WERE THE MARIANAS DISCOVERED?

The short answer to the question, "Were the Marianas discovered?" is YES.

BUT....

....by different people, at different times.

In its basic meaning, to discover (dis - cover, un - cover) is to come to know something you didn't know before.

"Discover" does NOT ALWAYS MEAN to be the FIRST person to know something.

We use the word "discover" like this all the time.

"Wow, I just discovered that new yogurt place in Mangilao and it's good!"

"I thought he was my friend until I discovered some things she was telling other people about me."

"Only yesterday I discovered who my biological father is!"

Now, other people had already discovered the new yogurt place; others already discovered that the friend was really a false one; and mama already knew who the biological dad was. And yet, those people can legitimately say that they discovered the new yogurt place, the false friend and the biological dad....for themselves.

So did Magellan discover Guam and the Marianas?

He did. For himself.

But that personal discovery (the personal discovery of the rest of his crew, specifically those who made it back to Spain) had lasting and enormous consequences for us. We were now known and made vulnerable before others.

WHO WAS THE FIRST TO DISCOVER THE MARIANAS?

Chamorro sakman in Anson's time in 1742

We don't know. For all we know, it could have been someone or a few people who intended to go from Taiwan to the Philippines and were blown off course and came here. Stayed a bit and moved on.

A lot of things could have happened, and we'll never know.

What we do know is that, in time, around 3500 or 4000 years ago, human beings started coming to the Marianas and staying. Even 1000 years is a long time and it seems unreasonable to think that only one group of people came over. Chances are that different groups of people came over, spread out over many years, and blending one with the other, formed what we call the Chamorro people. Archaeological evidence suggests that one wave of new settlers came around 1000 years ago, bringing with them the idea and technology of the latte stone.

So, different people, at different times, made their personal discovery of our islands. These ancient peoples had the biggest impact of all, because while Europeans and others had their impact and added their DNA, beliefs and vocabulary, they added these things to a people already here and whose DNA, beliefs and language continue to this day in some form.

ARE WE STILL DISCOVERING TO THIS DAY?

Yes.

My friend Mike has a Chamorro dad, which makes Mike a Chamorro. But Mike grew up in the States, not knowing much about his Chamorro homeland or culture. Last year he came to Guam for what was supposed to be a temporary visit. He is still here almost a year later. Why? Because he is discovering new things about his culture and language for the first time.

Lifelong Guam residents continue to make personal discoveries about their island, history, culture and language. Only recently did they discover that there had been a village at Pago Bay until 1856. Only the other day did they discover that the word mesngon comes from sungon. And only last night over dinner did two people discover that there are no rivers in the north of Guam because of the limestone terrain.

A group of high school students who live in Barrigada went down to Humåtak over the weekend and discovered a village they knew little about and had rarely visited before.

Hopefully, someone who never before cared at all about his or her Chamorro identity, language and culture discovers the importance of these things.

So, yes. People are discovering things all the time. Even old-timers and experts learn new things.

A NEW KIND OF DISCOVERY DAY

So I, for one, don't mind calling it Discovery Day.

Even if we mean it's the day that Magellan discovered, for himself, islands that saved him from starvation. That event had lasting impact on us. We are who we are today, in part, because Magellan's discovery allowed history to continue the way it did.

We could call it Discovery Day as a day to remember when all people discovered our islands for themselves, including our ancestors who came here long before Magellan.

For me, it's Discovery Day because, by recalling our history, and looking at our present situation, people are discovering things about their culture.

So let's keep observing Discovery Day, even if you give it another name, with all these different meanings.

Because a Discovery Day is better than a Recovery Day.

UNITY AMIDST DIFFERENCES

 

Guam and Northern Marianas participants at a recent conference on Chamorro medicine

We are all Chamorros, but we are also different.  Saipan Chamorros, Guam, Luta and Tinian.

I am thankful for those differences.  It's a fact of life.  There's no one way of being French, or Japanese or Chamorro.

