Here we have a short, humorous story about a village and its priest by Påle’ Eric Forbes from his book Estoriaye Yo’. This post includes the Chamorro text, the English translation, and a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le. Happy reading!
Year: 2025
Chamorro Pumpkin Recipes
Chamorro pumpkin recipes were rare in my home growing up, despite the abudance of pumpkins here in the Pacific Northwest during the Fall season. I do remember the one time my grandmother made påstit (turnovers) with pumpkin filling, and that was a real treat. In this post we will read through some Chamorro pumpkin recipes from the final chapter of the book Manmannge’ Na Nengkanno’ I Manchamorro Yan Taimanu Manmafa’tinas-niha written by Carmen C. Blas. Our Saturday morning practice group has been reading through this book since January of this year, so it’s exciting to finally finish it! As always, this post includes the Chamorro text, an English translation, a Chamorro audio narration by Jorell Meno, and a link to the original source document in the UOG Digital Archives Collection. Happy reading!
Kåntan Chamoru: Gurupun Mangga’chong
Our Saturday evening practice group is continuing through our list of Daniel De Leon Guerrero songs, and we picked this fun song, where he sings a story about his two friend groups and each of his buddies in the two groups. As always, we are sharing full lyrics and more below: Chamorro lyrics, an English translation, and translation notes for I Gurupon Mangga’chong by Daniel De Leon Guerrero. Happy listening!
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The Lenten Boar
As the Lenten season draws to a close, we’re featuring a story rooted in the intersection of Chamorro cultural traditions and Catholicism – the tale of the Lenten Boar. This fearsome and gigantic jungle creature was traditionally used by elders to teach children respect for the sacredness of Lent, warning them to follow the season’s rules or risk encountering the Babuen Kuaresma (the Lenten Boar). Consequences would include being bitten by the Babuen Kuaresma, or else being swallowed whole. Ray Barcinas, who grew up hearing tales of the Babuen Kuaresma, also said that his elders warned that if you were swallowed by the boar, you would not die, but you would be forced to witness your family’s life – without you in it. In this story I Babuen Kuaresma written by Ray Barcinas, Jesus Lujan and Velma Santos, we get to read about this distinctly Chamorro creature. It is easy to imagine oneself as a young Chamorro child while reading this piece, sitting and listening to the elders’ warnings about the Babuen Kuaresma.
This post includes the Chamorro text, a Chamorro audio narration by Jay Che’le and Schyuler Lujan, an English translation, and translation notes provided by Jesus Lujan. We will also be receiving more translation notes from Ray Barcinas after Easter. Please note that the English translation focuses on giving the meaning and does not preserve the internal and external rhyme schemes found in the original Chamorro. Happy reading!
Fanékungok yan si Dabit: Alicia Aguigui Dart
This is the third interview on the podcast Fanékungok yan si Dabit, where we hear from Alicia Aguigui Dart, a Chamorro language learner living in Washington State. In this conversation, Alicia shares her story: how Chamorro wasn’t part of her life growing up, and how she began reclaiming it as an adult. Alicia and I have been studying Chamorro together since the beginning, and she was the one who originally started our Saturday evening practice group. I remember appreciating her willingness to struggle – together – through learning how to learn Chamorro. It wasn’t long before I began admiring her tenacity, creativity, and clarity of thought in framing concepts, as well as her resilience.
One moment that especially stood out to me in her interview is when she reflects on how life’s challenges can sometimes take up more of our energy than we’d like, making it harder to show up to our learning in the ways we hope to. In those moments, or even entire seasons of life, our learning community becomes even more crucial. They will be the ones who inspire us and help keep us going. Alicia is definitely one of those people for me😊.
This episode was transcribed by Alicia Aguigui Dart and recorded and edited by Dabit Taitingfong. To support her amazing transcription work, consider visiting Alicia’s online tip jar! And to support the podcast, please consider visiting Dabit’s online tip jar! Happy listening!
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Lengguahi-ta 