Alejandro Malaspina was an Italian, born into the provincial nobility. Parts of Italy were then ruled by Spain, and he entered into service in the Spanish Navy. He undertook voyages around the world, taking artists and scholars with him to record their findings in various lands, from botany to local culture to animal life. Thanks to these people, we have artistic sketches and some information about life on Guam in 1792.
Istorian i tano', desde ke umisao si Adan yan si Eba. Desde ke ti man afa'maolek si Yu'us yan i taotao siha pot i isao-ñiha, ti siña umafa'maolek i taotao yan i prohimu-ña. Che'lo kontra i che'lu-ña, besino kontra i besinu-ña, un råsa kontra otro na råsa.
Pot los uttimos, annai sige ha' de ma aumenta i guinahan tåno', unos kuåntos na taotågue man huyong mås man gefsaga, mås man riko, mås man gai podet ke ni pumalo siha na taotågue. Åmbres entre i man mofo'na siha na Chamorro, takkilo'-ña i matua ke ni mangåchang.
Eståba na guåha åmo yan muchåcho, rai yan takpapa....lao på'go, fuera de riko yan popble, solo guåha diknitårio yan otdinårio. Ma tulaika i sisteman gobietno, ya ta elilihe pat ta bobota i diknitårio siha på'go na tiempo, lao i kostumbren taotao ti ma tulalaika. Asta på'go, meggai beses, i diknitårio ha fa' bababa i otdinårio.
Si Jesus, ni guiya Låhen Yu'us, Saina yan Rai, dumimo på'pa' ya ha fa'gåse i addeng i takpapa na disipulo. Giya Jesukristo nai ta lili'e na i diknitårio ha fa' mamaolek i otdinårio.
It's the story of the world. Those who have, beat down those who haven't. It used to be kings over people, lords over servants. Besides rich and poor, now we just have dignitaries and ordinary people; and, what's more, we elect our dignitaries. But human nature seldom changes. At times, the dignitary gets the advantage over the ordinary citizen.
In Christ, who washed the feet of the student disciple, we see that the dignitary served the ordinary.
An old map of the Malabar Coast of India (look to the left side of the map)
It just goes to show how unisolated the Marianas were 400 years ago when you stop and consider that someone from India had been living among Chamorros since 1638!
In that year, the Spanish galleon, the Concepción, sunk off the southern shores of Saipan. There were many survivors, from a variety of races as would be expected on a ship owned by an international empire as Spain was in those days. Some remained in our islands and became part of the local scene.
One of them was a man identified as being Lorenzo from Malabar. Malabar was the name of the southwest coast of India, where Portuguese and then Dutch traders set up shop. Lorenzo ended up sailing on the Concepción, perhaps as a slave, and stayed in the Marianas after it sunk. There were thousands of Indian Christians from ancient times living in Malabar, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Lorenzo was a Christian from birth.
When Sanvitores settled on Guam in 1668 (thirty years later), Lorenzo joined as a missionary and was killed by anti-missionary Chamorros in 1669 on Anatahan. Imagine living with Chamorros for 30 years, learning the language and culture, then being killed by some of the people you've been living with for that amount of time. We don't know if Lorenzo fathered children in those 30 years, or if some of us have his blood flowing in our veins.
It's not just the Chinese who believe that different organs are associated with different emotions. Our mañaina also believed that the liver (higado) is the seat of anger. So, when our mañaina said that someone had no liver, they were metaphorically speaking of that person's inability to get angry.
Un tungo' si Fulåno? Tåya' higadu-ña! Puru ha' para u chåchålek. Ti ha tungo' lalålo! Tåya' lalaet-ña!
Do you know so-and-so? He has no liver! He's all for laughing. He doesn't know how to be angry! He has no bitterness.
Document signed in Saipan by Eugenio Blanco, in his capacity as Governor of the Marianas
Juan Marina was the last Spanish Governor of Guam, but not of the Marianas. When the United States took over Guam in June of 1898, they didn't want and they didn't take the rest of the Marianas. Those islands continued to be Spanish possessions until Spain sold them to Germany in 1899. For the first time in modern history, Guam and "the Marianas" became understood as two distinct entities, isolating Guam from its historical, linguistic, racial and cultural brothers to the north.
