History of Rule in the Mariana Islands

For over roughly 3000 years, the Chamorro people have lived in what is now called the Mariana Islands (Islas Mariånas in Modern Chamorro).  Initially, the Spaniards called the islands Islas de los Ladrones (Islands of the Thieves in Spanish) due to the natives helping themselves to whatever they could.
The Chamorro people have been under foreign rule since 1565.  Since then, rule of the Mariana Islands has changed hands several times.  First to "claim" the Marianas were the Spaniards during what is known as the Age of Exploration followed briefly by the Germans, who then gave it to the Imperial Japanese.  The Japanese were then forced to relinquish us to the United Nations, who left the United States in charge of the islands, later incorporating them into a politically divided region - the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas in Modern Chamorro) and the Territory of Guam (Guåhan as the Guamanians call it).
While the Spaniards landed on the Mariana Islands in 1521, the islands weren't officially incorporated into the Spanish East Indies until 1565.  The Mariana Islands - particularly the island of Guam - was used as a stopover between Manila and Mexico.  Shortly after establishing Guam as the de facto capital of the islands, the Spaniards forcibly moved the Chamorros from the other islands to repopulate the island of Guam.
In 1668, the Spaniards brought over Father Diego Luis de San Vitores to convert the Chamorro people into the Catholic faith.  In 1671, a chief, known as Hurao, from Guam led a failed uprising against the colonial Spanish.  The following year, another chief, named Matåpang, assassinated Father San Vitores.  Afterwards, all was relatively quiet on the islands until the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 when the United States acquired Guam while Germany bought what is now known as the Northern Mariana Islands under the German-Spanish Treaty of 1899.  Though politically split, the islands would still hold close ties.
After Germany acquired the islands, they incorporated them into what was known as German New Guinea.  While Germany acquired the Northern Mariana Islands, they had very little influence over the islands, save for the islands' anthem melody being directly taken from Wilhelm Ganzhorn's "Im Schoensten Wiesengrunde".  Also, the Germans did little (if any) development projects.  After the end of World War I, the League of Nations granted all of Germany's Pacific territories north of the equator to Japan.  Japan then included the Pacific territories - including the Northern Mariana Islands - into what the Japanese called the South Pacific Mandate.
Japan had almost as lasting an influence over the islands as Spain, heavily developing the islands and making sugar cane the islands' main industry.  After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded Guam in 1941; it was called the Battle of Guam.  The Imperial Japanese then forced the Chamorros from the northern islands to Guam in order to assist in Japan's occupation.  This, coupled with the harsh treatment of the Guamanian Chamorros, caused a deep rift between the two territories.
In 1944, the US military liberated the Mariana Islands in a series of naval battles during the Battle of the Philippine Sea.  The aerial battle that took place there was called the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.  After a series of battles on the islands, the Marianas were finally liberated from the Imperial Japanese.  The islands of Saipan and Tinian would then house two of America's nukes that would be critical in ending the Pacific Theatre of World War II.  The island of Rota would virtually be untouched due to the military insignificance of the island.
After the war, the Mariana Islands were administered by the United States pursuant to Security Council Resolution 21 as part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI), causing the United States to be responsible for TTPI's defense and foreign affairs.  The TTPI comprised of the following island territories:

• Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) - became a commonwealth in 1 January 1978, fully effective in 4 November, 1986.
• Republic of Palau - gained independence in 1981, entered into a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the US in 1 October, 1994.
• Republic of the Marshall Islands - gained independence in 1979, entered into a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the US in 21 October, 1986.
• Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) - gained independence in 1979, entered into a Compact of Free Association (COFA) with the US in 3 November, 1986.

The CNMI and Guam both held a referendum regarding reunification in 6 October, 1963.  While the CNMI voted in favor of reunification, Guam refused due to the incident in World War II.  To this day, the CNMI and Guam have been divided in numerous ways - politically, linguistically, and culturally.

Linguistically, the CNMI is more vocal in their disagreements with Guam stating that Guamanians don't speak "true Chamorro".  Regardless of how the CNMI feels or thinks, the Guamanians have made serious efforts in revitalizing the Chamorro language on their island - such as creating apps, websites, podcasts, etc.

Culturally, Guam has been shifting towards Polynesian dances while the CNMI remains strongly Micronesian thanks in large part to the Carolinians.

Politically, the territories are divided differently. Guam has numerous districts within island.  The CNMI, however, only has 7 or 8 electoral districts.  Saipan has 5 districts, Tinian has 1 district, Rota has 1 district, and the Northern Islands have 1 district.

Today, some Chamorros on Guam have taken up a petition for independence, even creating a podcast called "Fanachu! Independent Guåhan" dedicated to becoming an independent nation.  The CNMI, however, suffers from numerous scandals by a casino company called Best Sunshine as well as recent scandals from its governors and lieutenant governors - most recent of which involves sitting Lieutenant Governor Victor Hocog in what is being called the MV Luta scandal.

Ancient Chamorro Beliefs and Religion

The majority of the Chamorro people today believe in Christian values, particularly Roman Catholic beliefs and doctrines.  However, this was not always the case.

