HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : MEAT ON LENTEN FRIDAYS

 

Yanggen chumocho hao kåtne an Kuaresma na Bietnes, siempre ma hågga' i katne.

If you eat meat on a Lenten Friday, the meat will surely turn bloody.

Well, that's what some mañaina (elders) told us to scare us when we were tempted to break the rules of Lent and eat meat on a Friday in Lent.

Even though the rule applied to only those 14 years old and up, most parents and grandparents applied the rule even to the small children!

Well who wants a mouthful of blood?

So the threat that the meat, no matter how well-cooked it was, will fill your mouth with blood was enough to scare some children from eating meat on a Lenten Friday.

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

THE TIDY TAOTAOMO'NA

 

Siempre hao nina'manman yanggen un li'e' este na lugåt annai guaha siha åcho' latte.

(You will certainly be amazed if you see this place where there are latte stones.)

Man gaige siha gi apattao na lugåt, tåya' guma', tåya' chålan. Mappot ma hanaogue este na lugåt.

(They are in an isolated place, no homes, no streets. It's a difficult place to get to.)

Puro ha' nette, chå'guan yan trongko siha gi uriya.

(It's all swordgrass, grass and trees in the surrounding area.)

Lao ti un fañodda' chå'guan annai man gaige i acho' latte. Man måtai ha' i cha'guan annai man gaige i acho' latte.

(But you won't find grass where the latte stones are. The grass is simply dead where the latte stones are.)

Ya ti siña un ålok na sa' pot guaha taotao man måtto ya man ma gatcha' i cha'guan na man måtai, sa' håssan taotao guihe na lugåt.

(And you can't say that it's because people go there and step on the grass that it's dead, because few people go to that place.)

I taotaomo'na ha' muna' taiguennao.

(It's the taotaomo'na who make it that way.)

So it was said to me by an old-timer about a certain location which I won't disclose, so that the latte stones there may be preserved in its current state.

The traditional Chamorro belief is to avoid latte sites anyway.

The taotaomo'na live around latte stones, and it's best not to irritate the taotaomo'na by bad behavior, and only God knows what a certain taotaomo'na might consider bad behavior, so better to avoid the place completely. An upset taotaomo'na will make you sick or at least bruise you. Yelling, urinating and physically disturbing the place are all obviously bad behavior, but some have been punished by taotaomo'na for less than these, and some people claim they were extremely careful and yet were still punished.

Some people may look at the place and come up with a natural explanation for the dry and lifeless ground immediately surrounding the latte stones. Perhaps the tree cover blocks out the sun.

But, upon seeing the place, I must say enough sun and rain water could make the ground more grassy and green.

But you will never convince the old-timer I talked to that it's anything other than the taotaomo'na who keep the area immediately around "their" latte stones clear of tall grass. The taotaomo'na here like to be tidy.

Perhaps the taotaomo'na want a big enough clear space so they can meet and even have their dances, as has been claimed by some people long ago.

CAPITOL HILL CEMETERY

 

CAPITOL HILL "WIRELESS RIDGE" CEMETERY

In some countries where, in the past, almost everybody was Catholic, there are Non-Catholic Cemeteries set up to accommodate non-Catholics, usually people who are not native to the place. Rome has a famous Cimitero Acattolico, which literally means "Non-Catholic Cemetery," where some famous people like John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poets, are buried. There are so many British and Protestant people buried there that the cemetery is often called the English Cemetery or the Protestant Cemetery, but Non-Catholic Cemetery is more accurate as there are a good number of Russians, Germans and many other nationalities, even Italians, buried here. And not just Protestants but Orthodox as well.

Keats and Shelley were Protestant, not Catholic, and, in those days, non-Catholics and even Catholics who committed suicide or who otherwise lived in public sin could not be buried in the Catholic cemetery proper, but only outside it, where the ground was not consecrated.

Saipan was a place where everybody, at one time, was Catholic, at least among its native population. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s it had no other cemeteries but the ones for Catholics.

So what was someone to do if one died in Saipan but was not Catholic?

