Incredible activity at the Paseo de Marianas last Thursday (12/2) night as the Christmas Tree project is in full swing. Students from various schools par-taking in the contest to decorate trees with recycled materials. The winners will be announced on December 16th.
Then there was the Jumbo Tree Lighting and Ribbon tying ceremony. Different colored ribbons represent different causes or charities. Beautify CNMI! and partners are represented by Green Ribbons. After a brief introduction at the main stage, we took our buckets of ribbons to a cental table where anyone who wanted to write a message on a ribbon and tie it to the tree could do so.
In fact, if you missed the opening event, you can still visit Kinpachi Ice Cream shop any time to request a ribbon to tie on the tree!
Beautify CNMI!'s Laurie Peterka with PDM Promoter's Horiguchi-san - comrades in in supporting all efforts to help inspire the all peoples of the CNMI to take care of our beautiful island and each other!
Last Garment Factory Soon to Close on Saipan, CNMI
Saipan, CNMI—Almost twenty-six years after the first one opened in October, 1983, the last garment factory on the US territory of Saipan will close its doors January 31, 2009*, ending a controversy-plagued era on this island in the Western Pacific.
Saipan was home to a once-thriving garment industry which, at its height, hosted 36 factories which employed over 15,000 contract workers (mostly women from China, and many from Thailand, Philippines and other Pacific Islands), generated (taxes) of $40 million/year for the CNMI government, and $994 million in annual exports to the world.
“It’s a fascinating story, but much remains hidden about what things were really like here,” says Walt Goodridge, columnist for the Saipan Tribune, and editor of Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Factory Girl (www.saipanfactorygirl.com), the only known first-hand account of the (8-year) experience of a Chinese garment factory worker on Saipan. “Opinions vary, but most workers feel it was a benefit to earn the money they did. When the Uno Moda closes in a few days, it will mark a significant turning point for the island’s now primarily tourist-based economy,” Goodridge added.
Saipan’s unique relationship with the US allowed manufacturers to have “made in the USA” labels on garments sewn there, while benefiting from lower costs and a non-US regulated working wage paid to a mostly female, non-resident workforce. As the trade tarrifs lifted, conditions became less profitable, and factories began leaving Saipan for other profit-friendly regions.
In 2006, a Ms. Magazine article with allegations of labor abuse, corruption, and cover-up, along with class-action suits against factories, turned the media spotlight on Saipan, and government official complicity, and has tainted the island’s image with associations to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. "Out with the old. In with the new!"
Many hope Pres. Bush’s recent designation of the world’s 3rd largest “no-take” marine monument which includes the nearby Mariana Trench will launch a new image and a new era of industries for the island as this one passes.
###
Visit SaipanFactoryFacts.org for a 25-year industry timeline, income statistics, important milestones, dates of closures and a complimentary excerpt from Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin.*Other media reports of dates of closure differ from what is actually happening here at "ground zero" on Saipan.
Uno Moda is the only factory still in operation, with workers reporting to work each day. Workers at Uno Moda have told us that the last day they will actually be sewing and
From mywindow ofrhyatt apartmentI can see the thick clouds blocking the sun’s first rays as they appear to the East over top of the open Pacific. It’s 6:15 AM Saipan time and I’ve already been up for an hour or more.
It happened to me on thisday when I gotupIfelt numb senseandmy hands were notmovingalmostlike paralised. Itwas a shockfor me. I run to the hospital to find that Iam toldIwill be paralysedunlessabigoperation is done. It was a microsurgerywithgreatprecession and it can be failed too. I also received the news thatone of my br in law in Saudi Arabia passed away . another boltfrom the blue .
Up until today I would have told anyone interested in listening just how happy I am to be alive. The feeling is indescribable really and quite often it comes over me after a momentary flash that all too quickly reminds me how my backwas just cracked and needto fix mywhole bodyas Iam facingacutepain on my back. The fact is that itis nothing but a nerve dis orderthat need major surgery
Today for the first time in a long time, almost as suddenly as the those images of myself retracted on the operating table appear in my mind, I’ve had thoughts that perhaps it would just be easier if I wasn’t here at all.
The reasons are multiple, the rational non-existent, yet the feelings very real.