There are differences among Chamorros right here on Guam; between areas of the island; even within families.

But we are all one people.  We speak the same language.  We come from the same roots.  We basically think and act the same way and have the same basic values.

But I hope the Chamorron Luta never lose their accent.

And I hope the Chamorron Saipan never lose their strong communal singing and their unique customs.

And I hope the Chamorron Tinian keep their island pristine and rich in produce.

And I hope the Chamorron Guam never lose the things that make us unique.

And I hope Guam and the Northern Marianas continue to join forces in cultural things, as they did at this conference on Chamorro medicine.  We don't need to be one political unit in order to experience unity in other areas.

We just need to save enough money to pay for airline tickets from one island to the next!  Other than that, unity is possible.  Unity is imperative!

CHAMORRO LIBERTY

"Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

~~~Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

The Declaration of Independence was, on one level, words on paper.  Like writing a check out to yourself for a million dollars.  If there's no million dollars in the bank, it's just ink and paper.  The Americans, and not all of them, mind you, had to fight for that independence.

Unless it will be decided unilaterally by other people (ahem...."consent?"), the future political status of the Chamorro people is something we will have to work very hard for, whatever that status might be one day.  Overcoming some powerful internal obstacles is one priority off the bat.  May I underline that I said, "of the Chamorro people."  I didn't say, "of Guam."

How do you say LIBERTY in Chamorro?

I wish I knew the pre-contact word for this concept, assuming our ancestors had the concept, which would seem odd had they not.

But most of our current Chamorro words for freedom and the like are borrowed from the Spanish.

Libertad in Spanish becomes libettå or libettåt in Chamorro.

But I prefer linibre, the noun form of the adjective and verb libre, "free" and "to free" respectively, because libettå is normally understood as "free from work," in other words "off" or "on vacation or break."

I also like sotta, to "let go," which comes from the Spanish soltar, of the same meaning.  I've never heard sotta used in noun form sinetta, but I suppose there's no law against it.

WE DON'T ALL SOUND THE SAME

Chamorro? Chamoru? CHamoru?

Påle'? Påli'?

Ma'åse'? Ma'åsi'?

Some people's blood pressure shoots up when discussing such questions.  If we keep this up, we'll then be debating whether it's måtai or måtae (dead).  Either way, the funeral home has the advantage.

The fact of the matter is that Chamorros don't all sound the same when they speak Chamorro. 

Guam/Saipan/Tinian Chamorros say på'go.

Luta Chamorros say pa'go.

Guam Chamorros say trabia.

Saipan Chamorros say tarabia.

Some Chamorros say konne'.  Some say konni'.

Some say bonito.  Some say bunitu.

Nevertheless, we all understand what we're saying in the main.  Or, if the difference is greater, the confusion is eventually resolved.

Americans don't all sound the same.  Compare Boston and Houston.

Spaniards don't all the sound the same.  Compare Madrid and Sevilla.

Japanese don't all sound the same.  Compare Tokyo and Osaka.

It's not a problem.  Tåya' guaha.

So, people will spell it the way they pronounce it, and we don't all pronounce it the same.

Do they want us all to spell it one way?  The U.S. and Britain/Ireland/Canada/Australia/NZ have been doing just fine even though it's either color or colour, center or centre, realize or realise depending on what country you're in.  Whereas academia may insist on standardized (aha! American) spelling, I worry about the civil law telling citizens how to spell.  Shall we start laying fines on those who don't conform?  Create a Language Police?  What about free speech?  It doesn't look right to me, no matter how you spell it.

Talk about non-conformity.  Every day I get texts that tell me "c u 2mrw."  Or, "idk. ttyl."  That's supposed to be English.  Shall we arrest them all?

Finally, while we're all arguing what's the right way to SPELL Chamorro, fewer and fewer people know how to SPEAK Chamorro.  Let's put our efforts and passion into the more important things.

THE PLIGHT OF THE PLAZA

Precious little remains of what once was the Palåsyo, the Governor's Palace and its adjunct structures which border the Plaza de España.  Built by the Spaniards, it was used even by the American governors and then by the Japanese till most of it was destroyed by American bombardment in 1944.