This was Mike Marcus' situation in 1975. Marcus, a Chuukese Protestant and Saipan's safety officer at the time, was trying to bury his infant daughter on Saipan, and could only do so "outside the fence" at the Catholic cemetery. He did so, but began prompting government officials to look for a site in Saipan suitable for a public cemetery where anybody could be buried, regardless of religious affiliation.

WIRELESS RIDGE

The area selected was a far, isolated spot north of Capitol Hill called Wireless Ridge by the Americans after the war.

There are just a little over 100 graves at Wireless Cemetery today. If Marcus' daughter was buried there, either the grave can't be found anymore or her remains were moved. The oldest death we can tell from the grave stones was in 1975; someone named Kim An Montenero.

As can be expected, the cemetery has a good number of Koreans, Chinese and Micronesians from various parts of that region. There are fewer numbers of Statesiders and Filipinos. There are Protestant Christians and non-Christian Buddhists and at least one Jew.

DIFFERENT ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS AND RELIGIONS

There is at least one Chamorro we know of buried here, which is unusual given that most Chamorros are Catholic, but we're not sure why she is buried here. There could be a few other Chamorros buried here, but I'm not totally sure yet if they are Chamorro. If the surname is Spanish, the deceased could be some other race. It's also possible the deceased with a Chamorro name had been married to one but is not Chamorro herself.

Due to the fact that many of those buried here have few, and some no family at all, on Saipan, many of the graves are not cared for. Mother Nature has taken over a lot of the cemetery, with the grass so tall that it hides many of the graves. Many of the grave stones are no longer legible or lack signage completely. A few graves are reduced to just a small percentage of the cement that used to be there, and one cement grave is partially open.

Hillside fires, sometimes due to the heat of the dry season and sometimes due to deer hunters setting fires to scare the deer, typhoons and just the passing of time exposed to sun and rain have taken their toll on many of the graves. It's certain that some graves are now completely unseen. 

When you first drive into the cemetery, it appears to be rather small, but that's only because the tall grass and some of the tall trees obscure your vision. The cemetery is actually a good size, and goes all the way to the edge of the cliff. It has a great view of Mañagaha Island.

There was talk of closing this cemetery so that a larger, better-located public cemetery for Saipan can be opened, and the graves at Wireless transferred to the new one. But the new one has yet to be built, so Wireless continues till this day.

PEACEFUL PULANTAT

 

The people of Pulantat are so very content to live there and they have all the reasons for being so. Except for the occasional flooding during heavy rains or typhoons, Pulantat is quiet and surrounded by nature. It breathes "family" and the people wouldn't have it any other way. The people are sure to add "Pulantat" to "Yoña" when they inform you where they're from.

Having gone to elementary school from 1st to 6th grades at Saint Francis School in Yoña, I've heard about Pulantat from a very young age. Classmates came from Pulantat but I never ventured into this area of Yoña till I was much older.

I thought it had a reputation for roughness, but I'm told it's far from that. A local resident told me, "Pulantat is quiet. There's another neighborhood in Yoña where rougher guys live and if they come to Pulantat looking for a fight, they'll find it and they will lose. They always lose because you don't just fight 2 or 3 guys in Pulantat. The whole family comes out to settle things."

FAMILY

FORMER SENATOR AND YOÑA MAYOR JOSÉ "PEDO" TERLAJE AND FAMILY

Pulantat resident his whole life

Residents of Pulantat have a strong sense of family being rooted in the area. Over the years, others have moved in, but the older families associated with Pulantat are still well-known.

In the 1950 Census, the largest clans living in Pulantat at that time were the Toves and Terlaje (Cha'ka/Pedo) families, and there are some blood connections between these two families, as well. There were also Pulantat residents named Baza, Cruz, Pangelinan, Ogo, Quitaro, Tenorio and Sablan in the 1950 Census.

The Camacho (Trabuko), Cruz (Kúkuri), Pocaigue (Pokiki), Cruz (Dulili) and Tenorio (Labucho) families are also associated with Pulantat, and there are a number of other families, as well.

