The Legend of Taga - The Last Maga'låhi of the Chamorro People

Hear the story of Taga, the last Maga’låhi of the Chamorro people.  Born on the island of Rota (“Luta” in the Chamorro language), which is the ancient and ancestral heart of the Chamorro people.  His father was ruler of the island; great, mighty, and strong.  He raised a number of great latti stones (a type of large stone pillar, or “haligi” in the Chamorro language, with a hemispheric stone cap that served as supports for large homes or huts).  Taga’s father and his sons were giants, but one son was exceptional in his strength and ambition – Taga.

Roughly around the age of 15, Taga rebelled against his father by attempting to overthrow him.  However, he lacked the strength to carry it out.  Taga’s father uprooted a tree and came after him, forcing Taga to leap from the northern tip of Rota to the island of Tinian.  The island was about 65 miles or so from Rota, and it was far enough away for his paternal troubles to ease.

Taga finished his childhood among the people of Tinian, eventually having a wife from the island.  As a young man, he witnessed the beginnings of Spanish interests in the islands – which they would restock their supplies of food and water on their way to places that they believe to hold great treasures such as Mexico, South America, & the Philippines.  It is likely, though no one knows for certain, that this was the catalyst that led Taga on his mission to unify the island under a single rule.

His first step to unifying the archipelago began when he subjugated all of the villages of Tinian & Aguigan (nicknamed “Goat Island”), which is a small island with high cliffs that is very near to Tinian.  After these islands were subjugated, Taga struck north and unified the smaller islands north of Saipan.  Afterwards, he proceeded to strike southward to his home island of Rota.  It is assumed that he saved Saipan for last due to the island being the second largest within the archipelago.  He ignored the largest island, Guam, due to the island already being occupied by the Spaniards.

By the time he was ready to take Saipan, he had built a large latti stone hut/house that was larger than any hut his father built.  According to legend, he had cut the latti stones out of the earth, hoisted them on his shoulders, and set them in place by himself – a magnificent feat, considering each stone weighed at least one or two tons.

When the time came to conquer Saipan, Taga gathered all his warrior magic and made ready to depart.  Around this time, his wife – whom he loved dearly – was in labor with his first child.  The birth proved to be quite difficult.  The suruhånu (Chamorro medicine men; medicine women are called "suruhåna"), kakåna (Chamorro sorcerers), and midwives could not help her.  In order to save his wife, Taga started breaking his own taboos.  He gave his wife the rest of his magic – magic that could have been used to overthrow the villages of Saipan.  He poured all of his magic into her, which resulted in his first child – a daughter - being born.  What little conquest magic he had left, he used on the village of Obyan on the southern coast of Saipan.  After he conquered the village, he proceeded to take over the rest of Saipan – finally unifying the archipelago under a single rule.

Years later, Taga fathered more children.  His last child, however, was the most exceptional.  On the child’s birthday (some say the 1^st, others the 5^th) Taga gave his son the gift of a very large coconut crab (“ayuyu” in the Chamorro language) to play with.  The crab frees itself and ran into a hole under a large palm that grew near the village.  The child ran after the crab and uprooted the tree to take his new pet back.  The sight of his son uprooting the palm tree filled Taga with fear for it was a larger tree than even he could uproot.  Taga remembered his own youth and ambition.

At this point, the Legend of Taga has many variants.  Some say Taga smothered the child in the night.  Some say he picked up the tree and killed his son with it while the boy was at play.  Others say he killed him with one of the latti stones.  Regardless, he killed his son and instantly regretted it.  He wasn’t the only one to be overcome with grief, though, as his wife died of heartbreak shortly after.  His eldest daughter, who loved her youngest brother dearly, starved herself to death while wandering around in the nearby beach.

Taga was devastated by the loss of his wife and children.  Part of his grief was no doubt related to Chamorro beliefs about the afterlife.  They believed that if one suffered a “straw death,” it would lead to the Ancient Chamorro’s equivalent of heaven.  If one suffered a violent death, it would lead to the Ancient Chamorro’s equivalent of hell.

