TÍTANOS

 

Someone asked me the other day how to say BONE MARROW in Chamorro.

The surprising thing is that the person is in her 70s; her first language is Chamorro (her parents didn't speak much English, only Chamorro) and she was born and raised in Saipan back when the Chamorro language dominated the land. English was spoken only in offices and schools.

But how often does the topic of BONE MARROW come up in conversation? Not much. Even though many of us like to suck out the bone marrow in our kåddo (stews).

Surprise, surprise. The Chamorro word for BONE MARROW is the same Chamorro word for BRAIN.

TÍTANOS

How did that happen?

SPANISH TUÉTANO

To understand this, one has to go back to the Spanish word TUÉTANO, because Chamorro TÍTANOS comes from the Spanish word.

In Spanish, the tuétano means the marrow of the bone, or the inner part of a root or plant stem.

So, in the picture above you can see the marrow of bones, called tuétano. But these here below are also tuétano :

So we can note that some things all these tuétano have in common are :

• they are the interior part of something
• which are encased (surrounded on all sides)
• and are fleshy, or pulpy, and can be softer than the exterior which encases them

So a brain has all those characteristics.

A brain is something soft and squishy, inside a skull, which encases the brain.

So perhaps that explains why our ancestors used the same word for brain and bone marrow, borrowing the Spanish word and changing its pronunciation.

TÍTANOS I TE'LANG

In case one wanted to be extra clear that one is speaking about bone marrow and not the brain, one can say títanos i te'lang, or títanos to'lang, which means "marrow of the bone," to be very clear.

FINAL -S

Many times when our ancestors borrowed Spanish words, they only used the plural form, even when it was a single item.

For example, "shoe" in Chamorro is sapåtos, whether it be one shoe or two. But, in Spanish, zapatos means "two or more shoes." One shoe is zapato; no -S.

It's the same for "onion." In Chamorro, it's seboyas whether it be one or a hundred onions. But, in Spanish, it's cebolla for one onion and cebollas for two or more onions.

And that's why, in Chamorro, it's títanos, with a final -S, even though the brain is one; no one has two brains. The original Spanish is tuétano for one, and tuétanos for two or more.

NO INDIGENOUS WORD?

Our word for both brain and bone marrow is borrowed from Spanish.

Did our ancestors not have a word for them?

We can be pretty sure they knew these two things existed.

Maybe they did have a word for them, or maybe not. We need evidence to be able to answer this.

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

"TÍTANOS"

 Alguien me preguntó el otro día cómo se dice MÉDULA ÓSEA en chamorro.

 Lo sorprendente es que la persona tiene más de 70 años; su primer idioma es el chamorro (sus padres no hablaban mucho inglés, solo chamorro) y nació y se crió en Saipán cuando el idioma chamorro dominaba la isla. El inglés se hablaba solo en las oficinas y las escuelas.

Pero, ¿con qué frecuencia surge el tema de la MÉDULA ÓSEA en una conversación? Pocas veces. Aunque a muchos de nosotros nos gusta sorber la médula ósea en nuestro kåddo (caldo).

Sorpresa. La palabra chamorra para médula ósea es la misma palabra que para cerebro.

TÍTANOS

¿Cómo ocurrió eso?

Para entender esto hay que ir a la palabra española TUÉTANO, porque la palabra chamorra TÍTANOS proviene del español.

En español, el tuétano significa la médula del hueso, o la parte interna de una raíz o tallo de una planta.

En las imágenes se puede ver la médula ósea, llamada tuétano. Pero también el tuétano de unas plantas:

Entonces podemos notar que estos tuétanos tienen algo en común:

-son la parte interior de al

-que están encerrados (rodeados por todos lados)

-y son carnosos o pulposos, y pueden ser más suaves que el exterior que los envuelve

Entonces, un cerebro tiene todas esas características.

Un cerebro es algo blando, dentro de un cráneo, que encierra el cerebro.

Tal vez eso explique por qué nuestros antepasados usaron la misma palabra para cerebro y médula ósea, tomando prestada la palabra del español y cambiando su pronunciación.

TÍTANOS I TE'LANG

En caso de que uno quisiera aclarar que se está hablando de la médula ósea y no del cerebro, se puede decir títanos i te'lang, o títanos to'lang, que significa específicamente "médula del hueso".

-S FINAL

Muchas veces, cuando nuestros antepasados tomaban prestadas palabras del español, solo usaban la forma plural, incluso cuando era un solo elemento.

Por ejemplo, "zapato" en chamorro es sapåtos, ya sea un zapato o dos. Pero, en español, zapatos significa "dos o más zapatos". Un zapato es zapato; sin -S.

Es lo mismo para "cebolla". En chamorro, son seboyas, ya sean una o cien cebollas. Pero, en español, es cebolla por una cebolla y cebollas por dos o más cebollas.

