THE GOOD CARLOS MAAÑAO

 

Our ancestors both welcomed the Spanish missionaries AND opposed them.

One such Chamorro who embraced the Catholic faith was a young boy named Carlos Maañao.

Carlos died on February 22 in the year 1698. The missionaries wrote that he was a student at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán, the school established in Hagåtña by Sanvitores for the education of select Chamorro boys.

He fell into sickness and two Jesuit priests assisted him in his last days. On his sick bed, Carlos spoke so tenderly and lovingly of Christ suffering on the cross, and of the Blessed Mother, that the priests and the young boys in the Colegio were moved, some to tears. He prayed ardently for the forgiveness of his sins and that he might not have to pass through Purgatory.

When he was told how serious his illness was, he began to go to confession and receive Holy Communion every eight days. He prayed the Rosary devoutly. He died, in the opinion of the missionaries, a holy death.

A CHAMORRO-GREEK PASSION

 

ISABEL GUERRERO VENEZIANO

He was Greek, she was Greek-Chamorro. But their union was not meant to be.

Athanasios Malis, a young Greek man in his 20s came to Guam in 1915 for reasons I am not sure of yet. He had only immigrated to the United States a few years before that, so there's a good possibility it was through the military. He was somehow connected to the American military collier Nereus.

There just happened to be on Guam, at the time, a fellow Greek man named Alexander Veneziano, married to the Chamorro Ana Guerrero. The two Greek gentlemen met, and some kind of friendship formed.

Veneziano had a daughter, the beautiful Isabel. Malis fell in love with her. He claimed she also fell in love with him, and asked him to marry her. 

Isabel denied falling for Malis and, even if she did have feelings for him at first, they didn't last. In 1917, she was giving clear signs to Malis she would not marry him.

Complaints about Malis were lodged by Isabel in April, July and August of that year. Even Isabel's new romantic interest, the Navy pay clerk John Charles Poshepny, filed a complaint. Malis was bothering Isabel and threatening to do harm, even to himself. A telephone operator heard Malis speak abusively to Isabel on the phone.

JOHN CHARLES POSHEPNY

Isabel's future husband filed a complaint against Malis

Malis showed up at Aina de Vásquez's store in Hagåtña, asking to buy bullets for his revolver. Aina wouldn't sell him any. She knew he was having trouble with Isabel. Thank goodness for Aina's good sense. She may have prevented the spilling of blood.

STOREKEEPER AINA DE VÁSQUEZ 

MAY HAVE PREVENTED THE SPILLING OF BLOOD THAT DAY

It wasn't a surprise Aina knew about this drama. Malis could talk about nothing else other than Isabel. Even at work, that's all he would talk about. His work supervisors were of the opinion that Malis was love sick and mentally unbalanced.

So, the Navy doctors were asked to chime in. After examining Malis, they said he wasn't insane, but they recommended Malis be sent away. He was, and the Island Attorney asked that the case be dismissed. It's all recorded in court documents at the time. 

Two years later, in 1919, Athanasios Malis was described on a ship manifest as an "indigent American" traveling from Manila to San Francisco on US Army transport.

In 1920, he was admitted to a mental hospital, the Mendocino State Hospital in Ukiah, California, and was described as speaking irrationally and having delusions. He gave different answers to the same question.

He remained a patient at the hospital all the way till 1950, if not longer, and passed away in 1970. For much of its history, the Mendocino State Hospital was notorious for mixing serial killers and criminally insane with the mentally ill. The hospital was guilty of abuse, such as experimenting on patients and subjecting them to bizarre treatments against their will.

I hope Malis finally found peace in the merciful hands of Jesus. 

"More torturous than anything is the human heart. Beyond remedy; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

AGUEDA JOHNSTON ON COLLABORATORS

 

No one could ever say Agueda Johnston didn't earn her right to say what she had to say about Chamorro collaborators of the Japanese.

She, like many others, suffered much from the hands of the Japanese during the Occupation, who were aided in part by some Chamorro interpreters from Saipan and Luta, and by some collaborators from Guam.

She was beaten and whipped by the Japanese and made to understand in no uncertain terms that her life was just an inch from being lost if the Japanese came up with harder evidence against her for aiding Tweed, the American fugitive. Besides this, her American husband had been shipped off to prison camp in Japan. He died there due to weakened health.

Yet, Agueda did not yield to the Japanese. Even when she felt it would be better for Tweed to turn himself in, rather than see more Chamorro blood run, Agueda did not turn in Tweed herself, nor did she give the Japanese the information they wanted, despite the beating they gave her.

So it's remarkable that Agueda felt compassion and mercy for those local people who did buckle under the strong arm of the Japanese and who did collaborate.

Agueda wrote, "I am inclined to believe most of those accused of collaborating with the Japs were doing it to protect their own skin."

Agueda claimed to know the names of local people who gave the Japanese information that lead to Chamorro deaths, but "since they (the informants) were victims of severe torture and are no longer in the world, I shall not mention their names."

"There were a few who seemed to lose their good sense; on the other hand, there were those who had no choice. We must remember that one of the greatest tragedies of war is its effect on the human mind. People would do things that in ordinary times they would never think of doing."

And so we see that Agueda, like many others, understood that self-preservation is like the first law of nature. We should not be too hasty in condemning others for it. Agueda also said, "Don't be inclined to believe everything you hear." Right after the war, fingers were quick to be pointed; true or false, rumors abounded and people gossiped. Old scores were eager to be settled. You could get back at a prewar enemy by (falsely) accusing them of collaborating with the Japanese.

Even Agueda admitted that she and her family feigned friendliness to the Japanese in order to save their lives. She said she and her children bowed and smiled to the Japanese so much, it was a game they played, in order to avoid being put on a black list by the Japanese. They used flattery and false promises of cooperation to fool the Japanese.

Agueda, who was responsible for the start of Liberation Day celebrations, saw that observance as not only a day of gratitude for liberation from the Japanese, but as a way the Chamorro people of Guam could bury the bad memories of the Occupation, including any desire for retribution even among each other. She wanted those who had "shown delinquencies" during the war to be forgiven and to be allowed to truly live again.

They say never judge someone until you've walked in their shoes.

Agueda walked in the shoes of those abused by the Japanese. She did not cave in. She could have condemned those who did. But she didn't. And so we see another way of interpreting Liberation Day. It also sought liberation from vengeance and retaliation.

Guam Chamorros accused of collaborating with the Japanese; some Japanese residents of Guam; some Chamorro/Japanese mixed race Guam residents; Chamorros from the Northern Marianas were put by the US in a separate stockade in Agaña Heights (present Naval Hospital grounds) after the war.

WOULD-BE GOVERNOR OF GUAM

 

REAR ADMIRAL LOUIS KEMPFF

Captain Richard P. Leary is best known to us as the first American Governor of Guam.

