TAOTAOMO'NA BABY

 

I taotao siha, annai ma hahasso i taotaomo'na, ma popo'lo na man dångkulo yan man lokka' siha. Ya hunggan magåhet taiguennao posision-ña i taotaomo'na annai umannok lao åhe' ti todo i tiempo.

(When people think of the taotaomo'na, they think that they are large and tall. And yes it's true that that is the way they appear but not always.)

I taotaomo'na siha siña ma tulaika hechuran-ñiha guato gi masea håfa malago'-ñiha. Siña ga'lågo, siña guihan gi halom tåsi yan siña paluma gi aire. Masea håfa.

(The taotaomo'na can change their appearance to whatever they desire. It can be a dog, a fish in the sea or a bird in the air. Whatever it may be.)

Meggai siha na åños tåtte, åntes de i gera, guaha familia yan i tatan este na familia si Juan. Un puenge, ha hungok si Juan kåten nene. Ha baba i petta ya ha sodda' na guaha nene gi halom åla. Sige de ha atan kao guaha håye pumo'lo i nene gi me'nan i petta, lao tåya' taotao.

(Many years ago, before the war, there was a family whose father was named Juan. One night, Juan heard a baby crying. He opened the door and found there was a baby inside a basket. He kept looking if there was someone who put the baby in front of the door, but there was no one.)

Ha konne' hålom i nene si Juan ya ilek-ña i asaguå-ña na po'lo ya u maigo' i nene ayo na pupuenge gi gima'-ñiha ya gi sigiente dia siempre u ma espia håye gai patgon.

(Juan took the baby inside and his said let the baby sleep that night in their home and the next day they would look for whose child it was.)

Lao mientras man mamaigo' todo i familia, guaha dångkulo na palangpang, kulan mohon guaha dångkulo na pedåson lulok poddong gi satge. Kahulo' si Juan ya ha songge i kandet ya ha atan todo i uriya, lao tåya' poddong. Sige de chumålek i nene, lao despues mamatkilo ya maigo' ta'lo.

(But while the whole family was sleeping, there was a loud bang, as if a large piece of metal had fallen to the floor. Juan got up and lit the lamp and looked all around, but nothing had fallen. The baby kept laughing, but became quiet later on and went to sleep again.)

Una ora despues, makmåta ta'lo si Juan sa' ha hungok na guaha kumakassas i ligan i gima'. Ha songge ta'lo i kandet ya ha atan kabåles gi halom guma' yan gi san hiyong, lao tåya' taotao pat gå'ga'. Sige de chumålek i nene lao mamatkilo despues ya pumåra i buruka.

(An hour later, Juan woke up again because he heard someone scratching the wall of the house. He lit the lamp again and thoroughly looked both inside and outside the house, but there was neither human nor animal. The baby kept laughing but quieted later and the noise stopped.)

Una ora ta'lo despues, makmåta si Juan sa' ha siente na guaha metgot na minitung gi halom guma' kulan mohon guaha måtai na gå'ga' gi halom guma' ya esta potlilo. Kahulo' ya ha songge ta'lo i kandet ya sige de ha espia håfa guaha, lao tåya'. Chumålek i nene lao mamatkilo despues. Måtto gi hinason-ña si Juan na gina'chuchunge i nene ni matdito na espíritu. Ilek-ña, "Gigon ha' manana si Yu'us bai hånao ya bai konne' i nene guato gi as Påle' ya ta kesoda' i nanan este na nene."

(An hour later again, Juan woke up because he smelled a strong stench inside the house, as if there was a dead animal rotting inside the house. He rose and lit the lamp again and kept looking what there might be, but there was nothing. The baby laughed but kept quiet later. It came to Juan's mind that the baby was accompanied by a cursed spirit. He said, "As soon as it is daytime, I will go and bring the baby to the priest and we will try to find this baby's mother.")

Lao annai esta manana ya mangahulo' si Juan yan i familiån-ña, tåya' nene!

(But when it was already daytime and Juan and his family rose, there was no baby!)

Ilek-ña si Juan, "Åhe' ti gina'chuchunge i nene ni malikno na espíritu. Guiya i nene i malikno na espíritu, pat sino taotaomo'na ni måtto gi hechuran nene.

(Juan said, "The baby wasn't being accompanied by a malignant spirit. The baby itself was a malignant spirit, or if not then an ancestral spirit coming in the form of a baby.)

"TAIGUENNAO MOHON" OR "AMEN?"

 

How should we end our prayers in Chamorro?

You hear "Amen" a lot of the times but sometimes you hear "Taiguennao mohon."

A lot of people aren't even sure what "taiguennao mohon" means.

Guess what? It means "amen!"

Well, what does "amen" mean?

"Amen" was the Hebrew word used to end prayers. It means "so be it, may it be so, truly" and things like that.