At this time, the Spanish Franciscan missionaries began to visit the islands north of Guam.  Unlike the Spaniards, they decided to stay among the native community while trying to convert the populace.  Taga had heard the missionaries preach before.  He did not oppose them nor was he keen on joining them.  The missionaries early on had made some converts among the high class, but many of the converts turned away from the religion when they realized the Christian message applied to all, not just the higher class.

Suddenly, something extraordinary happened.  Taga decides to go to one of the Franciscan missionaries and requested if he could convert to Christianity.  The reason being that Taga had been to a cave near the village which he said was suddenly filled with “bright light, much fire” surrounding a woman - whom he believed to be the Holy Virgin – who told him to believe what the priests were telling his people.

Soon afterward, he was baptized as “José Taga”.  Not long after, the rest of the Chamorro people followed suit.  However, in doing so, they discovered that the ancestral spirits wanted nothing more to do with them, even when the Chamorros treated them respectfully.  They are believed to have become dangerous to the point where modern-day Chamorros (mostly from the Northern Mariana Islands) would not even pee in the jungle/forest without asking permission/pardon from the ancestral spirits (“Tautaumo’na” in the Chamorro language).

The Chamorro people say that after the mass conversion, the Chamorros began shrinking; they were no longer giants.  They eventually became as small as the Spaniards they came to hate due to nearly 300 years of oppressive rule.

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.

Chamorro Language - Then and Now

After I have performed some amateur studies regarding the Chamorro language, I have noticed that a majority of the modern language is composed of Spanish loanwords.  Some glaring examples are the numbers we use (Uno, dos, tres, etc.).  Let me take you on a quick trip to the ancient Mariåna Islands. {As a quick note, the "å" is pronounced like "ah".

Long before the Spanish colonization of the Mariåna Islands, the Chamorro language thrived in the Mariånas.  The Chamorro language, which is claimed by scholars as an Austronesian language, was largely different from its Pacific Islands neighbors.  Much like Palau, however, the Chamorro language is considered unique among the Pacific Island languages in that it is not classified as a Micronesian or Polynesian language.  Rather, they both make up a unique branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language.  Once the Spaniards took over the islands, all of the Chamorro language's unique qualities changed.

Below is a list of the Ancient Chamorro basic numbers in comparison to the Modern Spanish-influenced numbers (do note that in the Chamorro language, the [ ' ] is considered its own character to denote a glottal stop):

1 - Håcha/Maisa  | Unu/Una
2 - Hugua  | Dos
3 - Tulu  | Tres
4 - Fåtfåt (or Fatfat) | Kuåttro'
5 - Lima  | Singko'
6 - Gunum  | Sais
7 - Fiti | Sietti
8 - Guålo' (or Gualu)  | Ocho'
9 - Sigua  | Nuebi
10 - Månot (or Manot)  | Dies
11 - Månot na gai Håcha  |Onse
20 - Hugua na fulu  | Bente
21 - Hugua na fulu na ga Håcha  | Bente unu/una
100 - Gåtos (or Gatus)  | Siento

I am sure the difference is quite noticeable.  Note that after #10, the numbers are quite long and difficult to say, getting even longer after 100 or 1000.  Would you think that this would be an ideal way of counting in today's fast-paced world?  To add, The Ancient Chamorro numbering system is more similar to the Japanese numbering system in that they have basic numbers, numbers for long objects, numbers for living things, and numbers for inanimate things.   In addition, the Modern Chamorro greetings are largely influenced by Spanish [do note that I am using the Chamorro spelling] (Adios, Buenas dihas, Buenas tåtdes, etc.).

The Ancient Chamorro also had a 13 month lunar calendar.

