THE TERRITORIAL PARTY

Uncle Ben Reyes was not only Territorial; he was one of the leaders of the Territorial Party, and past chairman.  In those days, politics on Guam had all the fervor of religion.

The poor TP was a constant loser in election after election.  Most years, all 21 Popular or Democratic senatorial candidates won, called "Black Jack."  Finally, in 1964, the TP won a majority in the 8th Guam Legislature with Carlos P. Taitano as Speaker.  Uncle Ben was also elected; his 2nd term having served before in the 3rd Guam Legislature.  But in the very next election, the TP not only lost the majority - they lost every single seat to the Democrats.

In response to this loss, some of the TP leadership moved towards organizing the Republican Party on Guam.  Uncle Ben was one of the founders of that party.  But not every TP member was in favor of that.  Some moved to the Democrats, and some remained Territorial.

Uncle Ben's wife, my grandmother's sister, Ana, was one such Territorial.  At first, she refused to quit the TP.  She made Uncle Ben sleep on the couch for a while because he had gone Republican.

In time, the TP phased out completely, and Uncle Ben didn't have to sleep on the couch anymore.

Left : Carlos P. Taitano

Right : My uncle Ben, Judge Vicente C. Reyes

OLD TIME TERRITORIALS

Other past Territorials : Agueda Johnston, Antonio SN Duenas (Kaila), James Butler, Felix Carbullido, Carlos P. Bordallo, Concepcion Barrett, Vicente Aflague, Lagrimas Untalan, Eduardo T. Calvo (Jake), Paul M. Calvo, Albert T. Carbullido, Raymond Underwood, Edward G. Camacho, Francisco B. Leon Guerrero, Frank D. Perez (Goyo), Cynthia J. Torres, Gregorio D. Perez (Goyo), Lucas San Nicolas, Alberto Lamorena, Tommy Flores (Takai), Felix L. Crisostomo (Beyong), Pete P. Ada, Maria T. Garrido, Tomas S. Tanaka, Antonio Q. Sablan (Lightning), G. Ricardo Salas, Tomas R. Santos.....yan meggai ta'lo mås.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : PENDEHO

PENDEHO

Rascal

You knock at the door of a friend's house.

You hear her screaming at her kid, who is noisily running away, knocking furniture over.

She opens the door and, apologizing for the ruckus, invites you in.

You : "Håfa, Maria, tatatmanu hao?"  (How are you, Maria?)

She : "Ai, dispensa.  Todo yo' ha na' bubu!"  (Excuse me.  He really made me angry!)

You : "Håye?"  (Who?)

She : "Si pendeho, nai!"  (That little rascal!)

WARNING

This term, which is Spanish, is highly offensive in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, depending on the country.

Para nuestros visitas hispanohablantes

"Pendejo" no es tan fuerte en nuestro idioma como en otros países.  Entre los chamorros, esta palabra significa simplemente una persona pícara o fresca, o también un sinvergüenza.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GÅSGÅS

logostage.com

GÅSGÅS : clean

Not the verb "to clean" but the adjective "clean."

Kao gåsgås i kemmon?  Is the toilet clean?

Ti gåsgås hinasson-ña.  His thinking isn't clean.

Sen gåsgås hao na taotao!  You are a very clean person!

Na' gåsgås.  To make clean.

Na' gåsgås i korason-mo!  Make your heart clean!

Munana' gåsgås si Ana gi kosina.  Ana is cleaning in the kitchen.

Ginasgas.  Cleanliness.

Ginasgas hinalom.  Interior purity.  Chastity.

HOW CHAMORROS REALILILILILY EMPHASIZE THINGS

REDUPLICATION

You're at a party.  The food is good.  You know that månnge' means "delicious," so you tell the host "månnge'."

But then someone else says, "No, it's månngengengenge'!"

Many languages, not just Chamorro, repeat one of the syllables in a word to express a) on-going motion, or b) the intensity of a quality.  It's called reduplication.

So, to say that Jose is going (hånao), we say "Humåhånao si Jose."  That's on-going motion.  The "hå" in "hånao" is repeated : håhånao.

