Håfa adai everyone! It has been a quiet 3 weeks here on the blog and in our practice groups, as Jay and I were in Japan for a martial arts training camp with his dojo. Being able to train and sightsee in Japan was an incredible experience, but we are definitely missing the weekly gatherings with our Chamorro learning community. We are finally home and will be starting up our Saturday morning practice group with this Chamorro legend about how Gådao – traditionally from the village of Inalåhan – became the highest of all chiefs on the southern part of Guahan. We found this version in the UOG Digital Archives and Exhibitions collection. This post includes the legend in Chamorro, an English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading!
(Updated 8-June-2025 with notes from our Saturday morning practice session.)
I Ná’manman As Gådao
Sinangan as Remedios L. G. Perez yan Lagrimas L. G. Untalan
Gi apmamam åntes na tiempo eståba mansén lokka’ i ekso’ siha giya Guam. I linekka’ unu guini na okso’ ti siña ma’igi. Siña ha’ buente parehu yan dos hulo’ na linekka’ i Ekso’ Lamlam. Masångan ni’ manåmko’ na Chamorro na un taotao ha’ yumamak påpa’ este i mas lokka’ na okso’. Ha yamak pot i dankolon minalago’-ña na guiya u ma’gåsi1 todu i manmå’gas2 giya Guam.
Si Gådao este na taotao, ya estague’ i estoriå-ña yan håfa taimanu na mumå’gas3 gue’ gi sanhaya4 na påtten Guam.
Un diha gi tiempon fañomnagan5, manhuyong siha i peskadot Humåtak. Ha na’fanlisto siha yan i trastes-ñiha para u fameska gi hiyong i rubentason.
Esta mås di tres oras na mameska. Gof meggai na guihan suetten-ñiha, ya maninalúlula mana’lo hålom gi tano’ para u fañocho yan u fandeskansa. Annai para u bira siha hålom, manásodda’6 yan un dangkolon halu’u.
Ma ké’gacha’ i halu’u para u ma konne’. Gof ná’ma’a’ñao ayu na gå’ga’, ya eståba esta para u fanhinilat7. Lao mampos i niná’siñan Gådao yan i minetgot-ña. Sigi di ha tattiyi yan ha taggam8 i halu’u gi halom tåsi.
Ti apmam si Gådao humihot guatu gi16 halu’u. Dangkoloña na mégaggai i guihan ki guiya. Lao un gotpe ha’ si Gådao ha apunta i halu’u ni’ fisga ya ha tokcha’ nu todu i minetgot-ña. Måtai i halu’u, ya manlibre siha todu.
Pot i maolek suetten-ñiha9, manggupot siha i peskadot ya ha kombida todu i taotao sengsong. Mansén magof todos.
Annai måtto i tiempon fanuchånan10, manásodda’ gi un lugåt todu i manmå’gas sengsong siha. Mandanña’ manguentos yan manmanhasso håfa siña macho’gue para mås minaolek-ñiha. Masångan todu pot i minaolek Gådao. Manmalago’ na u mana’må’gas-ñiha11 si Gådao yanggen siña ha cho’gue tres na klåsen cho’cho’ ni’ para u matågo’ na u cho’gue.
Hunggan malago’ si Gådao mumå’gas. Pues ilek-ña na hunggan u cho’gue håfa i matago’-ña12.
I fine’nana na matago’-ña si Gådao para u ñangu ya u liliku’i todu gi uriyan Guam bente sinko biåhi gi duranten una ora. Sumén ti mappot13 si Gådao ha na’fonhayan este na cho’cho’.
I sigiente dia humuyong si Gådao para u cho’gue i mina’dos na matago’-ña. På’go na biahi para u ipe’ dies14 un dångkolon trongkon niyok. Ti para u fanusa håfa na ramienta. Pues ha go’te ni’ dos kannai-ña un loddo’ na trongkon niyok. Ha yengyong dúruru estaki manggugupu siha gi chago’ i manådan tinekcha’. Sigi ha’ di ha yengyong i trongko. Ti apmam må’pe’ dies15 i tronko desde i yahúlolo’ asta i yapápapa’.