But there was a prior Naval official who might have claimed that distinction but he never made it to Guam.

His name was Louis Kempff.

In December of 1898, the US Secretary of the Navy assigned him to take command of the Naval forces on Guam. This was eight months before Leary came to Guam.

Captain Henry Glass had taken the Spanish government officials away from Guam in June of 1898, but then sailed off to Manila, leaving Guam in a state of political uncertainty. A Spanish civilian official claimed power, and so did some local Chamorros, and various American Naval officials passing through made this or that change in Guam's government. But nobody knew what was up or down.

Even when the fighting stopped in August between American and Spanish forces, Guam's destiny was not immediately clear. It had to go all the way to December of 1898 for the Treaty of Paris to make clear that Guam would now be a possession of the United States.

Fine. But under who specifically?

Just before the Treaty was signed, President McKinley made that decision. Through Executive Order 108-A, Guam would now come under the rule of the US Department of the Navy. It took another month, in January of 1899, for McKinley to appoint Leary the first American Governor of Guam.

But prior to Leary's appointment, sometime in December of 1898, Captain Louis Kempff was supposedly tapped for the job as Governor of Guam, but by a lower authority than the President himself. It was Secretary of the Navy John Davis Long who had chosen Kempff. This was overturned by the US President within a month's time.

So what happened?

There were some reports that Kempff balked at the idea of going to Guam. Even his influential friends campaigned to have that appointment changed.

Apparently enough voices were heard in the Oval Office and McKinley changed the appointment and chose Leary instead.

Kempff went on to serve in a more newsworthy capacity in China and especially during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 when certain Chinese militants rose up against the foreign presence in China. It took close to 2 years for the Americans, Europeans and Japanese to put down the uprising. Kempff was made Rear Admiral in 1899.

NOTES ON LEADING CHAMORRO MEN

 

In 1874, a Spaniard by the name of Francisco Chacón Lara was exiled to Guam for political reasons. Years later, he wrote a book about his time on Guam in which he shares some anecdotes about some of the Chamorros he got to know about.

RITA CRUZ TORRES. She was the mother of the first Chamorro priest, José Bernardo Torres Palomo. Although Rita was long dead when Chacón was on Guam (she died in the smallpx epidemic of 1856), Chacón wrote of her reputation as a very generous contributor to works of charity for the unfortunate. He said that her son, Padre Palomo, followed her example in this regard.

PADRE PALOMO

Son of a charitable and generous mother

JUAN DE CASTRO. A sergeant in the Chamorro militia, he was also an important government official in charge of many things, including the provincial archives, personnel, the supervision of public works projects and the courts. He received a monthly salary of 15 pesos. Unfortunately, there were several men of adult age by the name of Juan de Castro at that time so more research is needed to figure out which Juan de Castro is mentioned here.

JOSÉ CRUZ PÉREZ was Gobernadorcillo (Mayor) of Hagåtña. He had various other roles, too, in the Spanish Government.

JUAN GUERRERO was the English interpreter for the Government. English was an important language to know as the British and Americans were a constant presence in the Pacific by the 1800s, especially with the whaling trade. Quite a number of Chamorros spoke some English because of their contact with the whalers or because they themselves joined the whaling crews for a while then came back. 

I was thinking this Juan Guerrero is the same Juan Guerrero from Guam who lived in Hawaii in the 1850s to the 1870s but Juan Guerrero died in Hawaii in 1878, so he probably was not the same Juan Guerrero who was English interpreter on Guam in 1874. 

VICENTE PANGELINAN is remembered as a man working in the Spanish Government financial offices. This was quite possible Vicente Luján Pangelinan, who married Antonia Martínez Pangelinan connected to the Pedro Martínez family of later fame.

Known as outstanding farmers are JOSÉ SABLAN AGUILAR, LUÍS LINO, ANDRÉS CRUZ DE CASTRO, VICENTE MENDIOLA, FRANCISCO FLORES and LUÍS GUZMÁN SABLAN. "Lino" is not a last name, so it could be his nickname, being a son of a father named Lino, and more than one person can fit that description. 

MANUEL PANGELINAN was an excellent carpenter.

JOSÉ HERRERO was a skilled tailor. There was only one José Herrero old enough in 1874 to qualify as is, and that was José Aguon Herrero, the son of the former Spanish Governor José Ganga Herrero.

JUAN GUERRERO and JUAN ARRIOLA were good tin smiths.

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ was a jack-of-all-trades. He was a prosperous farmer, too, with many children, most of them daughters who were sought after by many male suitors. 

FRANCISCO PÉREZ was a highly-regarded locksmith and blacksmith.

LUÍS MARTÍNEZ BAZA was called a "smart and inventive" man, but Chacón considered him an arrogant, strong-willed man. Baza was a fighter, who filed lawsuits against the Spanish Government. Baza was engaged in commerce and business. He was also engaged in commerce and operated a store in Hagåtña up to American times. He is the grandfather of Rosie Herrero Baza, the widow of former Governor Paul McDonald Calvo.

ESTORIAN MARIA REAGAN

 

THE CHAPEL

A Catholic chapel stands in Chalan Laulau in Saipan, and it's all due to the strong faith of a Carolinian woman with an unusual name. She was Maria Reagan. Maria was Carolinian, but her surname Reagan was not. It's Irish.

John Edward Reagan was an American from New York who somehow ended up in Saipan in the 1880s. He probably came on a whaler or perhaps a commercial vessel. We don't know if John Edward was born in New York or in Ireland, but he was certainly of Irish blood.

He, like a few other Caucasians, liked what he saw in Saipan and stayed, marrying a Carolinian woman named Joaquina Kileleman. Their first child, a daughter named Engracia, was born in 1889. María and other offspring came later.

SPANISH PRIEST FR ANICETO IBÁÑEZ

teaching Carolinian children the Catholic religion

Saipan was still under the Spaniards then, and the Catholic faith the only religion publicly allowed. But no one was forced to convert to Catholicism. Many Carolinians embraced the faith, and little by little everyone eventually became Catholic. Joaquina, by her first name alone, shows that she had been baptized and given a Christian name, and was Catholic.

A descendant of John Edward Reagan, Malua Peter, shares how devout Maria Reagan was.

Here is a summary in English of what Malua shared :

Tan Maria is the sister of Malua's grandmother. She was the daughter of Edward Reagan and she had very fair skin. Before the war, the family would walk from Chalan Kanoa to Chalan Laulau and pray the rosary every day. This continued after the war. Then we built a chapel there in Chalan Laulau. Right after the war there were only two churches, Chalan Kanoa and Tanapag. From 2 o'clock in the morning we wake up and we pack our things and we walk to the church. We sleep outdoors on canvas that we spread out on the ground and wait for whatever priest will come along to say Mass around 4 o'clock. Some weekends we walk to Tapochao. We also had special Masses for Holy Week. Tan Maria taught us about our obligations to God, to always pray. We began to pray the rosary in Chalan Laulau, first to Our Lady of Fatima and then it changed to the Immaculate Conception. The story's not so clear but Tan Maria saw something in the chapel and that's why we changed it to the Immaculate Conception. 

