Christmas is an important holiday in the Mariana Islands, filled with activities that celebrate Christ’s birth. Many families have their own traditions they participate in every year. It is a […]
Addresses misrepresentations focused in missionization. The research project Aberigua investigates the impact that Spanish colonialism had on CHamorus from a decolonial-depatriarchal standpoint aimed at redressing misrepresentations of communities, territories, practices, values, cultural logic and ways of being. It scrutinizes the case-specific details of colonial strategies, with a focus on Jesuit missionization, and subsequent native responses, including processes of cultural identity, change and continuity. It endorses a long-term perspective that includes investigations on Latte rationalities to understand the real impact brought by the colony.
Spanish Colonialism and CHamoru Responses: The Aberigua Project Read Post »
Remarks on a Voyage in 1801 to the Island of Guam, was written by William Haswell, the First Officer of the barque Lydia.
Island of Guam by William Haswell Read Post »
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.
Manila Galleon Trade Route-La Nao de China: A Legacy in the Marianas Read Post »
The Manila Galleon Trade Route was the major route traveled by Spanish galleons from 1565 to 1815 across the Pacific connecting Acapulco in New Spain (Mexico) to the east and Manila, Philippines in the west. The galleons carried spices, porcelains and other luxury goods from Asia and gold and silver from the Americas in one of the largest complexes of global exchange of people and goods in human history. The Mariana Islands was one stop along the route. CHamorus participated in trade with the galleons and provided water and food to the passing ships. What follows is a description of the trade route and the cargo transported by the Spanish galleons as they plied across the often dangerous waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Navigation and Cargo of the Manila Galleons Read Post »
When Miguel López de Legazpi’s expedition departed Mexico in 1564 with four ships across the Pacific to claim Guam and the Philippines for King Philip II of Spain, only one ship would return homeward from Manila, the San Pablo. Under the command of Legazpi’s grandson, Felipe de Salcedo, and navigated by Andrés de Urdaneta, the San Pablo was the first Spanish galleon to successfully return from Manila across the Pacific carrying mainly spices in 1565, thus beginning the 250-year long galleon trade.
Stops Along the Manila Galleon Trade Route Read Post »
The Spanish Forzado System. Before the Mariana Islands served as an official penal colony for political prisoners and criminals from Spain and her territories in the 19th century, the forzado system, or forced labor, brought many individuals to the islands in the form of conscripted laborers and soldiers. The forzado system imposed sentences of forced labor not only on those convicted of crimes, but others deemed “undesirable” by governing officials and provincial elite.
Forzado System and the Mariana Islands Read Post »
The Manila Galleons. On 15 August 1568 the Spanish galleon San Pablo, anchored off the southwest coast of Guam, was hit by a sudden violent storm and was blown and battered onto a nearby coast. The 132 men sailing from Spain’s newly established Philippine colony began a three-month stay on Guam which allowed for intensive interaction with the CHamoru people, alternating between periods of trade and cooperation, and confrontation and violence. The Spanish sailors eventually converted the galleon’s boat into a large bark to return to the Philippines.
La Nao de China: The Spanish Treasure Fleet System Read Post »
Personnel of the Manila Galleons. The galleons that passed through the Marianas carried scores of crew members in addition to soldiers and colonial or mission helpers on their way to the Marianas and the Philippines. These individuals conceivably could have engaged with the CHamoru people in interactions of trade and cultural exchange under various circumstances. Some of the crew members were shipwrecked in the islands, and some chose to stay and married CHamoru women.
Manila Galleon Crew Members Read Post »
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 »
