NORTHERN MARIANAS STATISTICS 1900-1902

A LETTER FROM SAIPAN DURING GERMAN TIMES

But the Spanish government seal was still being used (upper left corner)

First, let's look at the numbers and then I'll share a few historical lessons we can learn from them. These numbers come from the German administrator of the Northern Marianas in the early 1900s, Georg Fritz.

1902		CHAMORRO	CAROLINIAN	FOREIGN	TOTAL
SAIPAN	Garapan	891	524	42	1457
	Tanapag	76	97	1	174
TINIAN		36	59	0	95
ROTA		440	49	1	490
SARIGUAN		7	1	0	8
ALAMAGAN		6	2	0	8
PAGAN		35	102	0	137
AGRIGAN		14	18	0	32
TOTAL		1505	852	44	2401

The population of Guam at this time was 9676, around four times the population of all the other Mariana islands combined.

Saipan had only two villages, and there was a huge difference in population between them. Garapan was divided into separate Chamorro and Carolinian sections. Tanapag was more mixed.

The foreigners in Garapan were Germans, Japanese, Spaniards (the priests) and other Pacific islanders. The two single foreigners, one in Tanapag and the other in Luta, were Spanish priests.

The gap in numbers between Chamorros and Carolinians was widening. Just twenty years before this, there were more Carolinians on Saipan than Chamorros. But Chamorros from Guam (and a small number from Luta) kept moving north to Saipan in a steady stream from the 1880s onwards. Carolinians also moved to Saipan from Guam, Luta (Rota) and the Caroline Islands but in smaller numbers than the Chamorros. The gap would get even wider as time went on with the Chamorros being around 2/3 of the population by 1900. Chamorros from Guam kept moving to Saipan till the end of German times in 1914.

Take a look at the growth of the Chamorro population just in three years.

	CHAMORRO	CAROLINIAN	FOREIGNER	TOTAL
1900	1302	700	36	1938
1901	1330	772	30	2132
1902	1505	852	44	2401

Between 1901 and 1902, the Chamorro population increased by 175 people while the Carolinian numbers increased by 80. Chamorros from Guam were enticed to move to Saipan were land was plentiful and the government eager to have settlers farm that land.

But, if you notice in 1901, the Carolinian population jumped by 72, whereas the Chamorro population increased by just 28. The high numbers of additional Carolinians in 1901 can be explained by the relocation of Guam's Carolinians to Saipan on orders of the American Governor, which delighted the Germans. The Germans always wanted to increase the population of the Northern Marianas.

Tinian did not have a stable, permanent Chamorro community till after World War II. In German times, Chamorros and Carolinians from Saipan worked the farms and cattle ranches on Tinian, but they didn't put down permanent roots there. Some workers were single. Some were married but came to Tinian by themselves and went back to Saipan (close by) for periodic visits. Some brought their wives and children but the mothers took their newborns back to Saipan for baptism. Tinian at the time was a place to work, not to settle permanently. Men outnumbered the women on Tinian because of this; work was the motive for being on Tinian, not lifetime settlement.

Luta's small and dwindling Carolinian population were later encouraged by the Germans to move to Saipan and join their fellow Carolinians there, who were more numerous. Not long after this census, Luta had no more Carolinian residents.

Pagan was where the action was in the northern islands, with Agrigan a distant second. Pagan was considered the ideal northern island by the government and investors hoping to make money from copra. The inhabitants of the northern islands, Chamorro and Carolinian, were all from Saipan, Guam and a few from Luta.

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

POBLACIÓN DE LAS ISLAS MARIANAS A PRINCIPIOS DEL SIGLO XX.

La población de Guam a principios del siglo XX era de 9676 personas, es decir casi cuatro veces la población de todas las demás Islas Marianas, que rondaba los 2401 habitantes.

SAIPÁN, con 1631 residentes, tenía solo dos aldeas y había una gran diferencia de población entre ellas. Garapan (1457) se dividía en secciones separadas de nativos chamorros e indígenas carolinos. Tanapag (174) estaba más entremezclada.

