A few weeks ago, I was taken by a posting on the FaceBook page "Hinasso," with a painting of an elder Chamorro lady in the beginning process of weaving what appears to be half a branch of coconut stalk. The caption read, "Håfa I hinasson-miyu nu ini?" (What are your thoughts on this?)
In my home office I have a painting of Master Pandanus Weaver Tan Elena Hernandez Cruz Benavente (difunta) by Ron Castro that I scored some time ago from the once Fujita Hotel that had liquidation sale in Tumon. Tan Elena was a very resilient Chamorro woman who passed away at the age of 99; a few months short of reaching 100.
There are several articles you can you can find on weaving related to Guam and the Mariana Islands by searching so I won't go into any details that those sources provide. However, I will provide some historic data details of what I have come across so far with regards to the U.S. Census.
1940 Census
It just so happens that I was in the process of transcribing the 1940 Census covering the municipality of Agat and observed that there were quite a bit of women with a listed occupation as "Aggag weaver." The population ratio compared to other municipalities seemed rather high for Agat. So I posted my comments specific to Agat and the 1940 Census:
- Agat was comprised of one town and six barrios.
- Total population = 1,068
- Total Akgag Weavers = 53 or 5% of population
- All weavers were female
- 1 Widow, 36 Married, 16 Single
- Average age of weaver 34
- Oldest age of weaver 64
- Youngest age of weaver 14
I'm not quite sure what this data is trying to tell me, and without having to complete an entire transcription of the 1940 Census will be premature to conclude; but was worth highlighting the facts and until I complete the transcription.
1930 Census
Surprisingly, in the 1930 Census only 18 people had a "weaver" occupation: 6 Basket weavers and 12 weavers. I am not quite sure why this number is significantly lower than the 1940 and 1920 Census. Perhaps the enumerators were given special instructions? IDK...
- 17 weavers were female and there was only one male.
- Average Age: 51
- Oldest: 73
- Youngest: 21
- Weavers By Village:
- Agana City: 8
- Asan: 4
- Barrigada: 2
- Merizo Town: 2
- Sumay Town: 1
- Umatac Barrio: 1
*Agat did not have any people recorded with the occupation of weaver.
1920 Census
In the entire 1920 Census there were 48 people that had the word "weaver" as their occupation: 43 weavers, 2 weavers of mats, and 3 weaving teachers.
- 43 females: 39 weavers, 2 weavers of mats, and 2 weaving teachers
- 5 males: 4 weavers and 1 weaving teacher
- Average Age: 37
- Oldest: 66
- Youngest: 13
- Weavers By Village:
- Agana City: 6
- Agat Town: 23
- Merizo: 13
- Piti: 1
- Tepungan: 2
- Umatac: 4
Some Links About Weaving
http://guampedia.com/floren-paulino/
http://guampedia.com/elena-cruz-benavente/
http://guampedia.com/lucia-fernandez-torres/
http://books.google.com/books?id=9r0a2ww8KLcC&;pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=chamorro+weaver&source=bl&ots=6j8ZIlgwKk&sig=fNoujVyTzxc0zuNO6XTvrxNLOmU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EmqKUvOSEYOzsASn0YCoAQ&ved=0CCsQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=chamorro%20weaver&f=false
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&;rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&ved=0CC4QFjABOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmnrivera1.com%2FCoconut_Weaving_Presentation-Rivera.pdf&ei=EmqKUvOSEYOzsASn0YCoAQ&usg=AFQjCNG5HWzXtJzgadVnAA3rLq7ppZpVxw&sig2=Vx7deXUIKgTokTo5N9mrhw&bvm=bv.56643336,d.cWc&cad=rja