But to stress the quality of something, good or bad, you can use reduplication as well. 

Bonito (pretty/handsome) becomes bonitotototo (very pretty/handsome).

Chaddek (fast) becomes chaddedededek (very fast).

Chamorros even use reduplication in English!

Speeding become speedidididing!  Pues ma tikket.  If the fine was huge, pues ma tikkekekeket.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Båsta nene di tumånges / sa' un na' tailaye i matå-mo
po'lo palo gi lago'-mo / para an måtai si nanå-mo

Stop crying darling / you're disfiguring your face

set aside some of your tears / for when your mother dies.

Nothing is more heart-shattering than the death of a mother.

Tears should be saved for her passing.

Using this logic, we can dry our tears over lesser griefs.

INARAJAN CHURCH - AS IT WAS BEING BUILT

St. Joseph Church was dedicated in 1940

So this could have been taken in 1939 or 1940

THE CHAMORRO WEDDING SINGER

Sung in English, but give little Goro a few years and he'll pick up a song or two in Chamorro.

If you want to book Goro for your wedding, I'm his agent.  Just joking.

THAT'S PRETTY OLD!

CHAMORRO WORDS FROM 1668

flickr.com

One of the great things about our language is that we have preserved so much of it.  True, we have adopted many Spanish words, and words from other languages as well, and we will continue to borrow from other languages, because that's just what happens.  Even English borrows.  No American needs to run to the dictionary, for example, to look up the meaning of "karate," a Japanese word.  Every language borrows from other languages.

One of the best examples of how we have kept much of our Chamorro vocabulary comes from a Chamorro grammar written by Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores in 1668.  He spelled things the way it sounded to his ears (just as we all would, if we did not learn a language in written form), so it may appear strange to our eyes at first.  He wrote these words even before he got to Guam, having learned them from a Filipino guy who had been shipwrecked in the Marianas and lived among the Chamorros.  That may account for the little discrepancies here and there in his Chamorro. 

But here are a few examples :

AS SANVITORES SPELLED IT / AS SOME WOULD SPELL IT TODAY / ENGLISH MEANING

Chamo - Cha'-mo - Do not

Marago - Malago' - Want/Desire

Masogni - Ma sokne - Accuse

Taotao - Taotao - Person/People

Ladyam - Låhyan - Many (as in people)

Gumofiriri - Gumofli'e - To love

Sayna - Saina - Lord/Master/Superior/Parent

Parauam - Palao'an - Woman

Gumagagao - Gumågagao - Asking/Requesting

Tiningo - Tiningo' - Knowledge

Mauri - Maolek - Good

Matay - Måtai - Dead

Rahi - Låhe - Son/Male

Rangit - Långet - Heaven

Magtos - Måktos - Cut off/Terminated

Pinañagumo - Finañagu-mo - Your offspring

YOU SEE - WE HAVE EVERY REASON TO BE PROUD THAT THE LANGUAGE WE SPEAK TODAY - IS ESSENTIALLY THE LANGUAGE OUR ANCESTORS SPOKE LONG AGO

Have you every listened to a play by Shakespeare in the original text?  It is very difficult for us moderns to understand it, just as Shakespeare would have a hard time understanding a text he might receive on his cell phone today.  But no one doubts that Shakespeare spoke English, and that we do as well today, though the language has evolved.

PACIFIC'S FIRST DESERTER

spaciousplanet.com

GONZALO DE VIGO

OK, so that's Tom Hanks and he didn't desert; his plane crashed.

Gonzalo de Vigo intentionally jumped ship - one of Magellan's ships - at Guam.  Two others, Portuguese, did the same as Gonzalo, who was a Spaniard from the town of Vigo in Galicia.  The year - 1521.

When one considers that over 200 men in Magellan's fleet - including Magellan himself - died on the journey because of hunger, disease and war, one can see why the expedition was plagued with mutiny, desertions and rebellion, and why Gonzalo and his companions were tempted to remain on Guam.  Before reaching Guam, Magellan's ships had not sighted land for a long time and were starving.  What guarantee did Gonzalo have that, after leaving Guam, they would not perish sailing an unknown ocean?

