Home
Workshop Registration is Closed
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
Sorry, on-line registration for the 2022 CHamoru Genealogy Workshop & Exhibit is closed. Walk-ins will be subject to facility capacity. Thank you everyone for your interest and support. I will be documenting the outcome of this event and hope to be able to conduct more sessions.
Co-Sponsorship Announcement: CHamoru Genealogy Workshop
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
I am pleased and honored to announce that i Kumisión i Fino’ CHamoru yan i Fina’nå’guen i Historia yan i Lina’la’ i Taotao Tåno’ (Commission on CHamoru Language and the Teaching of the History and Culture of the Indigenous People of Guam) has joined in with the CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project to collaborate and co-sponsor the CHamoru Genealogy Workshop & Exhibit, November 11-12, 2022!
Si Yu'os ma'åse,
Bernard Punzalan
Founder & Principal Investigator
CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project
Stories About My Name and Lessons Learned
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
I know I told parts of this story before but will tell it again since some of my memory recently seems to be fading and I want to make sure I write it again and again for my children, grandchildren and theirs.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, this story is all part of a larger picture of the Punzalan Project and the CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project that was brewing and yearning to be unleashed.
I would have never thought to be so engaged and passionate about genealogy. The more I learn, the more my love grows for it. I also never thought about being some kind of activist until someone called me out. My early days of activism probably stems as far back as when I was about 12 years old, from the discontentment of the name my parents gave me.
During the infant days of my parents, they were given their mother's surname as their middle name. My mom is Rosita Leon Guerrero Cruz. Her mom was a Leon Guerrero: Rosa Salas Leon Guerrero My dad is Eustaquio Anderson Punzalan. His mother was an Anderson: Antonia Pereda Anderson. This was the CHamoru custom at the time for people to carry their mother’s surname as their middle name. As for my siblings and me, almost all of us, except one of my sisters, were given middle names that did not contain our mother's Cruz maiden surname. I was not happy at all, that my middle name was Timothy. I didn’t want to be a Timothy. I wanted to be known as a Cruz from my mother’s lineage. The CHamoru custom for naming children had changed; at least within my family and for my generation.
At the age of 14, I was preparing myself to become eligble to work and earn extra income the following year at age 15. In order to work I needed to have a social security card. As I was completing the application form, I felt it was the perfect opportunity to change my name. I don't even recall an option for my parents to sign the form to validate the info or consent to submission. So, I changed my middle name to Cruz within the SSN application. 🤫😬
When my social security card arrived, my mother was furious 😡with me. She scolded me that Cruz was not my middle name. I naturally took defense. I responded to her that because she was a Cruz, I am a Cruz too. I know my mother had a hard time handling me growing up. 🙏🏼😂 She did teach me the difference and boundaries between being right and being disrespectful. And of course, she always had the final say. Also, it still was not my legal name. She knew the implications of the error on my social security card, I didn't. Anyways, I had to apply for a correction to my name on the social security card. But I did work with a couple of organizations that had Bernard Cruz Punzalan as my employee and payroll name. 👍🏼 Then, I later joined the Army and gave them my legal name, but also included my alias name too. LOL.
My father tucked away our SSN stubs in his briefcase of important documents. I recently came across it so it was the impetus for writing about this again. What a wonderful time capsule he maintained and an opportunity to reflect!
Both genealogy projects have taught me to listen and cherish the value of my name. It is rooted with family history and valued by my parents. I was named after and in honor of my paternal grandfather, Bernardo del Mundo Punzalan. My middle name, Timothy, is in honor of the Priest who married my parents. Both are also CHamoru cultural practices. One could also argue that I would not have existed without any of them. In fact, my wife named our youngest son after and in honor of me. Oh Saina, we have come full circle!
My wife Josephine Marie Manibusan too. It turns out she was named after both her paternal grandmother, Josefina Borja Taitano, and her maternal grandmother Maria Leon Guerrero Garrido.
I have also learned you can’t edit a blank page. You have to write it first! Spelling and grammar don’t count in the beginning. Just do it! How did your parents name you or what stories are tied to your name?
Call for Family Tree Submissions
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
The vision of the CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project is to be the premiere portal of CHamoru genealogy, where CHamorus, both in the Marianas and abroad, can have access to a centralized repository of genealogy information. The goal of the project is to contain as much accurate and relevant genealogy information on the Chamorro people of the Mariana Islands.
Therefore, I am requesting for CHamoru family tree submissions to add to the repository of CHamoru genealogy so that it may be accessible for others and the generations that succeed us. If you only have hard copies of your family tree, please contact me so that we can further discuss.
A CHamoru Woman from Saipan: What was Choco's Wife's Name?
- Details
- Written by: Bernard Punzalan
A CHamoru Woman from Saipan: Who was Choco's Wife?