Los extranjeros en Garapan eran alemanes, japoneses, los sacerdotes españoles y otros isleños del Pacífico.

La brecha numérica entre chamorros y carolinos se estaba ampliando. Solo veinte años antes de esto, había más habitantes carolinos en Saipán que chamorros. Pero los chamorros de Guam (y un pequeño número de Rota) siguieron mudándose hacia el norte hacia Saipán en un flujo constante desde la década de 1880. Los carolinos también continuaron trasladándose a Saipán desde Guam, Rota y las Islas Carolinas, pero en menor número que los chamorros. La brecha se haría aún más amplia a medida que pasara el tiempo, ya que los chamorros llegarían a ser alrededor de 2/3 de la población en 1900. Los chamorros de Guam siguieron mudándose a Saipán hasta el final de la época alemana en 1914.

En 1902, la población de chamorros aumentó en 175 personas mientras que el número de carolinos aumentó en 80. Los chamorros de Guam fueron atraídos a mudarse a Saipán donde la tierra era abundante y el gobierno alemán estaba ansioso por que los colonos cultivaran aquellos terrenos.

Sin embargo, en 1901, la población de carolinos había aumentado en 72, mientras que la población de chamorros lo había hecho en solo 28. La gran cantidad de habitantes de Carolinas adicionales en 1901 puede explicarse por la reubicación de los habitantes carolinos de Guam en Saipán por orden del gobernador estadounidense que deleitó a los alemanes. Los alemanes siempre habían querido aumentar la población de las Marianas del Norte.

TINIAN, 95 habitantes, no tuvo una comunidad de chamorros estable y permanente hasta después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En la época alemana, los chamorros y carolinos de Saipán trabajaban en las granjas y ranchos ganaderos de Tinian, pero no echaron raíces permanentes allí. Algunos trabajadores estaban solteros. Algunos estaban casados pero iban a Tinian solos y regresaban a Saipán para visitas periódicas. Algunos llevaron a sus esposas e hijos, pero las madres trasladaban a sus recién nacidos a Saipán para el bautismo. Tinian en ese momento era un lugar para trabajar, no para establecerse permanentemente. Debido a esto, los hombres superaban en número a las mujeres en Tinian; el trabajo era el motivo para estar en Tinian, no un asentamiento vitalicio.

Más tarde, los alemanes alentaron a la pequeña y menguante población carolina de ROTA a mudarse a Saipán y unirse a sus compañeros carolinos allí, que eran más numerosos. No mucho después de este censo, con 490 moradores, Rota no tendría más residentes carolinos.

PAGAN, 137 personas, se encontraba donde estaba la acción en las islas del norte, con Agrigan en un distante segundo lugar. Pagan fue considerada la isla ideal del norte por el gobierno y los inversores que esperaban ganar dinero con la copra. Los habitantes de las islas del norte, chamorros y carolinos, eran todos de Saipán, Guam y algunos de Rota.

En la imagen de arriba vemos una carta enviada desde Saipán a Sachsenberg durante la época alemana. Aunque en aquellos años el sello del gobierno español todavía se seguía utilizando (esquina superior izquierda).

 

STUCK IN HAWAII

 

ARRIOLA AND QUAN

Two Chamorro men, Richard Borja Arriola and John Concepción Quan, wanted to fly to California in 1947, armed with "Guam passports" and certificates of "Guam citizenship." Guam was a US possession so no problem flying to the States, right? Wrong.

In 1947, Guam was still under Navy rule and the Chamorros of Guam were not US citizens (except for a few exceptions). The Governor of Guam in 1947 was still a Navy officer, at that time Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall. Guam residents were considered "nationals" of the US. This meant they fell under the "protection" of the US and owed allegiance to the US, but did not have all the rights which a US citizen had.

US Immigration in Hawaii, where Arriola and Quan arrived separately, said that Pownall could determine, for Guam's purposes, who was a "citizen of Guam," but that being a "Guam citizen" did not automatically make the person a US national, for reasons which will soon be clear as the story continues. US Immigration wanted to make certain that Arriola and Quan were indeed US nationals.