In fact, a man who only recently moved to Pulantat told me that even though the street he lives on is practically all people from the same family, they have accepted him and his wife and children as members of the community on that street. "Pulantat is a place I'd want my children to grow up in. My kids can run to the neighbors' houses to play. In Pulantat there are big lawns and back yards. We are surrounded by nature. And everyone on the street looks out for each other. When we see a car we don't recognize, we keep an eye out."

Another long-time resident told me, "People from here (Pulantat) who move to the States always know that they still have a home here they can come back to. Our roots here are permanent. If you're from Pulantat, you will never be homeless because you will always have a home to come back to here."

"People in Pulantat don't like to sell their land. They've already earmarked the land for their descendants," this man told me.

A definite draw for Pulantat in the old days was agriculture. "Back in the day, Pulantat was a place of abundance. They grew everything here. A lot of it wasn't even sold. The food was grown and the animals raised to supplement the family's income. Some of it was sold, but some of it was just given away. Shared with other families, or used to exchange one thing for another. Nowadays it's a lot less. Garden-type produce; papaya, cucumbers, beans (friholes), bananas."

FLOODING AND DUMPING

A CAR CAUGHT IN A FLOOD IN PULANTAT IN 2017

"It never fails," says a resident of Pulantat, whenever there is heavy rain.

"It's not every part of Pulantat, but if you're place is lying low, in a valley, you're going to get flooded. It doesn't take a typhoon to flood the place."

A PULANTAT HOME WAIST-HIGH IN WATER AFTER A TYPHOON 

"Other than the flooding, Pulantat is a great place to live. Thank God the flooding is just now and then."

There is one other drawback, though, and yet it doesn't hurt Pulantat residents except for the blight on the neighborhood scenery and the hassle of now having to deal with abandoned material on your property. The problem is illegal dumping, even of stolen cars.

"Pulantat is so out-of-the-way, and some parts can be very isolated, that outsiders take advantage of that and come dump their stuff here and there," one villager shared. "People find spots where they think no one will catch them, especially at night."

"NO DUMPING"

There is an area, just as you descend the hill into Pulantat, that was used as a dump site. It was an actual dump site used by the US Navy after the war. There is a fence now and it is pad locked, and the Mayor, it is said, is looking into permanently shutting down the dump site.

PULANTAT EARTH STATION

In 1969, Pulantat became the site of an RCA satellite earth station, capable of using telephone, television, telex, facsimile and high speed data communication technology. The site still functions as a satellite station but now for a different company.

SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS

When I was talking once with a Pulantat residence if it were true that many school bus drivers were from Pulantat, without hesitation he started to name them. "David Cruz, also known as 'Shorty.' From the Dulili family. Mike Camacho. Peter Elatico, but with him you have the Camacho family, too. And Pio Quidachay."

LATTE SITE

Little-known by the general public, and it's better that way, is the fact that Pulantat has a latte stone site, hidden away in the brush.

"It's not just latte stones," one Pulantat resident told me. "My kids will be playing in the back yard and come running to me that they found something." It doesn't take a lot of digging, he told me, to find pottery shards and smoothed stones. Pulantat is literally strewn with ancient Chamorro remains, as well as World War II artifacts, some of which could be dangerous.

TAOTAOMO'NA

Which lead me to ask some Pulantat people, "Is Pulantat full of taotaomo'na?"

One man replied, "They could be standing right next to you and me right now."

When I asked what specific areas of Pulantat are known for taotaomo'na, most people said the whole place can be their spot, and that everyone must be respectful everywhere in Pulantat. "Just be respectful and don't disturb the place and nothing bad will happen."

One resident, whose house is not far from a drop in the terrain leading down to Mañenggon said that the back side of his house is believed to be a taotaomo'na trail. "They use that path to go down to the river," he said. He tells his children to avoid that spot.

TENORIO TITIYAS FACTORY

A Pulantat family, the Tenorios or Labucho clan, make titiyas in their Pulantat facility. They are sold in stores all over the island.

So from titiyas to taotaomo'na, from satellites to school bus drivers, Pulantat has a lot of interesting things. But, above all, Pulantat has peace and that's the way its community wants it to remain.