I half joked with friends before leaving for kerala India and concealed myemotionsand took plane to cochinthinking that a father ofthree daughterswhere in keralait’s alike a bad dream . Your responsibilities aremuch and youknow its time for you to have 50 lacsIndian rupees for the marriage arrangements. But Itook itlight and preapared tofacea new challenge with a body that is sick.
Touching down to overwhelming responsibility.
On Thursday morning at about 2AM I cleared CNMI customs after a long long day of travel including an 11-hour flight from saipanto Singaporeintocochina 4-hour layover and a 3-½ hour flight from Singapore tocochin . Iforgotmybackpain as I thoughtofseeing myfamily membersandmy beloved wifeElizabeth. and just happy to be home when it landed safely.
My wife met me at the terminal and after a short 5 minute ride I walked in the door only to find my daughters waiting for Daddy to come home. All of themlookingtaller.
The cremation ofmybrin law was on the same dayI landed atcochin. The very next day I went to see the DoctorandIwas toldabouta majorsurgery. Pain was too much tried manythings and finallyIlostall hopes ofrecoverywithouta surgery. Butfinally we metkochappan chettan atpoonkunnam . That turned out to be a a special dayinlife . According to hisdirectionwe went to mysore and seen DrIqbal mohamad the kind of marmani treatment . We could reach there in the morning and we werelucky within5minutes IwasOK. Iagain came back intolife.
As I sip my morning coffee alone with my thoughts and this computer in front of me, I think of the many things to be thankful for this year, but what stood out most as I reflect particularly on yesterday is family: not just my wife and kids, which I love and am so thankful for having in my life, but they are all awayin India makes me sad . NowI think it is time for me to go to my countryso thatI can recapturewhatI lostmore than a decadeagoin saipan .I still love saipan withall this troubles cause where everyou go life is the same . here I have people like my family members that makes me forget some sorrows. I am fortunate to have friends like sunil and family styan andfamily venu chettan and family . All these people gather together in every occasion and we mingle and try to be merry
The year 2010I lost many of my familymembers My beloved sister and mybr in lawand my auntie and many morefar and distant relatives. The sad part I am not there to bid them last farewell and I am not going to see them again thathurta lot. I still love mynephews and still wanted to be with them . Any wayI am returninghome may beforgood butstill thisplacewill everrememberinmyheart andmind .
I am sohappyI still have my Sosannam chechi my younger sister to be with me whenI go home. It’s the onlyrayofhope and it’s the onlyI have as my family in this face of earth.
When I heardmyelder sisterpassed awaywe bothcried a lot andthe pain was so deepinsideI clould notexpress it in terms. But its all Gods plan.NowI am returning home it was something Iknow that my wifeso happy andwaiting for my home coming , having family around is what matters most now andI am prepared to meetmynewchallenges in life.
My Kids
Christy Danisha and Donna
We all going to have a happyunion and we are going to experience the real love and a familyunion. Hopefully I am sureI will have more chances to spend time with them and make more memeoriesof a happy familybutI still love saipan because ofits tranquility as an island
. Being here has given me new experiences and memories withmany of myfriends… There are many here I cantforget themI will be dedicatinga pagefor themand ourunions andparties for14yrs It is nothingbut trueexperiences . some meetaand kadua bitter andsweet are the memories of them. When I look backwhat I did notdo to them as a frind.I am sure everyone has something to say and feel good aboutmeihope( grins ).
Cheers to family!Hope everyone had a wonderfulChristmas party
Managaha (Ghalaghal) Island
Managaha Island.
Managaha island sits off Tanapag on the edge of the lagoon that forms Tanapag Harbor. A flat coral islet, Managaha plays two important roles to the people of Saipan. The first has to do with a historical navigator who brought Carolinians to this island. He is important to all the Carolinians on Saipan. For them, Managaha—known as Ghalaghal in Carolinian—was a very, very sacred and taboo place.
“There is an important navigator buried on Managaha," Ben says, "and his name is Aghurubw. During the German time, even before that—even back into ancient times, the Carolinians were already sailing throughout the central Pacific areas, and they would come to barter, to trade for cigarettes or for clothing, or other goods. But this navigator came with several canoes to settle on Saipan.