During the Spanish occupation of the Mariana Islands (and other areas of the world taken over by the Spaniards), the Spaniards forced the natives to follow their beliefs or die.  However, let us take a look at what the ancient Chamorro people believed.

The ancient Chamorro people had a powerful respect for their elders and ancestors to the point that they believed the spirit or soul was immortal.  One's death did not end the love and honor of an ancestor.  In other words, the ancient Chamorro people believed in a form of ancestral worship or ancestor veneration.  Through this belief, the ancients preserved their ancestors' skulls before burying their dead under or near their homes.  There are also cases where they also preserved the deceased's hands.

They also respected and feared their ånti (Chamorro term for "soul, spirit, ghost").  They believe that their ånti cared about their descendants, even if they believed that these forces were both good AND evil.  The ånti were thought to punish those who did not behave properly or if the descendants did not meet their kinship obligations.  They also believed that their ånti would protect them from the aniti (Chamorro term for "evil spirit, demon, or Satan").  These aniti were believed to cause violent deaths.  In addition, they were thought to cause a person's soul to dwell in jungles, caves, the sky, or trees instead of near his/her home land.
The ancient Chamorro people believed that the aniti could send a person's soul into sasalaguan, a kind of volcano-like hell.  Opposite of sasalaguan was the Chamorro's interpretation of Heaven.  The Ancient Chamorros believed it to be an underground paradise, where there were good food and good things to do (similar to the Scandinavian Valhalla or Helgafjell).  In sasalaguan, there dwells the god of wind, waves, and fire known as Chaifi.  Chaifi was believed to beat a person's soul forever on a forge (clearly a Spanish influence).  These concepts were most likely influenced by the early Spaniards who settled in the Mariana Islands.  What the ancient Chamorro people believed beforehand, however, was much different.
It was believed that the ancients' equivalent of "hell" was to reside away from their descendants and live in the jungle or a cave.  These spirits who lived away from their descendants would become unhappy and became dangerous.  Today, these spirits would come to be known as tåutåumo'na (ghosts, demons, disembodied souls, or specters).  Literally translated, tåutåumo'na means "people of before".  An ancient Chamorro's equivalent of "heaven" would mean dwelling near their descendants.

The ancient Chamorro people believed that a person's character depended on the strength of one's own spirit or soul.  If someone had a weak spirit, that person was lazy or cowardly.  Great warriors were believed to have held strong souls.  These strong souls could overcome the forces of an aniti.

The ancient Chamorro people believed that women and children were easily susceptible to illness caused by the ånti.  Some researchers believed that this was because their souls weren't considered as strong as a man's soul.  However, there are stories that show that women were just as capable, if not more so, than a man (as seen in the myth of Guam's citizens battling a giant parrot fish).
According to researchers, the ancient Chamorros believed that the type of life one lived had no bearing on what kind of afterlife he/she would have.  Peaceful death would lead to paradise, whereas a violent death would lead to an afterlife of torture.  If people died violently, it was believed that the person had offended the ancestral spirits and lost their support.

The Story of Why Guam is Narrow in the Middle

According to old Chamorro mythology, Guam used to be much larger.  This is the myth explaining Guam's current shape.

A long time ago, the island of Guam was much larger and very prosperous.  However, there was a giant parrot fish (or Scaridae) that was determined to devour the island due to the Chamorro people breaking a taboo.  Maybe a maga'lahi (first-born male head of a Chamorro clan) took a manachang (individuals of the lowest class in Ancient Chamorro society) lover or something similarly bad in Ancient Chamorro society.
After whichever taboo was broken, the once prosperous Chamorro people were now suffering through a drought and famine.  The people pleaded with their ante (ancestral souls or spirits) to help them.  They pleaded with their ancestors' skulls, which they called maranan uchan (a miraculous thing for rain).  However, the ancestors did not respond.  The parrot fish then began devouring the island.
All the men called upon their ancestors to help them in catching the fish.  Each day, the men went out to save Guam from the fish.
The women of Agaña always bathed at Agaña Spring.  One day, the women found lemon peels floating in the spring.  The women of Pago were known to use lemon peels to scent their hair.  The maga'haga (highest-ranking woman in a village) was the first to see the connection.  The parrot fish had almost bored a tunnel through the island.  At the rate the fish was devouring Guam,  the island would soon be cut in half.
Since the men were unable to stop the parrot fish, the maga'haga decided to step in.  She directed the women to cut their hair.  With their long strands of hair, the began to weave a strong, fine net to catch the parrot fish.  They laid the net in the water on the bottom of the spring.  The women tied ropes to the circumference of the net.  That evening, the fish climbed into the spring to sleep.  The women were lying in wait.    They surrounded the spring.  Each woman had a rope attached to the net.  When the fish finally settled in, the maga'haga gave the order to heave and pull up the net.
The women caught the fish and saved the island of Guam.  They then held a great feast from most of the parrot fish's carcass.  In order to preserve the rest of the fish, they salted it.  The women of Agaña shared the salted fish with the other villages.  This ended the famine on Guam.  Soon after it began to rain, helping the crops grew.  The island of Guam became happy and prosperous once more.  The people were content.
This is the myth explaining why Guam is narrow.