FAMILIA : CARBULLIDO

THE FOUR CARBULLIDO SONS

Clockwise starting at top left : LUÍS, JOSÉ, SEBASTIÁN, JESÚS

The Carbullido family on Guam is a well-documented one. It is so well-documented that many in the family have a very good family tree worked out. But this blog post adds a few details which family researchers may not have access to.

From the Agat sacramental records, which cannot be open to the general public in order to respect the privacy of individuals and families, we know that the first Carbullido on Guam was a man named

ANDRÉS RODRÍGUEZ CARBULLIDO

He was Filipino and born around the year 1834. The best we can say is "around," because many people in those days didn't know their birthday (there was hardly any reason to know that in those days of little paper work, widespread illiteracy and simple farming life). Many people just guessed their ages and didn't even bother to check church records or get a certificate. There was little need for such things in the old days. Most people didn't even celebrate birthdays. There were no driver's licenses, voter registration or credit card applications.

Andrés was the son of EDUARDO CARBULLIDO and ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ.

The 1920 Guam Census states he was from Manila, and maybe he was, but I'd hold off on stating that as an absolute fact because those census takers in those days just relied on what the person claimed, and some people were casual with details. A person could have just said "Manila" when in fact they were from 50 miles away from Manila, but most people knew Manila, not the little town 50 miles away, so they said, "Manila."

For whatever reason, Andrés came to Guam, certainly by the 1850s (he would have been in his 20s) because his oldest child was born on Guam in the 1850s. Some Filipinos appear on lists of deportees, sent to the Marianas in exile for crimes or for anti-Spanish political activities. Andrés doesn't appear on any such lists, just as many Filipinos who moved to Guam in the 1800s do not appear on deportation lists and came to Guam for other reasons, of which we know little or nothing.

When Andrés came to Guam, at some point he married the Chamorro JOSEFA DE LEÓN GUERRERO BLANCO from Hagåtña, the daughter of Martín Blanco and Marta de León Guerrero. But Andrés made his home in Hågat. Whether he met Josefa in Hågat or Hagåtña we don't know as we do not have their marriage record, but their children were all born in Hågat so I would put my money on Josefa having moved to Hågat already and having met Andrés there. Other Blancos, originally from Hagåtña, had also moved to Hågat in the mid 1800s.

ANDRÉS and JOSEFA had sons and daughters, but it was the sons, of course, who continued handing down the Carbullido name to their children. The Carbullidos multiplied and now number so many hundreds of people that I will keep things simple in this blog post an focus on just the four sons, from whom all the rest are descended. Most people know their grandparents and even great grandparents, but less know about the older generations so I will stick with them.

The four sons were LUÍS, JOSÉ, JESÚS and SEBASTIÁN.

CARBULLIDO-CHARFAUROS

LUÍS BLANCO CARBULLIDO, born around 1859. He married MANUELA CHARFAUROS the daughter of Pilar Charfauros. Manuela and her mother Pilar are found in the 1897 Guam Census, and Pilar is stated to be a widow, but her late husband's name is not mentioned (quite naturally as a census if of living people, not the deceased). Most records state that Manuela was the daughter of Pilar, with no father stated. One record states that Manuela's father was Luís Charfauros, about whom I cannot find any other documentation. Remember Spanish women keep their birth names even when they marry. So if Pilar is named Charfauros, that's her birth name, even if she later married a man with the same last name. 

But most documents state that Manuela Charfauros was the daughter of Pilar Charfauros, with no father stated. For now, I am more comfortable sticking to what is most clear; that Manuela Charfauros was the daughter of Pilar Charfauros. This Luís Charfauros needs more documentation for me to be more confident who he was in relation to Manuela Charfauros and that he was even married to Pilar at all.

Luís Carbullido and Manuela Charfauros had many daughters, but also at least two sons, Vicente and Joaquín. Vicente had one son, Francisco Arceo Carbullido who had many children, but Joaquín had all daughters.

CARBULLIDO-MANIBUSAN

JOSÉ BLANCO CARBULLIDO, born around 1865. He married ANA DELGADO MANIBUSAN, the daughter of Ignacio Manibusan and María Delgado. José was not as prolific as his brothers and had a few daughters and one son, Ignacio, who was still single at age 30 and apparently never married nor sired children.

