Respecting the Past while Designing the Future of the Guam Congress Building

Richard Reed & Tony Kim

 

The architectural design for the Restoration and Rehabilitation of the Guam Congress Building incorporated The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation and the US Green Building Councils LEED Certification. The Guam Legislature was awarded the USGBC's highest rating, LEED Platinum, the only building on Guam to achieve this distinction to date.

 

Biography

Richard Reed and Tony Kim are principals at RNK Architects.

 

 A Dog, a Ring and Fallen Trees

Richard Olmo
In July 2016 the Andersen Air Force Base archaeologist undertook a quality control reconnaissance on a small parcel of land adjacent to the WWII-era, Northwest Field. Several archaeological sites had already been identified on the parcel and these were verified by the archaeologist with no new sites being found during the reconnaissance. However, a new isolated find was made, comprised of a Cant Dog and Toe Ring. These were parts of a compound tool used in the timber industry and appear to be the first artifacts of their kind reported onisland. Furthermore, this tool may be evidence of a specific historic event chronicled in Pascual Artero’s autobiography involving the Japanese Command during WWII.
 

Biography

Richard Olmo has worked as an archaeologist on Guam since 1992. He taught for 15 years at both the University of Guam and the University of Maryland University College. He has served on the Boards of the Guam Historic Preservation Trust and the Guam Museum. He also worked as a consultant with the Guam State Historic Preservation Office for many years. He is currently the Cultural Resource Manager for Andersen Air Force Base.

 

Valley of the Latte

Dave Tydingco

To share the vision and mission of the Valley of the Latte as a means to celebrate our history and culture, and share the natural beauty of our island with people of all ages.

 

David B. Tydingco is Managing Director and Owner of Valley of the Latte llc. He previously served as Senior Vice President for a real estate development firm, as the President and CEO of the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association (GHRA) from 1994 to 2006, and General Manager and Chief Executive Officer for the Port Authority of Guam from 1987 – 1993. He is a 1985 graduate of California State University Sacramento and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance.

 

"Who Wears the Beads? 2,000 Years of Ornaments from an Archaeological Site on Guam"

Judith Amesbury 

 

"Who Wears the Beads? 2,000 Years of Ornaments from an Archaeological Site on Guam"

An archaeological excavation, which took place at Tumon Bay, Guam, in 2006-2008, recovered more than 400 burials. This includes the remains of more than 150 people who lived during the early Pre-Contact Period. These are the earliest burials yet found on Guam, some of which date to 500 BC. Not only is the number of early people unusual, the number of burial goods is extraordinary. More than 1,700 shell and shark teeth ornaments, which were created over a 2,000 year period, were found on the human remains. The distribution of the beads, bracelets and other ornaments on the people enables us to answer the question “Who Wears the Beads?” Men or women? Only the respected older people or also young people? Only the early Pre-Contact or also the late Pre-Contact people?

A booklet with the same title and an exhibit of replicas of the ornaments are available.

"Pelagic Fishing in the Mariana Archipelago: From the Prehistoric Period to the Present"
The earliest inhabitants of the Mariana Archipelago, who arrived 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, were already expert fishermen. From their sailing canoes, they caught large open-ocean fishes, including mahimahi, marlin, tuna and wahoo. However, soon after Spanish colonization in 1668, hostilities broke out, and the Spanish systematically burned Chamorro villages and canoes and captured fugitives who tried to escape to the northern islands. The Spanish required almost all of the people in the Marianas to relocate to villages on Guam. The Chamorro people, once known for the elegance and swiftness of their sailing canoes, were no longer allowed to sail beyond the reef. For about 200 years, from 1750 to 1950, the Chamorro did not engage in open-ocean fishing. However, after World War II as the economy improved, the local fishermen began to buy boats and fish again for the large pelagic species. In a remarkable comeback, the fishermen of the Mariana Islands reclaimed their heritage as great open-ocean fishermen.

"Traditional Fishing on Guam: Chamoru Chenchulu Fishermen" (a 30-minute video)
In 2010-2012, Micronesian Archaeological Research Services obtained grant money to document traditional fishing on Guam. Judith Amesbury interviewed traditional fishermen and produced a booklet about traditional fishing methods, as well as this 30-minute video aboutchenchulu (surround net) fishing. Fishermen who appear in the video are Ray Topasna, John Ray Aguon and Bobby Alvarez. Narrator is Leonard Iriarte.tuna

 

Biography

Judith R. Amesbury earned her degree in Anthropology from the University of Arizona. She has worked with Micronesian Archaeological Research Services, Guam, for more than 25 years. Her area of expertise is Marine Resource Use. Amesbury has authored numerous reports and publications about fishing and invertebrate collecting, as well as the shell artifacts in the Mariana Islands.