Tan Maria was very devoted to the Blessed Mother. You only saw her face and her hands because she always covered her head with a shawl or veil. She wore the brown Franciscan garment and the koreas (blessed leather belt of the Augustinians). 

She grew corn and she would share it with the family and we would eat it off the cob. 

When we were kids, we had English comics. They probably came from her father's family in the US. 

Tan Maria would take me to the dentist in Chalan Kanoa and tell me stories of the Blessed Mother as we walked. 

This chapel in Chalan Laulau (Limeiyóól) in Saipan is part of the legacy Tan María gave her family

COMMENDED BY SPAIN

 

CIVIL ORDER OF CHARITY OF SPAIN

Orden Civil de Beneficiencia

From 1872 to 1876, Spanish society was rocked by a civil war. The Carlistas were a political faction in Spain that supported a different line of kings than the one then in power. The Carlist uprisings were eventually squashed by the ruling Spanish government.

Those captured in the war faced deportation to several places around the world under Spanish jurisdiction, including the Marianas. When the Spanish deportados, or deportees, landed in the Marianas, there was no prison big enough to house them all. Feeding them, too, was an issue.

OLD HAGÅTÑA

In order to handle this situation, many deportados were allowed to live with Guam families, both Spanish and Chamorro. Some families accommodated these deportados in such a way that the Spanish Government wanted to commend them in some way when the war was done.

In 1878, the Overseas Ministry of the Spanish Government was given permission to award half a dozen Chamorros and some Spaniards with membership in the Órden Civil de Beneficiencia, or the Civil Order of Charity. This distinction recognized acts of extraordinary service by individuals to the community in times of calamity, natural or otherwise.

The Chamorros so awarded were :

FATHER JOSÉ TORRES PALOMO. He was the first Chamorro priest, ordained in Cebu in 1859. Since he was not a member of a religious Order, who have the vow of poverty, Palomo was free to own his own houses and properties, so he was able to house deportados in his own private residence. Father Palomo lived to see the Americans take over Guam and he did nothing to stand in the way; in fact, he was considered by the Americans a great help in showing cooperation with the new regime. He died in 1919.

FATHER JOSÉ TORRES PALOMO

ANDRÉS CRUZ CASTRO. He was an officer in the Chamorro militia, known as the Compañía de Dotación. Castro was married to Ramona Alejandro.

FRANCISCO DÍAZ TORRES. Descendant of the famous official Luís de Torres. He was married to Joaquina Crisóstomo Martínez. 

FÉLIX DÍAZ TORRES. Brother of Francisco and also a descendant of the celebrated Luís de Torres. He was married to Martínez then Rosa Salar Pérez.

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ. His daughter Josefa married a Spaniard named Julián Sáiz. Antonio was married to Eduviges Díaz Wilson, the daughter of the Irishman James Wilson and the Chamorro Rufina Díaz.

JOSÉ RIVERA PÉREZ. He was a Sergeant in the local military force.

VICENTE OLIVARES CALVO. Although technically not a Chamorro, he was a Spanish-Filipino mestizo whose whole family had firm Marianas roots, dividing their lives equally between Manila and Guam. Some in his family married Chamorros, so I consider Vicente to be "local," if not Chamorro by blood. Among the various things he did, he was for a time the captain of the port at Apra, in charge of the arrival and departure of various ships. His children mainly lived in the Philippines so he has no descendants on Guam, but he is an uncle to the other Calvos who did remain on Guam.

WATER BOY FOR JAPANESE BUNKER

 

THE BOKKONGO' AT ASAN POINT

shortly after the American return in 1944

By 1943, the Japanese were quite sure that the Americans were on their way to Guam. The US wouldn't arrive tomorrow, but the American advance westward and up the Pacific was unmistakable. 

As one can see from this map, the Americans were already in Melanesia by late 1942/early 1943 and were in Micronesia (Tarawa, Kiribati) by November of 1943. The Japanese could see where the Americans were heading, and the Marianas was going to be a star prize in a string of American victories, bringing them closer to the Japanese mainland.

So, the Japanese began fortifying Guam and put many Chamorro men, even in their teens, to work. Women, also, were forced to work clearing land for airfields and digging defensive holes.

In Asan, the Japanese anticipated an ideal break in the reef where the Americans might land. People from Asan were forced to work building Japanese defenses in the Asan area.

Danny Santos, then a 9-year-old boy, remembers.

His grandfather and uncle were forced by the Japanese to join other Asan people in building a bokkongo', or cave, in the Akalaye Fanihi area next to Asan Point.

DANNY SANTOS WITH THE BOKKONGO' BEHIND HIM

in the distance

Young as he was, Danny also had a role in it. Twice a day, he and his older relatives had to bring drinking water to his grandfather, uncle and the other Asan men digging the bokkongo' or cave.

"We got the water from the bo'bo', or natural springs, in the Asan area. There are many bo'bo' in Asan.

We'd fill up the tanks then cover it with a mesh of coconut fiber and cloth to keep the water clean. My job was to make sure the water didn't spill. We took the water to the men on a karetan karabao (karabao cart).

When we got to the bokkongo', we were instructed by the Japanese not to look at the bokkongo' or the surrounding areas too much. And there definitely was to be no conversation between us and the men working on the bokkongo'. It took a while, maybe half an hour, for all the men working on the job to get their share of the water to drink. Then we left."

KARETAN KARABAO

A BRITISH ADVENTURER IN THE MARIANAS

 

WILLIAM MANN

He knew Guam well

The Marianas were not his only "playground," but he lived, worked and romped around the Marianas for a good portion of his sea-faring life.

William Mann was born in 1816 in Kirby-le-Soken, Essex, England. He was one of eleven children and did not get along with his father. He left his parental home to make a life for himself at age fourteen. He took to the sea, and traveled to the Americas.

In 1834, at age 18, he joined a whaling ship, the Falcon, and that was his first arrival to the Marianas, where for two years the ship went in search of whales in our part of the Pacific.

FROM GUAM TO POHNPEI

While sailing around the northwestern Pacific, the Falcon got short on wood and water and happened to meet up with another ship whose captain recommended the Falcon follow them to Pohnpei, then called Ascension Island, where the paramount chief of the island was friendly to this captain.