CARBULLIDO-PANGELINAN

This is the branch of Carbullidos that produced the largest number of male descendants.

JESÚS BLANCO CARBULLIDO, born around 1870, married ENRIQUETA BORJA PANGELINAN, the daughter of Juan Pangelinan and María Borja. Juan Pangelinan was better known as Juan Kotla. Jesús and Enriqueta had five sons, besides their daughters : Antonio, Félix, Juan, Baltazar and Joaquín and many descendants from them.

CARBULLIDO-MUÑA

SEBASTIÁN BLANCO CARBULLIDO, born around 1877, married LUISA DUEÑAS MUÑA, the daughter of Vicente Muña and Cornelia Dueñas. Among their children, at least two sons had children : José and Francisco.

THE DAUGHTERS

Andrés and Josefa had four daughters as well, who all got married so their children carried their father's last names. The daughters were ANA, who married Juan Santos; FELISA, who married Juan Cruz Terlaje; MARÍA, who married José Delgado Manibusan; and TRINIDAD, who married Luís SN Aguigui (familian Taibas).

THE LADRES/LADRESS MISTAKE

Many Carbullido family trees make the mistake of calling Andrés ANDRÉS RODRÍGUEZ LADRES/LADRESS CARBULLIDO. Many even believe that Andrés' mother's maiden last name was LADRES. But LADRES is not found in any of the documents of the time in which they lived. It only shows up in modern family trees. LADRES is obviously someone's clerical error, based on the first name ANDRÉS. Then the next person just accepts the first person's error as accurate and puts it in the next family tree, and on it goes, the error is passed on to the next person. 

Some don't even know what to do, now, with the Rodríguez. Does it come before or after Ladres? So some do it one way, and some do it the other way. One even put Rodríguez in parentheses - "Rodríguez" - as if Andrés was not really a Rodríguez.

You can see how easy it is for one person to make a mistake, and even the mistake is mistakenly repeated. They don't all spell LADRES the same way! In any case, Andrés was ANDRÉS RODRÍGUEZ CARBULLIDO, no more, no less, not even Ladress. The sacramental records written at the time are clear.

1909 HÅGAT PETITION

That the Carbullido clan had standing in the Hågat community is shown in more than one way, including this 1909 Petition by leaders of the village to keep their Spanish priest (at the time threatened with being replaced by a German priest). Three of the four Carbullido brothers signed the petition; José, Luís and Jesús.

Luís, in fact, was gobernadorcillo of Hågat for awhile during the Spanish administration, a position that was like a village mayor at the time.

WELL-KNOWN CARBULLIDOS

Carbullidos continued to be in leadership in Hågat in modern times. 

Jesús Blanco Carbullido was Assistant Commissioner of Hågat in the early 1900s under the Americans. "Commissioner" is what village mayors were called back then.

Antonio Pangelinan Carbullido was Hågat Commissioner both before and after the war.

His son Albert Taitano Carbullido was well-known in his day as a Government of Guam director/chief of various departments, one of his best known being head of the Guam Election Commission. Prior to his civic life, Albert was on Canton Island working for Pan American Airways when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He then enlisted in the US Navy and served in the war.

Albert's brother Felix Taitano Carbullido was a member of the 2nd and 3rd Guam Legislatures, a founder of the Territorial Party and engaged in the insurance business on Guam.

Antonio's brother Baltazar Pangelinan Carbullido became an educator and civic leader, being a teacher, school principal, member of the Guam Legislature, businessman and active in several island associations. The elementary school in Barrigada is named after him (BP Carbullido Elementary School).

Their nephew Francisco Chaco Carbullido had the distinction of being one of the Wake Island Defenders at the beginning of World War II. He was made a Prisoner of War by the Japanese and sent to China and Japan until war's end.

Francisco's son F. Philip Carbullido is Chief Justice of the Guam Supreme Court.

ALL CARBULLIDOS

Clockwise starting at top left : Baltazar, Albert, Francisco and F. Philip

FORMER SENATOR FELIX TAITANO CARBULLIDO

THE CARBULLIDO NAME

One question that has nagged some members of the Carbullido family is the origin of the name itself.