"Originally they thought Aghurubw was from Satawal, because that’s where he left to come to Saipan. But other scholars hinted that he is probably from the Chuuk side, Puluwat, other islands in those areas."
Monument to Aghurubw on Managaha.
"Aghurubw brought a large number of Carolinians to settle in Saipan. At that time, the Spaniards had taken all of the Chamorros from Saipan down to Guam, and when he arrived here there wasn’t anybody here. There were houses but no people were found on the islands, so he called it Seipel, ‘empty journey.’
"And when he died, because of his stature in the community, he was buried on Managaha. My recollection of the way they buried him is that they dug not the conventional type of grave where you have a rectangular shape. They dug a hole and they buried him standing up, and the rationale behind that is so that people don’t walk on his grave. If you have only the head and the shoulders, it’s a very small area, and very unlikely that you will step on him because of the area that is covered."
"The small tombstone is really depicting only that he is buried on the island, but his body is not in that area. It is really a secret. Nobody knows where he was buried. We only know that he was buried somewhere there. But because of that secret, and the traditional custom of not stepping on his grave, that dictates that he is buried secretly and only a few people know where. And those people who buried him must be dead by this time.
"The Refalemei clan seems to be very active with Aghurubw, and so I would deduce that the Refalemei clan is the same clan with Aghurubw. His clan and my clan are different clans. We do not recognize him as a chief from this village because he’s not a chief from this village. He’s from other areas. So normally, people from Tanapag don’t go down and celebrate Aghurubw. The Refalemei clan would get together and invite people and even Governors and Congress people would go down and celebrate, but we normally don’t."
The tombstone only suggests that somewhere on the island, Aghurubw is buried.
Approaching Managaha from the lagoon.
For the Tanapag people, Managaha was the best place for carrying out the Carolinian custom of fiighiiló. “What belonged to a person who died, you take it and have to put it in the casket before you close it,” Rosa Castro explains. “But leftover possessions, the second day after you bury the person you can take all of what belonged to that person and put it in bags. And we get together all the family members and we ride the boat, we carry those to Managaha, where they burn it.”
“Fiighiiló is the burning of the leftover possessions, the actual burning,” Ben explains. Fiighii means "burn" and ló means "away." Ben says, "We’d burn clothing, materials, and properties of the deceased."
“When a person died,” Pete reiterates, “all his belongings were put into the casket, but whatever new things that they cannot put inside the casket, they took and burned that. It’s a special ceremony, held in an isolated place, a secret place. You have to go away from the mainland, and get away from the people.”
“And Tanapag is the mainland,” Ben adds, “because there’s a lot of people here, you go down there and you burn it away from other family members. Only your family will go there and help out with disposing of the deceased’s property."
Where the boats landed on Managaha when Ben attended a fiighiiló.
The path up to the site where the burning took place.
“I attended once,"Ben recounts. "I could not recall the person who died at that time, but my adopted father owns a boat and everybody in the village would ask, ‘can we use your boat to take down this property of the deceased.’ And now I know that the coffin is not big enough and sometimes the deceased would have a lot of clothing or materials and it cannot fit into the coffin. The fiighiiló is the one that is the left over that we would go down and take it to Managaha and burn this property.”
"Some like me, we don’t go to Managaha," Rosa says, "because we don’t have a boat, we just take it down to Lower Base, next to Dillingham, and we burn there. My niece’s clothes, we burned. We threw in everything we took and we burned it. Some, they just burn outside the house when it’s four days after the burial. That is the custom. It’s a Carolinian custom. It’s not Chamorro, only Carolinian."
Ben points out the general area where the burning took place. The picnic area shows that the island is now very much managed as a park for tourists and residents.
“This was done during daytime,”Pete says. “There was designated a date and time. But usually they would go early in the morning. They would burn everything."
While fiighiiló refers to the burning of the belongings, this act is part of a larger blessing ritual, fighrourou. The ritual portion is conducted by women only.
“In my younger days I was already practical in operating outboard motors," Ben recalls, "because we had one or two of them. We had a couple of boats. My father would own boats and they would ask if I would drag them down to Managaha to do this ritual, and my father could not say no. That is a custom, and my mother Isabelle is Carolinian, so my father would not say no to a Carolinian custom.
