In addition to its inviting beaches, elegant hotels, and great bargains, Guam has another vital attraction- its unique culture. The traditions and customs of Guam's proud island heritage thrive, despite invading conquerors, wars and epidemics, and changing governments. Forged from a neolithic foundation and molded by historical events, Guam's living culture has expanded into a vibrant, modern way of life.
Since the 17th century, Catholic churches have been the center of village activities. Even today, every village has its patron saint whose feast day is celebrated with an elaborate fiesta, which the entire island is invited to attend. Family groups still hold christening parties, fandangos (weddings, novenas, funerals, and death- anniversary rosaries). All are flavored by the rich Spanish heritage.
Spanish influence may also be seen in the mestiza, a style of women's clothing, or, in the architecture of Guam's southern villages.
Countless Americans, Europeans, Asians, Micronesians, and other visitors have left their imprints on the island's pastimes and tastes, but nowhere is the island's multi-cultural influence more evident than in its food.
At a fiesta or other island party, families prepare heavily laden tables of local delicacies, such as red rice, shrimp patties, a Filipino style noodle dish called pancit, barbecued ribs and chicken, and taro leaves cooked in coconut milk. Another mouth-watering treat is kelaguen, usually prepared from chopped broiled chicken, lemon juice, grated coconut, and hot peppers. Fiery finadene sauce, made with soy sauce, lemon juice or vinegar, hot peppers, and onions, is sprinkled over the food for a truly memorable dish. After a hearty meal, Chamorros often enjoy chewing pugua (betel nut), mixed with powdered lime and wrapped in pepper leaf.
Music is an integral aspect of an island lifestyle, and performances using traditional instruments, such as the belembaotuyan, are highlights of cultural presentations. The belembaotuyan, made from a hollow gourd and strung with a taut wire and pressed against ones bare stomach, creates a melodic sound enjoyed by all. The nose flute, once a long forgotten instrument, is now making a hearty return.
The Kantan Chamorro style of singing has been a favorite form of entertainment for generations. Additionally, it has been used to lighten long hours of group work activity, such as weaving, corn husking, and net fishing. One singer would begin the familiar four-line chant, referring romantically or teasingly in the verse to another person in the group. The challenged person would then take up the tune and the song might continue in this fashion with different singers for hours.
Contemporary music is an important element of social gatherings, ranging from fiestas and fandangos to casual backyard parties. Musicians usually sing Chamorro, American, Filipino, or a variety of Asian songs.
Legends and folklore about village taotaomo'na (ancient spirits), doomed lovers leaping to their death off Two Lovers' Point (Puntan Dos Amantes), and Sirena, a beautiful young girl who became a mermaid, are portrayed in many of Guam's enriching
cultural dances.
Guam's traditional arts are very much alive. During cultural fairs and exhibitions, visitors often have the opportunity to watch master weavers, carvers and even a blacksmith at work.
Weavers, using the traditional pandanus or coconut fibers, fashion baskets of various sizes, purses, hats, floor mats, and wall hangings. Carvers hew tables, plaques, figurines of people or animals, and household implements using ifil wood, or pago woods.
The traditional ways are being passed along to the younger generations through apprenticeship programs in order to preserve the island's art heritage. A master blacksmith, for example, recently graduated three pupil,who have learned how to make useful steel farming and fishing implements, such as coconut graters, hoes, machetes, and fishing spearheads. Other hand-forged items include betel nut scissors, tools for weaving, and knives.
The People
A trip to Guam is like visiting the four exotic corners of the globe. Guam is considered the hub of the western Pacific and undeniably Micronesia's most cosmopolitan destination - a true example of the great American melting pot. In addition to the indigenous Chamorros and 'stateside' Americans, Guam boasts large populations of Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Micronesian Islanders, as well as a few Vietnamese, Indians, and Europeans.
As the 1990 census figures indicate, the ethnic composition of the island is 43 percent Chamorro, 23 percent Fllipino, 15 percent other ethnic groups, 14 percent Caucasian, and 5 percent other Pacific Islanders. Approximately half of all Guam residents were born on Guam, and 70 percent of these are under the age of 34.
Population
Our island has been enjoying a steady population growth. The 1990 census reports a population of 133,152, a 20.4 percent increase since 1980. Population estimates for 2009 indicate Guam has grown to 177,000 people.
Heritage Sites
Historical landmarks, coupled with the natural beauty of Guam, offer numerous sights of interest. Latte, which served as foundation pillars for the thatched huts of the Chamorros, are found in parks and out-of-the-way jungle areas. The graceful remains of Spanish buildings, the Plaza De España, and stone bridges may be seen in Hagåtña, Guam’s capital. In other locations throughout the island, the Spanish influence is clearly visible in the architectural design of Guam’s southern homes and villages.
