LAUNDRY WOMAN'S PAY

 

LABANDERA

In 1923, a woman named JOSEFA and her two adult daughters IGNACIA and SOLEDAD washed laundry for a living.

A washerwoman, or laundry woman, in Chamorro is a LABANDERA.

A court case gives us an idea how much they made every month doing this work. 

Their three clients, and how much they paid each month, were :

JULIANA SALAR PÉREZ, the wife of Juan Díaz Torres - $7.00

CONCEPCIÓN TORRES CALVO, the wife of Jacques Schnabel - $6.00

PEDRO LIZAMA CEPEDA (Kókora) - $5.00

That made a total income of $18.00 per month. In today's value, that would be $312. That doesn't sound like a lot of money, and that was the income of three people, not just one, but people in those days also didn't need cash as much as they did after the war. Many things came free of charge from mother nature if you were able to farm and fish. If they made that income all twelve months of the year, it would make an annual income of $3744 in today's value.

Keep in mind that's income from just three clients. Imagine if they took on more.

This information also shows how much money the clients had. All three came from the "respectable" class of people, and the two ladies came from the upper tier of Chamorro society. Juliana's husband had occupied government positions and Concepción's father was a Manila college graduate and Island Attorney for Guam.

Pedro'n Kókora's monthly bill of $5 would be $86 in today's value. No small expense.

A good number of Chamorro women made a living as labandera, especially for American military officers, besides the affluent civilians.

The court case makes it clear that all the earnings of the three women went to the purchase of iron roofing for a new house being built by the husband/father. The iron roofing was bought from the store of JK Shimizu.

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA

(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EL SALARIO DE  UNA LAVANDERA

En 1923, una mujer llamada JOSEFA y sus dos hijas adultas IGNACIA y SOLEDAD lavaban ropa para ganarse la vida.

Lavandera, en chamorro se dice “LABANDERA”.

Un caso judicial nos da una idea de cuánto ganaban cada mes haciendo este trabajo.

Sus tres clientes, y cuánto pagaban éstos cada mes, eran:

JULIANA SALAR PÉREZ, la esposa de Juan Díaz Torres - 7.00 dólares

CONCEPCIÓN TORRES CALVO, la esposa de Jacques Schnabel - 6.00 dólares

PEDRO LIZAMA CEPEDA (Kókora) - 5.00 dólares

Eso sumaba un ingreso total de 18.00 dólares por mes. En el valor de hoy, sería 312 dólares. No parece mucho dinero, y ése era el ingreso de tres personas, no solo de una, pero la gente en aquellos tiempos tampoco necesitaba tanto dinero en efectivo como después de la segunda guerra mundial. Muchas cosas venían gratis de la madre naturaleza, si podía uno cultivar y pescar. Si tuvieran ese ingreso los doce meses del año, generaría un ingreso anual de 3744 dólares en valor actual.

Tengan en cuenta que son ingresos de solo tres clientes. Imagínense si aceptaran más.

Esta información también muestra cuánto dinero tenían los clientes. Los tres procedían de la clase "respetable" de personas, y las dos damas procedían del nivel superior de la sociedad chamorra. El esposo de Juliana había ocupado puestos gubernamentales y el padre de Concepción se había graduado en la Universidad de Santo Tomás en Manila y era el fiscal de la isla de Guam.

La factura mensual de Pedro'n Kókora de 5 dólares sería 86 dólares en el valor de hoy. No es un gasto pequeño.

Un buen número de mujeres chamorras se ganaban la vida como “labandera”, especialmente para los oficiales militares estadounidenses, además de los civiles adinerados.

El caso judicial aclara que todas las ganancias de las tres mujeres se destinaron a la compra de techos de hierro para una nueva casa que estaba construyendo su esposo y padre. El techo de hierro se compró en la tienda de JK Shimizu.

 

YOUR AMERICAN IS SHOWING : MÅNHA TITIYAS

 

QUICK LESSON

In English, we say APPLE Pie. What KIND of pie? Apple.

CHOCOLATE Cake. What KIND of cake? Chocolate.

But, in Chamorro, the order is reversed. Buñuelos AGA'. What KIND of buñuelos? Aga'.