"So we would go down there and they would just bring up the possession and they pile them up, they get wood and of course they bring food for us and water, and a lot of times, they’ll ask us to go get coconuts for drinking. And they would burn it as they sat down there, and they talked stories."
Ben with his boat at Managaha. The high-rise hotels of Garapan are visible on the opposite shore.
Managaha from Tanapag.
“The burning is really not an elaborate thing. They just bring from the boat the property or the clothing of this person. They’ll make a fireplace and we’ll go and collect firewood and the older guys would make the design for the fire to be burned, usually not very big. And then they’ll burn. They make sure that everything is burned. Not a piece of cloth is left behind. We would continue to bring wood and continue to burn until it’s all ashes. Sometimes it took two hours.
"It was not a solemn event really, just telling stories, just talking about the departed one, what he did good, maybe he’s a good fisherman; what he did right, what he did wrong and the whole deal. It is just a reminiscing. Some ask, ‘Does anybody know his knowledge?’ and others will say, ‘Yes, his son understands this and his daughter did that,’ and that means he handed down his knowledge."
"I don’t know if it’s a ritual but some older ladies would take some of the ashes and spread them out in the ocean. That was unique in my day. Both men and women came out to do this, mostly immediate family. It was not elaborate, as I remember, but it was just a ritual that I appreciate very much.
"And that’s what we have lost today. I haven’t heard that in a long time."
We will hear more about traditions passed down from the elders. But first, we turn our attention to the sea.
Managaha island sits off Tanapag on the edge of the lagoon that forms Tanapag Harbor. A flat coral islet, Managaha plays two important roles to the people of Saipan. The first has to do with a historical navigator who brought Carolinians to this island. He is important to all the Carolinians on Saipan. For them, Managaha—known as Ghalaghal in Carolinian—was a very, very sacred and taboo place.
“There is an important navigator buried on Managaha," Ben says, "and his name is Aghurubw. During the German time, even before that—even back into ancient times, the Carolinians were already sailing throughout the central Pacific areas, and they would come to barter, to trade for cigarettes or for clothing, or other goods. But this navigator came with several canoes to settle on Saipan.
"Originally they thought Aghurubw was from Satawal, because that’s where he left to come to Saipan. But other scholars hinted that he is probably from the Chuuk side, Puluwat, other islands in those areas."
Monument to Aghurubw on Managaha.
"Aghurubw brought a large number of Carolinians to settle in Saipan. At that time, the Spaniards had taken all of the Chamorros from Saipan down to Guam, and when he arrived here there wasn’t anybody here. There were houses but no people were found on the islands, so he called it Seipel, ‘empty journey.’
"And when he died, because of his stature in the community, he was buried on Managaha. My recollection of the way they buried him is that they dug not the conventional type of grave where you have a rectangular shape. They dug a hole and they buried him standing up, and the rationale behind that is so that people don’t walk on his grave. If you have only the head and the shoulders, it’s a very small area, and very unlikely that you will step on him because of the area that is covered."
"The small tombstone is really depicting only that he is buried on the island, but his body is not in that area. It is really a secret. Nobody knows where he was buried. We only know that he was buried somewhere there. But because of that secret, and the traditional custom of not stepping on his grave, that dictates that he is buried secretly and only a few people know where. And those people who buried him must be dead by this time.
"The Refalemei clan seems to be very active with Aghurubw, and so I would deduce that the Refalemei clan is the same clan with Aghurubw. His clan and my clan are different clans. We do not recognize him as a chief from this village because he’s not a chief from this village. He’s from other areas. So normally, people from Tanapag don’t go down and celebrate Aghurubw. The Refalemei clan would get together and invite people and even Governors and Congress people would go down and celebrate, but we normally don’t."
The tombstone only suggests that somewhere on the island, Aghurubw is buried.
Approaching Managaha from the lagoon.
For the Tanapag people, Managaha was the best place for carrying out the Carolinian custom of fiighiiló. “What belonged to a person who died, you take it and have to put it in the casket before you close it,” Rosa Castro explains. “But leftover possessions, the second day after you bury the person you can take all of what belonged to that person and put it in bags. And we get together all the family members and we ride the boat, we carry those to Managaha, where they burn it.”