 

I Amot gi Halom Tano

Tricia Atoigue Lizama, Ph.D., LCSW

The indigenous people of Guam, the CHamoru, have used traditional healing arts for over 4000 years. The traditional healer learned about picking åmot (medicinal plants) at a very young age. Not limited to making åmot, the traditional healers also massaged (låsa) and intervened with spirits (suffe) to assist those who were dealing with a health issue-physically, mentally, and spiritually. The traditional healer has had to struggle with the difficulty of finding åmot due to colonization and militarization. Many of the roots and plants that are needed are behind military fences such as the Ritidian Wild Life Refuge, Andersen Air Force Base, and the US Naval Base Guam. This presentation will examine the political and cultural struggles that directly impact the survival of the traditional healing practices of Guahan.

 

Biography

Dr. Lizama is an associate professor of Social Work at the University of Guam (UOG) since 2011. She earned her Doctorate in Human Services from Capella University in 2011. Dr. Lizama’s dissertation focused on the traditional healing practices of surhanu and suruhana and was titled "How are Traditional Chamoru healing practices being preserved and perpetuated in modern Guam". She earned her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Hawaii, Manoa in 1999, and her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Social Work and Psychology from UOG in 1997. Prior to her work at UOG, Dr. Lizama was a team leader/social worker for the Department of Veterans Affairs from 2008 to 2011. She also served as a psychiatric social worker for the Department of Education, Division of Special Education, Program for Students with Emotional Disabilities from September 1999 to January 2003. Dr. Lizama currently is providing behavioral health services on a part-time basis with American Medical Center (AMC). She is a licensed Individual, Marriage and Family Therapist (IMFT) and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She is also a credentialed member of the Academy of Clinical Social Workers (ACSW) and Qualified Clinical Social Worker (QCSW) by the National Association of Social Workers.

 

 

Åmot CHamoru: Our Journey Towards Reclaiming, Revitalizing and Preserving our Indigenous Healing Traditions 

Zita Pangelinan

In the midst of navigating seas of change or perhaps turbulence in Micronesia, Håya Foundation’s mission to “Enhance the Well-Being of our People” is focused on reclaiming, revitalizing and preserving our CHamorro indigenous healing traditions that sustained our people for over 3500 years. 
The impact of over 400 years of colonization and western influence has resulted in a disconnection and a gap in the transmission of traditional knowledge, while our people are suffering from epidemic of non-communicable diseases and behavioral issues with suicide rates 50% higher than that of the United States. 

We will share our journey towards reconnecting, reclaiming and preserving our cultural practices, foods and traditions in our movement towards a healthier future for our people and for Guahan. 

Our Presentation will also include healing remedies by I man Yo’Amte Rosalia “Mama Chai” Mateo and Frances “Auntie Kai” Meno.

 

Biography

Rose Mateo Fejeran (Familian, also known as “Mama Chai” has been a Yo’amte for over 60 years. She currently serves at Guma Yo’Amte, Guam’s First Traditional Healing Center since its opening in May, 2016. While Mama Chai learned some of the remedies from her mother and grandmother, she also apprenticed under Master Suruhana Regina Terlaje. She has extensive knowledgeable of various remedies for children and adults. She provides massages and provides amot for many ailments. She offers guidance for everyone to keep healthy. At 81, she has a very active social life aside from serving clients four days a week at Guma Yo’Amte and spending time with her family. She currently is mentoring and training Clarissa Torres, an apprentice at Guma Yo'Amte.

Mama Chai has co-presented at various conferences and workshops and is a primary guide and Saina as we strive to perpetuate our traditional healing practice. She also has been the guide and instructor during the treks in the jungle to identify medicinal plants and trees. She served as one of Guam’s Delegate for last year’s FestPac Healing Arts Discipline. 

Frances Meno (Familian Charfauros/Arriola) is a yo’amte (suruhana or traditional Chamorro healer) from Guahan. Frances learned from her mother Maria Arriola Villagomez (Born 2/2/1934 and died 5/28/2015) and her grandmother Rufina Muña Charfauros, both notable and trusted yo’amte in Rota and Guam. She learned the various aspects of growing, picking, making and administering traditional herbal remedies watching her and helping mother and grandmother. 