As we know, Andrés, the founder of the Guam clan, was from the Philippines. And, yet, there are virtually no Carbullidos in the Philippines.

There, are, however people with surnames very close in spelling to Carbullido in both the Philippines and Spain with just one letter being different. We can thus assume, and with some confidence, that Carbullido is just a variation of the original Spanish name and, since spelling was so casual and inconsistent in the old days, the name was spelled Carbullido on Guam.

That original Spanish name is CARBALLIDO.

THE TOWNS OF CARBALLIDO IN SPAIN

There are two tiny villages in Spain called Carballido, but they are in the same area. In fact, they are just 15 miles apart, give or take.

To distinguish the two towns with the same name, the village patron's name is attached. One is San Martiño de Carballido and the other is Santa María de Carballido. They are both in the Province of Lugo in the region of Galicia in Spain and they are both tiny. Neither village has more than 50 inhabitants. In fact, the villages are disappearing as only old people live there and their grandchildren have moved to bigger towns and cities.

The towns of Carballido in Spain lie in a region of Spain called Galicia, at the northwestern corner of the country.

In fact, a Chamorro Carbullido was attending some event in the US mainland and, in the elevator, a Spaniard said to him, "I know where your name comes from!" and told him about the little village of Carballido in Spain.

FROM VILLAGE NAME TO FAMILY NAME

Marga, pictuted above, is one of 1,752 people (since the last statistics) with the last name Carballido in Spain. Most of the people named Carballido in Spain come from Galicia, the region where the towns called Carballido are located.

As people began to choose family names for themselves, many chose the names of the towns, cities and villages they were from. We have many of them in Spanish and from them the Chamorros as well. Sigüenza, Tudela, Borja, Baza, and Benavente are names of towns in Spain.

And what does Carballido mean?

The name Carballido is related to many other names that came from the same roots, especially the name Carballo or Carvallo, which is even more popular in Spain and Latin America. The word means "a place full of oak trees."

A CHANGE OF ONE LETTER

IT'S CARBELLIDO IN THE PHILIPPINES

And then, when the Spaniards conquer the Philippines, we now see a name Carbellido, with just one letter changed from Carballido. You don't find any Carbullidos, even though Andrés was from there.

People didn't have the same fixation with EXACT SPELLING as we have today. Small differences didn't bother them. Even Juan de la Cruz sometimes wrote his name : JUAN CRUZ or JUAN DE LA CRUS. It didn't bother anyone. They knew who he was no matter the small difference in spelling.

The name LIZAMA, for example, is originally LEZAMA, a village in Spain. But on Guam people, even the Spanish priests, spelled it LIZAMA. No big deal to them. Chamorros spell it PANGELINAN, but Filipinos spell it PANGILINAN, and the PANGELINANS on the Marianas trace their ancestry to the PANGILINANS of Pampanga, the Philippines. No big deal. Some Chamorros of the past spelled it TOVEZ, and other spelled it TOVES, because in the Spanish spoken in the Marianas, S and Z sound the same.

Even today, John is spelled Jhon, Jon, Dzon, Djon and many other ways because people like variety or to be different. Exact, uniform spelling is not everyone's concern.

In the Philippines, there are today 642 people named CARBELLIDO. I wouldn't be surprised if Andrés Carbullido is from this same family many years ago, just spelled with a one-letter difference.

KÅNTA : LUCILLE

 

Larry Saralu was singing about marital break-ups since the 1970s.

One of his more famous songs was a Chamorro version of the 1977 Kenny Rogers hit "Lucille."

LYRICS

Annai un dingu i gima’

(when you left the house)

Ni sikiera un fånge’ notisia

(you didn't even write a note)

Na para un hånao i che'lu-ho. (1)

(that you were leaving, my sister.)

Hihot yo’ kaduko, esta hu aliligao hao gi besino.

(I was close to going crazy, I was even looking for you at the neighbor's.)

Pues hu nangga i famagu'on

(So I waited for the children)

Para u fan måtto ginen eskuela

(to come back from school)

Ya puede siña ma tungo’ hao malak måno.