In two days at Pohnpei, the Falcon got all they needed but, in departing the island, the ship was forced into a rock by the wind, tearing a hole in her. The crew managed to get hundreds of sperm whale oil onshore and the chief agreed to take care of them till they were able to leave again. But the Pohnpeians got so interested in the iron hoops that wrapped around the oil barrels that the barrels broke open, spilling and wasting the oil, when the islanders took off the hoops to use for their own desires.

The captain of the Falcon argued with the chief and made the fatal mistake of slapping him. Not long after, the Pohnpeians attacked the crew of the Falcon, killing many. Mann was among those who survived the attack. An English ship came to Pohnpei later seeking to avenge the massacre of the crew, but Mann had no idea the ship was coming and was in another island when it arrived and left, leaving Mann in the islands. For two more years Mann lived in Pohnpei just like a native, with minimal clothing, but always fearing the islanders.

He had good reason to fear them, because he was attacked one day by two of them. He survived, but lost some fingers when he raised his hand to protect his head from a cut, and his mouth was also severely damaged. Two of his fellow crew members bandaged him best they could and protected themselves with their guns. Finally, an American whaling ship came around and took them to Guam.

RECUPERATING AT GUAM

PAUL WILLIAM GEORGE

Guam's Doctor in the mid 1800s

Paul William George was an Anglo-Irishman who left the seaman's life to settle on Guam for good. He had some medical knowledge and was something of the island doctor on Guam in the mid 1800s. This was the founder of the George family here on Guam.  George treated William Mann's injuries "very skillfully," said a news report. But in the photo of Mann above, you can see that the injury to his mouth was never fully corrected.

Mann continued to live in the Marianas for between thirty and forty years! But he used Guam as a base from which he traveled all over the Pacific, buying and selling. He eventually got tattooed all over his body.

BURIED TREASURE ON PAGAN?

PAGAN

Stories had been going around for many years that treasure had been buried on one of the northern islands in the Marianas. No one knew for sure which island, but Pagan was always a favorite. For two years Mann and some allies dug around Pagan, to no avail.

HE AND HIS CHAMORRO CREW COMMANDEERED

Mann eventually became captain of his own small schooner, which had been stolen from the British, and he got into the business of carrying cargo up and down the Marianas and other islands in the area.

One day, while anchored at an island, nine Spanish prisoners who had escaped from Guam boarded his schooner and took over. Mann had a small crew of three or four Chamorro so they were outnumbered. The escaped prisoners forced him to sail to Yap and there he met the American Crayton Philo Holcomb, "married" to the Chamorro Bartola Garrido. A German ship came by and directed Mann to Hong Kong where, unfortunately, the British discovered that Mann's schooner had been stolen.

DOWN AND OUT IN HONG KONG

OLD HONG KONG

Deprived of the schooner, Mann barely eked a living for eleven years in Hong Kong. An English chaplain to seamen in Hong Kong took an interest in Mann's plight and managed to send Mann back to his native town in England, which he had abandoned more than fifty years earlier. There back in England he died penniless, surviving on the charity of kind people.

One has to admire the man. He frequently lived on the edge of destruction, but lived into his 80s. He lived in some of the most remote places on earth for the longest time, and died right back where he started at the place he was born.

A bachelor living among us in the Marianas all those years....who's to say he never fathered Chamorro children without marrying, whose descendants are still with us today?

FORGOTTEN SHIBATA

 

TETSUO SHIBATA MEMORIAL

No; the above Japanese marker is not in Japan. It was in Pigo' Catholic Cemetery in Guam.

It belonged to a Japanese resident of Guam who is so forgotten that his name does not appear in a list of Japanese settlers on Guam compiled by third-generation Japanese descendants on Guam.

But there's an understandable reason for this.

The man, José (Tetsuo) Shibata, left no descendants on Guam after he died very, very early under American rule. He does not appear in the 1920 Guam Census or thereafter, and court documents mention him only up to 1912.

ONE OF THE FIRST JAPANESE

HIKI STORE IN HAGÅTÑA IN EARLY 1900s

Shibata is already on Guam by 1900. That's only two years after the United States took possession of Guam and only one year after the Americans sent an actual Governor for the island. He was on Guam ahead of many other Japanese who came a little later.

In 1900, he is employed as an agent of the HIKI TRADING COMPANY, a Japanese business that set up a store on Guam. Japanese and other goods were to be sold; and the Japanese were also interested in buying Guam-produced copra (dried coconut meat).

Court documents show that Shibata was a native of Shimabara, a small city close to Nagasaki. His father was Daichiro and his mother was Taki.

On Guam he married a Chamorro woman from a prestigious clan. The Herreros were the descendants of a former Spanish Governor of the Marianas, José Ganga Herrero. Vicenta Cruz Herrero was the governor's granddaughter. She had first married a man with the last name Rosendo, but he had died by the time Vicenta met Shibata.

Shibata was baptized a Roman Catholic in the Hagåtña Church in order to marry Vicenta. He took for his Christian name José María.

He was born around 1873, so he was in his late 20s when he came to Guam. Vicenta, however, was older, being born in the 1860s. She being in her 40s, perhaps she wasn't able to conceive and thus no children were born to them.

BUSY BUSINESSMAN

One thing is for sure and that was Shibata was a busy businessman. His constant movement in business brought him to court many times, and thus we have documented evidence of his activities.

Evidently he parted ways with the Hiki Company and went into business for himself.

In his short time on earth, dying sometime in the 1910s, Shibata ran a STORE, a SALOON or bar, and even an eatery which he called the SUNRISE CAFE.

He was frequently in court trying to recover his money from people who owed him.

Alas, he lived too short and left no children, leaving us only the memory of him in court documents and in one photograph of Pigo' Cemetery which just happens to include his grave marker.

THE STORY OF SISTER ANTONIETA

 

SISTER ANTONIETA ADA

Her last name was Ada, but she didn't have a drop of Chamorro blood in her.

But it didn't matter. 

The end of war in Saipan in 1944 would give this orphaned Japanese girl a new name and a new identity. 

This Japanese girl, 10 years old, would become Chamorro, a Catholic and a Mercedarian Sister.

Later in life, she would recover much of her Japanese roots.

Kimiko Nishikawa was born in Saipan on April 24, 1934, the daughter of a Japanese couple that had moved to Saipan under Japanese rule, like thousands of other Japanese had done. Kimiko was one of six children born to her parents. Her father Tsunetaro was a reserve officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, but before the war broke out he was in the tapioca business on Saipan.

In 1944, when Kimiko was only 10 years old, her parents and all her siblings except her oldest brother, Taiichi, died in the battle between the Japanese and American forces. 

An American Marine officer, Lieutenant James Albert Granier, came across Kimiko, bereft of her parents, in what the Americans called Death Valley, the scene of horrific fighting on Saipan's eastern side, in what is properly called Papago.