Gonzalo and the two Portuguese were thus the first caucasian residents in the Marianas, and the first deserters in the Pacific. 

We don't know the names of the two Portuguese because the Chamorros killed them, for reasons unclear.  Gonzalo, we must say, was smarter at keeping in the good graces of the Chamorros and was not killed.

He lived with the Chamorros for five years until a Spanish expedition (Loaisa) stopped by Guam and picked him up.  Was he tired of island life?  Did he miss Europe?

In those five years on Guam, it is inconceivable that Gonzalo did not have a female companion.  And it is entirely possible that Gonzalo produced the first mestiso Chamorro children.  Perhaps it was his children whom later Spanish sailors heard calling out the name "Gonzalo! Gonzalo!" when they pulled into Guam.

Too bad he didn't leave a dictionary behind, besides the children he may have fathered.

THE BODEGA

Some time ago I mentioned the bodega, or basement, of the Malesso Konbento, the oldest continually inhabited residence in the Marianas, yet alone Guam.

Here is a bodega as seen in one of the pre-war homes of Inalåhan. 

The bodega was usually made of mamposteria, a mix of lime mortar and stone.
(http://guampedia.com/mamposteria/)

Some homes were entirely made of mamposteria; in other homes only the bodega was, and the upper level was made of wood, as in the house above.

The bodega was used as a cellar or storage space.  Keeping the actual living quarters of the family above the bodega was practical.  It kept some critters out, and in case of flooding, the bodega got flooded and one might lose bags of pugas (rice grain) and mai'es (corn), but the family could still have shelter on the floor above.

NOT MANY LIKE THESE AROUND

Behold the bell of the Garapan Catholic Church in Saipan, dating back to 1895.  The Spaniards still ruled the Marianas at the time.

The year 1895 is written on the bell, as well as the original patron of the church (and the entire island of Saipan), San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Farmer).  "Labrador" can be made out pretty clearly in the photo, especially if you click to enlarge.

It survived World War II.  Amazing.  Not much did.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : UN DIA MENOS PA'GO

Un dia menos på'go.

One day minus today.

Pay-back comes faster than you expect.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHÅLEK

itsvizag.com

CHÅLEK : to laugh

The experts are telling us about the physical and psychological benefits of laughing.  The older I get, the more I seem to be able to laugh.  More and more at myself.

Håfa na chumåchålek hao?  Why are you laughing?

Mañåchalek siha.  They are laughing.

Chålek nai!  Go ahead and laugh!  (sometimes said sarcastically)

Na' chalek.  Laughable.  Funny.

Kao na' chalek?  Is it funny?

Chumålek halom = to smile.  Literally it means "to laugh inwardly."

Chakka chalek-mo/-ña = the squeal or outburst of one's laughter

GOF NA' CHALEK ESTE!

MARINUN MANTEKIYA

en.wikipedia.org

Butter (mantekiya) was not a common food item before World War II on Guam.  Refrigeration, or lack of it in many homes, was a reason, and the cost factor.

To be able to buy and store butter in the home was a sign of affluence, and one group of people were labeled for flaunting it.

A few Chamorros who joined the U.S. Navy (marino/marinu, sailor) could buy butter at the Navy commissary and were called "marinun mantekiya."  It was a way other Chamorros could tease them.

What did Chamorros use, then, as a spread on bread or other starches like lemmai (breadfruit)?

life.com

LARD

Fat from pork

MANTIKA

SI YU'US TIGUANG-MO

May God be your Bag Lunch?

once-upon-a-coupon.com

Many Chamorros chuckle when they hear the old expression, "Si Yu'us tiguang-mo."

That's because "tiguang" is such an old and now unused word that they confuse it with a similar-sounding and more known word, "tengguang," which means "food you take to work, or on a journey."

TIGUANG = NEIGHBOR

(as in companion, associate)

TENGGUANG = BAG LUNCH

(more or less)

So the expression means "May God be your neighbor," "May God accompany you," etc.

Catholics could still say "Si Yu'us tengguang-mo," and not chuckle, when one considers that the Eucharist IS the Body and Blood of Jesus, who is God, and who is our food for the journey.