As part of the Guam Preservation Trust’s vision and mission to make historic preservation a community responsibility, we have collaborated with the Richard and Julia Moe Family Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Guam Department of Education CHamoru Studies and Special Projects Division to create the first ever Ekungok i Estoriå-ta (Listen to Our Stories) project.

As all historic sites have the treasured stories behind them, the goal of this project is to bridge CHamoru culture and historic sites place based learning to be taught in the CHamoru language as a means to perpetuate the native language of Guam and the Marianas. As the CHamoru language was said to be primarily passed down orally, to add an innovative way to transmit the story, it was thought that this may be the method of teaching the site and reinforcing the lessons by teaching the site using songs in the CHamoru language.

To meet these goals and objectives, the inaugural group of teachers received training in history methods during the Summer of 2019 which exposed them to conduct original research on their respective site. These teachers then created a narrative, aligned the subject matter into CHamoru language curriculum standards and created lesson plans and sample activities for in-class and at the site. The musical talent found within the staff of the Guam Preservation Trust used the narratives written by the CHamoru language teachers and original songs and melodies were created and then returned to the CHamoru language teachers to further teach the language to their students.

Finally, the initial core group of CHamoru language teachers will be then tasked to teach the remaining CHamoru language teachers using digital tools created by the project including DVDs, video, and on-line resources. Indeed, the goal to have many future student and teacher generations to teach about Guam’s historic sites using the CHamoru language and to have them transmit that knowledge to the entire community.

The Stories in Songs 

Vocals, lyrics, and music composed by:
Jesse Bais & Ruby Santos;

Studio Engineer & Music Arranger: Zachary Quinata;

Musicians: Zachary Quinata, Kameron Quinata,
Les Aquiningoc, Ruby Santos, and Jesse Bais;

Mastered by: Roberto Aguon

Recorded September 2020 at the Historic Lujan House.

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The Lyrics and Guitar Chords for each song are found on the back page of each respective lesson plan. 

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Click on a track below to begin listening.

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Click on the PDF icon to download the entire series or choose them individually below.

Individual Lesson Plans & Songs

Lesson Plan Authors

Acho’ Fouha

Umatac

Tinige’ Garcia B.W. Rodriguez

Kampanayon Malesso’
Merizo

Tinige’ Rufina Mendiola

Fuerte Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
yan i Sengsong Humatak

Umatac

Tinige’ Mae Nowell

Guma’ Kongresu/Liheslaturan Guahan

Hagatna

Tinige’ Rufina Mendiola

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Guma’ Jose Pangelinan Lujan

Hagatna

Tinige’ Julie Taitague Garcia

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I Sengsong Litekyan

Ritidian/Yigo 

Tinige’ Maria Agulto

Kombento gi iya Malesso’
Merizo

Tinige’ Julie Taitague Garcia

Påle’ Diego Luis de San Vitores

Tumon

Tinige’ Grace Rodriguez

Plåsa de Espåña
Hagatna

Tinige’ Barbara Manibusan

I Sengsong Inalahan gi iya Guahan
Inarajan

Tinige’ Julie Taitague Garcia

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For Information about the Ekungok i Estoria-ta Second Series, Click Here