It is Pån TUBA. What KIND of pån? Tuba.

Therefore, in Chamorro, it is Titiyas MÅNHA. What KIND of titiyas? Månha.

To the Chamorro ear, saying MÅNHA TITIYAS is as unpleasant as is saying PIE APPLE or CAKE CHOCOLATE to the English ear.

FULLER LESSON

The mighty march of Americanization continues in the minds of our younger Chamorros of Guam. Swimming in an ocean of the English language, surrounded by English water from the moment one wakes up to the moment one falls asleep, and being the only language so many of our people under the age of 60 speak, it is no surprise that even when Chamorro people use a Chamorro phrase, they use it in an American way. They don't even realize it.

One glaring example of this is how widespread the phrase MÅNHA TITIYAS is.

That's an American way of using Chamorro words to describe Young Coconut Flatbread.

Chamorro flatbread is called TITIYAS, a Chamorro version of the Spanish word TORTILLA.

Now there are many kinds of titiyas. Titiyas can be made with corn (mai'es), wheat flour (arina), breadfruit (lemmai) and pretty much any carb that can be made into a flour or incorporated into flour.

But in Chamorro we put the KIND of thing it is AFTER the thing itself.

Notice in this picture we don't say MÅNGLO' BUÑUELOS (Wind Donuts). We say BUÑUELOS MÅNGLO' (Donuts Wind). What KIND of donuts is said AFTER we identify it as donuts.

We don't say MÅNNOK KÅDDO (Chicken Stew). We say KÅDDON M­ÅNNOK (Stew Chicken). What KIND of stew is mentioned AFTER we call it stew.

Notice the pattern in PÅN TUBA (Bread Coconut Toddy), NOT tuba pån (coconut toddy bread). KELAGUEN UHANG (Marinated Salad Shrimp), not uhang kelaguen (shrimp marinated salad).

In English, what KIND of thing it is comes before the name of the thing. APPLE Pie. BEEF Jerky. CHOCOLATE Cake.

But it's the other way around in Chamorro. KELAGUEN BENÅDO. PÅN TOSTA. Therefore TITIYAS MÅNHA.

Even when we use the English word "soup," it's SOUP CANDELARIA, NOT Candelaria Soup.

SO.......

Go ahead and say SPAM KELAGUEN or FLOUR TITIYAS, combining English and Chamorro.

But if you're going to use the full Chamorro name of the food, put it in the right order in the Chamorro language.

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA

(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

TITIYAS MANHA

En inglés, decimos APPLE Pie (pastel de manzana). ¿Qué TIPO de pastel? De manzana.

CHOCOLATE Cake (tarta de chocolate). ¿Qué TIPO de tarta? De chocolate.

Pero, en chamorro, el orden se invierte. Buñuelos AGA' (buñuelos de plátano). ¿Qué TIPO de buñuelos? De aga’ (de plátano).

Se dice Pån TUBA. ¿Qué TIPO de pan? De tuba (de ponche de coco) .

Por lo tanto, en chamorro, se dice Titiyas MÅNHA. ¿Qué TIPO de titiyas? De manha (de coco verde).

Para el oído chamorro, decir MÅNHA TITIYAS es tan desagradable como para el oído inglés decir PIE APPLE o CAKE CHOCOLATE.

La poderosa marcha de la angloamericanización en Guam continúa en la mente de nuestros chamorros más jóvenes. Nadar en un océano de idioma inglés, rodeado de agua inglesa desde el momento en que uno se despierta hasta el momento en que se queda dormido, y siendo el único idioma que habla mucha de nuestra gente menor de 60 años, no sorprende que incluso cuando los chamorros usan una frase chamorra, la usan a la manera angloamericana. Ni siquiera se dan cuenta.

Un ejemplo evidente de esto es cuán erróneamente extendida está la frase MÅNHA TITIYAS.

Ésa es una forma angloestadounidense de usar palabras chamorras para describir este pan plano elaborado con coco verde.

El pan plano chamorro se llama TITIYAS, una versión chamorra de la palabra española TORTILLAS.