ARRIOLA

ARRIOLA'S HONOLULU ARRIVAL RECORD

Held for Proof of Status

The first red flag for US Immigration in Hawaii went up when it became known that Arriola was born in Saipan in 1926. In 1926, Saipan was under Japanese jurisdiction. Even though Arriola moved to Guam at the age of 6, before World War II, and lived with one of the Goyo families (Josefina Díaz Pérez, a widow, whose son Pedro served as senator), US Immigration did not count him an American national, being born on an island under Japan in 1926 and in 1947 a United Nations Trust Territory only entrusted to provisional US administration.

Pownall considered Arriola a US national, having lived on Guam for so long, but US Immigration said he could not be a US national if he was not born on Guam or Samoa.

QUAN

QUAN HELD FOR BSI IN HONOLULU

"Board of Special Inquiry"

Quan was even more bewildered by his detention because US Immigration had no problem letting him travel to the US mainland earlier in 1946 where he stayed quite a long time. Furthermore, there was no question that Quan was born on Guam in 1923, long after Guam became a US possession.

But there was a technicality. Quan's father was Chinese, born in China. According to the rules in force between 1900 and 1940, in order to be considered a US national, both your parents had to be US nationals, which Quan's father was not.

A second problem was also found. The rules in force between 1907 and 1922 stated that any female who was a US national who married a non-national lost her status. Quan's Chamorro mother, Engracia Concepción, married Quan during those years, so she lost her status as a US national. John ended up being born in 1923 the son of two non-US nationals!

When Pownall heard what happened to Arriola and Quan, he demanded their release and freedom to travel, but US Immigration basically said Pownall's authority extended only as far as Guam's shoreline. The US Navy and US Immigration were thus at odds, something rare at the time.

Travel records show that Quan returned to Guam after this. I don't know what was the next step for Arriola.

All this became resolved for Quan in 1950 when the Organic Act conferred US citizenship on Quan, but not for Arriola who was born in pre-war Saipan, whose only resort was the naturalization process, or to wait till 1986 when US citizenship was extended to the Northern Marianas.

KÅNTA : FLORES ROSA

 

FLORES ADETFA

(Oleander)

One of my favorite Candy Taman songs. On the surface you'd think it's all about different flowers, but he told me the heart of the song is, "Håfa taimano siña un konsuelan maisa hao, para un disimula i piniti-mo." "How you can comfort yourself, to cover your pain."

The melody is a traditional one from many years ago.

LYRICS

Flores de Dios ginen as adetfa.

(Flower of God, from the oleander)

Ya si hasmin triste gi kamå-ña.

(and jasmine, sad in her bed.) (1)

Tamantiget malåyo hagon-ña

(The petals of the tamantiget are wilted) (2)

Na sige de tumånges ya mumaleffa.

(as she weeps continuously and then forgets.) (3)

Hågo solo et mås bonita

(You alone are the most beautiful)

Na flores gi halom korason-ho.

(flower inside my heart.)

Ya petmanente guine sagå-mo

(And you have a permanent place here)

Ya ti un li’e’ nene ine’son-ho.

(and you will never see my fatigue.) (4)

Ai ai ai ai keridå-ho

(Oh my beloved)

Hågo flores gi halom korason-ho.

(You are a flower within my heart.)

 

Flores rosåt gi halom maseta

(Rose flower in a vase)

Sen bonita ya bai hu respeta.

(Very beautiful and I will respect it.)

Kada dia siempre bai hu rega

(Each day I will surely water it)

Ya ti bai desatiende ti bai maleffa.

(And I won't ignore nor forget about it.)

Ai ai ai ai keridå-ho

(Oh my beloved)

Hågo flores gi halom korason-ho.

(You are a flower within my heart.)

Ai ai ai ai todo i tempo

(Oh all the time)

Ya ti un li’e’ nene ine’son-ho.

(And you won't see my fatigue.)

NOTES

(1) Bed, as in bed of flowers.

(2) Tamantiget. The name of a flower in Saipan.

(3) The sad flower weeps and by weeping forgets her sorrow and is consoled.