Y por eso, en chamorro, es títanos, con una -S final, aunque el cerebro sea uno; nadie tiene dos cerebros. El español original es tuétano para uno y tuétanos para dos o más.

¿NO EXISTE UNA PALABRA INDÍGENA?

Nuestra palabra para cerebro y médula ósea está tomada del español.

¿Nuestros antepasados no tenían una palabra para ellos?

Podemos estar bastante seguros de que sabían que existían estas dos cosas.

Quizás tenían una palabra para ellas, o quizás no. Pero necesitamos pruebas para poder responder a esto,

ONLY CHAMORRO TO THE CHAMORRO

 

Tan Båcha' (u såga gi minahgong), pictured above, was a good friend of my nånan biha (grandma) and my grandma's sisters, the aunties who raised me.

She was born in 1909 so she grew up at a time when the Chamorro language dominated the island. English could be heard in far fewer places on Guam in the 1910s and 20s than in the 1950s. Tan Båcha' could speak basic English, but she was one of those older Chamorro people who would stick to Chamorro if she knew you were Chamorro, no matter how poor your Chamorro was.

That's my point in this blog post.

There was a kind of Chamorro in the past, and some probably remain to this day, who will speak only Chamorro to you, another Chamorro, even though your grasp of Chamorro isn't strong.

That's your problem, so to speak! LOL

Her sister, Auntie Kita (María Salas) was two years older than Auntie Båcha', and was the same way. Even though my Chamorro was at best the knowledge of 50 words, which I could hardly string into a sentence, in my teens and 20s, Auntie Båcha' and Auntie Kita would only speak Chamorro to me. It was my problem to figure it out, remember how they spoke, remember words I didn't know and go find out what they meant.

These two sisters weren't the only man biha (older ladies) to do that to me. Tan Ebe' (Nieves San Nicolás) from Sinajaña would look at me, a white-faced tanores (altar boy) in church and tell me to go do something (turn on a light, open a door) and only in Chamorro. Na' fañila' i kandet. Baba i petta. It was my problem to figure it out, and in so doing learn how to say those things in what was supposed to be my language. Auntie Ebe' could have said those same things to me in English, but she chose not to.

"AUNTIE EBE'" 

My face was white, but she only spoke Chamorro to me

Even though I had a white face, Auntie Ebe' knew who I was and more importantly who my family was. She considered me Chamorro, because my mother and grandmother and all my maternal side were Chamorro. Therefore, she would only speak Chamorro to me even though I could hardly reply to her in Chamorro. 

There was another white face in church, our pastor from New York, but she treated the two white faces, his and mine, differently. When she had to say something to him, she would say it haltingly in what little English she knew. Both the New York priest and this young kid from Sinajaña (me) had about as much Chamorro language between them, but she laid her Chamorro on me, and not on him.

This rose to a whole new level when I went to Saipan in the 1990s, and would stay for short periods in Luta and Tinian. There. a whole segment of the older population had almost no grasp of English, except for some words, and could only speak to you in Chamorro. If a non-Chamorro speaker came to the door, a child or grandchild would have to come along and act as interpreter. To a lesser extent, this also happened in Malesso' and Humåtak on Guam, where I was also stationed for a time in the 1990s.

But in Saipan I met more than a few middle-aged Chamorros who spoke English but who, when they found out I was Chamorro, immediately switched to Chamorro, even if I was only beginning to improve my Chamorro. These people could have continued speaking English to me, but they switched to Chamorro when they asked me, "Kao Chamorro hao?" and I responded "Hunggan." They didn't ask me next how good were my Chamorro speaking skills. They just switched to Chamorro and it was my problem if I couldn't catch every word.

Not only was this a way to learn Chamorro, it was a better way for them to communicate with me. They were much more open, more telling, more expressive when speaking their mother tongue.

If there had been more Auntie Båcha's and Auntie Ebe's, we might have more Chamorros speaking Chamorro today. My own nånan biha spoke mainly English to me. She was a teacher and school principal under the US Naval Government most of her early life before the war, so that could have been a factor.

People can say, "But we should do this now! Speak only Chamorro to other Chamorros!"

I'm all for it, with two caveats or cautions.

First, I would hope that it would be people who DO speak Chamorro speaking Chamorro to other Chamorros. It's sad but true that today, on Guam, there are many who at times speak incorrect Chamorro but think they're just fine. Sadly they can pass on their errors to those who know even less and won't know they're learning erroneous Chamorro. And as this effect ripples over time, we will find ourselves in a deeper hole I'm afraid. 

