Saina Ma'ase

To everyone that visited my booth at the Flame Tree Arts Festival, Thank You!

Saina Ma'ase,

FIGO

32nd CNMI FLAME TREE ARTS FESTIVAL

Magofli'e' yan Hafa Adai to all:

I know I said to stay tuned just about a year ago this month lol. My apologies.

Anyway, I wanted to invite everyone that is on-island and off-island to come down to the Flame Tree Arts Festival on April 19, 20, & 21 to be held in the Ancient Chamorro Village of Catanhuda today known as Civic Center. Bring the whole family and if you have time to spare, visit me at my booth A-37-Gordon "FIGO" Salas. I will have some Sinahi/Kalang available for sale. I will also be taking limited orders from anyone interested.

In addition to that, I am very honored and humbled that the 26th Annual Guahan Micronesian Island Fair have chosen to use one of my Sinahi carvings on its poster. Dangkulu na Saina Ma'ase Guahan. Hu Guaiya Hao!

Below is the Guahan Island Fair Poster.

FIGO

Stay tuned

Magofli-i yan Hafa Adai para todu hamyu.

Stay tuned for updates.

Saina Ma'ase,

Gordon "FIGO" Salas

KALANG

The above Kalang/Sinahi is now owned by Lynyrd Lizama Puyat of Seattle, WA. It's dimension are 5-3/4" in length and 1-1/2" thick at the middle so it's a massive piece and the owner wears it proudly. In addition to the Hima Kalang pendant, it is fully laced with spondylus beads. As usual, my spondylus inlay signature is placed prominently on the Kalang. Saina Ma'ase for repesenting Chelu. 

Gordon "FIGO" Salas

Ancient Chamorro Fishing Method

Hafa Adai para todu hamyu:

It has been a while since I've blogged and I have my reasons. First of all, I will be posting more art pics in the coming future but for the mean time, I want to share the followng Ancient Chamorro fishing methods and a brief description of each:

1. Mano'cho': This is a method in which fish(es) are caught by hand.

2. Lalagu: In ancient times, mostly women used this method by which feeling with your bare hands along the rocks and crevices. When using this method and when one does catch a fish, one must immediately bite the fish(es) head in order to expire it.

Note: When I was in the hills of Yona in the beautiful island of Guahan, I used this method to catch Uhang (fresh water shrimp). With that in mind, I must state the obvious, one is always in imminent danger of grabbing a hold of an asuli (fresh water eel) instead of the intended target.

3. Umefohmo': This is another fishing method used by the beautiful Chamorrita of times passed but not forgotten. The Chamorrota would put a pile of rocks in a woven basket and place it near other rocks in the reef. By doing so, fishes are tricked into thinking that the rocks are a safe place to hide. The Chamorrita would then remove the rocks slowly to cath the fishes in the basket full of rock. Who said ancient Chamorros had no logic and a sound analysis.

4. Ka'tokcha: This method of fishing utilizes the fisga. The ancient Chamorro would stand in shallow water and patiently wait for their target. Once the target has been aquired, he threw the fisga. Remember the light refraction takes place during this process. It's amazing how intelligent the ancient Chamorro's were.

5. Peskan Sumulo': Peska means to hunt if on land and fish when in the ocean and Sulo' is a torch. Yes, it basically means torch fishing at night. In order to utilize this method, one must collect dried coconut leaves and the coconut gunot; wrap in a piece of would and light it. As you may have guessed, the light from the sulo attracted the fishes just as in using the light to attract the Atulai when night fishing today.

6. Etokcha': This method is the modern day equivalent to spear fishing.

7. Guasa': For this method, the ancient Chamorro used poison by means of harvesting the fishes. This is illegal today so please refrain from using poisons. So for everyone out there, no derris or puteng.

8. Gigao: This method is a rock barrier within the reef; if lowtide(ma'ti) sets in, some fishes are left in the rock barrier. All one needs to do is collect. Another superb fishing method.

The above are just some of the fishing methods used by the ancient chamorros.

Saina Ma'ase,

Gordon "FIGO" Salas

Spondylus beaded Sinahi/Replicated Chamorro Money Bead/etc.

FIGO

This explains the art work I posted earlier...Higam Hima, Sinahi, etc...

The art work before you represents almost all that is Chamorro. The pieces represent ancient Chamorro jewelry, tool, money, and weapon.  I will briefly describe the significance of each piece. The first piece is the Hima (Tridacna Gigas Shell) Sinahi that is resting right below the Higam and directly in front of you.

Sinahi is a crescent shaped necklace that is highly valued today and in the ancient Chamorro period. The Sinahi before you was carved from an authentic material (tridacna gigas, giant clam). It is based on ancient Sinahi artifacts that have been found in ancient Chamorro burial sites. The high cast Chamorro/Maga’Lahi wore such necklace. It was a sign of social status if you will.

The Higam Hima (Adze) before you was carved from the tridacna shell and lashed to a wooden body using coconut fiber rope. Adzes can also be made from stone. “They were used to shape pieces of wood for houses and to carve out canoes. Some very large adzes may have been used to shape limestone for the latte pillar. Adzes were also used to smooth logs for flooring, which was sometimes made of bamboo” (Farrel, 1991).

On the top side of the adze is a circular orange colored disc. This is a replicated spondylus money bead. The Spondylus Salape’ was a form of currency. It is an orange or red spiny mollusk. “Early accounts mention waistband of shell money” (Cunningham, 1992).  For example, an early contact period burial excavated at the Hafa Adai Beach Hotel site here on the island of Sa’ipan revealed a female with a belt encircling her lower waist made of large Spondylus disks. Going down from the money bead are rolls of spondylus beads that were used as ornaments in ancient Chamorro society. It was also strung as necklaces and was probably strung as beads with the Sinahi necklace. 

The fourth piece is the Acho’ Atupat. Acho’ Atupat is the slingstone while the Atupat or Diyuk Patu is the sling connected to the pouch. You can see this replicated work right in front and almost directly below the Higam Hima. Although I called it Acho’ (stone) this particular replicated slingstone was carved from the tridacna shell. The sling and/or pouch were braided together using coconut fiber rope. To further illustrate, “Slings were made from fiber. The sling had two long strings with a pouch in the middle to hold the slingstone. The slingstone was made from baked clay, just like pottery, or shaped from stone-basalt, limestone, or marble. Slingstones looked something like miniature footballs. The Chamorro would sling the stone around and around and then let go of one end of the sling. The stone would then be flung from the sling like a bullet. It was said that heavy stones, made from very hard rock, could be thrown so forcefully they could penetrate a coconut tree or a person’s body. If a person was hit in the head by a slingstone it could fracture the skull. Several reports indicated that the Chamorros were very accurate with slingstones and could throw them long distances” (Farrel, 1991).

Lastly, the natural aesthetics of the wood binds all the art pieces together in that it represents what my ancestors would have used as a natural resource for building the post of the Guma Higai (woven palm fronds) among other things.

Gordon "FIGO" Salas

Almost all that is Chamorro

Gordon "FIGO" Salas