“Fiighiiló is the burning of the leftover
Managaha (Ghalaghal) Island
Managaha Island.
Managaha island sits off Tanapag on the edge of the lagoon that forms Tanapag Harbor. A flat coral islet, Managaha plays two important roles to the people of Saipan. The first has to do with a historical navigator who brought Carolinians to this island. He is important to all the Carolinians on Saipan. For them, Managaha—known as Ghalaghal in Carolinian—was a very, very sacred and taboo place.
“There is an important navigator buried on Managaha," Ben says, "and his name is Aghurubw. During the German time, even before that—even back into ancient times, the Carolinians were already sailing throughout the central Pacific areas, and they would come to barter, to trade for cigarettes or for clothing, or other goods. But this navigator came with several canoes to settle on Saipan.
"Originally they thought Aghurubw was from Satawal, because that’s where he left to come to Saipan. But other scholars hinted that he is probably from the Chuuk side, Puluwat, other islands in those areas."
Monument to Aghurubw on Managaha.
"Aghurubw brought a large number of Carolinians to settle in Saipan. At that time, the Spaniards had taken all of the Chamorros from Saipan down to Guam, and when he arrived here there wasn’t anybody here. There were houses but no people were found on the islands, so he called it Seipel, ‘empty journey.’
"And when he died, because of his stature in the community, he was buried on Managaha. My recollection of the way they buried him is that they dug not the conventional type of grave where you have a rectangular shape. They dug a hole and they buried him standing up, and the rationale behind that is so that people don’t walk on his grave. If you have only the head and the shoulders, it’s a very small area, and very unlikely that you will step on him because of the area that is covered."
"The small tombstone is really depicting only that he is buried on the island, but his body is not in that area. It is really a secret. Nobody knows where he was buried. We only know that he was buried somewhere there. But because of that secret, and the traditional custom of not stepping on his grave, that dictates that he is buried secretly and only a few people know where. And those people who buried him must be dead by this time.
"The Refalemei clan seems to be very active with Aghurubw, and so I would deduce that the Refalemei clan is the same clan with Aghurubw. His clan and my clan are different clans. We do not recognize him as a chief from this village because he’s not a chief from this village. He’s from other areas. So normally, people from Tanapag don’t go down and celebrate Aghurubw. The Refalemei clan would get together and invite people and even Governors and Congress people would go down and celebrate, but we normally don’t."
The tombstone only suggests that somewhere on the island, Aghurubw is buried.
Approaching Managaha from the lagoon.
For the Tanapag people, Managaha was the best place for carrying out the Carolinian custom of fiighiiló. “What belonged to a person who died, you take it and have to put it in the casket before you close it,” Rosa Castro explains. “But leftover possessions, the second day after you bury the person you can take all of what belonged to that person and put it in bags. And we get together all the family members and we ride the boat, we carry those to Managaha, where they burn it.”
“Fiighiiló is the burning of the leftover possessions, the actual burning,” Ben explains. Fiighii means "burn" and ló means "away." Ben says, "We’d burn clothing, materials, and properties of the deceased."
“When a person died,” Pete reiterates, “all his belongings were put into the casket, but whatever new things that they cannot put inside the casket, they took and burned that. It’s a special ceremony, held in an isolated place, a secret place. You have to go away from the mainland, and get away from the people.”
“And Tanapag is the mainland,” Ben adds, “because there’s a lot of people here, you go down there and you burn it away from other family members. Only your family will go there and help out with disposing of the deceased’s property."
Where the boats landed on Managaha when Ben attended a fiighiiló.
The path up to the site where the burning took place.
“I attended once,"Ben recounts. "I could not recall the person who died at that time, but my adopted father owns a boat and everybody in the village would ask, ‘can we use your boat to take down this property of the deceased.’ And now I know that the coffin is not big enough and sometimes the deceased would have a lot of clothing or materials and it cannot fit into the coffin. The fiighiiló is the one that is the left over that we would go down and take it to Managaha and burn this property.”
