Quite often when people hear the historical name of Taga, many might likely associate this chief's name with the House of Taga in Tinian; a place where the biggest latte stone pillars throughout the Mariana Islands are located. GuamPedia (https://www.guampedia.com/taga/) seems to have some descriptions of the House of Taga, which includes some folklore; therefore, I will not elaborate that here.
But what do some of our history and scholarly writings say about Maga'låhi Taga? Well...like other parts of Chamorro history not everything seems clear and some information is not consistent. However, it seems that part of folklore and bits of history seem to indicate that Taga was at one time from and the village Chief of Sunharon, Rota. He then later moved and became the village Chief of Chelu, Tinian (sometimes spelled Chiro or Chelo in historical manuscripts).
Taga was recorded by the Jesuits to have had an apparition. Taga's alleged apparition consisted of a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary guiding him to save the passengers and crews of any shipwrecked Spanish galleon. Therefore it was further written that Taga was responsible for saving and assisting the survivors of the Nuestra Senora de Concepcion Spanish galleon that was shipwrecked off the coast of Saipan September 20, 1638.
Sometime after the shipwreck Taga was baptized by Marcos Fernandez, one of the shipwreck survivors, who gave Taga the family name of Corcuera. Taga's fully baptized name was Sebastian Hurtado de la Cocuera in honor of then Governor of the Philippines.
Taga, also as a result of his apparition, sent his brother with other Spaniards (from the Concepcion shipwreck) to the Philippines so that he may bring back someone to preach the gospel.
Notes:
1. De Viana (2005) addresses Taga as Chief Jose Taga.
2. House of Taga photo from Wikipedia
3. Taotao Taga photo from Heathcote 2006
References:
Lawrence Cunningham. 1992. Ancient Chamorro Society. Honolulu, Hawaii: Best Press
Francisco Garcia. 2004. The Life and Martyrdom of the Venerable Father Diego Luis de San Vitores , S.J . Translated by Margaret M. Higgins, Felicia Plaza and Juan M.H. Ledesma. Edited by James A. McDonough. MARC Monograph Series 3. Guam: University of Guam
Gary M. Heathcote. 2006. Taotao Tagga’: Glimpses of His Life History Recorded in His Skeleton. Guam: University of Guam
Catherine Lugar. (undated). The History of the Manila Galleon Trade. Pacific Sea Resources.
Carlos Madrid, ' Galleon: Concepción', referenced March 5, 2013, © 2009 Guampedia™, URL: http://guampedia.com/galleon-concepcion/
Alberto Risco, Juan Ledesma & Oscar Calvo. 1970. The Apostle of the Marianas: The Life, Labors and Martrdom of Ven. Diego Luis de San Vitores. Diocese of Agana: Agana, Guam
Augusto V. de Viana. 2005. Pampangos in the Mariana Mission 1668-1684. Micronesian Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(1).