Marina, however, couldn't go up to Saipan or Rota to continue being governor of what was still the Spanish Marianas. He was taken to Manila, courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
So the Spanish Marianas (and American Guam) continued under local officials, doing the best they could, until a formal governor could be appointed in both places. For the Spanish Marianas, that would be a challenge. How could Spain govern the Marianas after having lost the Philippines? Yet, Spanish they still were, for the moment.
A mestizo Filipino from Macabebe (Pampanga) in the Philippines, whose father was Spanish and whose mother was of mixed blood, Eugenio Blanco y Leison, had fought on the Spanish side and was stranded, with several hundred soldiers under him, in Manila. To flee the victorious Americans, Blanco and his men high-tailed it to the Pacific, where the Carolines and the Northern Marianas were still Spanish. Blanco was made Governor of the Marianas, based in Saipan.
Things weren't so nice for the Saipanese when the Macabebe soldiers and their families moved there. Lacking military housing, the Macabebes moved in with the locals. Food was harder to come by. Anyone who caused the Macabebes problems were dealt with using punches and kicks, even by Blanco himself. The Saipanese were glad when the Germans finally arrived late in 1899 to take over.
Blanco returned to the Philippines and died in Macabebe, according to a 1926 Madrid newspaper, El Debate.
But, there we have it. The last Governor of the Spanish Marianas was a Filipino mestizo, Eugenio Blanco y Leison.
Georg Fritz, the German District Chief of the Marianas, speaks about Luta (Rota) and the rivalry he found there between two high-placed widows.
One was Maria Mangloña, whom he says is the widow of the "king." There was no king, of course, so he must be speaking of a past mayor or local official. Whatever his position, it was enough to build for himself and his wife a solid house of stone, with a wooden veranda. It must have been two storeys high, since there was staircase on the side. Maria, Fritz said, had rings on her fingers. But the house was not the best kept, and dogs, chickens and pigs were surprised when Fritz would not allow them to enter the house. Fritz rented the house from Mangloña while he was in Luta.
There are two Maria Mangloñas in the 1897 Census, but one stands out. She is a widow, aged 56 years. She lives alone. And she is called Doña, or "Lady," a title of respect.
Her rival was Maria Gogue, whom Fritz said was "beautiful." She appears in the 1897 Census, at age 31, much younger than her supposed enemy. She had been the wife of Jose Barcinas, now deceased.
The fight seems to have been about land. Fritz gave both women equal amounts of the land, less than what they were claiming. And both seemed happy with the decision.
This weekend is the fiesta of the small community of Maina.
The village name - ma ina - means "to illuminate, enlighten, shed light on." Why this area, among the hills and valleys near Hagåtña, should be so-called, no one knows.
What is certain is that the parish was named after the village, and not the other way around. There was no parish in Maina until many years after the war. When they decided to build a chapel and give it a name, they chose a patroness inspired by the Chamorro village name.
Years ago, there was a church ceremony practiced much more than today. It was called the "Churching of Women." A woman, sometime after giving birth, would come to church, with a candle, to give thanks to God for a successful delivery and to be blessed. The use of a candle is a connection with the Chamorro word ma ina - "to illuminate."
The ceremony recalls the time Mary brought the Child Jesus to the Temple for present Him to God and to purify herself after childbirth. The Jewish custom was to do this, bringing a candle. In Spain, Our Lady under this title became known as Candelaria. In English, she would be called Our Lady of the Purification.
Maina's Patroness - La Candelaria
Holding a candle, the Child Jesus shows us the meaning of ma ina
Maina was not the only place women were churched after childbirth, but the name of the village is connected to that religious ceremony.
THE OTHER LADY
Besides Our Blessed Lady, Maina is also known for a different kind of lady - the White Lady. As far as I can tell, this is a new legend developed after the war. It doesn't go back that far, then. It probably originated in people's imaginations as a reaction to the scary-looking valley and bridge on the road that connects Maina with Agaña Heights. Different versions of the myth exist, but they all center on the ghost of a woman who appears at night on this bridge. I think it may not be purely coincidental that this ghost is a white lady, when the area's Chamorro name and its Catholic patroness , La Candelaria, all bring the "light" to mind. Maybe it sparked the imagination.