1 - Tumaiguini
2 - Maimu'
3 - Umatalaf
4 - Lumuhu
5 - Makmamao
6 - Fananaf/Mananaf
7 - Semu
8 - Tenhos
9 - Lumamlam
10 - Fangualu/Fa'gualu
11 - Sumongsong
12 - Umayanggan
13 - Umagahaf


Another point I wanted to note is that many Chamorro/Chamoru today opt out of learning their native language due to English's stronger influence.  I, myself, am not fluent in my native language (a point that I regret).  However, there has been a slight resurgence in today's youth on learning their Native Language.
I would like to learn the Ancient Chamorro language and, hopefully, bring the language back.  Granted, numbers and an outdated lunar calendar are not exactly good examples to get my message across, but it is a good starting point.  Language is a strong part of the Chamorro/Chamoru culture.
I implore Chamorro families/new parents to teach their children the language.  Otherwise, the Chamorro language will die out, and we will have one more piece of our history lost.

Puntan and Fu'una: Chamorro Creation Myth

This is a story about the creation of the world through the eyes of the ancient Chamorro people.
At the beginning of time, before there were animals or plants, there was nothing.  There was a caretaker of this emptiness.  This caretaker was named Puntan.  Puntan also had a sister named Fu'una.  Together, the siblings ruled this nothingness.
The brother Puntan sensed his time was nearing its end.  Dismayed at leaving his sister alone in this empty world, he imagined a way to fill the emptiness.  He called out to his sister.  As they stood alone in the void, Puntan told his sister of his death and described his plan for creation.  Fu'uña looked at her brother and agreed to complete what Puntan started.  She would remember each part of his plan from the stars in the heavens, the vast pristine ocean, the feel of the earth, the whispering winds, the softness of plumeria petals, and the freshness of rainfall.
And thus she did.  As Puntan's last breath escaped from his body, Fu'una held her brother's body and wailed the woman's first birth song.  She lifted Puntan's head upward and let life fill the emptiness.  Then, Fu'una plucked out her brother's eyes and flung them into the heavens.  His eyes then became the sun and moon.
She pushed her brother's breast higher and higher towards the heavens until it arched across until it became the sky.  The drumming of his heart continued to beat the rhythm of night turning into day.  And again day into night.
Fu'una rested her brother's back along the bottom of the nothingness.  She pounded and tilled until his back became the earth - rich and giving of life.  Soon, taro plants sprouted from it, thick and green.  Pandanus stood on crooked limbs and grew long slender leaves for mat weaving and wind-catching sails.  The first of the coconut trees shook its topknot fronds, surprised to find bees buzzing around the blossoms under each branch.
Fu'una smiled.  She picked up Puntan's eyebrows and threw them into the sky.  They slid through the warm light of the sun, splitting the brightness into an arch of colors, creating the first rainbow.
Fu'una nodded.  All was as her brother instructed.
Then Fu'una began to cry.  Her brother was gone as she had known him.  His breath and body became the world he had imagined, but she was alone.
She swam with the sharks and followed the whales until she reached a string of lovely islands.  She walked their beaches, chased ghost crabs, collected shells, watching tropic birds soar in the sky through the clouds.  She laughed as hermit crabs scampered sideways and sea cucumbers spat sand.  She watched as fish nibbled on coral, amazed at their colors and shapes.
Her brother had planned well.  The earth became a beautiful place, but she was still lonely.
Fu'una stood where the surf rolled back into the sea and thought to herself, "I need people."
Then Fu'una walked into the sea, and there near the southern part of what is now known as Guåhån (Guam), she turned herself into a rock.  As the sea crashed over her, she broke into many pieces.  Each new stone held her spirit, transforming into a new kind of people.  As the great rock of Fu'una dissolved, the grains of sand were carried throughout the world, giving birth to all of humankind.
Soon, men and women filled the earth.  Some were not good.  They argued and fought. Others fished out the seas, claiming islands as their own.  They muddied the streams and trampled the reef.  Some cut down the taro, banana, and coconut without replanting, only wasting and destroying.
But there were those that tended the earth, caring for the plants and sharing the fruits and vegetables.  To this day, many remember to take the time to watch the surf roll back into the seas while telling their children the Tale of Puntan and Fu'una.  Out of love and respect between siblings, the world began.