When Kimiko's mother was hit by American machine gun fire, Kimiko panicked and ran off, believing her mother to be dead  Eventually she got separated from her mother, wounded but not yet dead, but then met up with her brother and other Japanese. They surrendered to the Americans and were taken to Camp Susupe, where they were reunited with their wounded mother, but not for long. Her mother eventually died from her wounds at the camp.

MARINE LT. JAMES GRANIER

Granier was Catholic and became friendly with Saipan's priest, the Spanish Father José Tardío. Granier collected money from fellow American soldiers and put them in a sock to give to the priest to help rebuild Garapan's bombed-out church.

Father Tighe was another Catholic priest who knew Kimiko, the future Antonieta. He was a military chaplain who took to heart the dire situation of the Catholics of Saipan, including the Mercedarian Sisters. He was instrumental in bringing the Mercedarians to work in the United States.

ANTONIETA WITH FATHER TIGHE

not long after surviving the Battle of Saipan

But Granier also had one concern. What would become of Kimiko? Father Tardío told him she would be cared for by a Chamorro family. Father Tardío baptized Kimiko, and Granier was present, as proud as can be. Her Christian name was Antonieta, named after Granier's mother Antonietta. A few days later, James Granier was killed in the Battle of Tinian.

THE ADAS

ANTONIETA IN THE MIDDLE
with her adoptive family

on the right Juan Martínez Ada and wife Ana seated

an aunt on the left

Juan Martínez Ada was one of Saipan's most prominent men. Born on Guam, he was raised on Saipan as a child when his parents moved there. Brought up under the Spanish and German flags, conversant in both languages besides Chamorro, Japanese and English, he emerged after the war as a Chamorro leader the Americans could rely on. Ada became a post-war mayor of Saipan.

He had also been friends with Tsunetaro, Antonieta's (Kimiko's) father.  Ada had lost two children in their youth and took a liking to Kimiko, then just 2 or 3 years old. The Nishikawas allowed Kimiko to spend much time with the Adas. It got to the point that Kimiko wasn't sure who her parents were; the Japanese or the Chamorro ones. She even began to wonder who was this Japanese man, her father, who would periodically visit her and give her sweets.

But when Kimiko became of school age, she had to reconnect with her Japanese parents because Kimiko had to go to the school set up for Japanese children, and not go to the school for Chamorro children. So, Kimiko would live with her Japanese parents when school was in session, and during vacation time Kimiko would be with the Adas. "In school I was Japanese," she said. "After school I was Chamorro."

It wasn't all pleasant for her at Japanese school, as her fellow Japanese classmates considered her less than Japanese, calling her toming, a Japanese word literally meaning "island person." It was meant as a put-down, and the term was applied to all islanders, whether Chamorro, Carolinian, Chuukese, Palauan and the rest.

After the Americans took over Saipan, Ada came to Camp Susupe and found Kimiko's dying mother. She told Ada that Kimiko was still in the jungle and for Ada to take her, as she was his "daughter." When Kimiko's mother died in the camp, Ada came and took Kimiko to be raised as his own daughter. Kimiko's brother was forbidden by Japanese law to be adopted by Ada. Only Japanese girls could be so adopted by non-Japanese, but Japanese boys could not, according to Japanese law. Her brother was sent to Japan with all the other Japanese war refugees.

Kimiko, now named Antonieta, settled in with Juan and his wife Ana Crisóstomo Cepeda, and took their last name. She now spoke only Chamorro (and later began to learn English), and her grasp of Japanese weakened to the point of forgetting most of it.

AMERICAN GI WITH JAPANESE CHILD

Camp Susupe, Saipan

SHE BECOMES A MERCEDARIAN SISTER

In 1963, Antonieta entered the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz, a Spanish community of missionary sisters who came to Saipan in 1928.  She had been attracted to the life of the Sisters since her teens and wanted to join, but her mother Ana opposed it. "Wait until I die," Ana kept telling Antonieta. The Adas had no children living except for Antonieta, and in Chamorro culture it was the daughters, more than the sons, who took care of the elderly parents, especially the mother, in their daily needs. But time was ticking, and one can become too old to be accepted into the convent, so at age 29 Antonieta joined the Mercedarians.

Prior to joining the Sisters, Antonieta had experience in the working world, being a secretary for some official. She had pursued some studies and had traveled. She kept in touch with her Ada relatives on Guam, siblings of her father who had decided to return and do business on Guam. A close relative was a priest on Guam, Monsignor José Ada León Guerrero, son of her father Juan's sister.

After being accepted by the Sisters, she was sent to the Mercedarian house in Kansas City, Missouri and continued her education. She then returned to teach in Saipan "to give back" to her island community, as she said. She also worked in Palau and the Philippines.

She often had asked God before, "Of all the Nishikawa children (to survive), why me?" Perhaps she found her answer in her religious calling to serve the Church and the people.

Before she entered the convent, Antonieta took advantage of an American merchant ship going from Saipan to Japan. She, and a number of Saipanese, sailed in the ship to Japan, where Antonieta met her brother for the first time since the war. He could not speak English, and she had forgotten her Japanese.

RECLAIMING HER JAPANESE ROOTS

In 1977, Sister Antonieta began an eleven-year residence in Japan, where she re-learned Japanese and worked as a missionary sister. For the first two years in Japan, she studied Japanese. Then she did missionary work. She and her older brother would visit each other at least once a year.

But her Saipan roots were much deeper and she returned to her homeland in 1988, and began teaching Japanese at Mount Carmel School in Chalan Kanoa and at Marianas High School in Susupe.

HEALING FROM TRAUMA

Words fail to express the trauma Sister Antonieta experienced through life. The complications of living in two worlds as a child; a Japanese world and a Chamorro one. Her body subjected to the explosion of bombs and the whizzing of bullets, all the while hiding in caves and under trees in the jungle, with little to no food or water, with the smell and sight of death all around her; the loss of her parents and all her siblings save one, her own life at risk. 

It's no surprise that at first she hated the Americans, but not for long. The hatred went away but she had no desire to interact with them. In time, especially when she found a job in an island government office with American supervisors, she learned to be comfortable around Americans.

She credited her healing from all these emotional wounds to the total and unconditional love of Juan and Ana Ada. They gave her all they could, especially their faith in God. Sister said, "We do not know the things God has planned for us, but they all work out for our good."

Sister Antonieta passed away on Saipan in 2016. U såga gi minahgong. Rest in peace.

THANKS to Sister MaryAnn Hartmann of the Mercedarian Sisters in Saipan for many of the photos in this article.

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA

LA HISTORIA DE SOR ANTONIETA ADA, MMB

Su apellido era Ada, pero no tenía ni una gota de sangre chamorra.

Pero no importó.

El fin de la guerra en Saipán en 1944 le daría a esta niña japonesa huérfana un nuevo nombre y una nueva identidad.

