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CHamoru Family Clan Name: Matias
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
Not all families have CHamoru family clan names per se. However, CHamoru families can still be identified by some of the top elders in their family lineage. When I asked my family what our Leon Guerrero family clan name is, the response I received was, “We don’t really have one, but we are known as familian Matias.” Matias Espinosa de Leon Guerrero, was my great-great-grandfather (1827-1906) and that was how some people were able to identify our specific Leon Guerrero lineage. From a court record, I learned that my great-great grandfather Matias was a shoemaker.
The two elder ladies sitting in the photo are sisters, granddaughters of Matias, and last of the surviving siblings in the 1980s: left: Nan Ocha (my grandmother, Rosa Salas Leon Guerrero Cruz) and right: Nan Lia (Maria Salas Leon Guerrero Techaira).
*Heads-up: The 2024 CHamoru Genealogy Workshop Symposium is being planned for Guam sometime in September. Stay tuned!
CHamoru Population Through 2020 (Updated)
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
A glimpse of the CHamoru[1] population through 2020
Footnote
[1] CHamoru population includes those with mixed races.
CHamoru Clans Series 2008 / 2024 CHamoru Genealogy Workshop
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
In 2008, Lacy Martinez, a reporter for the Guam Pacific Daily News, ran a weekly series on the topic “Chamorro Clans.” At the time the CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project was only a few years old and Lacy reached out to me about the project.
Family clan names are a vital CHamoru cultural practice towards pinpointing and identifying specific family relationships and even individuals within clans.
SAVE THE DATE. We are planning for a 2024 CHamoru Genealogy Workshop Symposium that will highlight this cultural practice along with other presentations, displays, and CHamoru genealogy database navigation tips. It will be a two-day, possibly three-days if necessary, TENTATIVELY, September 20-21, 2024, and hopefully at the Guam Community College multipurpose auditorium. Much of this will depend on the continued collaboration and co-sponsorship with the Kumisión i Fino’ CHamoru yan i Fina’nå’guen i Historia yan i Lina’la’ i Taotao Tåno’ (Commission on CHamoru Language and the Teaching of the History and Culture of the Indigenous People of Guam).
There is still a lot of planning, coordination and organizing going on but I just wanted to give everyone some planning information, to at least set aside the time and save money for travel if you are coming from off-island. So please stay tuned for developments. Also, please let me know if you are interested in rolling up your sleeves to help out with this historical event.
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