My advice to those who have some grasp of Chamorro is to, first of all, not be over-confident and to triple check what they have to say in Chamorro with a first-language speaker, meaning someone who learned Chamorro in childhood in their family environment (while we still have them!). Someone truly fluent, and not someone who guesses and "thinks" they're right. A language is passed down from the community that speaks it; books encapsulate only a part of the language. Books and videos cannot stop you and say, "Sorry, that was a mistake," or, "That's not how it's said."

Second, promoting the Chamorro language by speaking only Chamorro to other Chamorros will work only if it's done long enough and with people who want to learn. If a non-Chamorro speaker is "forced" to hear Chamorro once or twice a month, little will be gained. If a non-Chamorro speaker could care less, or think it's just too hard to learn, and the Chamorro goes in one ear and out the other, little again will be gained. Sure, a non-Chamorro speaker will have to learn a Chamorro word now and then if they hear it often enough, but they'll probably never learn to speak the language if they could care less or think it's just too hard for them to even try.

But, it could be, and probably there will be, cases where someone begins to learn to speak their language because people like Tan Båcha' came along and refused to speak English to someone they identified as Chamorro. Ta li'e'.

I CHALÅN-TA : GUAM'S FIRST HIGHWAY

Courtesy of Mayor Hofmann

 

SENATOR GIBSON DRIVE

Growing up in Sinajaña, I've always heard of Senator Gibson Drive.

It's one of the village's main streets, taking you down to Hagåtña or out to Route 4 to Ordot and beyond. When Route 4 to Hagåtña is blocked or slow for some reason, Senator Gibson Drive is an alternative route.

But who was Senator Gibson? I always paid attention to elections since the 1970s, and never heard of anyone named Gibson running for the Legislature. 

Since the street was in Sinajaña, I thought there was a Senator named Gibson who was from Sinajaña, but I never heard of any Gibson family in Sinajaña.

Well, here's the story.

SENATOR ERNEST W. GIBSON, SR

Ernest Willard Gibson, Sr was a US Senator from Vermont. He represented that state in the US Senate from 1933 till his death in 1940.

He was Republican, but a progressive one and backed many efforts to fund Guam projects and extend civil rights on the island, such as representative, civilian government and US citizenship for Guam's people.

So it was at Gibson's doors that BJ Bordallo and Francisco B. León Guerrero knocked when the two Guam spokesmen went to Washington, DC in 1937 lobbying for US citizenship. Gibson introduced a bill but it died in the face of Navy opposition.

Still, the Guam politicians considered Gibson a friend of Guam and showed their appreciation in the usual Chamorro ways; sending him an ifit wood cane with the Guam seal on the handle; a lamp with a shade made from transparent sea shell fetched at a depth of 1500 feet; a machete with accompanying sheath.

But the highest gift bestowed on Gibson by Guam's politicians in the Guam Congress was to have the island's only highway named in his honor in 1938.

That highway was perhaps Guam's longest stretch of road, starting in the capital city of Hagåtña, passing through Sinajaña, Ordot, Chalan Pago, Yoña, Talofofo, Inalåhan, Malesso' and ending in Humåtak. That is one long road, now called Route 4. No wonder they called it a highway, although it was just a two-lane road.

It was the first time a Guam road was called a highway.

We moderns think of wide, paved roads with four or more lanes and higher speed limits when we hear the word "highway." But the older meaning of highway was the main road from one town to another. Guam in 1938 didn't have modern highways. The older meaning was meant in "Senator Gibson Highway."

If you look at the pre-war map, you can see how the highway leaves Hagåtña and goes through Sinajaña, just a small, one-street village at the time.

PRE-WAR SINAJAÑA

AFTER THE WAR

After the war, what was known before as Senator Gibson Highway became Route 4. Only the Sinajaña portion of the highway was still called Senator Gibson, but often times Road or Drive. This remnant of the prewar highway was residential and could not be a modern highway, with high speed limits.

In 1978, Senator Antonio M. Palomo introduced a bill, later passed into law, renaming Senator Gibson Drive Pale' Kieran Hickey Drive in honor of the Sinajaña pastor who built Saint Jude Church.

And yet, though many people do call it Pale' Kieran Drive, other people to this day still call the street Senator Gibson Drive. Old habits die hard.

FROM 2001

Twenty-three years AFTER the name of the street was changed, some people were still calling it Senator Gibson Drive.

Only the tail end of old Senator Gibson Drive, which ends in a cul-de-sac, retains the Vermont Senators' name, called Senator Gibson Court up to this day. At least the half-dozen families who live on Senator Gibson Court will know why their street is so-named, if they read this blog.

LEE MARVIN, SAIPAN VET

 

Tough guy Hollywood actor Lee Marvin performed in over 50 movies from the 1950s till the 1980s, often playing villains, criminals and Western gunmen. Besides many other awards, he won an Oscar for the 1965 Western comedy film, Cat Ballou. He also had a career in television.

