I BOREGO'

Chamorro school children in costume
1930s

Dr. Larry Cunningham recently shared with me that, over the years, he has been told by more than a few older people that some people used to observe an interesting Christmas custom on Guam called borego'. I had heard the word before, but with a different meaning. More on that later on. But the borego' that Cunningham's informants described was something else.

On Christmas day, or maybe the night before, you would dress up in interesting and creative costumes and joke around in public. A photo from the Fritz collection in Luta in the early 1900s talks about Chamorro men dressed up for a "Christmas game," quite possibly the borego'.

Chamorro men dressed up for a "Christmas game." Luta, early 1900s

Fritz Collection

All kinds of tomfoolery was acted out and tolerated during the borego'. Some people walked on stilts, some acted like buffoons, some cross-dressed. They would paint their faces or use homemade masks. Making my own inquiries, an older lady told me her brother used to walk around in a mestiza, the traditional Chamorro dress for women, to celebrate New Year's. No one was punished for any of these deviations from the social norm. Cunningham thinks this was a way of safely releasing inner tensions under a socially repressive colonial regime; a "safety valve" of sorts.

Some participants in the borego' would go house to house, entertaining the neighborhood. Homes would welcome them and give them treats, especially buñuelos dågo (yam fritters), typical for the season.

Social rules were suspended, to an extent, during a borego', because men who had fathered children illegitimately were able to see their sons and daughters if they were dressed up in costume for the borego'. In many families, these fathers would have been chased away if they came looking to visit their children. But, if they came in costume in the borego', even though they were recognizable for who they really were, the families tolerated their coming to the house with the other costumed men.

Some of Cunningham's informants remember dressing up for the borego' as late as the 1950s, but by the 1960s, it seems to have died out. One source told Cunningham that, since the Chamorros were made American citizens in 1950, there was both a measure of self-government now and a desire to become more American in customs.

A lady writes about her memories of the borego' during the 1960s :

"Santa Rita guys did this around Christmas time when I was a kid, all the way to when I was about 13-14 years old. They wore gunny sacks with holes made for the eyes & mouth, and they wore tattered and torn pants. It was suspenseful sitting outside in our swing set and waiting for them in groups, coming from the bottom of the hill. As they got closer, it was hilarious to see us screaming, running inside and peering at them through the glass louvers. Nana would give them buñelos dago, soda and candy."

LATER MEANINGS OF THE WORD

Although the custom of dressing up in the borego' has died, the word itself has not completely disappeared, though many Chamorro speakers are not familiar with it. The word itself has taken on several meanings, but it is easy to see how they all spring from the original meaning, connected to wearing costumes.

MASK. Some Chamorro speakers today understand the word borego' to mean "wearing a mask" or "costumed make-up."

SCARY FACE. Since some of those masks or costumes were scary, weird or grotesque, some Chamorro speakers interprey borego' as a "scary face."

CLOWN. Again, because of the costume.

DISGUISE. Someone masked is usually unrecognizable, so someone in disguise.

UNKEMPT. Disheveled. When a person just wakes up and isn't groomed yet. When a lady hasn't put on her make-up. When someone has been doing yard work or been in the jungle and perhaps has smudges on the face. All of these can be an example of looking borego'. Again, since some masks or costumes were scary, borego' became applied to messy looking faces.

"Fa'gåsi matå-mo! Paine gapotilu-mo! Kalan hao borego'!"

("Wash your face! Comb your hair! You're like a borego'!")

SAIPAN'S BOREGO'

In Saipan, the borego' means a Christmas play. One sees the connection, again, with the older meaning : dressing up in costume. In a Christmas play, characters dress up as St Joseph, the Blessed Mother, shepherds, the Three Kings and so on.

Singing at a Borego', or Christmas Play, in Saipan in 1992

In the Marianas, priests and teachers put on plays all throughout the year. Here is a news excerpt about a Christmas play performed on Guam in 1910 :

SPANISH ROOTS

The word borego' is borrowed from the Spanish word borrego. In Spanish, a borrego is a lamb or a yearling sheep.

In time, borrego became a slang word for someone easily fooled or tricked, since sheep are seen as docile and easily led by their shepherds. People who are naive or dimwitted, who are easy victims of a prank or a hoax, are sometimes called borrego.

DECEMBER 28 - HOLY INNOCENTS

Now we come to December 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents, in Spanish, los Santos Inocentes. The Innocents were the baby boys killed by King Herod in and around Bethlehem.

But, in Spanish, inocente can also mean naive, simpleminded or gullible. So, on December 28, in many parts of the Spanish-speaking world, people dress up in different kinds of costume to have fun and play pranks on people, to celebrate the ease with which many people become victims of pranks and tricks.

I believe it is from this Spanish custom, dressing up in costume on December 28, that the borego' finds its origins. It was a way of poking fun at people for being like obedient sheep - borrego - and playing tricks on them. To get away with those tricks, and to have fun, people dressed in costume. And from there, all the later meanings of the word borego' took shape.

There may also be an ancient connection with the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which ran from December 17 to December 23. That feast took on a carnival-like atmosphere, with masters switching places with slaves and all kinds of overturning of social norms, much like the borego'. Of course, if there is indeed such a link between the Roman Saturnalia and the Chamorro borego', it is first by way of Spain. And here I think the link with the feast of the Inocentes also plays a part.

December 28 in Spain

December 28 in Mexico