The data all show that our tourists are interested in our history and culture and express disappointment how little they see of these things when they are here.  The Plaza is always on our maps, and tourists visit it, but what the tourist maps don't show is how embarrassingly and deplorably abandoned and dilapidated the site is.  What a shock it all must be to them!

But what a shame it should be to all of us, as the Palåsyo and Plaza are ours - no one else's.  Where's the pride?  And the sense of responsibility?  The Palåsyo and Plaza sit on public land and belong to the government, so our government has first responsibility for them.  But the solution is not just with the politicians, but also with businesses, especially those connected with tourism and who benefit from it, civic organizations and private citizens.  If our political leaders take the initiative and rally these separate groups of people, we can do something about this.

IS CHICKEN MEAT? GUAM WANTS TO KNOW

perdue.com

Does Webster get to answer?

Not if the question is asked in the Catholic context of Lent.

Since abstinence from meat during some days in Lent is a Catholic law, the definition of meat must come from the same lawmaker enjoining the abstinence from meat - that is, the Church.  Not Webster.  Nor you, nor the National Chefs Association. When it comes to abstinence in the Catholic Church, "meat" is what the Catholic Church defines it to be.

How does the Church define "meat?"

For thousands of years, in law and in practice, the Church has defined meat as the flesh, marrow and blood of animals and birds as constitute fleshmeat (viand).  As proof that the Church's definition of meat included fowl, remember that, many years ago, even the products of such animals - cheese, butter and eggs (aha!) - were also prohibited during certains days of Lent.

If one couldn't eat the eggs of chickens, then how could the Church say the chicken itself could be eaten?

Furthermore, at one time, even on non-fast days in Lent, one could not mix meat and fish in the same meal.  In Catholic mentality, there are only two categories : meat and fish.  Chicken is not a fish; it is a meat.

Common Sense

The 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia says that the definition of meat comes from what intelligent people normally consider meat.  Ask yourself this, if you wanted to buy chicken one day, went into the supermarket and saw only two signs - left for meat, right for fish - would you turn left or right, to find the chicken?

Even Webster isn't helpful

Even if one wanted to get all definitive answers from Webster (who made that dictionary the ultimate law?), you get different answers.  Why?  Because dictionaries don't mandate meanings; dictionaries describe meanings.  Word meanings are derived from people's usage.  So, every now and then, there are new editions published of each major dictionary as words die, words are born and words change.

So good old Webster has multiple definitions for meat, because people use that one word with a variety of meanings :

1. As the edible part of something, as opposed to its husk or shell.  So, there's even something we call coconut meat, though it isn't prohibited in Lent by the Church, because that's not what the Church means by "meat."

2. As solid food, as opposed to drink.

3. As animal tissue, used as food.  Thus we can even say that a certain fish is very meaty, as opposed to another kind of fish which is less meaty.

4. The flesh of mammals, as opposed to fowls or fish.  But this isn't what the Church means when it speaks of meat.

5. The flesh of domesticated animals, as opposed to wild ones, like jungle boars or tigers.  Yet everyone would agree that a wild boar pork chop is meat, or that tiger steak is meat.

Let's Face It

The doubt about chicken as meat never came up till the 1970s.  Let's be honest.  Changing definitions from what was once understood and unquestioned concerning poultry is just our way of getting out of giving up all meat on abstinence days in Lent.

GRANDMA SAID...

ORAL HISTORY

The Value and the Risk

When doing family histories, many people rely on information passed down to them from older generations.  This can be a good thing, even a very invaluable thing!  Sometimes, we would never know something had it not been for oral information.

At other times, oral information is risky.  Oral information often has a grain of truth to it, but other layers of misinformation are often built on top of the truth.  We can barely relay, with 100% accuracy, what we just heard yesterday from someone else.  Can you imagine trying to keep information accurate that is 100 years old, by using our memories alone?

Passing down information orally is necessarily limited by people's understanding, or lack thereof.  Sometimes an older informant had an opinion, but by the time it gets to the grandchild, opinion has turned into fact.  And lastly, some people are not above making things up, which make the person or the family look better than what s/he is or they are.

