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Showing posts with label stay rooted. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stay rooted. Show all posts
The Garrido Document
Written by Clynt Ridgell
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Pacific News Center
http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43590:video-1798-garrido-document-reveals-old-chamoru-words-no-longer-in-use&catid=45:guam-news&Itemid=156
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Dr. Carlos Madrid, of the Micronesian Area Research Center at the University of Guam, shows a photo of a document written in Spanish that was translated into Chamorro in the 18th century. The document, which was recently translated from Chamorro into English, had words that either are no longer used or are rarely used today. Photos by Virgilio Valencia/For Pacific Sunday News |
A presentation titled "The Garrido Manuscript: A Unique Glimpse of the Chamorro Language in 1798" was held Thursday at the University of Guam lecture hall.
The researchers, Carlos Madrid, from the Micronesian Area Research Center; Jeremy Cepeda, a research associate with the I Fanlalai'an Oral History Project; and Leonard Iriarte, from I Fanlalai'an, presented some of their findings on Thursday.
In 1798, Manuel Garrido, a Chamorro and official of the Spanish government of the Mariana Islands was asked to translate into Chamorro news received from Manila regarding the victory of Spanish and Filipino soldiers against a British ship attacking Zamboanga, in Mindanao.
The 11-page document offers a rare glimpse of Chamorro language during this time.
One of the biggest findings was that most of the document didn't have borrowed words from Spanish, Madrid said. In the documents, Spanish words that were used were followed with explanations of the item or idea.
Three languages
The translation process required working simultaneously in three languages, Spanish, Chamorro and English, but by the end of the one-year research project, theories regarding many of these unknown words have been formed.The researchers think that during 1798, despite hundreds of years of Spanish colonization, the Chamorro language hadn't borrowed much from the islands' colonizers.
One theory presented on Thursday is that Chamorros in the villages who were isolated were able to retain much of the language. It was during the 1800s, with more Chamorros moving to Hagåtña and other villages with Spaniards, Filipinos and others, that the language changed.
Madrid said these theories are exciting and can help explain how the language changed over time.
"This provides us great insight," he said.
'Thank you very much'
One of the things they found is how Chamorros said "thank you very much" in 1798 versus the way it's said today.In the document, Garrido writes "Migai na Si Yu'os Ma'ase." In Chamorro today, it would be said as "Dangkulu na Si Yu'os Ma'ase."
Another word that changed over time is the word for "this."
Garrido used the word "ayen" or "adyin," while Chamorros today use "este" -- borrowed from Spanish.
Preservation
Cepeda said it was exciting to be able to look at the document and find words that Chamorros may not use anymore. He said he's hoping researchers can use the words they find and try to incorporate them back into the language or at least preserve them on paper or in chant."This was a really great project to work on," he said.
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Dr. Carlos Madrid, center, of the Micronesian Area Research Center at the University of Guam, speaks to the audience about a recently translated document written in the 18th century in Chamorro.Photos by Virgilio Valencia/For Pacific Sunday News |
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20140330/NEWS01/303300014/Document-sheds-light-Chamorro-language
Rutgers MFA Student Draws Inspiration from Proud Chamorro Heritage
Your Source for University News
Monday, November 25, 2013
'I write to speak my voice ... I want to disrupt the discourse.'
– Jacob Camacho
As
Jacob Camacho recalls, it all started when he got “Goosebumps” – that
is, the popular children’s horror fiction novels – when he was 7 years
old. Growing up in his native Guam, Camacho voraciously read every Goosebumps book he could find, requiring his mother to keep buying more, along with new shelves to amass his growing collection.“My mother would say, ‘Jacob, money doesn’t grow on trees,’” recalls Camacho with a laugh.
Camacho’s older brother, Keith, soon challenged him to write one-page summaries of what he had read – sparking in him something much greater. “That lit a fire in me; I wanted to write stories of my own,” recalls Camacho, who was soon trying his hand at his own brand of horror.
Nearly 20 years later, Camacho is inching closer toward his dream – word by word, line by line – as a student in in the MFA creative writing program at Rutgers-Camden.
Almost 8,000 miles away from his island home, he draws much inspiration from his Chamorro heritage. He still carries his culture’s overriding sense of family, and the importance of being a good neighbor. However, he adds, he also carries the weight of nearly 500 years of foreign rule, oppression and dependence.
“I have all of that in me,” says Camacho, who arrived on campus in August.
As he explains, the Chamorro – Guam’s indigenous people –have been subservient to foreign powers since Ferdinand Magellan’s Spanish expedition landed on the island in 1521. Even today, much of the island’s economy is still largely dependent on the U.S. military. Camacho has a torn view of the military’s presence, believing that it offers the promise of education and benefits, but often at the expense of Guam’s poorest and most desperate citizens.
“I write to speak my voice,” says Camacho, who especially enjoys crafting horror and psychological thrillers. “I want to disrupt the discourse.”
Camacho recalls that as he matured as a writer he increasingly turned to his pen and pad as a way to express his thoughts and feelings. In his high-school days, he added poetry to his repertoire, and often retreated to the solace of his poems. He and his friends soon formed a creative writers club and gathered on weekends to play guitar and share their poems.
Camacho decided to pursue a dual career as a writer and teacher, and earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature at the University of Guam. He then worked as an intern reporter for the Pacific Daily News. “It was great to write, but it wasn’t creative writing,” he says. Camacho subsequently worked as a tutor for Sylvan Learning Center, and organized a local creative writers group, which included University of Guam faculty, as well as reporters from the Pacific Daily News and Marianas Variety.
Hungrier than ever to find his voice as a writer, Camacho
says that he is now prospering from the insight and guidance of the MFA
program’s esteemed faculty. He notes that Lisa Zeidner has been
instrumental in helping him to develop his story structure, while
Patrick Rosal has worked with him to cultivate his characters, and to
explore the works of other Asian-American and Pacific Island writers. On
Rosal’s recommendation, Camacho recently attended a reading at the
Asian-American Writers’ Workshop in Brooklyn. “It was a great experience
to see such a tight community of writers who are interested in pushing
one another forward,” Camacho says.
Just as important, Camacho adds, Rosal has offered just the right words of encouragement. “He has helped me to believe in myself,” says Camacho. “That has helped me to be the best writer that I can be.”
Likewise, Camacho says he has benefited from the camaraderie and constructive criticism shared amongst the students in the creative writing program. He appreciates the opportunity to hear feedback from so many gifted writers, all with their own unique life experiences. He likens the constant give-and-take among students to his weekly kickboxing regimen, a hobby he recently picked up at Body Arts Muay Thai in Philadelphia.
Still growing accustomed to his new surroundings, Camacho maintains that the MFA program has already had a profound impact on his work ethic. While he used to write two hours a day, he now spends entire days crystallizing his thoughts. “The way that I see it, I may not be the best writer, but I can be the best that I can be,” he says.
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