In early adulthood Frances traveled and lived abroad in Hawaii, Washington and Louisiana as a US Army wife and mother to her only daughter Celine. She returned to Guam in 1987 when her grandmother Rufina passed away. This is when she began to practice healing actively on her own and in assistance to her mother. She is confident in her in making amot famagu’on for congestion and mouth sores or chetnot maipe. She developed her method of bringing healing to såffe and provide additional healing! 

Over the years Frances gained more knowledge and experience in the healing arts living and working Guam and in Saipan and Tinian. In 2012, her mother Maria had a stroke and she was her primary care until her passing in March, 2015. Frances practices healing on a daily basis. For over three years, Frances has generously been sharing her knowledge with Håya Foundation in an effort to establish a yo’amte apprenticeship program. Frances now serves clients at the newly established Guma Yo’Amte located at the Sagan Kotturan Chamorro, Oka Point. 

 

Zita Pangelinan,familian Kotla yan Galaide is co-founder of Håya Cultural Heritage Foundation and has served as President since 2005 to present. Håya Foundation’s Mission is to Enhance the Well Being of Our People, and has been focusing on the revitalization of our traditional healing practice and achieving the objectives and resolutions adopted at the First Amot Conference.
She continues to work with I man Yo’amtesiha and support team to promote awareness and education through workshops, community outreach, developing the apprenticeship program, curriculum, and the protection of our land and jungles. In addition, she has co-produced, along with Dr. Tricia Lizama, a documentary on the state of traditional healing entitled “Amot Para I Hinemlo’ta”. She has presented at numerous conferences and workshops with traditional healers, apprentices throughout the Marianas and the Region. She was also invited and presented about her work with Haya Foundation at the International Austronesian Conference in Taiwan in November, 2016. She served as Chair of the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts Traditional Healing Committee wherein the Healers voted to charter the Pacific Indigenous Healers Consortium and was elected as Secretary of the organization.

Zita is also a Human Resource Consultant for over 25 years in areas of organizational restructuring, organizational development, workforce training and development, community development, and broad based management. Her clients include local and federal government as well as local, regional, multi-national organizations and non-profit organizations.

 

Recapturing i Fa’tinas i Latte (the Crafting of Latte)

Dr. Kelly Marsh & Moneka de Oro\

 

Latte (2-piece stone posts) are iconic within the Mariana Islands, connecting CHamorus of today to those of before. Latte are the most visible reminders of the achievements of i manaotao mo'na (CHamoru ancestors), continuing to exist throughout the island and archipelago’s landscapes. However, the tradition of quarrying and carving latte ceased to be passed from generation to generation, perhaps by the early 1700s, owing to the particular history of missionization and colonization in the Mariana Islands.

A latte quarrying and carving project, now entering its third year, has been engaging hundreds of youth and elders of all ages in its effort to recapture the tradition. Students, cultural practitioners, and others have been identifying resource areas, researching applicable terminology, learning how to craftalutong (volcanic rock) tools, testing various methods of quarrying, carving, and otherwise fabricating latte, and developing chants to guide and motivate while one crafts latte carving tools and latte themselves.

Students and their instructors will discuss how the project has evolved, lessons learned, and what it has meant to participate the project. Students, some of whom have become teachers offa'tinas i latte themselves, will demonstrate and provide hands-on opportunities for others to shape higam (adzes) and to carve with mattiyu (hammerstones).

 

Biography

Kelly G Marsh (Taitano) holds a doctorate in cultural heritage studies from Charles Sturt University, Australia, building on her BA in history and anthropology and an MA in Micronesian studies from the University of Guam (UOG). She authored the political review of Guam for the Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs for 11 years and remains active in local cultural and historical efforts. Some of this activity includes serving as the Chair for the History Subcommittee of the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts 2016 which Guam hosted; conducting applied research within the Mariana Islands; advocating for CHamoru and local rights and history; and teaching History of Guam and special studies courses at UOG such as the first latte carving and quarrying course offered by the university's Chamorro Studies program taught alongside latte carvers such as Joe Viloria, Nash Camacho, and former students Moñeka De Oro and Daniel Stone.

Moñeka De Oro, a proud daughter of the Marianas is currently a history teacher at Southern High School on Guahan. Much of her energy is dedicated to community efforts that seek to uplift and unite the people of the Pacific so that we may realize a prosperous and peaceful future.

