One of the most gratifying things about learning Chamorro is discovering new stories in the language that I have never heard before. The story about the Kakkak, or the Yellow Bittern, is a story that I never heard growing up. I found this version in a legends book from the KPV Collection that was collected and translated by Carmen C. Blas. This narration is done by Jay Che’le, listen and enjoy!
This was a lovely story that I found on Påle’ Eric Forbes’ blog called Estorian Reinhold Mangloña which was told to Påle’ Eric by Richie Mangloña, who heard it from his father Reinhold Atalig Mangloña , who heard it from his Japanese teacher when he was growing up on Luta. We read this story together in one of our Chamorro-language practice groups, and everyone really enjoyed it. The story’s moral of respecting elders gave us all satisfaction, and the Chamorro stretched some of our brains, helping us to learn new vocabulary.
This post includes the Chamorro text with modified spelling, the English translation, and an audio narration by Jay Che’le, since Påle Eric’s original blog post for this story did not include a narration. Enjoy!
Over the past few months I’ve been a bit obsessed with matchmaker television shows, and when I stumbled across this story in Påle’ Eric’s book Estoriåye Yo’ I was so excited. We read and translated this story in our Saturday morning practice group, and all of us got a great chuckle at the story’s end. If you don’t already have a copy of Påle’ Eric’s book Estoriåye Yo’, I would highly recommended getting it. It’s a collection of over 300 stories in Chamorro with English translations for every story, which is fantastic for those of us learning the language. I hope you enjoy this story about I Atkaguete, or The Matchmaker, written by Påle’ Eric Forbes and narrated by Jay Che’le.
Here’s another cultural piece, from the short stories book I found in the KPV Collection, about devotional prayers and the parties that are held in honor of the saint that the devotional prayer is said to. This short story is in Chamorro with the English translation and narration done by Jay Che’le. Whenever I read or listen to this story, I always end up very hungry because of all the food they describe for the party, and it makes me nostalgic for the days, now 20 years ago, when my family would host events like this or attend them. Hope you enjoy!
Have you ever participated in the Chamorro custom of mamaisen saina, where permission is asked of the elders for two people to marry? I have not, but I’ve been fortunate to hear stories from others. One of my favorite stories was from my boyfriend’s aunt: when her now-husband arrived at her parents’ house, he brought practically the entire village of Umatac with him!
So here is another Chamorro short story, about the custom of asking permission to marry, narrated by Jay Che’le. I’ve included a Chamorro transcription, English translation, and the original pdf from the KPV Collection. If you want to read more about this marriage ritual, there is also an article about it on Guampedia.
Lengguahi-ta 