Esta niña japonesa, de 10 años, se convertiría en chamorra, católica y Hermana Mercedaria.

Más adelante en la vida recuperaría gran parte de sus raíces japonesas.

Kimiko Nishikawa nació en Saipán el 24 de abril de 1934, hija de una pareja japonesa que se había mudado a Saipán bajo el dominio japonés, como lo habían hecho miles de otros japoneses. Kimiko fue una de los seis hijos de sus padres. Su padre Tsunetaro era un oficial de reserva en el ejército imperial japonés, pero antes de que estallara la guerra estaba en el negocio de la tapioca en Saipán.

En 1944, cuando Kimiko tenía sólo 10 años, sus padres y todos sus hermanos, excepto su hermano mayor, Taiichi, murieron en la batalla entre las fuerzas japonesas y estadounidenses.

Un oficial de los Marines estadounidenses, el teniente James Albert Granier, se encontró con Kimiko, privada de sus padres, en lo que los estadounidenses llamaban el Valle de la Muerte, escenario de horribles combates en el lado oriental de Saipán, en lo que propiamente se llama Pápago.

Cuando la madre de Kimiko fue alcanzada por fuego de ametralladora estadounidense, Kimiko entró en pánico y salió corriendo, creyendo que su madre estaba muerta. Finalmente se separó de su madre, herida pero aún no muerta, pero luego se encontró con su hermano y otros japoneses. Se rindieron a los estadounidenses y fueron llevados al Campamento Susupe, donde se reunieron con su madre herida, pero no por mucho tiempo. Su madre finalmente murió a causa de sus heridas en el campo.

Granier era católico y se hizo amigo del sacerdote de Saipán, el cura español José Tardío. Granier recaudó dinero de sus compañeros soldados estadounidenses y los puso en un calcetín para dárselo al sacerdote para ayudar a reconstruir la iglesia bombardeada de Gárapan.

El Padre Tighe fue otro sacerdote católico que conoció a Kimiko, la futura Antonieta. Era un capellán militar que tomó en serio la terrible situación de los católicos de Saipán, incluidas las Hermanas Mercedarias. Tuvo un papel decisivo para que las Mercedarias trabajaran en los Estados Unidos.

Pero Granier también tenía una preocupación. ¿Qué sería de Kimiko? El Padre Tardío le dijo que la cuidaría una familia chamorra. El Padre Tardío bautizó a Kimiko y Granier estuvo presente, muy orgulloso. Su nombre de pila era Antonieta, en honor a la madre de Granier, Antonietta. Unos días más tarde, James Granier murió en la batalla de Tinián.

Juan Martínez Ada fue uno de los hombres más destacados de Saipán. Nacido en Guam, se crió en Saipán cuando era niño cuando sus padres se mudaron allí. Criado bajo las banderas española y alemana, versado en ambos idiomas además del chamorro, el japonés y el inglés, emergió después de la guerra como un líder chamorro en el que los estadounidenses podían confiar. Ada se convirtió en alcalde de Saipán en la posguerra.

También había sido amigo de Tsunetaro, el padre de Antonieta (Kimiko). Ada había perdido a dos hijos en su juventud y le tomó cariño a Kimiko, que entonces tenía solo 2 o 3 años. Los Nishikawa le permitieron a Kimiko pasar mucho tiempo con los Ada. Llegó al punto en que Kimiko no estaba segura de quiénes eran sus padres; los japoneses o los chamorros. Incluso empezó a preguntarse quién era ese japonés, su padre, que periódicamente la visitaba y le regalaba dulces.

Pero cuando Kimiko llegó a la edad escolar, tuvo que volver a conectarse con sus padres japoneses porque Kimiko tenía que ir a la escuela creada para niños japoneses y no a la escuela para niños chamorros. Entonces, Kimiko viviría con sus padres japoneses cuando la escuela estuviera en sesión, y durante las vacaciones Kimiko estaría con los Ada. "En la escuela yo era japonesa", dijo. "Después de la escuela yo era chamorra".

No todo fue agradable para ella en la escuela japonesa, ya que sus compañeros japoneses la consideraban menos que japonesa y la llamaban “toming,” una palabra japonesa que literalmente significa "persona de la isla". Tenía la intención de despreciar y el término se aplicó a todos los isleños, ya fueran chamorros, carolinos, chuukeses, palauanos y el resto.

Después de que los estadounidenses se apoderaron de Saipán, Ada llegó al Campamento Susupe y encontró a la madre moribunda de Kimiko. Ella le dijo a Ada que Kimiko todavía estaba en la selva y que Ada la llevaría, ya que era su "hija". Cuando la madre de Kimiko murió en el campo, Ada vino y se llevó a Kimiko para que la criara como su propia hija. La ley japonesa prohibía que Ada adoptara al hermano de Kimiko. Sólo las niñas japonesas podían ser adoptadas por no japoneses, pero los niños japoneses no, según la ley japonesa. Su hermano fue enviado a Japón con todos los demás refugiados de guerra japoneses.

Kimiko, ahora llamada Antonieta, se instaló con Juan y su esposa Ana Crisóstomo Cepeda, y tomó su apellido. Ahora sólo hablaba chamorro (y más tarde comenzó a aprender inglés), y su comprensión del japonés se debilitó hasta el punto de olvidar la mayor parte.

En 1963, Antonieta ingresó a las Misioneras Mercedarias de Bérriz, una comunidad española de hermanas misioneras que llegó a Saipán en 1928. Se había sentido atraída por la vida de las Hermanas desde su adolescencia y quería unirse, pero su madre Ana se opuso. "Espera hasta que me muera", le decía Ana a Antonieta. Los Ada no tenían hijos vivos excepto Antonieta, y en la cultura chamorra eran las hijas, más que los hijos, quienes cuidaban de los padres ancianos, especialmente de la madre, en sus necesidades diarias. Pero el tiempo corría y uno puede llegar a ser demasiado viejo para ser aceptado en el convento, por lo que a los 29 años Antonieta se unió a las Mercedarias.

Antes de incorporarse a las Hermanas, Antonieta tuvo experiencia en el mundo laboral, siendo secretaria de algún funcionario. Había realizado algunos estudios y había viajado. Se mantuvo en contacto con sus parientes Ada en Guam, hermanos de su padre que habían decidido regresar y hacer negocios en Guam. Un pariente cercano era un sacerdote en Guam, Monseñor José Ada León Guerrero, hijo de la hermana de su padre Juan.

Después de ser aceptada por las Hermanas, fue enviada a la casa Mercedaria en Kansas City, Missouri y continuó su educación. Luego regresó a Saipán para enseñar "para retribuir" a su comunidad isleña, como ella dijo. También trabajó en Palau y Filipinas.

