ONE CHAMORRO WHALER

bbc.co.uk

In the 1800s, many young Chamorro lads, even in their early teens, joined the whaling crews just as soon as they could to see the world.

One young man did just that.  "Humånao bumayinero," the elderly lady told me of her uncle.

He never came back.  Why?

"Måtai gue' giya New Guinea," she told me.  "He died in New Guinea."  How so?

Apparently, while he was in New Guinea, he found a sweetheart.  When she found out he was going to leave New Guinea and return to Guam without her, she poisoned him.  "Ma benenuye."

I guess the sweetheart was deadly serious about their relationship.

Bayena = Whale

Bayinero = Whaler