Maloffan i tiempo, ya despues humånao ta’lo si Gådao para u cho’gue i mina’tres na matago’-ña. Fine’nana, ha bo’ok i mas dångkolo na trongko ni sinedda’-ña. Ha tugan i mas loddo’ yan mas mahetok na råmas. Para u na’setbe este na trosu gi che’cho’-ña.
Måtto si Gådao gi mås lokka’ na okso’. Ha hakot troson håyu ya ha tutuhon gumaluti i sanhilo’ i ekso’. Mamópoddong påpa’ manådan åcho’ yan odda’ ya manmachuda’ guatu gi kanton tåsen Humåtak.
Dos dias si Gådao di sigi ha’ manggaluti yan mangguaddok ni’ trosu-ña. Ayu nai ha sodda’ un dangkolon åcho’ ni’ achamoddong yan lamita gi Okso’ Lamlam. Ayu tétehnan para u yinengyong ya u nina’suha påpa’ as Gådao. Matago’-ña si Gådao na u na’yånu påpa’ i ekso’. Mampos makkat na cho’cho’ lao nahong minetgot-ña si Gådao. Ti pumåra gi che’cho’-ña, ya åntes di u fåkpo’ un simåna, esta taigue ayu na lokka’ okso’.
Manggóf manman todu i manmå’gas. Makonne’ si Gådao, maguputi dångkolo, ya mapo’lo para guiya i mås takhilo’ na må’gas i manmå’gas giya Guam.
The Amazing Gådao
Told by Remedios L. G. Perez and Lagrimas L. G. Untalan
A very long time ago, there were extremely tall hills on Guam. The height of one hill here could not be overcome. It’s possible that it was probably the same as two heights of Mount Lamlam. It is said by the elder Chamorros that only one person destroyed the tallest hill. He destroyed it because of his great desire for him to be the one to rule all of the chiefs on Guam.
This person is Gådao, and here is his story and how he became the chief on the southern part of Guam.
One day in the dry season, the fishermen of Umatac went out. They readied themselves with their things to fish outside of the reef.
They already fished for more than three hours. Their good fortune was a great many fish, and they hurried back in to the land to eat and rest. When they were going to turn inward, they met with a great shark.
They tried to capture the shark to take it. That animal was very frightening, and they were already going to be overpowered by it. But Gådao’s ability and strength were great. He kept on following it and he intercepted the shark in the ocean.
Soon Gådao was the one who got close to the shark. The fish was much bigger than h im. But in just one sudden moment Gådao aimed at the shark with the spear and he stabbed it with all of his strength. The shark died, and all of them were saved.
Because of their good fortune, the fishermen partied and invited all of the people of the village. Everyone was extremely happy.
When the rainy season arrived, all of the chiefs of the villages met each other in a place. They gathered, talked, and thought about what they could do for their betterment. Everyone was talking about the goodness of Gådao. They wanted Gådao to be made their chief if he could do three kinds of labors which he would be ordered to do.
Yes, Gådao wanted to become chief. Then he said that yes, he would do what was commanded of him.
Gådao’s first errand was to swim and circle around the entirety of Guam twenty-five times in the duration of one hour. Gådao finished this task very easily.
The following day, Gådao went out to do his second errand. This time he would split a big coconut tree into ten pieces. He would not use any tools. So he grasped with his two hands a stout coconut tree. He shook it hard until the plentiful fruit flew far. He kept shaking the tree. Soon, the tree was split into ten pieces, from the very top to the very bottom.
Time passed, and after, Gådao went again to do his third task. First, he uprooted the biggest tree he found. He broke off the stoutest and hardest branch. He will use this chunk of wood in his work.
Gådao arrived at the tallest hill. He grabbed the chunk of wood and he started to hit the top of the hill. A plentiful amount of rocks and dirt fell down, and splilled to Umatac Beach.
For two days Gådao continued to hit and dig holes with his hunk of wood. That was when we found a big rock which was the same size as half of Mount Lamlam. That was what remained to be shaken and removed by Gådao. Gådao’s task was to make the hill flat. The work was very difficult, but Gådao’s strength was enough. He did not stop in his work, and before the end of the week, that tall hill was already gone.