A menudo le había preguntado a Dios: "De todos los niños Nishikawa (que sobrevivieron), ¿por qué yo?". Quizás encontró su respuesta en su vocación religiosa de servir a la Iglesia y al pueblo.

Antes de ingresar al convento, Antonieta aprovechó un barco mercante estadounidense que iba de Saipán a Japón. Ella y varios saipaneses navegaron en el barco hacia Japón, donde Antonieta conoció a su hermano por primera vez desde la guerra. Él no hablaba inglés y ella se había olvidado del japonés.

En 1977, la Hermana Antonieta comenzó una residencia de once años en Japón, donde volvió a aprender japonés y trabajó como hermana misionera. Durante los dos primeros años en Japón, estudió japonés. Luego hizo obra misionera. Ella y su hermano mayor se visitaban al menos una vez al año.

Pero sus raíces en Saipán eran mucho más profundas y regresó a su tierra natal en 1988, y comenzó a enseñar japonés en la escuela Mount Carmel en Chalan Kanoa y en la escuela secundaria Marianas en Susupe.

Las palabras no logran expresar el trauma que la Hermana Antonieta experimentó a lo largo de la vida. Las complicaciones de vivir en dos mundos cuando era niño; un mundo japonés y uno chamorro. Su cuerpo sometido a la explosión de bombas y al zumbido de las balas, mientras se escondía en cuevas y debajo de los árboles en la selva, con poca o ninguna comida ni agua, con el olor y la vista de la muerte a su alrededor; la pérdida de sus padres y de todos sus hermanos salvo uno, su propia vida en riesgo.

No sorprende que al principio odiara a los estadounidenses, pero no por mucho tiempo. El odio desapareció pero ella no tenía ningún deseo de interactuar con ellos. Con el tiempo, especialmente cuando encontró un trabajo en una oficina gubernamental de la isla con supervisores estadounidenses, aprendió a sentirse cómoda con los estadounidenses.

Ella atribuyó la curación de todas estas heridas emocionales al amor total e incondicional de Juan y Ana Ada. Le dieron todo lo que pudieron, especialmente su fe en Dios. La Hermana dijo: "No sabemos las cosas que Dios ha planeado para nosotros, pero todas resultan para nuestro bien".

Sor Antonieta falleció en Saipán en 2016. Que descanse en paz.

JAPANESE VERSION

(translated by Sister Yasuko, MMB)

「シスター・アントニエタ・アダの物語」

執筆者　エリック・フォーブス神父による　　2024年3月8日

 

[シスター・アントニエタ・アダ]

 

彼女の名前はアダですが、チャモロ人の血を受け継いではいません。

日米の激戦地となったサイパンで、彼女は孤児になりました。1994年、彼女の１０才のときでした。彼女は戦後、新しい名前と新しいアイデンティティのもとで、チャモロ人として育ち、メルセス会修道院のシスターになるのですが、やがてときを経て、彼女は日本人としてのルーツを取り戻していくことになります。

 

彼女の本名は西川きみ子。日本の信託統治領であった時代のサイパンで1934年4月24日に日本人夫婦の娘として生まれました。日本の信託統治領に移住してきた多くの日本人と同様に、きみ子の両親もサイパンに移住してきた家族でした。きみ子は6番目の子どもでした。お父さんの“つね太郎”さんは、帝国日本軍の予備役将校でありましたが、サイパンでの戦争が始まる前には、タピオカのビジネスに従事していました。

しかし、１９９４年の日本軍と米軍の戦火は、彼女の両親と兄弟の生命を奪ってしまいます。

残されたのは、きみ子と長男の太一さんだけになったのです。

 

米軍の海兵隊士官であったジェームズ・アルバート・グラニエル中尉は、サイパン東部の“死の谷”地域（パパンゴと呼ばれる地域）で、一人逃げ惑っていたきみ子を発見します。“死の谷”とは、多くの日本人と日本兵が追い込まれて、無数の死者を出した地域で、米軍が“死の谷”と名付けた名前でした。そこで、きみ子の母も、米軍の砲弾に打たれて傷を負い倒れてしまったのですが、きみ子は、母は死んでしまったと思ってパニックになり、戦火の中を一人で逃げていたのです。　

でも、きみ子の母は重傷を負いつつも、死んではいなかったのです。

[海兵隊士官　ジェームズ・アルバート・グラニエルさん]

 

日本軍は敗れ、きみ子たちは、ススペにある米軍キャンプに連れていかれました。そこできみ子は、重傷を負っていた母と再会しますが、母はまもなく息を引き取ります。

きみ子の兄弟（太一さん以外）と父がどこで、どのように死んだかはわかっていません。おそらく戦火の中で死んで行ったと思われます。

[米軍兵士と日本人の子ども　ススペのキャンプにて]

 

きみ子を発見して、キャンプに連れて行ったグラニエル中尉は、カトリック信者でした。スペイン人のホセ・タルディオ神父と親しくなり、仲間の米軍兵士から金を集めては、破壊されたガラパン教会の再建のために寄付を行なった人でもありました。

 

　グラニエル中尉は、孤児となったきみ子のその後について心配し、タルディオ神父に相談をします。タルディオ神父は、きみ子はチャモロ人の家族によって世話をされることになるだろうと答えます。タルディオ神父は、きみ子に洗礼を授け、グラニエル中尉も同席し、きみ子にアントニエタという礼名を授けました。その洗礼名は、グラニエル中尉の母の名前をとったものでした。

その時期、サイパンはすでに米軍の手に落ちていましたが、対岸のティニアン島では、まだ戦火がつづいており、グラニエル中尉はティニアン島に派兵され、数日後に戦死してしまいます。

 

 [アダさん家族]

 

きみ子を引き取ったホアン・マルティネス・アダさんは、かねてからサイパンで著明な人物でした。彼はグアムで生まれた後に、両親と共にサイパンに移住し、サイパンがスペインとドイツの統治下にあった時代に育ち、チャモロ語、英語、スペイン語とドイツ語に精通していました。そして日本の信託統治時代には、日本語をも習得していました。

　

アダさんは、日本の信託統治時代に、きみ子の父、西川つねたろうさんの友人でもあった人でした。アダさんは、若いときに自分の2人の子どもをなくしていたので、きみ子が２才から３才のときに、きみ子を自分の家に連れてきは、大変可愛がっていました。

きみ子の父も、きみ子がアダさんといっしょに過すのを許していました。

こうしたことから、後にきみ子は、自分の両親が誰であったか、日本人であったのか、チャモロ人であるのかを思い出せないほど、アダさんに近かった幼い日々を過していたのでした。

日本人の男性が、ときどき訪ねてきては、お菓子を彼女にくれたという思い出があるだけで、その日本人が誰であるのかという記憶は残ってはいませんでした。

 