When a congregation responds with an "amen" to what a priest or prayer leader says, it's the congregation's way of agreeing with the prayer just said and making that prayer said by someone else their own as well.

TAIGUENNAO means "that way."

MOHON is a word that can express desire, or a possibility that hasn't happened yet.

TAIGUENNAO MOHON means "may it be that way." Which is what "amen" means.

So both "amen" and "taiguennao mohon" mean the same, exact thing. One is based on Hebrew, and the other is Chamorro.

OTHER LANGUAGES, TOO....

"Amen" can also be said in the native language in many countries around the world.

Some Spanish speakers say "así sea" instead of "amen," because "así sea" in Spanish means "that way (así) may it be (sea)."

In Italian it's così sia. In French it's ainsi soit-il. They both mean "may it be that way" which is what "amen" means.

Many languages end their prayers with "amen" and sometimes they end it with "may it be so" in their own language.

Most times, people all over the world end their prayers with "amen" and for this main reason. It's shorter and faster to say than "may it be so."

FLEXIBILITY IN CHAMORRO

In Chamorro, people can end their prayers saying either "amen" or "taiguennao mohon."

Even in Påle' Román's prayer books, he sometimes ends the prayer with "amen" and sometimes he ends the prayer with "taiguennao mohon."

For me, "amen" goes better with something like making the sign of the cross. "Gi na'an i Tata, yan i Lahi-ña yan i Espiritu Sånto. Amen." "Amen" is a quick ending to a short prayer. For a longer prayer, I might use "taiguennao mohon."

One good thing about using "taiguennao mohon" is that it makes clear what "amen" means. That is, of course, assuming you know the Chamorro language, which a lot of Chamorros don't nowadays.

NINA PARA TODOS

 

In many families, a female member who became a godmother (matlina, or nina) for one baby in the family was called NINA by everybody, even by those who were not her godchildren.

This often happened with women who never married, or at least who never had children of their own.

Single women often became godmothers because, having no husband and usually no children of their own, they could really put their all into being a godmother. All her godchildren could receive her undivided attention, since she had no biological children of her own.

And, reciprocally, the single woman with no children of her own, now had spiritual children to make up for the absence and, many times, actually raise the godchildren as her own.

So, some lady named Ana, for example, never married nor had children. So she became godmother to this child, then another child a year later and a third child two years later. On and on she became godmother to so many children that people just ended up calling her Nina'n Ana even if they weren't her godchildren.

Even if Ana were not godmother to many children, if she was the godmother of an oldest child or an important member of the family, the younger children heard the oldest child call her Nina, and so they followed suit and called her Nina as well. Or, because she was godmother to a high-ranking member of the family who called her Nina, everyone else called her Nina.

And so one example of a godmother who was called Nina by everyone, even those who were not her godchildren, was Tomasa Pereira León Guerrero from the Pakito clan.

Tomasa never married, but adopted a daughter. She also raised a number of children. Every younger member of the family called her Nina, whether she was their godmother or not.

SHE WAS OUR AUNT, BUT EVERYONE CALLED HER NINA

Rita Pérez Torres

In my own family, one of my grandmother's sisters never married and was godmother to a number of nieces and nephews, so she was called Nina by practically everyone.

NINA'N WIRICK

Eugenia SN Dueñas Wirick

And Eugenia San Nicolás Dueñas, one of our relatives, married later in life to the American Melvin Wirick. She never had children but was godmother to children inside the clan so she was called Nina'n Wirick by everybody. No one in our family called her Tan Eugenia or Auntie Eugenia; only Nina'n Wirick whether she was our own godmother or not.

IN PRAISE OF CHAMORRO WOMEN

 

In 1874, a Spanish political exile named Francisco Chacón Lara came to Guam. Years later, he wrote a book about his time on Guam and what he observed.

In it he praises the Chamorro woman, especially for her virtues of hard work.

He says,

"The poor Chamorras, that is, the poor women among the natives of the Marianas, are generally more hard-working, more at ease and communicative as their husbands, and one can state that they have no equal in the whole of Oceania. Indeed, they work in the fields, sowing and harvesting rice, tobacco, corn and sugarcane; they handle the axe and the machete with dexterity; they climb coconut trees and the tall breadfruit trees with the same agility and safety that one of our best balancers in our gymnastic academies; they ride the bulls and water buffalos as well as the men, and travel alone between the towns, crossing mountains and avoiding ravines; they climb aboard small canoes dug out from a breadfruit tree trunk, sailing along the beaches, fishing and rowing from their settlements to their farms and vice versa; they make all kinds of verbal contracts to buy or sell, cash or credit, an occupation for which they are highly trusted by their husbands; many of them are good seamstresses and a few of them are excellent cooks."

Another writer also said that the Chamorro women of the Marianas are given a lot of leeway by their husbands on account of their industry, enterprise and hard work.

Chamorro women were more than nurturers of their children. They were often the very anchor of the entire family, many times outshining their husbands.