(4) Ine'son comes from the adjective o'son which means "weary or fatigued" but emotional and mental tiredness, not physical fatigue. When one sees a person too much, or has been watching TV to the point of boredom, one becomes o'son. Ine'son is the noun form (weariness, boredom, fatigue).

PAGAN'S KAMUTE A HIT

An American whaling captain once visited Pagan and took some kamute (sweet potato) growing there on board. Seven months later, still on the high seas, the Pagan kamute was still in fresh condition, which amazed the captain so much that he took the kamute to a scientist at UC Berkeley to be studied and hopefully be planted in the US.

James Alden Macomber was a veteran whaling captain, so well-known a whaler that he was called "Sperm Whale Jimmy."

In April of 1905, while whaling in the North Pacific, Macomber, commanding the Gotama schooner out of San Francisco, made a stop at Pagan. The Germans were in charge of the Northern Marianas at the time and there were people living on Pagan, especially engaged in copra production. One of the local products he tried there was the kamute. Liking the root, he took a good quantity with him as he sailed away.

He expected it to go bad after several weeks, like other root plants. But, to his amazement and pleasure, the kamute stayed fresh right up to his return to San Francisco in November. He decided to take a sample to Professor EJ Wickson at the University of California Berkeley, just across the bay from San Francisco.

Wickson succeeded in propagating seed from the Pagan kamute and made it available to growers. Sweet potato farming was big in Merced County, not far from San Francisco. Wickson called the Pagan kamute "Macomber's Sweet Potato." But, a quick search for "Macomber's Sweet Potato" turns up nothing. The kamute was white-fleshed, and the white sweet potatoes grown in California today go by other names, so who knows what became of the Pagan kamute that ended up at UC Berkeley!

The kamute, by the way, came to the Marianas by way of Mexico, where it is widely grown and eaten. From Mexico it also went to the Philippines. Our word kamute and the Spanish word camote are taken from the Nahuatl word camotli. Nahuatl is a native language of Mexico spoken by the Aztecs.

FAMILIA : RESPICIO

 

Because the first Respicio on Guam arrived less than 200 years ago, and we still have documents where his name appears, we can easily identify who he was. As late as 1901 we find him in a court transcript written in Spanish where he is named as one of the carpenters involved in the court case.

ROMANO MIGUEL RESPICIO was from the Philippines, but unfortunately I cannot say precisely where in the Philippines since I have not found any document stating where. Family members who might know can chime in in the comments section.

Miguel, by the way, is his mother's maiden name. Many people have a Christian, or personal, name as a last name. Think of the Pablo family or the Francisco family.

After coming to Guam, he married LUISA LIZAMA PÉREZ.

They had three daughters : Rosa, Carmen and María.

And one son, ANTONIO. Antonio married Ana Materne Dueñas, the daughter of José Tenorio Dueñas and Felisa Dueñas Materne of the familian Gaspåt.

Antonio and Ana had the following sons :

ROMÁN, who married María Borja Castro, the daughter of Luís Palomo Castro and Concepción Santos Borja.

JOSÉ, who married Isabel Agualo Rivera, the daughter of José Ulloa Rivera and Carmen Taitingfong Agualo.

AMBROSIO, who married Teresita Garrido San Nicolás, the daughter of Enrique Rosario San Nicolás and Ana Garrido.

They also had an adopted son ROMÁN who married Frances Pangelinan Aguon, the daughter of Juan Santos Aguon and Francisca Pangelinan.

Those who carry the Respicio last name on Guam today are descendants of any one of these four men.

Romano and Luisa's daughters :

Rosa, who married Juan Cruz Fejarang, the son of Lucas Santos Fejarang and Antonia Santos Cruz.

María, who married Jesús Cruz Aquiningoc, the son of Juan Aquiningoc and Juana Cruz.

Another daughter, Carmen, never married.

Even though there is only one Respicio family on Guam, they are sometimes known as the familian Romano. Family nicknames were helpful in distinguishing which branch of a big family you belonged to, but even small families could have their own "better known as."