Land, lineage, traditions, and legacies
Archeologists help us learn about ancient cultures by looking at the objects or materials, known as artifacts, that people left behind. The most abundant artifact found in archeological excavations throughout the Mariana Islands is pottery.
Ancient CHamoru Pottery Usage Read Post »
Archeological studies have revealed that during the Latte Period ancient CHamorus retrieved bones from deceased bodies after tissue had deteriorated, and used the bones for use as tools or weapons.
Ancient CHamoru Use of Human Bones Read Post »
When French explorer Louis Claude de Freycinet visited Guam between March and June of 1819, he observed CHamorus capturing mañåhak or juvenile rabbitfish (Siganus spp.) in gigao or fish traps placed in shallow tidal waters north of Cabras Island and near the mouth of the Masso River.
Ancient CHamoru Fish Weirs (Gigao) Read Post »
There is a dearth of written accounts of ancient CHamoru burial practices, but from the few historic descriptions available, the burial customs and rituals were elaborate.
Ancient CHamoru Burial Rituals Read Post »
In the Mariana Islands, as well as other islands throughout the Pacific, rice is considered one of the most important food staples. Bags of rice are shipped to the islands regularly. In the Marianas, rice is served at most every meal or special occasion.
Ancient CHamoru Use of Rice Read Post »
Archeologists learn about societies and cultures of the past by looking at the objects or artifacts that people left behind. Some of the most useful artifacts to study are tools.
Ancient CHamoru Tool Making Read Post »
Health and wellness. Because of the biological nature of our bodies, people get sick, and people die. Illness and death are a part of life. However, people are not just physical beings—our complex cultures separate us from other living organisms.
Ancient CHamoru Medicine Making Read Post »
Tooth staining. Unlike clothing or hairstyles, body modifications are changes made to the body itself that are of a more permanent nature. Among the CHamoru people, the most remarkable examples of these kinds of modifications were tooth etching and staining.
Ancient CHamoru Body Modification Read Post »
In the social organization of Chamorro/CHamoru society, individuals from the lowest class were known as manachang. In her study of early CHamoru culture, anthropologist Laura Thompson noted in the early Spanish mission accounts that the manachang were supposedly of smaller stature and had a darker complexion than the noble class matao.
Under Spanish colonial rule, the introduction of Spanish customs, social systems and land tenure disrupted traditional practices of land ownership and social class structure of the Chamorro/CHamoru people.
Mannakhilo’ and Mannakpåpa’ Read Post »