学校に行く年齢になってきみ子は、チャモロ人の子どもたちが行く学校ではなく、日本人の子どもが通う学校に行かされるようになったことから、自分が日本人の両親の子どもであったことを知ることになります。学期中は日本人の両親と共に暮らし、休暇にはアダさん家族とともに過しました。「学校では日本人」と言われて過し、「学校以外ではチャモロ人」として過していたのです。

日本人学校のクラスメートたちからは、日本人以下として扱われ、「島民」と呼ばれて蔑まれていました。日本人たちは、チャモロ人のことを「島民」と言って見下していたからです。日本人はチャモロ人、キャロリニアン、トラック人、パラオ人たちを、「島民」として蔑んで呼んでいました。

こうしたことから日本人学校は、きみ子にとって居心地の良い場所ではありませんでした。

 

米軍によるサイパン占領後、アダさんは、ススペにある被災者キャンプで、死ぬ間際のきみ子の母に出会います。きみ子の母はアダさんに、「きみ子はまだジャングルの中にいるから探し出して、アダさんの娘にしてください」と頼んだのです。

　きみ子を引き取ることを約束したアダさんでしたが、日本統治下の法律では、日本人の女性を養子にすることは許されていましたが、日本人の男性を養子にすることは禁じられていたため、アダさんはきみ子の兄を引き取ることはできませんでした。

きみ子の兄は、他の多くの日本人の男の子と同じように、戦災孤児として日本に送られていったのでした。

 

きみ子は、アントニエタとして、アダさんとその妻アナ・クリゾストモ・セペダさんの養女となり、アダさんの名前を頂いて、アントニエタ・アダとなりました。

戦後、アダさんは信頼されるチャモロ人の指導者として頭角を現わし、米国統治下のサイパンでの行政長官となっていきました。

 

アントニエタは、最初はチャモロ語しかしゃべれませんでしたが、後に英語を学び、次第に、彼女のなかで日本人としてのアイデンティティは、希薄なものになっていきました。

 

[タイ神父とアントニエタ　サイパンでの戦争直後]

 

米国人のタイ神父は、きみ子を知っていたもう一人の神父で、米軍のチャプレンでした。メルセス会を米国での宣教への道筋を開いた人でもありました。メルセス会は、１９２８年にサイパンに来たスペイン人の宣教女によって設立された修道会でした。

彼は、きみ子をカトリック教会とベリス・メルセス宣教修道女会のシスターたちに出会わせることになります。

 

　[アントニエタはメルセス会修道院のシスターになる]

 

1963年にアントニエタはメルセス会修道院に入会します。

１０代の頃から、アントニエタは、シスターたちの生き方に惹きつけられ、修道院に入りたいと願うようになりました。でも養母のアナさんは、それに反対し、「私が死ぬまで待って」と言っていたのです。

年老いた両親の面倒を見ること、特に母親の日々の面倒を見ることは、息子ではなく、娘であるという風習があったからです。

でも、時が流れ、アントニエタが２９才になったとき、ついにアナさんは許可を与えます。シスターになる前に、アントニエタは社会経験として、どこかの役所で秘書として働く経験もしました。その間、勉強もし、旅行もしました。グアムに行ったときには、グアムに戻ってビジネスの仕事をしていたアダさんの兄弟や、高位聖職者となっていたホセ・アダ・レオンゲレロ神父（アダさんの妹の息子）とも出会いました。

 

メルセス会のシスターとして受け入れられたアントニエタは、やがてミズリー州にあるカンサス・シティのメルセス会修道院に派遣され、そこで勉学をすることになりました。　

サイパンに戻ってからは、サイパンのコムニティーへの恩返しとして学校で教え、さらにパラオやフィリピンでも働きました。

 

アントニエタは、しばしば神の前で問いかけたのです。「生き残った西川家の子どもの中で、主よ、なぜ私を選ばれ、この道に導かれたのですか」。

 

修道院に入る前に、日本に行く船でサイパンの人々とともに、日本を訪問する機会もあったアントニエタでしたので、日本を訪れたときに、戦後始めて日本人の兄に出会いました。兄は英語を話せず、アントニエタは日本語を忘れていました。

 

日本人としてのルーツを取り戻して・・・

１９７７年になって、アントニエタは日本のメルセス会修道院に、日本語の学び直しと、宣教活動のために派遣されます。最初の2年間に日本語の勉強をし、その後に宣教活動を始めました。この期間にアントニエタは、年に一度は兄を訪問し、兄も彼女を訪問する機会をもったのでした。

 

しかし、彼女の人生において、サイパンというルーツは、やはり最も深いものでありました。１９８８年に、彼女は故郷のサイパンに戻ったのです。そしてサイパンのチャランカノアのモン・カルメル高校と、ススペのマリアナ高校で日本語を教え始めます。

 

トラウマからの癒し

シスターアントニエタの抱いていたトラウマを言葉で表現するのは、とても困難です。子ども時代に、日本人として、チャモロ人として経験した複雑な二つの世界。戦火の下での爆弾の破裂や、銃弾の音、水も食べ物もなく、ジャングルの洞穴や樹の下に隠れて過したこと。延々と横たわる死体をこの目で見、その死臭を嗅いだこと。

両親の死と兄弟との生き別れ、自らの生命を失う危険の中での逃避行の記憶などなど。

 

米軍との戦いの体験から当初、彼女が米国人に対して嫌悪を抱いていたのは当然でもありました。それはすこしずつ変化して行くものの、米国人と交流することへの抵抗は残っていました。しかし入会前に、政府のオフィスで米国人の監督者たちと共に働いた経験から、その気持ちは変わっていったのでした。

 

彼女が、過去の辛い経験の感情的な傷から癒されていったのは、彼女を養女としたアダさん夫妻の、彼女への、全面的、無条件の愛のおかげでありました。2人は彼女に、できる限りのこと、特に神への信仰を与えてくださったのです。

「神による私たちへの計らいを知ることはできません。でも、その全てが良い結果をもたらしてくださったのです」と彼女は語っています。

 

シスター・アントニエタ・アダは、2016年に9月15日に、サイパンで平和のうちに生涯を終え、帰天していかれました。

　　　　　　　　　　　　

[マトゥラナ・ヒルにあるシスター・アントニエタ・アダの墓石]

 

 

注：

◆筆者は、グアムやサイパンの当時の歴史を記す著述家でもあるエリック・フォーブス神父、グアム在住のカプチン会の神父です。

◆写真はサイパンのシスター・メリアン・ハートマンを通して提供されました。

◆なお、サイパンの歴史状況という背後をわかりやすくするために、文章に手を加えさせていただいた部分があります。また、筆者のエリック・フォーブス神父や、メリアン・ハートマンとメールを交わして、文章や写真の意味を確認しながら訳しました。

訳者　清水靖子