But he also played soldier, even disguised as a German one in The Dirty Dozen, and for war movies Marvin could draw on real life military experience. Marvin served as a US Marine in World War II, actually fighting in the Battle of Saipan and getting wounded in it.

In 1942, Lee Marvin enlisted in the Marines and was placed in the 4th Marine Division. By early 1944, Marvin had already seen combat in the Marshall Islands. But he had a funny feeling about his next battle, that over Saipan which was set to begin in June. He sensed he would be carried out of battle lying on a stretcher.

MT TAPOCHAO, HIGHEST POINT ON SAIPAN

And Lee Marvin's Objective

Mount Tapochao, 1500 feet high and even taller than Guam's Mount Lamlam, was Saipan's highest point and militarily valuable. The Americans had to capture it, and Marvin was his company's point man, whose job it is to be the first out front and scout the area.

Sure enough, as Marvin walked forward, Japanese bullets tore apart his sciatic nerve, which runs from the hip down to the leg. Then Marvin's foot was shot by a sniper. Marvin lay on Saipan's ground, an easy target, except that, according to him, another American soldier coming up the high ground was also hit and fell on top of Marvin, as dead as can be. This fallen soldier's body shielded Marvin from further wounds. Marvin screamed till he nearly lost his voice for someone to take him to safety.

In another account, Marvin says he somehow dragged himself to the beach, where he was rescued. 

MARINES ON MOUNT TAPOCHAO

What is remarkable is that only six Marines in his company of 247 men were not killed or wounded. Marvin had cheated death, but he was seriously wounded, and was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds on Saipan.

It took 13 months for Marvin to recover from his wounds, and the war was only a few more months away from ending. He was given a medical discharge and received disability payments.

That night after being rescued from the battle, Marvin lay on a hospital bed on a ship outside Saipan. "I felt ashamed," Marvin said, because there he was safe and comfortable while "all the guys were still fighting it out." He said he felt like "a coward and a heel."

A CURE FOR NIGHTMARES - RETURN TO SAIPAN

MARVIN RETURNS TO SAIPAN IN 1967

In 1967, Marvin was asked to star in a World War II movie called Hell in the Pacific. The movie's production team decided to film it on Palau, then a part of the Trust Territory headquartered in Saipan. Needing the permission of the Trust Territory government to film on Palau, Marvin and some of the movie's production team flew to Saipan.

Marvin and the movie's director went around Saipan seeing if they could find a filming location there as well. Tony Benavente and Manuel "Kiyu" Villagómez were some of the local residents who accompanied them throughout their time on Saipan.

Marvin was very nervous about going back to the place where he was wounded and could have lost his life. After the war, he said he would get vivid nightmares now and then about his battle experience on Saipan. Now he was going to the very source of the nightmares. After the meeting with the government officials, when Marvin and the others went around the island, Marvin said he came upon the actual site where he was shot, and claimed the tree he hid under was still there!

He was uneasy about sleeping that night, but he actually slept peacefully. When he awoke, he felt that he had healed his psychological scars from the war. "That was one of the greatest personal triumphs of my life," he said.

LEE MARVIN'S CASUALTY RECORD

DUKE NAVARRO

 

"DUKE NAVARRO"

JESÚS BLAS MANIBUSAN

Perhaps he was the first Chamorro showman.

By that I mean more than a singer, musician or dancer. I mean someone who puts on an entire production. To the extent of creating a full showman's persona, complete with a stage name. Duke Navarro.

In the US, he was a member of the Actors Guild, TV and Radio Guild, Showman and Show Folks of America and Dancing Masters of America. He said he appeared in ten movies, but I can't find a record of which ones, so maybe he was an uncredited extra. But the record does show he was very active chairing stage shows and the entertainment portion of various California social events.

He was born Jesús Pascual Blas Manibusan in Hagåtña in 1917, the son of Benigno Camacho Manibusan and Joaquina Cruz Blas.

Manibusan was showing his flair for entertaining as early as 1937 when he was working for the Pan Am hotel on Midway Island. He wrote a poem playfully praising the Pan Am boss on Midway.

By 1940, Manibusan was back on Guam, living with the priest of Sumay, along with the priest's house boy and cook, styling himself an "artist" as his occupation.

When the Americans came back to Guam in 1944 to take the island back from the Japanese, Manibusan was hiding at Monsignor Calvo's family's property at Chochogo in Toto when he met a company of US Marines. He was impressed when the Americans didn't ask where the Japanese were but where the Chamorros were (to take them out of harm's way).

After the American return, Manibusan was on the stage, performing with other Chamorro entertainers for the American troops. Some of those he performed with were Joaquín Arriola, later an attorney, and the Ploke sisters.