Ahora bien, hay muchos tipos de titiyas. Las titiyas se pueden hacer con maíz (mai'es), harina de trigo (arina), fruta del pan (lemmai) y casi cualquier carbohidrato que se pueda convertir en harina o incorporar a la harina.

Pero en chamorro decimos el TIPO de cosa que es DESPUÉS de la cosa misma.

Fíjese que no decimos MÅNGLO' BUÑUELOS. Decimos BUÑUELOS MÅNGLO' (Buñuelos de Viento). El TIPO de buñuelos se dice DESPUÉS de que identifiquemos tal cosa como buñuelos.

No decimos MÅNNOK KÅDDO. Decimos KÅDDON MÅNNOK (caldo de pollo). El TIPO de caldo se menciona DESPUÉS de que lo llamemos caldo.

Observe que se dice PÅN TUBA (Pan de Tuba o de ponche de coco), NO tuba pån. Se dice KELAGUEN UHANG (Ensalada de Camarones Marinados), no uhang kelaguen.

En inglés, el TIPO de cosa se dice antes del nombre de tal cosa. APPLE Pie (pastel de manzana). BEEF Jerky (carne seca). CHOCOLATE Cake (tarta de chocolate).

Pero en chamorro se dice a la manera inversa. KELAGUEN BENÅDO (ensalada de venado). PAN TOSTA (pan tostado). Por lo tanto se dice TITIYAS MÅNHA (tortillas de coco verde).

Si usted va a usar el nombre completo de la comida en chamorro, póngalo en el orden correcto en el idioma chamorro.

SAIPAN CAROLINIANS IN CHINA?

 

CAROLINIAN CANOES

Sometime in 1909, Chinese fishermen discovered a canoe, with three unknown sailors from a different land, off Zhoushan Island in China, very close to Shanghai. What the Chinese did know was that these three foreign sailors were hungry, thirsty and weak. Had they not been discovered, they would probably had perished.

The Chinese fishermen took the three castaways to the civil authorities, but no one could speak to them as they had no common language.

The three lost sailors were described as being dark with frizzy hair. They wore huge earrings made of coral and shell, and necklaces made of the same material. The oldest of the three, who had a beard, also had tattoos. The only possession they had were two boxes of simple fishing material such as twines and hooks. Wearing only enough to cover their private parts, some of the people who found them gave them shirts and trousers.

Finally, after two days, someone considered that the three men might be from New Guinea, controlled at the time by the Germans. So, off they went to the German Consulate. The Germans still couldn't communicate with the three to verify where they were from, but someone was inspired to take out a map of the Pacific and show the map to the lost men. The castaways most likely wouldn't have had use for a map, probably never having used maps before nor being able to read. But when one of the Germans said out the name "Saipan" the three fishermen got all excited. They made unmistakable signs that they were from the island just mentioned.

If the three lost men were from Saipan and being described as they were, especially wearing large earrings and necklaces, then undoubtedly they were Carolinians from Saipan and not Chamorros. We add to these points the fact that Carolinians were still seafaring people at the time, while Chamorros no longer sailed the high seas in the same way. A Chamorro lost in China might be able to say "Saipan" or some words in Spanish or even English, even before a map was put in front of him.

I do not know if the three castaways ever made it back to Saipan, although that was the German government's intention.

But this story reminds us that Chamorro and Carolinian sailors could have unintentionally made it to Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and many other places and we just don't know about it. Zhoushan Island is a long, long way from Saipan, as you can see on the map.

FAMILIA : MEGOFÑA/MAGOFÑA

 

MEGOFÑA and MAGOFÑA are one and the same name.

People in the old days were not that concerned about "proper" spelling or being consistent with spelling either. That's a modern-day anxiety.

Chamorro names and words were written by Spaniards, not by Chamorros until much later.

Not being their native language, and hearing sounds unlike the sounds they were used to, the Spaniards spelled Chamorro names and words in a variety of ways, and almost never consistent.

E FOR A

So, for example, the name we all now spell TERLAJE was also spelled TEDLAJE, TARLAJE, TARLAGE, TADLAJE in the old Spanish documents.

None of these differences bothered anybody in those days. The Chamorros knew how the name sounded. TAT plus LÅHE. TAT is short for TÅYA'. So Terlaje is really Tatlåhe, meaning "no man" or "no son."

