were on the Spanish side, thereby giving Spain the right to colonize the Marianas which they did 174 years later in 1668.
Treaty of Tordesillas Read Post »
Pedro Sanchez Pericon was the captain of the Spanish galleon San Geronimo (also referred to as San Jerónimo), the ill-fated ship that began the famed Acapulco-Manila route. The treacherous voyage across the Pacific was marred by disagreements, mutiny and murder. The events that transpired aboard the San Geronimo illustrate the difficulties faced by 16th century mariners on their passage between Acapulco and Manila.
Pedro Sanchez Pericón Read Post »
Guam of the late-18th century only had a population of about 2,000. The CHamoru people were in a state of recovery following many years of the ravages of disease and war.