(and maybe they'd know where you went.)

Ya ayo ha’ ilek-ñiha i ma didingu hao gi gima’

(And all they said was you were leaving the house)

Na un preprensa i magagu-mo.

(and you were ironing your clothes.)

Ai na ora para un dingu yo’ Lucille.

(What a time to leave me Lucille.)

Benti åños i tiempo-ta desde ke i umakamo’-ta

(We've had twenty years since we got married)

Ya ennao para un cho’gue

(and that's what you're going to do)

I para un dingu yo’ på'go Lucille.

(to leave me now Lucille.)

Humålom yo’ gi apusento (2)

(I went into the bedroom)

Ya hu sodda’ i aparadot-mo

(and I found your closet)

Na atbietto yan gåsgagas.

(open and cleaned.)

Tåya’ un na’ sopbla, i magågo ni ti un dopbla

(You left nothing behind of the clothes you didn't fold)

Yan palo alåhas.

(and some jewelry.)

Hahasso ha’ i che’lu-ho na manguaiya yo’ nu hågo

(Remember my sister that I love you)

Sa’ hågo i sineda’-ho gof mames.

(Because you are the one I sweetly found.)

I famagu'on gi oriyå-ho ma toktok i sinturå-ho

(The children around me hugged my waist)

Ya sige de manånges.

(and kept crying.)

Thanks to Rose Treltas for helping me with the lyrics.

NOTES

(1) People of equal standing can call each other brother or sister, even if they're married. One wouldn't call someone higher or lower in status your brother or sister.

(2) The apusento is the private section of a home, where non-family members wouldn't go unless invited. The sleeping quarters were in the apusento, although some family members, especially the children, slept in the sala or living room on the floor on woven mats (guåfak). The såla was a public space where visitors could be.

LARRY SARALU

FAMILIA : ATAO / ATTAO

 

ATAO is apparently an indigenous Chamorro name and a family with roots in Tepungan, which is a part of Piti. A branch moved from Tepungan to Saipan and they spell it Attao. Priests in the old days spelled the same name in different ways, according to their own thinking, and people just went along with it. Many people couldn't read or write, anyway, in those days, so whatever way the official spelled it was just fine with them.

My wager is that Atao is an indigenous name for more than one reason. First of all, it is generally true that the non-Chamorros who settled on Guam in the late 1600s and in the early 1700s almost all settled in Hagåtña, many of them marrying Chamorro wives. It's in Hagåtña that you find the Spanish Dueñas and Camacho and the Filipino Pangelinan and Manibusan. In the rest of Guam, from Aniguak to Pågo to Inalåhan and all the rest, indigenous names dominate overwhelmingly; Babauta, Taigima', Na'mase' and all the others. In the 1758 Census we find a Pedro Atao in Hågat and a Toribio Atao in Tepungan, married to María Gupotña (also an indigenous name; gupot meaning "feast.") Thanks to Bernard Punzalan for confirming the 1758 Census information.

Sure there are people named Atao in the Philippines but so there are in Peru, as well. These are more than likely coincidences and there are probably differences in the pronunciation of Atao in these places.

Furthermore, the prefix A- and the root word tao are very Chamorro.

As far back as 1848, we find in the Spanish documents a man named Bernardino Atao, who is a Cabeza de Barangay (neighborhood leader) in the village of Asan. Asan is not far from Tepungan and people from both villages sometimes moved between them.

In the same year, but this time in Tepungan, is a man named Dionisio Atao who is the Alguacil (sheriff or bailiff) of that village. We don't know if Bernardino and Dionisio are related, but there's a good chance they are.

MARIANO ATAO

At any rate, what we can say is that all the Ataos/Attaos of Guam and Saipan today are the descendants of a man named MARIANO ATAO who was married to CEFERINA CHARGUALAF. We can assume they lived in Tepungan because all their children lived in Tepungan.

From what I can tell, from the old records, MARIANO and CEFERINA had four children; three daughters and only one son.

Since it is the son who hopefully has male heirs to continue the family name, I'll mention him first. He was PEDRO CHARGUALAF ATAO. According to the 1897 Guam Census, he was born around 1863, but these dates are sometimes unreliable and can be off a few years.