The Spaniards often put an E where the Chamorros said an A. TER or TED instead of TAT. We see this also in TEDPAHOGO and TEDTAOTAO.

And we also see it in MEGOFÑA and MAGOFÑA. The name was spelled both ways. Even the same man named Megofña sometimes spelled it Magofña.

Some people think MAGOFÑA is just the Saipan way to spell it, but records show that even on Guam in the old days it was also spelled MAGOFÑA.

Just to give you a headache, sometimes the name was spelled MIGOFÑA. Only in modern times has it been standardized to MEGOFÑA for Guam and MAGOFÑA for Saipan.

As you can see, the name was even spelled MAGOFÑA on Guam at times. This is a document involving a Magofña who was living in Hagåtña (Agaña) in the early 1900s.

"HAPPY"

The meaning is pretty clear. The name comes from the word magof which means "happy." 

Magof-ña can mean "his or her being happy" or "he or she is happier."

They are a happy sort of people!

ASAN

The Guam Megofña name is mostly associated with Asan, although there were fewer Megofñas in Tepungan, which later moved down the road in American times and became Piti. But in the 1897 Guam Census, for example, more than half the families named Megofña on Guam lived in Asan. A few lived in Tepungan and one, a widow, lived in Sumay as she had married a Sumay man.

MARIANO MEGOFÑA of Asan married a Rita Pérez.

Their son VICENTE PÉREZ MEGOFÑA married twice. His first wife was Rita Bae Guerrero and his second wife was Carmen Chargualaf, the daughter of Josefa Chargualaf.

Mariano and Rita also had two daughters; Ramona married Gerónimo Maañao and Ana married Juan Manibusan Salas (the great grandparents of Judi Won Pat).

FRANCISCO MEGOFÑA also of Asan married María Terlaje.

Their son JOAQUÍN TERLAJE MEGOFÑA married Rosalía Pérez de la Cruz, the daughter of Felipe and Margarita.

In TEPUNGAN (part of Piti), 

JUAN MEGOFÑA married Josefa Atao.

Their son JOSÉ ATAO MEGOFÑA married María Flores, the daughter of María Flores.

Their daughter María had a daughter Rita out of wedlock in 1913.

There is also a good number of Megofñas on Guam who are the descendants of a man whose hometown I am unsure of, as he is absent in the 1897 Guam Census. Perhaps he was not living on Guam in 1897, or maybe he was accidentally overlooked. Either way, I cannot find his native place. His name was

ANASTASIO MEGOFÑA, son of María Megofña. He married Ana del Rosario Acosta, the daughter of Justo and Antonia. Some in this family lived in Hagåtña and some in Sinajaña before the war.

This is not a complete list, as there were women Megofñas who may have had children outside of marriage who would have continued the Megofña name.

SAIPAN

The Saipan Magofñas are all descendants of a man from Asan named

JOSÉ MAGOFÑA who was married to Gabina Fegurgur, Gabina was previously married to Lorenzo Chibog who had died.

José and Gabina had these sons :

VENANCIO FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married María de la Cruz Babauta.

VICENTE FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married Vicenta Santos Blas.

PEDRO FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married Rosa de la Cruz Quitugua.

LUÍS FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married Concepción (or Circuncisión) Lizama

All the Magofñas in the Northern Marianas are descendants of José and Gabina of Guam.

Some of the Magofñas of Saipan during Japanese times lived for a while in Luta and even Palau, and some of their children were born in those islands.

VICENTE FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA and wife VICENTA SANTOS BLAS

were both born on Guam but moved to Saipan when they were children with their parents

WAR STORIES : WATER HOSE

 

SEEING A WATER HOSE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN

Experiences of a young Chamorro girl during the Japanese Occupation.

Ma aresta si tatå-ho ni Chapanis sa' ma sospecha na guaha ha nåna'na' ginen i Chapanis ni man ma pribi.

(My father was arrested by the Japanese because they suspected he was hiding something from them which was prohibited.)

Gi magåhet, mannå'na' bateria si tatå-ho ni siña ma na' setbe para i redio, lao tåya' na ma gacha'.