All of the chiefs were very amazed. Gådao was taken, celebrated greatly, and it was set that he would be the one who was the highest chief of the chiefs on Guam.
Notes
1 ma’gåsi: The root word is må’gas, which means “boss, master, superior, manager.” The -i suffix has been added to the end of this word, which transforms it into a verb-like word, meaning “to lead, to manage, to supervise.”
2 manmå’gas: The root word is må’gas, and the plural man- prefix is added to the beginning to make it refer to 3+ people. So this refers to 3 or more leaders or chiefs.
3 mumå’gas: The root word is må’gas, and the um infix has been added to this word to mean “to become a boss / chief.”
4 sanhaya: This is a directional word that changes meaning, depending on the island you are on. In the CNMI this word tends to mean “east” while on Guam this means “south.” Since this story is set on Guam, we interpret it to mean “south” in this story.
5 fañomnagan: The root word is somnak, which means “sunlight, sun.” The circumfix fan- … -an has been added to this word to transform it to fañomnagan or fañomnakan, which is understood as “the dry season” or “the time of sunshine.” This is one of the two seasons in the Mariana Islands.
6 manásodda’: The root word is sodda’, which means “to find.” The reciprocal á- prefix has been added to the front of this word, which transforms it to literally mean “to find each other.” This word is often used in Chamorro when people are meeting each other. The plural man- prefix has then been added, which means that we are talking about 3+ people meeting each other, or finding each other.
7 fanhinilat: The root word is hulat, which means “to beat, to overpower, to overcome.” It has been transformed with both the in infix and the plural fan- prefix, to indicate that it was the men who were already going to be overpowered by the shark.
8 taggam: The word taggam is used in multiple contexts. In this context of Gådao and the shark, in English we can understand it as “intercepted.” The image we want to keep in mind is of Gådao getting in front of the shark, to block or intercept it.
9 suetten-ñiha: This literally translates to “their good luck” or “their good fortune.” This phrases is often used in Chamorro with regard to fishing, gathering medicinal plants in the jungle, or hunting. If someone has a good catch or find the plants they are looking for, we can say they had good fortune or good luck.
10 fanuchånan: The root word is uchan, which means rain. This has also been transformed with the circumfix fan- … -an to make it mean “rainy season” which is one of the two seasons in the Mariana Islands.
11 mana’må’gas-ñiha: The root word is må’gas, which has been transformed several times. The possessive pronoun -ñiha at the end transforms it to må’gas-ñiha meaning “their chief.” The causative na- in the front makes it na’må’gas-ñiha which means “cause to become their chief.” Finally, the passive ma- is added in the front, which in the context of the sentence is talking about Gådao being made into their chief.
12 i matago’-ña: The root word is tågo, which means “to command, to send on an errand.” The transformation with both the passive ma- prefix and the possessive pronoun -ña turns it into “what he was commanded to do.” In English we might say “his errand.”
13 sumén ti mappot: This literally means “very not difficult,” which indicates that the task was extremely easy for Gådao. In English we would probably say “extremely easy”, while Chamorro often uses negatives to express these thoughts.
14 ipe’ dies: The word ipe’ means “to split, to cut open.” We may often see the phrase “ipe’ talo” which means “to split in the middle”, aka: to split into two pieces. But with the word dies added after ipe’, it indicates that Gådao must split the tree into ten pieces.
15 må’pe’ dies: The word må’pe’ comes from the passive ma- prefix + ipe’. But rather than become må’ipe’, it is collapsed into må’pe’, which is faster and easier to say. The passive ma- prefix in this instance indicates that the tree was split into ten pieces.
16 guatu gi: Most learners may be more familiar with using the phrase “para i” to indicate movement toward something or someone. But older speech tends to use “guatu gi” instead. If you are interested in finu’ håya, the phrase “guatu gi” is a good replacement for the Spanish-derived “para i.”
Source
Remedios L.G. Perez, “I Na’manman As Gadao Yan I Acho’ Kameyu,” University of Guam Digital Archives and Exhibitions, accessed June 7, 2025, https://uogguafak.omeka.net/items/show/503.
Lengguahi-ta 