CULTURE
WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHAMORRO CULTURE ?
Striving for harmony is the foundation to Chamorro culture
HOW IS GLOBALIZATION AFFECTING CULTURE ?
Thousands of indigenous cultures around the world, most especially Guam, is rapidly being affected by globalization through the aggressive evolution of new information created with today's technologies.
Although one of the reasons that it has come to peoples attention is that , we are becoming more aware of the change in the cultural landscape, because Guam has so many infranstructures building and road developments. Long ago, Guam roads was not paved and building where made by wood and tin. It has also come to a point that the people now fear a complete loss of such a genuine and unique culture. It is not just the change in schools, churches etc. but also the political institutions, household and the heart of the family itself. In regards to preservation of the culture, it is still a debating topic on whether it is the answer to keeping the culture known or is it not helping at all.
For more information : http://www.micsem.org/pubs/counselor/frames/cult_lossfr.htm
This video is about an event San Diego had on the chamorro culture and tradition. There were things similiar to Guam's style and like Guam's dancing and stick fighting, they had stick fighting and dancing shows as entertainment.
Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.
The core of Guam culture, the Chamorro, is characterized or centered upon respect, caring, accepting and helping one another. Inafa'maolek, or interdependence, is a central value in Chamorro culture which depends on a spirit of cooperation of the community. In a Chamorro sense, the land and its produce belong to everyone. This is the core that everything in Chamorro culture revolves around and the people. It is a powerful mutual character or quality rather than individualism and private property rights.The culture is visibly displayed in the kissing of the hands of elders which continues today, passing of legends stories passed down to young children, local music, dance, chants, courtship rituals, handicrafts, burial rituals, preparation of herbal medicines, and requesting forgiveness from spiritual ancestors when entering a jungle known as Guelo yan Guela. The overview of Guam's culture are evident in local legends and folklore such as the taotaomona (ancient spirits), doomed lovers leaping to their death off Two Lovers' Point (Puntan Dos Amantes), and Sirena, a beautiful young girl who became a mermaid and many other interesting chamorro legends.
The original inhabitants of Guam are believed to have been of Indo-Malaya descent originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2,000 B.C., and having linguistic and cultural similarities to Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. They have excelled in advancing into fishing, horticultural, and hunting.
They built latte stones which were used for the base of their homes the chamorro hut, which was made of natural resources such as coconut leaf, tangangtangan wood, and the used of Pago' tree leaves to make the roofs of their homes. The Pago tree is strip and made to dry and is use to tie everything to secure it the homes. The latte stones have been around based on Archaeological milestones of ancient Guam which are tied to the Latte Stones as: Transitional Pre-Latte (AD 1 to AD 1000), the larger Latte Period (AD 1000 to AD 1521), and Early Historic Period (AD 1521 to 1700).