PEDRO CHARGUALAF ATAO

Pedro married María Pérez Megofña, most likely from Asan where that family comes from.

Pedro, too, had mostly daughters and only one son, Vicente. It is Vicente Megofña Atao who left Guam sometime after 1899 and settled in Saipan. There his name was usually spelled Vicente Magofña Attao, and his descendants in Saipan spell it so.

Pedro and María's daughters were Ana, María, Rosa and Consolación.

Ordinarily, daughters eventually marry and their children carry the father's name. But when a woman has a child outside of marriage, the child goes by the single mother's name.

This was the case with Ana Megofña Atao, daughter of Pedro and María. She had a son Juan in 1914 who married Josefa Champaco Jesús. Juan and Josefa had two daughters but only one son, George, carrying forward the name Atao, but he eventually moved to the States.

MARIANO AND CEFERINA'S THREE DAUGHTERS

Ana married Vicente Salas Nededog. This family settled eventually in Vicente's home village of Hågat, where his branch of Nededogs are known as familian Atao, on account of his wife Ana.

Josefa married Juan Megofña Pérez of Asan. He was the blood brother of María Pérez Megofña who married Pedro Chargualaf Atao. So a brother and sister married a sister and brother. That often happened in Chamorro society back then; two siblings marrying two siblings.

Concepción married Mariano Salas Cruz.

SAIPAN : VICENTE MAGOFÑA ATTAO

When Vicente moved from Guam to Saipan he married Natividad Cabrera San Nicolás in Saipan, the daughter of Juan San Nicolás and María Taisague Cabrera.

Their son Pedro San Nicolás Attao married Ninfa Camacho Torres. 

Their other son José San Nicolás Attao married Rosario Mendiola Cabrera. José was elected to the Saipan Congress in 1954.

Brothers Pedro and José continued the Attao line in Saipan.

Former Saipan Congressman José SN Attao and wife Rosario Cabrera

(photo courtesy of Chris Attao Concepción)

Vicente and Natividad also had daughters. Isabel married Ignacio Manahane Benavente. Maria married Alejandro Quitano Bermudes. Margarita married George Cruz Dueñas. Carmen married Cesario Taitano Concepción. Teresita never married.

Some of the Attaos in Saipan moved to Guam over the years. Right after the war, when travel between Guam and Saipan was more frequent since both were under US jurisdiction, a number of Saipan Attaos came to Guam and resided at first with their Guam Atao relatives. Some made Guam their permanent home.

Today, there are no Ataos on the Guam voter registration rolls, but there are a few Attaos registered to vote on Guam.

And just as George Atao moved to the States, some Attaos also reside today in the mainland.

NO NEW YEAR'S EVE

 

Prior to the establishment of a Catholic mission and Spanish government in the Marianas, there was no western calendar in the Marianas as we have today. We're not even sure if our ancestors marked the passing of an old year and how many past years had gone by.

But when the Marianas did enter western time-keeping, the Marianas were on the eastern side of the Date Line, as can be seen in the German map of the Date Line above.

Notice that the Philippines was also on the eastern side of the Date Line in the map, and that explains it all.

When both the Marianas and the Philippines first came under Spanish rule, power flowed from Spain then to Mexico and then to the Marianas/Philippines. Since Mexico is east of the Date Line, so were the Philippines and the Marianas.

But then Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821 and contact between Mexico and the Philippines/Marianas dwindled to barely anything.

NARCISO CLAVERIA

Governor-General of the Philippines in 1844

The Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, Narciso Claveria, decided to place the Philippines and the Marianas (which were under his authority) on the Asian, or western, side of the Date Line since our islands had more contact with Asia now.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE FROM 1899 EXPLAINS THE STORY

In order to achieve this, Claveria decided that December 31, 1844 would not exist on the calendar. December 30, 1844 would be immediately followed by January 1, 1845 and the Philippines and Marianas would now be one day ahead of Mexico, the United States and Hawaii.

So, December 31, 1844, or New Year's Eve that year, never happened in the Marianas.