A case where oral tradition and documented fact blended well

Many years ago, an elderly grand aunt told me the name of one of my ancestors.  She only knew it from what she heard when she was a child, and retained it in her memory.  She wasn't even sure of the spelling or precise name.  Then, some years later, I came across an original document, not even looking for it, which had the very name she said.  The document proved that the person truly existed.  Later, I found dozens of other original documents, spanning many years, with that person's signature.  The proof became more convincing.

A case where oral tradition and documented fact collided

But in another case, I was told that so-and-so was born here or there.  That was the family's belief for generations.  Then I came across the actual baptismal record of the person.  It contradicted the family legend.  Now, it is also important to know that documents and records are not always fool-proof.  Records are written by human beings, who sometimes make mistakes or record things wrongly on purpose.  But, in this case, I had other evidence that validated the baptismal record.  The family still hung on, though, to what they believed all these years.  And it is understandable if they did so.

My basic principle in history is : MAYBE, MAYBE, MAYBE.  Proof is so hard to find with our local history, and oral tradition has its value, but also its limitations.

AMERICAN YES, SPANISH NO

particracy.wikia.com

Rejecting everything Spanish in Chamorro culture - words, customs, religion - is much in fashion nowadays among some Chamorro culture revivalists.  But we all took off from work yesterday and feasted without so much as a peep about the holiday being thoroughly American - from Abraham Lincoln who, in 1863, was the first to proclaim a national holiday called Thanksgiving, to the Plymouth Colony pilgrims upon whom the tradition rests.  Interestingly, the "Americans" who started thanksgiving day practices (there were many such days, at different times of the year depending on the colony) were actually English settlers who displaced the native Americans.  But we observe their traditions on Guam, where the indigenous people struggle to maintain their place in their native land.

Think of other things we accept as "normal," but which are notions and practices unknown to our ancestors but which we have grown up with since 1898.

I just find it curious that some reject everything from one outside influence, and live in practice the influences of another outside source, all the while claiming to reject everything external.

De momento, entre muchos nacionalistas chamorros, es muy de moda rechazar todo lo español que se encuentra en la cultura e idioma de las Marianas, mientras ellos mismos creen en ideas y guardan costumbres norteamericanas.  Muy curioso para mí.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO DOE'S CHAMORRO LANGUAGE PROGRAM?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chamorro-Language

There's an interesting article in the op-ed section of today's PDN (www.guampdn.com/article/20110328/OPINION02/103280304).  In it, author Elwin Champaco Quitano states that the Chamorro Language Program in our public schools has not accomplished its goal, and proposes a radically different alternative to it.

This differs from the idea proposed by newly-elected Senator Mana Silva Taijeron to increase the length of the program in public schools. (www.guampdn.com/article/20110302/NEWS01/103020330/).

I have always been of the opinion that perhaps the best classroom for learning a language is the home.  If parents speak to their children in the language, the children will learn that language.  It is not for quaint reasons that the term is "mother tongue."  I think the best teachers a child can have is his or her parent(s).  That means in everything : language, religion, manners, thinking, feeling.

There are others ways of learning a language, of course.  But being in an environment where that language is extensively spoken is usually the best way.  I lived in Saipan in the early 1990s and I had to improve in Chamorro.  I had no choice.  It was either improve or not connect with a whole lot of people.  The environment then was very fino' Chamorro.  I heard our language spoken beautifully, day in, day out.  That was my classroom. 

It's hard to be in a swimming pool and not get wet.  It's hard to be surrounded by people speaking Chamorro and not learn a word here or there; then a phrase; then a sentence.  Before you know it, you're writing novels in Chamorro.  You get the picture.

Fan fino' Chamorro gi halom guma'-miyo!