"Some like me, we don’t go to Managaha," Rosa says, "because we don’t have a boat, we just take it down to Lower Base, next to Dillingham, and we burn there. My niece’s clothes, we burned. We threw in everything we took and we burned it. Some, they just burn outside the house when it’s four days after the burial. That is the custom. It’s a Carolinian custom. It’s not Chamorro, only Carolinian."
Ben points out the general area where the burning took place. The picnic area shows that the island is now very much managed as a park for tourists and residents.
“This was done during daytime,”Pete says. “There was designated a date and time. But usually they would go early in the morning. They would burn everything."
While fiighiiló refers to the burning of the belongings, this act is part of a larger blessing ritual, fighrourou. The ritual portion is conducted by women only.
“In my younger days I was already practical in operating outboard motors," Ben recalls, "because we had one or two of them. We had a couple of boats. My father would own boats and they would ask if I would drag them down to Managaha to do this ritual, and my father could not say no. That is a custom, and my mother Isabelle is Carolinian, so my father would not say no to a Carolinian custom.
"So we would go down there and they would just bring up the possession and they pile them up, they get wood and of course they bring food for us and water, and a lot of times, they’ll ask us to go get coconuts for drinking. And they would burn it as they sat down there, and they talked stories."
Ben with his boat at Managaha. The high-rise hotels of Garapan are visible on the opposite shore.
Managaha from Tanapag.
“The burning is really not an elaborate thing. They just bring from the boat the property or the clothing of this person. They’ll make a fireplace and we’ll go and collect firewood and the older guys would make the design for the fire to be burned, usually not very big. And then they’ll burn. They make sure that everything is burned. Not a piece of cloth is left behind. We would continue to bring wood and continue to burn until it’s all ashes. Sometimes it took two hours.
"It was not a solemn event really, just telling stories, just talking about the departed one, what he did good, maybe he’s a good fisherman; what he did right, what he did wrong and the whole deal. It is just a reminiscing. Some ask, ‘Does anybody know his knowledge?’ and others will say, ‘Yes, his son understands this and his daughter did that,’ and that means he handed down his knowledge."
"I don’t know if it’s a ritual but some older ladies would take some of the ashes and spread them out in the ocean. That was unique in my day. Both men and women came out to do this, mostly immediate family. It was not elaborate, as I remember, but it was just a ritual that I appreciate very much.
"And that’s what we have lost today. I haven’t heard that in a long time."
We will hear more about traditions passed down from the elders. But first, we turn our attention to the sea.
possessions, the actual burning,” Ben explains. Fiighii means "burn" and ló means "away." Ben says, "We’d burn clothing, materials, and properties of the deceased."
“When a person died,” Pete reiterates, “all his belongings were put into the casket, but whatever new things that they cannot put inside the casket, they took and burned that. It’s a special ceremony, held in an isolated place, a secret place. You have to go away from the mainland, and get away from the people.”
“And Tanapag is the mainland,” Ben adds, “because there’s a lot of people here, you go down there and you burn it away from other family members. Only your family will go there and help out with disposing of the deceased’s property."
Where the boats landed on Managaha when Ben attended a fiighiiló.
The path up to the site where the burning took place.
Managaha (Ghalaghal) Island
Managaha Island.
Managaha island sits off Tanapag on the edge of the lagoon that forms Tanapag Harbor. A flat coral islet, Managaha plays two important roles to the people of Saipan. The first has to do with a historical navigator who brought Carolinians to this island. He is important to all the Carolinians on Saipan. For them, Managaha—known as Ghalaghal in Carolinian—was a very, very sacred and taboo place.
“There is an important navigator buried on Managaha," Ben says, "and his name is Aghurubw. During the German time, even before that—even back into ancient times, the Carolinians were already sailing throughout the central Pacific areas, and they would come to barter, to trade for cigarettes or for clothing, or other goods. But this navigator came with several canoes to settle on Saipan.
"Originally they thought Aghurubw was from Satawal, because that’s where he left to come to Saipan. But other scholars hinted that he is probably from the Chuuk side, Puluwat, other islands in those areas."
Monument to Aghurubw on Managaha.