The list of Guam’s attractions is virtually endless. Follow the links under our main "Sightseeing Guam" tab to explore landmarks in central, southern and northern Guam, along with our capital city of Hagåtña. We can't wait until you start exploring our island!
Spanish Forts
In order to protect Spain’s interests in Guam and its Pacific trade routes, several fortifications were constructed to defend the island. Beginning with the first stockade in Hagåtña in 1671 and ending with the semi-reductos (half-enclosed parapets) in 1835, the Spanish administration built fourteen fortifications of various types and dimensions on Guam. Most of these defensive structures were open batteries designed for cannons to fire through embrasures. Six fortifications were constructed in the village of Hagåtña. Four fortifications were built to protect Umatac Bay. Three fortifications were built to defend Apra Harbor and one unnamed battery was assembled in Merizo to protect the anchorage outside the village.
Sumay
Sumay’s history dates before the Spanish colonial period, although not much is known about its pre-contact history. When the Spanish proclaimed Guam as theirs, Sumay’s chieftain was supposedly among those who held strong opposition to the Spanish colonizers, although the Spanish government eventually gained control. Sumay, like other villages, was centered around the Catholic church.
The Spaniards kept a settlement at Sumay, and its easy access to San Luis de Apra Harbor made it a favorite anchorage town for whalers and other sailors. Sumay grew into a thriving little port town in the 1800s.
Much of the naval shipping operations were situated along this coastal village when the American government took over. The Trans-Pacific Cable Company anchored its station at Sumay in 1903, linking Guam with both Asia and the United States. Pan American Airways landed its China Clipper at Sumay in 1935, and built Guam’s first hotel there.
Because military shipping and communications centered around Sumay, it was one of the first areas to be bombed when the Japanese attacked on December 8, 1941. The people of Sumay fled and scattered inland to their small ranches in the jungles.
After World War II was over the Navy did not allow the Sumay residents to reclaim their home, saying they needed the property for U.S. Naval Base, Guam. The former Sumay residents were eventually relocated to the newly created village of Santa Rita.
Talofofo
The municipality of Talofofo is located in south-central Guam on the eastern coast of the island. The area extends from the shore and deep into the interior valleys along the Ugum and Talofofo Rivers.
The name of the ancient village of Talofofo probably has its origin from the phrase “entalo’ i fe’fo’,” which means “between the cliffs,” or even from the word “fo’fo’,” which means a bubbling stream.
Archeologists believe most of the pre-Spanish era inhabitants lived in settlements along the Ugum and Talofofo Rivers. Artifacts in the Talofofo Caves indicate these sites were occupied and used as well, if only seasonally or for short periods at a time.
After the Spanish reducción of the late 1600s which displaced the Chamorro natives from the northern villages and the other Mariana Islands, the residents of Talofofo were presumably shifted to Inarajan and the main village was abandoned.
Years before the first American administration of Guam in the early 1900s, people had already been moving back into the Talofofo area to farm and hunt. Small plantations had been set up along the valley of the Talofofo River. Latte sites, however, still were visible in different parts of the valley, but were largely avoided. In 1912, a chapel supposedly was built close to the mouth of the Talofofo River. By 1918, the Naval governor William Gilmer appointed a commissioner for Talofofo, and the residents decided to move their village up to the plateau.
Although Talofofo was previously considered part of Inarajan by January 1931, Inarajan was divided into two districts. Talofofo was designated north of the Talofofo, Ugum, As Mulato and Atate Rivers, while the district of Inarajan was to the south. However, the area remained largely unoccupied, with few houses, and used mostly as ranch land.
During World War II, Talofofo Bay was one of the landing points for the invading Japanese forces on 10 December 1941, although the original landing site was supposed to be Ylig Bay. By 1944, the Japanese had begun to fortify the island in anticipation of the arrival of American forces, and built gun placements and pillboxes in the cliffs near the bay.
After the war, the American military government built the new community of Talofofo in the hills where it now stands.
Tourist attractions in Talofofo include the jungle riverboat cruise which transports visitors inland from Talofofo Bay to a cultural village display and latte site. The inland hills are also popular for hiking and off-roading activities.
Tarague
Tarague is a geographic place name given to the northern littoral of the island of Guam, between Mergagan Point to the west and Tagua Point to the east.
The landscape at Tarague consists of the sea and coral reef, the lagoon and coastal plain, a limestone beach and towering limestone cliff.
The vegetation at Tarague, several species of trees, shrubs, vines, ferns and grasses, including the valued ifil hardwood.
Freshwater is available in the form of a porous water lens that can be reached through digging wells. There is also a limestone cave with fresh water at Tarague. A number of surge channels created by freshwater runoff are present along the coastal margin.
The presence of pictographs (cave wall drawings) inside a limestone cave at Tarague was initially noted by Hans Hornbostel in the 1920s.