By 1954, Manibusan had adopted his stage name, Duke Navarro, and was organizing stage shows in the San Francisco Bay Area where he now lived. 

After many years in the US, where he was regularly performing as well as staging shows, he returned to Guam in 1965. He continued his entertainment activities, performing here and there, as well as trying to beef up local talent, such as for the Allen Sekt TV show. He died in 1970. U såga gi minahgong. Rest in peace.

HÅFA AGAFA GUMAS?

 

Most people don't even think twice about the name AGAFA GUMAS. It's just a name, and of a place that is somewhat out of the way for most people. It's way up north. So north it's even past Yigo Church.

Some people think the name sounds funny. As if trying to be Chamorro but not quite getting there.

The fact is, AGAFA GUMAS is not a Chamorro name, and it's not the local name for that location. There was no name Agafa Gumas until 1946, and in fact it was Agafo, not Agafa at first.

According to a military wife living in Agafo Gumas in 1946, Colonel Douglas Pamplin, who lived two houses down from her in Agafo Gumas, was the one who came up with the name. Agafo stands for Army Garrison Force and Gumas is an American corruption of the Chamorro word guma' which means house or houses. We do not add an S to Chamorro words to make them plural.

Some people say that GUMAS also stands for something, and is not "houses," but the military wife living at Agafo Gumas in 1946 and who knew Colonel Pamplin specifically states in her new article that the Gumas added to Agafo came from the Chamorro word for "houses." If some official documentation from the early years shows up stating that Gumas stands for something, I will add that information to this blog.

Army GArrison FOrce

So, if the military wife's story is accurate, Agafo Gumas was Pamplin's attempt to say, in Chamorro, AGAFO HOUSES, or maybe HOUSING. 

The problem is, from a Chamorro standpoint, gumas is not a Chamorro word. A house or two or a thousand houses, in Chamorro, are still just guma'. No S.

But, lest we be too hard on Pamplin, look at all the younger generations of Chamorros on Guam who say things like

MAN ÅMKOS, when it should be MAN ÅMKO'

CHE'LUS, when it should be MAÑE'LU

SAINAS, when it should be MAÑAINA

Americanization has made its mark!

So the area was Army housing in the military heyday at the end of World War II and right after it. The military wife talks about jeeps and jeeps and more jeeps. The area was surrounded by roads leading to military bases, and military traffic was endless on those roads. Trucks and bulldozers made noise all day, as well as other machinery used in construction. Guam was being built into a fortress.

There was a mess hall and an Officers Club.

FROM AGAFO TO AGAFA

As early as 1949, it was being called Agafa Gumas instead of Agafo Gumas. A newspaper article about the wedding of a military couple whose reception was at the Officers Club there called it Agafa, not Agafo, Gumas.

It was just easier to say, I imagine. Keep it all the same vowel.

Language is in the mouths of the speaker, and not all mouths were created equal.

There are even those who call it AGAFU Gumas, with a U.

TURNED OVER TO GOV GUAM

1966

At some point, the Army didn't need housing in Guam anymore and the land in Agafa Gumas was turned over to the Department of the Interior.

They, in turn, handed it over to the Government of Guam. In 1966, the Department of Land Management made the former military lots at Agafa Gumas available for lease or purchase, and local residents began moving into the area. In time a Catholic chapel (Santa Bernadita) was built by the people and recently a new concrete church there has become a parish church.

SEEKING A LOCAL IDENTITY

As the Agafa Gumas community kept expanding, and as people wondered more and more about the name, people began to think about dropping the name Agafa Gumas. A growing community was looking for an identity, and name, they could be more comfortable with.

First of all, the Army Garrison Force is there no more and hasn't been for a long time. Second, it's not the actual, Chamorro name for the area. Third, it's not a Chamorro name for anything. Fourth, the name actually uses a Chamorro word badly (gumas).

So some people say the Chamorro name for Agafa Gumas is Machananao. In fact, they named the public school right next to the Santa Bernadita Church Machananao Elementary School, and underneath the school name the location - Machananao.

But other people wonder, "Is it Machananao? Or Machanao?" And other people wonder, "Isn't Machanao/Machananao in another place?" Pre-war maps of Guam seem to indicate that Machanao/Machananao was further north of Agafa Gumas.

So, we'll have to investigate more and write another blog post just on Machananao/Machanao.

CHAMORRO DENTIST

 

Francisco Martínez Santos, the son of Juan Borja Santos and Josefa Concepción Martínez was born in 1900.

Sometime during World War I (1917-1918 for the US), Santos started working for an American Navy dentist, Dr William S Thompson. In the 1920 Guam Census, Santos is described as being a dentist. In the record, the first entry states "App Dentist," the "App" probably meaning "apprentice." But then someone crossed out the "App," leaving "Dentist" by itself.