"Aghurubw brought a large number of Carolinians to settle in Saipan. At that time, the Spaniards had taken all of the Chamorros from Saipan down to Guam, and when he arrived here there wasn’t anybody here. There were houses but no people were found on the islands, so he called it Seipel, ‘empty journey.’
"And when he died, because of his stature in the community, he was buried on Managaha. My recollection of the way they buried him is that they dug not the conventional type of grave where you have a rectangular shape. They dug a hole and they buried him standing up, and the rationale behind that is so that people don’t walk on his grave. If you have only the head and the shoulders, it’s a very small area, and very unlikely that you will step on him because of the area that is covered."
"The small tombstone is really depicting only that he is buried on the island, but his body is not in that area. It is really a secret. Nobody knows where he was buried. We only know that he was buried somewhere there. But because of that secret, and the traditional custom of not stepping on his grave, that dictates that he is buried secretly and only a few people know where. And those people who buried him must be dead by this time.
"The Refalemei clan seems to be very active with Aghurubw, and so I would deduce that the Refalemei clan is the same clan with Aghurubw. His clan and my clan are different clans. We do not recognize him as a chief from this village because he’s not a chief from this village. He’s from other areas. So normally, people from Tanapag don’t go down and celebrate Aghurubw. The Refalemei clan would get together and invite people and even Governors and Congress people would go down and celebrate, but we normally don’t."
The tombstone only suggests that somewhere on the island, Aghurubw is buried.
Approaching Managaha from the lagoon.
For the Tanapag people, Managaha was the best place for carrying out the Carolinian custom of fiighiiló. “What belonged to a person who died, you take it and have to put it in the casket before you close it,” Rosa Castro explains. “But leftover possessions, the second day after you bury the person you can take all of what belonged to that person and put it in bags. And we get together all the family members and we ride the boat, we carry those to Managaha, where they burn it.”
“Fiighiiló is the burning of the leftover possessions, the actual burning,” Ben explains. Fiighii means "burn" and ló means "away." Ben says, "We’d burn clothing, materials, and properties of the deceased."
“When a person died,” Pete reiterates, “all his belongings were put into the casket, but whatever new things that they cannot put inside the casket, they took and burned that. It’s a special ceremony, held in an isolated place, a secret place. You have to go away from the mainland, and get away from the people.”
“And Tanapag is the mainland,” Ben adds, “because there’s a lot of people here, you go down there and you burn it away from other family members. Only your family will go there and help out with disposing of the deceased’s property."
Where the boats landed on Managaha when Ben attended a fiighiiló.
The path up to the site where the burning took place.
“I attended once,"Ben recounts. "I could not recall the person who died at that time, but my adopted father owns a boat and everybody in the village would ask, ‘can we use your boat to take down this property of the deceased.’ And now I know that the coffin is not big enough and sometimes the deceased would have a lot of clothing or materials and it cannot fit into the coffin. The fiighiiló is the one that is the left over that we would go down and take it to Managaha and burn this property.”
"Some like me, we don’t go to Managaha," Rosa says, "because we don’t have a boat, we just take it down to Lower Base, next to Dillingham, and we burn there. My niece’s clothes, we burned. We threw in everything we took and we burned it. Some, they just burn outside the house when it’s four days after the burial. That is the custom. It’s a Carolinian custom. It’s not Chamorro, only Carolinian."
Ben points out the general area where the burning took place. The picnic area shows that the island is now very much managed as a park for tourists and residents.
“This was done during daytime,”Pete says. “There was designated a date and time. But usually they would go early in the morning. They would burn everything."
While fiighiiló refers to the burning of the belongings, this act is part of a larger blessing ritual, fighrourou. The ritual portion is conducted by women only.
“In my younger days I was already practical in operating outboard motors," Ben recalls, "because we had one or two of them. We had a couple of boats. My father would own boats and they would ask if I would drag them down to Managaha to do this ritual, and my father could not say no. That is a custom, and my mother Isabelle is Carolinian, so my father would not say no to a Carolinian custom.
"So we would go down there and they would just bring up the possession and they pile them up, they get wood and of course they bring food for us and water, and a lot of times, they’ll ask us to go get coconuts for drinking. And they would burn it as they sat down there, and they talked stories."