(In reality, my father was hiding a battery which could be used for a radio, but he was never caught.)

Lao nahong ha' i ma sospecha ha' na guaha ha nåna'na' pues ma aresta.

(But it was enough to be merely suspected of hiding something so he was arrested.)

Ma konne' si tatå-ho para i ofisinan i Chapanis ya hu dalalaki siha lao ti ma tungo'.

(They took my father to the Japanese office and I followed them but they didn't know.)

Annai man hålom si tatå-ho yan i Chapanis gi ofisina, kahulo' yo' gi trongko para bai hu li'e'.

(When my father and the Japanese entered the office, I climbed a tree to look.)

Siña hu li'e' håfa ma susesede sa' lokka' i trongko ya siña hu li'e' gi bentåna.

(I could see what was going on because the tree was tall and I could see through the window.)

Ti hu tungo' håfa ma fafaisen si tatå-ho sa' ti siña hu hungok lao hu li'e' na ma patmåmåda si tatå-ho kada biråda.

(I didn't know what they were asking my father because I couldn't hear but I saw that they were slapping my father time after time.)

Despues, ma konne' si tatå-ho para i san hiyong ya, achok ha' ma kollat i lugåt, lokka' i trongko annai eståba yo' ya siña hu li'e'.

(Later they took my dad outside, and even though the place was fenced, the tree was tall where I was and I could see.)

Ma kana' i dos kanai-ña si tatå-ho gi un trongko ya esta i dos patås-ña ti ha papacha i edda'.

(They tied my dad's two hands to a tree and his feet were off the ground.)

Ma afuetsas un tilipas hånom gi halom pachot-ña ya ma na' bula i tiyån-ña ni hanom.

(They forced a water hose into his mouth and filled his stomach with water.)

Annai esta ma chuchuda' i hanom gi pachot-ña, ma na' påra i hanom ya ma tutuhon ma dommo' i tiyån-ña si tatå-ho asta ke muta' gue' todo hånom.

(When the water was already spilling from his mouth, they shut off the water and began to punch my dad's stomach until he was vomiting water.)

Ma'å'ñao yo' na siña måtai si tatå-ho lao en fin ma na' tunok gue'. Ti siña esta si tatå-ho tumohge ya umåsson ha' gi hilo' odda'.

(I was afraid my dad would die but finally they took him down. My dad couldn't stand and he just lay on the ground.)

Despues ma ågang si tiu-ho yan i primu-ho siha para u ma konne' si tatå-ho tåtte gi gima'.

(Later they called my uncle and my cousins to take my father back home.)

Despues nai hu tungo' na ma faisen si tatå-ho mångge si Tweed, ya ti ma hongge na ti ha tungo'.

(Later on I found out they were asking my dad where Tweed was, and they didn't believe that he didn't know.)

Lao annai esta annok na magåhet na ti ha tungo' sa' ma kastiga fehmaman lao tåya' ha sångan, ma hongge en fin na ti ha tungo'.

(But when it became clear that he really didn't know because they punished him so fiercely but he didn't say anything, they finally believed he didn't know.)

Lao desde ayo asta på'go ti siña hu sungon lumi'e' na guaha taotao gumigimen hånom ginen i tilipas, ya kontodo i famagu'on-ho yan i nietu-ho siha hu na' famåra siha mangimen hånom ginen i tilipas yanggen hu li'e'.

(But from that time till now I can't stand to see someone drink water from a hose, and even my children and grandchildren I stop them when I see them drinking water from a hose.)

NOTES

Tweed - was an American Navy radioman who fled from the Japanese and was taken cared of by many Chamorros. He was a thorn in the side of the Japanese the whole time and was rescued by an American ship when the US came back to retake Guam.

Tilipas literally means "intestines" and when rubber hoses came to Guam during American times, Guam Chamorros called hoses tilipas. In the Northern Marianas, the Chamorros there used the Japanese word hos for "hose."

Påtas - originally meant feet of animals (or of furniture) and addeng meant human feet. Guam Chamorros began using påtas even for human feet, but in the Northern Marianas the original meaning of both påtas and addeng remain.