Last night, April 26, 2022, 7:00pm (Pacific Standard Time) I had the honor to participate in Zoom presentation by Dr. Floro Quibuyen, “Choco! Forgotten Chinese Leader and Arch-Enemy of the Jesuits in the 17th Century CHamoru Rebellion Against Spain.” Two primary panel members included were Dr. Richard Chu and Dr. Vicente “Vince” Diaz.
Thanks to Vince, for notifying me of this presentation and also yielding some of his time to Dr. Robert Underwood and me. From every conversation and paper I come across from these two (and many others) I learn a lot for my journey. I have become more critical in scrutinizing the historical narratives that exist. It’s because of the CHamoru Roots Genealogy Project, I attempt to hone in more and question how do these narratives compare with the perspectives of the people who were actually affected and may have not written about it?
The time that was yielded to me was in hopes that I could possibly speak more to family lore and the genealogical relationship of Choco to the Chaco families. Unfortunately, I was not able to directly bridge any data regarding Choco to help support the Chaco family lore. However, I did point out that the Chaco surname can be found in the 1727 and 1758 census.
I did learn a few new things from Dr. Quibuyen’s presentation. His presentation also made me wonder more about the potential role and influence of CHamoru women in the rebellions against the Spaniards in the mid-to-late 1600s. I requested for a copy of Quibuyen's paper, so I hope to receive it soon.
Choco is historically known as a Chinese man who eventually made his way to Guam in 1648. Choco was on a vessel[1] traveling from the Philippines to Ternate (Moluku/Molluca Islands), but ended up wrecking in the Mariana Islands from a storm.
He[2] married a CHamoru woman from Saipan, but who was she? Given that this was a period when CHamoru society was matrilineal, how much did she influence Choco to rebel against the Spaniards? For heaven’s sake! Children were dying after being baptized; a fatal foreign practice from a native mother’s perspective! I can only imagine the wrath and vengeance that a CHamoru mother would seek from what would appear to be the murder of her innocent child(ren). Unfortunately, this is one of the many challenges of the historical narratives that exist for our CHamoru ancestors. Many of them remain unnamed and without their perspective, compounding the genealogical gaps of the past with the present.
Here is the early census data I referenced during the Choco presentation:
1727 Census
|
Last Name |
First Name |
Sex |
Category |
Extended Notes |
|
Chaca |
Catalina |
F |
Unmarried Women |
| Agat, Guam | Sex: F | Marital Status: S | Notes: |
|
Chaco |
Pedro |
M |
Married Men |
| Aniguag, Guam | Sex: M | Marital Status: M | Notes: |
|
Chacó |
Pedro |
M |
Married Men |
| Pago, Guam | Sex: M | Marital Status: M | Notes: |
|
Chacó |
Josė |
M |
Small boy |
| Pago, Guam | Sex: M | Marital Status: S | Notes: |
1758 Census
|
Last Name |
First Name |
Sex |
Spouse |
Parents |
Village |
|
Chaco |
Jose |
Male |
Lucia Songsongña |
Asan, Guam |
|
|
Chaco |
Januario |
Male |
Augustina Felipa Tadguaha |
Pago, Guam |
|
|
Chaco |
Domingo |
Male |
Januario Chaco & Augustina Felipa Tadguaha |
Pago, Guam |
I would love to hear more about the Chaco family lore from members of the Chaco families.
And for the Chaco family, I have also found the name Vicente Chaco listed in a “List of soldiers living in the Marianas in 1807.” Vicente Chaco, was assigned to the Pampango Company of Infantry.[3]
I also think you should be aware that I also found one Chinese name from the 1800's. Chua Chaco is recorded in an 1860 judicial document. I believe the document has something to do with Chaco having an unsettled debt but Don Pedro Palomo agreed to pay Chaco's debt in exchange for Chaco's farming services. I currently do not know if he ever settled on Guam, married or if he had children on Guam.
Footnotes:
[1] “Sampan” according to Rebecca Stephenson et. al., 2010, Guam Is Our Home: Taiwanese-Chinese “Old Timers” Perceptions of Guam, Pacific Asia Inquiry, vol 1 no 1.
[2] Choco and his wife settled in the ancient village of Pa’a, located on Guam’s southern coast. He was baptized with the name Ignacio during the Feast of Saint Bernard, August 20, 1668. (Alberto Risco, S.J. 1970. The Apostle of the Marianas: The Life, Labors, and Martyrdom of Ven. Diego Luis de San Vitores, 1627-1672. Translated by Juan M.H. Ledesma, S.J. and edited by Msgr. Oscar L. Calvo. Hagåtña: Diocese of Agana; and Francisco Garcia. 2004. The Life and Martyrdom of the Venerable Father Diego Luis de San Vitores , S.J . Translated by Margaret M. Higgins, Felicia Plaza and Juan M.H. Ledesma. Edited by James A. McDonough. MARC Monograph Series 3. Guam: University of Guam)
[3] Rodrigue Levesque. 2002. History of Micronesia, vol. 18: Russian Expeditions, 1808-1827. University of Hawaii Press: Hawaii
Page 16 of 83
