Jay and I are getting settled back into daily life again, after about 4-5 weeks of being away. We put our Saturday practice groups on pause while we were traveling and are excited to be starting them again this week. In honor of FestPac 2024, we will be reading some stories from other Pacific islands throughout the rest of this summer. This story comes from Pohnpei or Ponape, and was translated into Chamorro by Dolores Marciano. We found this in a PDF of Chamorro language stories from the Pacific Languages Collection at UH Manoa, which you can access online! In this post the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le, and an English translation are included. Happy reading!
Jay, my cousin Chachaga’ and I went to FestPac in Hawai’i this June, which was amazing. We spent quality time with family and took in as much as we could from the different events and workshops. One event we attended was the Micronesia Festival at the Bishop Museum on June 15th, which opened with a Latte Stone Ceremony to honor the latte stones at the museum that were taken from the Marianas. In this post is the chant, composed by Brant Songsong and Elyssa Santos, that was sung to honor the latte stones at the ceremony. The tune and composition was done by Elyssa Santos – she researched the Kåntan Chamorrita tune that is featured in this chant, and added her own stylistic inflections in the singing based upon how she was taught to sing the Kåntan Chamorrita. She also offered her words and ideas for the lyrics, and Brant Songsong completed the translation. The result is a beautiful chant, distinctly Chamorro in its sound with a modern feel.
In this post, the Chamorro and English lyrics are included, with an audio recording of Elyssa Santos singing the chant in Chamorro. I have also included photos, provided by Elyssa Santos, of their practice sessions so we can celebrate everybody involved in making this chant happen at the ceremony. For those who could not be there in person, please consider this a piece of the ceremony that we can all share. Happy listening 🙂
This song has long been a favorite of mine to sing along with. It was originally written by the band Kuñådos Tinian, and in this wonderful version from Dåndan Marianas it is sung by Richard Hofschneider from the band Pacific Cool. It is yet another Chamorro love song of heartbreak, and the long, held out notes of the chorus really hits the carthic spot. In this post, Chamorro lyrics and an English translation are included. Happy listening!
Håfa adai! It has been a quieter than usual on the blog these past few weeks, mostly due to me being frequently unwell. I’ve been trying to rest more, but I’ve missed posting on the blog. Jay and I are also on vacation for most of June, so it may be continue to be quieter than usual until July. But I will try to post when I can. Enjoy summer and take care of yourselves 🙂
In this post is a Chamorro story that our Saturday morning practice group read and translated a few Saturdays ago. Jay had an unexpected business trip that week and was unable to record the narration ahead of time. So he ended up reading the story live to the group. This is a fun (and long) story that is a Chamorro retelling, by Dolores Marciano, of a folktale from Thailand. And it’s another great find from the KPV Collection 🙂 This post includes a Chamorro narration by Jay Che’le, the Chamorro text, and an English translation. Happy reading!
Our Saturday morning practice group will finish reading and translating The Dolphin and the Two Children this week, so the new story for this week is a bit shorter. It’s from a book written by Carmen C. Blas about different Chamorro cultural beliefs and practices, which I found in the KPV Collection. This short piece discusses beliefs about the taotaomo’na, or ancestral spirits. The Chamorro text, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le is included in this post. Happy reading!
Lengguahi-ta 