A couple of weeks ago, Tamar Celis shared this kåntan Chamorita with our practice groups. The story behind this song is actually quite sweet: Tamar gave her father a “homework assignment” to make a kåntan Chamorita, and this is what he sent back! Not only is this a delightful song about preparing Chamorro food, but he also uses some older words that we may not hear too often. And it’s also a lovely example of the Chamorro tradition of impromptu musical storytelling about the activities and relationships that make up the fabric of Chamorro life. I so appreciate Tamar’s generosity in sharing this song with our group and allowing me to post it here on the blog.

You can also find Tamar on her YouTube channel, Tamar Agupa’, where she shares her own journey to becoming a Chamorro speaker. If you are looking for inspiration to become a speaker – especially if you have tried several times before – I highly recommend watching her videos. Tamar is honest, approachable, and refreshingly candid about her process, which makes her journey both relatable and motivating.

As always, this post includes the Chamorro song lyrics, an English translation, and language notes for the kåntan Chamorita “Håfa Fina’tinánas-mu?” by Mick Celis. Happy listening!

Chamorro	English
Håfa fina’tinánas-mu?	What are you cooking?
Påguan mågi gi pettå-ku	The aroma came to my door
Bråbu hao nai mama’tinas	You’re vigorously cooking
Å’asu i kusinan hiyong	The outside kitchen is smoky
U1 tútunu i tinala’ kåtne	I’m grilling the dried meat
Lóloklok i gollai åppan	The gollai åppan2 is boiling
Mapápadda’ i titiyas fadang	The fadang titityas3 are being patted
Hu finadini’i i mañåhak	I make the baby rabbitfish into a fina’dene’4 mix
Sugo’ mågi o taiguang-hu5	Stop by and visit here, my fellow neighbor
Hita manggåfan6 Mañamoru	We’re the family of CHamorus
Ináfa’maolek kostumbre-ta	Inafa’maolek7 is our way
Finanå’guen i manåmko	The teaching of the elders

Notes

1. U: This is “hu”, which means “I”. Many native speakers will leave off the “h” in this word, which is what he is doing. ↩︎
2. gollai åppan: This is a Chamorro food prepared by cooking something in liquid (usually coconut milk) until the liquid evaporates. The first word, gollai, means “vegetable” and the second word, åppan, means “to dry up, to evaporate”. Some common foods that are made into this dish are aga‘ (banana), lemmai (breadfruit), chotda (green cooking banana), suni (taro root), and hågun suni (taro leaf). ↩︎
3. Fadang titiyas: A Chamorro food, which are tortillas made from Fadang, or the Federico Palm fruit. It is important to note that the Fadang is actually very poisonous if not prepared properly. (For more information, see our post about Chamorro Federico Palm Dishes). ↩︎
4. fina’dene’: The fina’dene (also fina’denne’ or fina’denni’) is a staple of the Chamorro table, which is a condiment made by mixing soy sauce, lemon juice (or vinegar), onion, and hot peppers. Some may also add other ingredients, like cherry tomatoes or even cucumbers. ↩︎
5. taiguang-hu: This word comes from taiguang (also tiguang), which means “neighbor” or “fellow man”. The possessive pronoun -hu (“my”) has been attached, making this word mean “my neighbor”. ↩︎
6. manggåfan: This comes from manggåfa, which means “family”. Many learners may be more familiar with the Spanish loanword for family, familia. But there is also the Chamorro word manggåfa. Jay and I rarely hear this word used, so it was really nice to hear it in this song. ↩︎
7. ináfa’maolek: The word ináfa’maolek is the Chamorro cultural value of restoring harmony and “making things right” with one another. This value is rooted in traditional Chamorro community relationships of mutual interdependence and social support, and ináfa’maolek is a form of social reciprocity that prioritizes and upholds those relationships. The word itself comes from maolek, which means “good”, but is then transformed into fa’maolek, which means “to make good”. The á- prefix is attached to make it áfa’maolek, which means “to make each other good” and captures the mutual reciprocity aspect of this value. ↩︎

References

Flores, Judy. “Kantan Chamorita.” Guampedia, Accessed May 11, 2026. https://www.guampedia.com/kantan-chamorita-2/.

Perez-Iyechad, Lilli. “Inafa’Maolek: Striving for Harmony Is the Foundation of CHamoru Culture.” Guampedia, Accessed May 1, 2026. https://www.guampedia.com/inafamaolek/.

Tamar Agupa’. “håfa fina’tinanas-mu?: a kantan chamorrita about eating well.” April 30, 2026. YouTube video. https://youtu.be/Tlmu2d1OREY?si=2PJItSVS6owsJNoa.