Ben with his boat at Managaha. The high-rise hotels of Garapan are visible on the opposite shore.
Managaha from Tanapag.
“The burning is really not an elaborate thing. They just bring from the boat the property or the clothing of this person. They’ll make a fireplace and we’ll go and collect firewood and the older guys would make the design for the fire to be burned, usually not very big. And then they’ll burn. They make sure that everything is burned. Not a piece of cloth is left behind. We would continue to bring wood and continue to burn until it’s all ashes. Sometimes it took two hours.
"It was not a solemn event really, just telling stories, just talking about the departed one, what he did good, maybe he’s a good fisherman; what he did right, what he did wrong and the whole deal. It is just a reminiscing. Some ask, ‘Does anybody know his knowledge?’ and others will say, ‘Yes, his son understands this and his daughter did that,’ and that means he handed down his knowledge."
"I don’t know if it’s a ritual but some older ladies would take some of the ashes and spread them out in the ocean. That was unique in my day. Both men and women came out to do this, mostly immediate family. It was not elaborate, as I remember, but it was just a ritual that I appreciate very much.
"And that’s what we have lost today. I haven’t heard that in a long time."
We will hear more about traditions passed down from the elders. But first, we turn our attention to the sea.
“I attended once,"Ben recounts. "I could not recall the person who died at that time, but my adopted father owns a boat and everybody in the village would ask, ‘can we use your boat to take down this property of the deceased.’ And now I know that the coffin is not big enough and sometimes the deceased would have a lot of clothing or materials and it cannot fit into the coffin. The fiighiiló is the one that is the left over that we would go down and take it to Managaha and burn this property.”
"Some like me, we don’t go to Managaha," Rosa says, "because we don’t have a boat, we just take it down to Lower Base, next to Dillingham, and we burn there. My niece’s clothes, we burned. We threw in everything we took and we burned it. Some, they just burn outside the house when it’s four days after the burial. That is the custom. It’s a Carolinian custom. It’s not Chamorro, only Carolinian."
Ben points out the general area where the burning took place. The picnic area shows that the island is now very much managed as a park for tourists and residents.
“This was done during daytime,”Pete says. “There was designated a date and time. But usually they would go early in the morning. They would burn everything."
While fiighiiló refers to the burning of the belongings, this act is part of a larger blessing ritual, fighrourou. The ritual portion is conducted by women only.
“In my younger days I was already practical in operating outboard motors," Ben recalls, "because we had one or two of them. We had a couple of boats. My father would own boats and they would ask if I would drag them down to Managaha to do this ritual, and my father could not say no. That is a custom, and my mother Isabelle is Carolinian, so my father would not say no to a Carolinian custom.
"So we would go down there and they would just bring up the possession and they pile them up, they get wood and of course they bring food for us and water, and a lot of times, they’ll ask us to go get coconuts for drinking. And they would burn it as they sat down there, and they talked stories."
Ben with his boat at Managaha. The high-rise hotels of Garapan are visible on the opposite shore.
Managaha from Tanapag.
“The burning is really not an elaborate thing. They just bring from the boat the property or the clothing of this person. They’ll make a fireplace and we’ll go and collect firewood and the older guys would make the design for the fire to be burned, usually not very big. And then they’ll burn. They make sure that everything is burned. Not a piece of cloth is left behind. We would continue to bring wood and continue to burn until it’s all ashes. Sometimes it took two hours.
"It was not a solemn event really, just telling stories, just talking about the departed one, what he did good, maybe he’s a good fisherman; what he did right, what he did wrong and the whole deal. It is just a reminiscing. Some ask, ‘Does anybody know his knowledge?’ and others will say, ‘Yes, his son understands this and his daughter did that,’ and that means he handed down his knowledge."
"I don’t know if it’s a ritual but some older ladies would take some of the ashes and spread them out in the ocean. That was unique in my day. Both men and women came out to do this, mostly immediate family. It was not elaborate, as I remember, but it was just a ritual that I appreciate very much.
"And that’s what we have lost today. I haven’t heard that in a long time."
We will hear more about traditions passed down from the elders. But first, we turn our attention to the sea.