But he don't believe...
Agapito is a life-long resident of Maina. He says his mother saw spirits, but not at the White Lady Bridge. As far as he's concerned, there is no White Lady. He even says some people he knows light candles down there at night to give drivers a thrill at night. I jokingly add that maybe the White Lady legend helps boost tourism to the village.
CHURCHING - or MA INA
showerofroses,blogspot.com
The woman holds a candle (ma ina) and is lead by the priest to the altar for a blessing.
The American Governor at the time, Roy Smith, decided it might be good to gather prominent people of the Chamorro community, all appointed by him, to form an advisory council with no powers, but with the grand name of the Guam Congress. They met once a month, with no pay. Many of Guam's elite, like Tomas Anderson Calvo (great grandfather of today's Governor Eddie Calvo) and Jose Martinez Torres (grandfather of former First Lady Geri Gutierrez), were members. By 1930, the group had lost nearly all of its energy, and Governor Bradley dissolved it in favor of a more purposeful body, although still consultative.
The usual agenda? The pot holes in that village. The stray dogs in another village. Yes, village problems.
But this seeming participation in the civic affairs of their own homeland nurtured the desire of some Chamorros to one day take a greater role in making decisions that affected them and their island.
Governor Smith wasn't doing anything particularly new. The Spanish had always some sort of local council made up of Chamorros, to offer advice and to vote, consultatively, for village officials. But this was the first time such a body was formed on an island-wide basis.
Where is Litekyan? What Ritidian is to others, to Chamorros is Litekyan.
From the abundance of latte stone sites in the area, Litekyan was once a very populated part of Guam. But there are also fantastic caves in the area where one can still find pictographs or wall art put there hundreds (thousands?) of years ago by our ancestors.
This is thought to be a full moon.
Gualåfon
A spear.
Fisga.
This seems to be a representation of a turtle. The cave had many similar turtle images.
There is a branch of the Leon Guerrero clan called the familian Alimåsak.
But it could be that this branch of the Leon Guerreros were so-called because of their Borja ancestor. As seen in this court document from 1902, a Manuela de Borja was better-known-as Alimasag.
Then, someone we know for sure was better-known-as Alimåsak, Juan José de León Guerrero, had Borja as a middle name; meaning, his mother was a Borja. It's possible Juan José's mother was sister to Manuela de Borja, known as Alimåsak. It does happen that a family takes on the mother's family nickname over the father's.
The alimasåk is a species of crab. The story I heard says that one of the family ancestors had a little too much of the good stuff to drink, and was with others socializing on the beach. When he got up to walk, he didn't have much of a balance and started to sway to and fro as he walked. This reminded the others of the way the alimåsak walks sideways, and they laughed and started calling him alimåsak.
But, according to pre-war author Laura Thompson, the nickname came from a member of the family waving his arms while dancing in a way that reminded an onlooker of an alimåsak crab.
AMERICAN FLAG FLOWN OVER HAGÅTÑA FOR THE FIRST TIME
February 1, 1899
The Spanish Governor of the Marianas, Juan Marina, surrendered Guam to American Captain Henry Glass on June 21, 1898. Glass was in such a hurry to leave Guam and proceed to Manila that he didn't even bother to leave the ship and go into Hagåtña. Instead, he had the Spanish officials and troops march down to Piti. They didn't even know there was a war going on.
On June 21, Glass did leave his ship, but just to go to Fort Santa Cruz, an old and abandoned Spanish fort in the shallow waters of Apra Harbor. There, he raised the American flag for the first time over the island. The flag was later taken down and went back on Glass' ship which went on to Manila.
There wouldn't be another raising of the American flag until February 1, 1899, and this time in Hagåtña for the first time. Commander Edward Taussig had landed on Guam some days prior and started to make a few decisions about the local government. Then, he had the American flag raised in front of the Governor's Palace in Hagåtña. A band made up of volunteers on the American ship played the "Star Spangled Banner," and a battalion of Marines gave the 21-gun salute.
The Spanish priests were invited to attend this ceremony. They declined. In seven months' time, those Spanish priests would be sent away on orders of the U.S. Navy.
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