So impressed was Dr Thompson with Santos that when Thompson returned to the US in 1920, he brought Santos over in 1924 to continue learning dentistry under his tutelage at his dental clinic in Newman, California, not far from Modesto.

Santos returned to Guam and continued working as a dentist out of his home in Aniguak. After the war, when Hagåtña was destroyed and people moved elsewhere, Santos lived in Sinajaña, and practiced out of his home, where the photo at the top was taken

Long before the war he married the former Josephine Untalan Day and had one daughter, Juanita, who married David Ulloa. The little girl in the photo at the top has to be Juanita, as she was their only child and was born in 1938, making her around 7 years old in 1945 after the war, as the girl in the picture seems to be.

For weeks the Americans bombed and strafed Guam before they landed ashore. Many Chamorros were injured, and some died, as a result. Josephine's mother Juana was one of them, getting hit in the legs from American bullets. Santos used his dental tools to take out the bullets from her injured leg.

WILLIAM S. THOMPSON

who trained Santos in dentistry

Like many Chamorro professionals and businessmen, Santos never refused to help a person in need of his services, even if they couldn't pay immediately.

According to the family, he was a jovial man who loved to play solitaire. When Juanita was being courted by her future husband David, the two would sit in the house chatting on the couch while Santos sat off to the side at a table by himself playing solitaire. That was "dating" in the strict days of the past.

When Urban Renewal got going in Sinajaña and new streets were laid out, many lots were lost to residents, to be given new lots in exchange. Even though Santos was given another lot in Sinajaña when his original one, where his house stood, was to be taken over by Urban Renewal, Santos moved his residence and dental practice to Tamuning. He passed away in 1970. U såga gi minahgong. Rest in peace.

FRANCISCO AND WIFE JOSEPHINE

Courtesy of Ed Ulloa

BAYINERO : ANTONIO MENDIOLA

ANTONIO MENDIOLA

in 1918

Chamorros have been moving to California for a long, long time. Since Spanish times in the 1800s.

Although Antonio Mendiola may not have actually been a whaler, because whaling had died down very much by the time Antonio came along, I use the term BAYINERO (whaler) to describe all those young Chamorro men, some still teenagers, who began to leave Guam by the dozens in the 1800s because of the whaling ships.

The whaling ships were most numerous in the early 1800s, and by the 1870s they dropped in number. Still, young Chamorro men kept joining merchant and commercial ships that happened to stop on Guam. Antonio Mendiola was one of them.

Antonio ended up in California, where we have some documents telling us a little about who he was.

Although his grave stone says he was born in 1886, a seaman's document from 1918 states that he was born in 1875. He began life as a cook on commercial ships in 1894. He sometimes went by the name Anton.

He settled in San Francisco, living most of the rest of his life on Mason Street, just on the outer limits of Chinatown. By 1915 he was married to a Mexican lady, Esther Figueroa. This was very common. Many Chamorro men who ended up in California married Mexican or Latina women and we shouldn't be surprised. Those Chamorro men moving to the US in the 1800s and early 1900s saw themselves as being connected to Spain. They often put as their native country "Spain" and their native language "Spanish."

Even if the Chamorro man spoke very rough or incorrect Spanish, he felt an affinity toward Spanish-speaking people. With Mexicans, he would have found some of the food familiar, since Chamorros inherited many corn-based foods from the Mexican soldiers who lived, married and died on Guam (titiyas, tamales, atule). And, of course, there was the Catholic religion that bound them both.

With Esther, who had two sons from prior relationships, Antonio had two daughters but only one of them lived to adulthood.

Antonio never lost his connection to the sea. He worked as a cook on commercial vessels and was absent in the 1930 and 1940 US Census on account of, I believe, his serving on ships out at sea. He left the US in 1943 for Australia, for example, as a worker on a commercial ship, and didn't return to San Francisco till 1944.

Antonio went by the middle name Guerrero. But was it really Guerrero? Or was it Leon Guerrero, since some people shortened Leon Guerrero that way back then? He also states in a document that he has a brother named Ben Mendiola on Guam. Was that Vicente Mendiola? Vicente Guerrero (or Leon Guerrero) Mendiola?  Or was Ben really Benjamin? These clues are a start, but may not be strong enough to tell us what Mendiola family Antonio came from.

When Antonio died in 1952, he was buried in the Italian Cemetery for San Francisco located in the little town of Colma. Although established for Italians, people from all races were buried there. U såga gi minahgong. Rest in peace.

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

"BAYINERO": ANTONIO MENDIOLA

Los chamorros se han estado mudando a California desde hace mucho tiempo, desde la época española, en el siglo XIX. Aunque Antonio Mendiola puede que en realidad no fuera ballenero, porque la caza de ballenas había disminuido mucho cuando Antonio nació, uso el término BAYINERO (ballenero) para describir a todos aquellos jóvenes chamorros, algunos todavía adolescentes, que comenzaron a salir de Guam por docenas en el siglo XIX en los barcos balleneros. 