 

 

The New Island Vernacular: Guam's Built Environment in the Post-World War II Era

Cacilie Craft

 

Since 2014, Cacilie and GANDA’s Architectural Historian, Ed Yarbrough, have assisted the Guam Historic Resources Division with the completion of an island-wide historical architecture survey of the island of Guam. The objective of the study is to locate and record historical architectural properties that are not yet listed on the Guam Register or National Register of Historic Places. All 44 properties recorded thus far date to the 1950s and 1960s, a period that saw profound change in the island’s built environment, when traditional and traditionally-inspired architectural styles and materials gave way to concrete and a new island vernacular so prevalent today. Architectural resources from this period will likely become more historically significant with the passage of time, especially considering the expansion and experimentation in architectural styles seen in Guam over the past twenty years. They are therefore in need of preservation and attention before they are lost or forgotten.

 

Cacilie Craft is an archaeologist and historic preservation specialist at Garcia and Associates (GANDA) where she conducts a wide array of research throughout the Pacific Region, ranging from investigations of archaeological sites to National Register of Historic Places evaluations of historic buildings and structures.

 

Maritime Archaeology in Oceania

Dr. Bill Jeffery

 

This workshop will discuss the role of maritime archaeology in Oceania. A presentation on how maritime archaeology is being implemented in various countries/regions of the world; what it is striving to achieve; and its relevance and benefits to these countries/regions will set the scene for a discussion on what 'type' of maritime archaeology should be implemented in Oceania. It is hoped workshop participants from Guam and various parts of Oceania and South East Asia will attend and contribute to the discussion.

 

Dr. Bill Jeffery has been working as a maritime archaeologist for nearly 40 years. Jeffery’s background in maritime archaeology is in Australia, where after studying with the Western Australian Museum, he formulated and coordinated a maritime heritage program for a state government agency, Heritage South Australia from 1981-2001. He went onto working with the Federated States of Micronesia National Historic Preservation Office and completing a PhD on the World War II shipwrecks in Chuuk Lagoon. He is a consulting maritime archaeologist to ERM Hong Kong, and Research Associate with the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Since 2002, he has been working on various aspects of maritime archaeology in Hong Kong and more recently the training of a number of local divers, and the implementation of maritime archaeology research and excavation projects, the first such projects to be conducted in Hong Kong. He has implemented various types of archaeological and heritage investigations in Australia, the Pacific region, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and various countries in Africa. Bill has lectured in cultural heritage preservation, maritime archaeology and conducted maritime archaeology field schools with Flinders University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Guam and James Cook University in addition to teaching Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) training programs in eleven different countries. In 2015, he began his current position as Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the University of Guam.

 

 

Village Revitalization Planning

Aaron Burger & Joseph Pangelinan

 

In 2013 the American Institute of Architects Guam and Micronesia chapter successfully completed the Inalahan Revitalization Plan. This plan laid out a way forward to preserve the village historic district village heritage and sense of place and has already proved to be a useful planning tool for the community.

Following the success of the Inalahanplan Guam AIA has been asked to begin a similar plan with the Humatak Revitalization plan. The key component of these plans is input from village residents which is garnered thru several village meetings, questionnaires and focus group discussions. Community architectural planning is then applied as a framework to bring the Humatak residents goals to life in a 15-20 year plan that is realistic and achievable. This presentation will cover our approach and methods that were and are still being used in these revitalization plans and welcome public feedback in creating a better framework for residential needs of island communities.

 

Aaron Burger has enjoyed calling Guam and the Western Pacific his home for more than a decade. Witnessing the changing social landscape and economic forces on the islands over the years have motivated him to be part in the preservation of the past and steering of the future to promote healthy and sustainable structural and social infrastructure for future generations.

​

Joseph Pangelinan has over 20 years of experience working in the architectural design industry and is currently a Project Designer/Job Captain with RIM Architects. Over the past 13 years he has focused his efforts on projects varying in complexity and size from National Defense, Military, Commercial, Industrial and Multi-Family Residential project types. Some of the recent local projects he was involved with include the Inalahan Historic District Revitalization Plan, F.Q. Sanchez Elementary School Historical Renovation in Umatac, and the new Gloria B. Nelson (GPA/GWA) Public Service Building.

In his part-time occupation, he is a Major in the Guam Air National Guard serving as the Chief of Engineering for the 254th RED HORSE Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. He is responsible for planning and design, maintaining readiness posture, and overseeing training and equipment resources.

Joe was born and Raised on island. He is passionate about preserving the culture and natural resources on Guam and enjoys running and hiking along the Island's historic and scenic trails.