Tattooing is an art with more visible modern roots than other practices on Guam. Although tattooing is well-documented in other Micronesian cultures including Yap, Palau and the Marshall Islands there is little to no evidence that Chamorros of the Marianas adorned themselves with this type of permanent body art.
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Kumaire, is religious and social term to describe the relationship between parents and their child’s godmother, borrowed from the Spanish comadre and appropriated into CHamoru cultural tradition. Måle’ is the shortened form of kumaire and is commonly used when a mother and her child’s godmother refer to one another, and is also used by the child’s father when addressing his child’s godmother.
Ma uritao, an ancient CHamoru term used before Christianity was introduced to the CHamoru people, describes young unmarried women who resided at the Guma’ uritao (bachelor’s house) to sexually train young men as a part of their education to become men.
Marianas archaeological studies indicate that, as a craft, an indigenous form of ceramics dates back to more than 3,000 years. Ancient Chamorros produced a variety of ceramic containers for practical domestic purposes such as serving and storing food and water, and for cooking.
When Chamorro/CHamoru males reached puberty during ancient times, they were sent to live at the Guma’ Uritao, a house for bachelors. The bachelors would live at the Guma’ Uritao of their mother’s family. There were one or two Guma’ Uritao in every village.
I mangguma’ uritao, men’s houses, were houses for young CHamoru men in the Mariana Islands from ancient times until the late 1600s (‘I’ means ‘the’; ‘man’ makes the term plural). CHamoru youth were expected to model and actively learn the skills of being men and women from their elders.
The mythological maiden, Sirena, in the ‘I Tetehnan’ manuscript is considered a proverb, and not a legend.
Motifs rooted in pottery, tattoo, and legends Monica D. Baza discovered art at an early age, choosing to work with lino-block printing in high school when it was offered. She
Moe Cotton, born in 1935 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, got his start as an artist at a young age. He would often test the patience of his teachers in school by sketching comical poses of them.
Kie Susuico is a graphic artist with an interest in art that began in childhood. Susuico credits his mother for the origins of his artistic ability as she is an artist in her own right.