Los barcos balleneros eran más numerosos a principios del siglo XIX, y en la década de 1870 disminuyeron en número. Aun así, los jóvenes chamorros siguieron uniéndose a los barcos mercantes y comerciales que se detuvieron en Guam. Antonio Mendiola fue uno de ellos.Antonio terminó en California, donde tenemos documentos que nos cuentan quién era él.

Aunque su lápida dice que nació en 1886, un documento de marinero de 1918 dice que nació en 1875. Comenzó su vida como cocinero en barcos comerciales en 1894. A veces se llamaba Anton.

Se instaló en San Francisco, viviendo la mayor parte del resto de su vida en Mason Street, justo en los límites exteriores de Chinatown. En 1915 estaba casado con una mujer mexicana, Esther Figueroa. Esto era muy común. Muchos hombres chamorros que terminaron en California se casaron con mujeres mexicanas o hispanas y no debería sorprendernos. Aquellos hombres chamorros que se mudaron a los Estados Unidos en el siglo XIX y principios del XX se veían a sí mismos conectados con España. A menudo ponen como su país natal "España" y su lengua materna "español".

Incluso si el hombre chamorro hablaba un español muy rudo o incorrecto, sentía afinidad por las personas de habla hispana. Con los mexicanos, habría encontrado algo de la comida familiar, ya que los chamorros heredaron muchos alimentos a base de maíz de los soldados novohispanos que vivieron, se casaron y murieron en Guam (titiyas, tamales, atule). Y, por supuesto, estaba la religión católica que los unía aambos.

Con Esther, que había tenido dos hijos de relaciones anteriores, Antonio tuvo dos hijas, pero solo una de ellas vivió hasta la edad adulta.

Antonio nunca perdió su conexión con el mar. Trabajó como cocinero en embarcaciones comerciales y estuvo ausente en el censo estadounidense de 1930 y 1940 debido, creo, a su servicio en barcos en alta mar. Dejó los EE. UU. en 1943 rumbo a Australia, tal vez, como trabajador en un barco comercial, y no regresó a San Francisco hasta 1944.

Antonio tenía el segundo apellido de Guerrero. ¿Pero era realmente Guerrero? ¿O era León-Guerrero, ya que algunas personas acortaron el León-Guerrero? También declara en un documento que tiene un hermano llamado Ben Mendiola en Guam. ¿Era Vicente Mendiola? ¿Vicente Guerrero (o León-Guerrero) Mendiola? ¿O era Ben realmente Benjamín? Estas pistas son un comienzo, pero pueden no ser lo suficientemente contundentes como para decirnos de cuál familia Mendiola procedía Antonio.

Cuando Antonio falleció en 1952, fue enterrado en el Cementerio Italiano de San Francisco ubicado en el pequeño pueblo de Colma. Aunque establecido para los italianos, personas de todas las nacionalidades fueron enterradas allí. U såga gi minahgong. Descanse en paz.

PITI NAVY YARD

PITI NAVY YARD IN 1944

Just before US bombardment

For most of us, Piti is a small village we mainly pass by on our way north or south on Guam's western side. 

If you have friends or relatives there, you stop by, not pass by.

You may work at Cabras and pass through Piti on a daily basis, or when business requires you.

Fish Eye, Veterans Cemetery and the annual fiesta are some of the other reasons why most of us spend time in Piti now and then.

But at one time, before the war, Piti was a lot more active in Guam's island life, and the action was right in the village and not out on Cabras as much of it is today. Back when ocean travel was the only way to get to Guam, Piti was a key link in that chain of travel.

PITI LANDING

Even in the 1800s during Spanish times, Piti was an important site on Guam as the main landing point for arriving passengers from the sea.

Ships would anchor in Apra Harbor, but passengers would then get in little boats and land at a pier at Punta Piti (Piti Point). Landing at Piti rather than Sumay saved people a couple of hours' journey to Hagåtña. Even from Piti, it took over an hour for people to get to Hagåtña by horse-driven carriage on a gravel road. It took longer if by bull or karabao cart.

When the Spaniards surrendered to the Americans in 1898, the surrender took place at Punta Piti. That way the Spanish officers and soldiers could get on transport boats right away and go to the waiting ships to take them as prisoners of war to Manila.

The port's pilot, responsible for guiding vessels into Apra, lived in Piti and met arriving ships on his little boat. Enterprising men rented out boats and carriages at Piti for sea and land transport.

When the Americans took over Guam in 1898, they continued to use the pier at Piti for landings.

