Mari (A wise man)
On November 25, 2013 I was so ecstatic about being given a native name/title by my friend and native brother Noel B. 
Quitugua. I was so proud and honored; I made it a big deal on my FaceBook page. Noel appointed me with the title “Mari.” He further stated that this particular word cannot be found in the dictionary. It was a word that was used and told to him by his Grandfather. Mari refers to a wise man.
One of the challenges we Chamorro people face, with our very own history, is that which is written versus that which was passed down orally from generation-to-generation. These days many would programmatically respond that if it’s not written, it’s likely not true. But much our embedded history comes from perspectives and accounts of those from the outside; but, what about our own people from the inside? Doesn’t our perspective count?
So even though I was stumped for the moment about “Mari” being an indigenous word that could not be found in a Chamorro dictionary, it made me place even more value and appreciation to my newly designated title.
On my FaceBook page I admitted that I always wanted a native name. It was something I admired of others and viewed of ancestral value. It’s not to say that I don’t like or appreciate my given name at birth or my other ethnic heritages. I do! In fact, I was named after my Grandfather who was from the Philippines! My Punzalan Clan knows that. I spearheaded that on-going project to bridge that gap and connection of my Punzalan namesake and Filipino heritage since 1996.
Anyways, having a native name was definitely one of the subjects that I did not ever discuss with anyone. No one, not even my family, knew that I yearned for a native name. At times, I also wondered if I would see the day when someone gave me a native name. Then I would start to think about which native words would have the potential of describing me since this was how our ancestors received their names. I was thinking more in terms of a name associated with the Chamorro Roots Genealogy Project, like: håle’ (root) or manggåfa (family). Wow, was I somewhat off! I didn’t even think for once I would be granted a title rather than a name.
But still, I was proud! I was further honored with all the people that “Liked” and/or made comments about my announcement on FaceBook. There was one comment that was made, and was not able to fully understand. Sinangan (Jay Pascua), offered me his congratulations and made the initial comment. More recently he qualified his initial comment and then it finally hit home with me that one of the reasons why we are not able to find the word “Mari” in any of the dictionaries is because of the influences of other languages that have had an impact on our indigenous language.
Mali’i’ / Mali’e
More particularly, Sinangan had conveyed to me, “What a very interesting name you were given by the ancestors - Mari. It 
comes from those days long debates of our ancestors. Linguistically.... taking a cue from the word uritao .... hu li'i tao .... I see the man .... it's more appropriate to say ma'li'i .... to be seen the person you look to for wit and wisdom.” These profound statements blew me away!
I had completely forgotten that although the letters “r” and “l” remain distinct from each other in the contemporary Chamorro language, historically these two letters in the indigenous language have been documented to be variants of the same sound prior to the Spanish era.
Indeed, we have so much to uncover and decode from our indigenous language. Many words and meanings were a casualty of over 400 years of colonization from Spain and the United States. I admit that I am not fluent in the language, but will continue work on it so that we can continue to unlock our historical heritage.
I am proud and honored to be a part of people who seek to revive and reclaim long lost valuable components of our ancestral heritage from the Mariana Islands. We share a common goal in mind to document, preserve, protect and perpetuate our heritage for many more generations that will succeed us.
Si Yu’os Ma’ase (Thank You!)
I am still in awe of this. It is of great personal value to me. I am also still wondering why I have this insatiable drive for the project and what I do. I have learned and grown so much from this, the people who I have been blessed with in my life and journey. I will do my best to live up to my title Mari/Ma’Ii’e’ for which many of you recognize me.
Si Yu’os Ma’ase! God Bless you all!