NAVY YARD

But greater things were in store for Piti. The Americans would build up Guam militarily more than the Spaniards had done in a long time. The Americans also had the benefit of  huge improvements in technology by the time they came along.

The landing facilities at Piti were to be expanded. There had already been a pier and boat houses, and maybe even a customs house, under Spain but under the US an actual Navy Yard was to be built and developed over time. The Navy Yard was able to handle small activities such as transporting passengers and cargo from ship to land. In time, to this was added minor and emergency ship repair facilities.

Right up to the war, two patrol boats were docked at the Piti Navy Yard.

All of this came with all the newest tools and supplies needed in modern transportation. Workshops and warehouses were built. In 1941, eight American Navy men staffed the Yard, separate from the patrol boats' crews, and 31 Chamorro Insular Guardsmen. The US could have done more, and some in Washington wanted to build up Guam more. But the 1922 Washington Treaty between the US and Japan limited any militarization that could provoke the other party.

Every time a ship pulled into Apra Harbor, many people from Hagåtña would go down to Piti to see who was coming on island. Some people described it as almost a holiday on Guam when a ship paid the island a visit.

The strong typhoon of November 1940 (typhoons weren't named back then) severely damaged the Piti Navy Yard. But the Navy rebuilt the Navy Yard just in time for the Japanese to take it over.

PITI NAVY YARD AFTER 1940 TYPHOON

WORLD WAR II

UNDER JAPANESE COMMAND

The Japanese knew of the importance of the Piti Navy Yard so they made it one of their targets when they attacked Guam on December 8, 1941.

But Japanese bombing of the Yard did little damage. The Japanese were able to make use of the Yard without needing to repair much.

Prior to the Japanese taking over the Yard, the Americans scuttled the two patrol boats.

When the Japanese gathered all the American Prisoners of War on Guam, they were brought down to the Piti Navy Yard to be taken out to the Argentina Maru and shipped off to the prison camp in Japan.

The Japanese did almost nothing to build on or improve the Yard in the short time they had it. They had too much fighting going on in the rest of the Pacific to devote any attention or resources to developing Guam.

The irony is that is was the Americans themselves who destroyed their own Navy Yard when the US returned to take back Guam in 1944. The US bombed everything on Guam they felt the Japanese were located or could use to their advantage. Sadly, a lot of historic and non-military assets on Guam were forever destroyed by those American bombs.

The US flag flown at yard was secretly hid for the entire Japanese Occupation in a pillow by Gaily Roberto Kamminga, one-time Commissioner of Piti.

PITI NAVY YARD DESTROYED IN WAR

Bomb craters dot the Piti landscape on right

After the war, the US military decided not to rebuild the Piti Navy Yard. Instead, Sumay and the whole Orote Peninsula would be turned into a modern naval base, many more times the size of a simple Navy Yard.

Today, the area where the Piti Navy Yard used to be, and the area where the Piti pier used to be, and the spot where the Spaniards surrendered to the US in 1898, and where the Americans in turn were sent away by the Japanese, is a fuel storage area by the power plants and where Atlantis docks its boats.

WHERE THE YARD WOULD BE TODAY

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....?

 

FAUSTINO CHARGUALAF???

Bernard Punzalan over at chamorroroots.com shared some photos of busts molded of Chamorro men in 1839.

A French scientific expedition visited Guam that year and one of the academic team made these molds, and these photos were later taken of them and are now at the National Museum of Natural History in France. These busts, in my opinion, have an effect unlike photographs. It's almost as if the man is really there, just asleep with eyes closed.

Since the busts come with names, I thought it would be interesting to see if the men came up in old records and if we could see what eventually happened to them.

The man above is identified as FAUSTINO CHARGUALAF from Humåtak.

Chargualaf is not a surname that makes us think of Humåtak as quickly as the surnames Quinata or Topasña, but records show there were quite a bit of Chargualafs in Humåtak in the 1800s, though in time their number decreased and Chargualaf remained more prominent in Inalåhan and Malesso'.

For example, in 1897 there were NINE people in Humåtak named Chargualaf. By 1920, there was only ONE. But in the early and mid 1800s, there were many more Chargualafs in Humåtak and Faustino was one of them.

According to the Humåtak church records, Faustino married Salomé Quinata. 

From this marriage of Faustino and Salomé at least one son, Ignacio, died in 1837 and probably died in childhood or youth, which was much more common in the old days than now. 

But there could have been more children, as many burials do not give the parents' names. If all the children died young, that explains why we don't see anyone identified as descendants of Faustino and Salomé later on, and the Chargualaf surname slowly disappeared in Humåtak up to World War II.

Maybe there are some Chargualafs in Humåtak today, but they probably came from another branch of Chargualafs from another village and moved to Humåtak only recently.

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).