Currently, Tarague is located within the Andersen Air Force Base, and access to the Tarague area is restricted.
Haputo
Haputo, which covers 252 acres of coral reef and limestone forest, was designated an ecological reserve in 1984. Haputo is also listed in the Guam and National Registers of Historic Places.
Historic accounts from the early Spanish era mention that the village of Haputo (sometimes spelled Apoto) was burned in 1678 by Spanish soldiers. In 1680 the surviving residents of Haputo and all the other northern villages of Guam were forced to relocate to Hagåtña.
Although the village was abandoned, it still was recognized by name and located on early European maps of Guam.
Music, Dance & Arts
A remarkable number of painters, dancers, musicians, playwrights, poets, and artists of all stripes populate Guam's vibrant cultural scene.
Our island has long been home to thriving and innovative artistic communities, but local art in Guam has become more visible lately thanks to increased organization, institutional support, and above all, the dedication and entrepreneurial spirit of its artistic leaders.
Music
Chamorro music can be heard at dance events and festivals across the island, or tune in to the radio in your rental car or hotel room for channels featuring traditional tunes just about any time. The night market in Chamorro village is another great place to hear the lively rhythms of this proud island art form.
Although it would be impossible to describe all of Chamorro music's incredible variations, one notable form is chanting, sometimes performed call-and-response style and often accompanying traditional dances. With the use of slapping and stomping, performers use their bodies as percussive instruments.
Music is one of the central tenets of Chamorro identity and its fluidity has allowed it to remain so. Chamorro music has undergone several distinct transformations, including after the pre-contact era during Spanish rule, during World War II and again in the post-War activist era, as well as in the 1980s when Guam's dance scene underwent a major revival period.
Dance
Venerable dance groups such as the collective Pa’a Taotao Tano’ and the folk dance team Inetnon Gef Pa’go enliven Guam's movement arts scene. Dancers on the island can be seen jumping, shouting, and wielding long tunas sticks in the Bailan Uritao (Young Man's Dance) and whirling in sadi's, thus and coconut leaf skirts in the Bailan Lina 'la' (Dance of Life).
Schoolchildren have a wealth of opportunities to get involved at a young age in Guam's dance culture. They are well prepared to continue the island's proud tradition of winning over audiences and judges in international performances and competitions. Don't miss the opportunity to see Guam's talented dancers perform on their home island.
Visual Art
Public art at Guam's bus stops and village murals inspires all who pass by, while institutional forums such as the Isla Center for the Arts at the University of Guam, the Guam Gallery of Arts at the Chamorro Village, and the Guam Council of the Arts and Humanities Gallery draw crowds with diverse exhibits to satisfy the most eclectic tastes.
More Art Forms
Storytellers, weavers, jewelrymakers, blacksmiths, and more: Guam's arts community is as colorful and active as the sea life teeming in our warm waters. We invite you to include our formal arts venues in your Guam vacation plans. And remember to welcome that spontaneous sense of discovery that just might drop you into the center of our arts scene when you least expect it!
Festivals
There is always something to celebrate on Guam, and we welcome our visitors to join us. Each of our island's 19 villages has its own festival day, or fiesta, where it's not unusual to see a village mayor working alongside the rest of the community to ensure the celebration is a success. Fiestas are a lively and intimate way for our visitors to get acquainted with the cultures of Guam's small but vibrant municipalities. Each village on Guam is united around its own patron saint, Catholic church, and a favorite town gathering place, providing the perfect setting for an authentic Chamorro cultural experience on fiesta day.
Villages
Our footprint-shaped island is divided into 19 villages, each with its own distinct history and character.
Each of Guam's villages is also home to its own Catholic church.
Over the centuries, these communities' identities have evolved from bases for farming, ranching, and fishing to residential centers, hubs for commerce and history, and bases for the same food-producing activities that have long been a focus of life on Guam.
Visitors are invited to take special note of the island's colorful and uplifting village murals, beautiful works of art that arose as part of a revitalization project to unify the island, spearheaded by the Guam Visitors Bureau in cooperation with local mayors, businesses, schools, and residents.
Architecture in Guamanian villages varies widely, from strongly Spanish-influenced edifices to the matching two-story concrete homes in Asan-Maina, where in the 1980s the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority undertook a major redevelopment of residential structures, even painting the suburban-style houses the same color.
Some villages' borders are formed by modern highways, while the boundaries of others are defined by natural features; the municipality of Chalan Pago/Ordot, across the narrow "waist" of Guam, divides the predominantly volcanic southern half of the island from its mostly limestone northern half.
Food
The native food of Guam is largely based on what early ancestors could gather, grow and hunt from the land, plus what they could catch and harvest from the ocean. The Tree of Life, the coconut, offered much in the way of copra, oil, coconut water and coconut milk, as did many other fruit and vegetables.
Fish and other seafood, and edible seaweed were bountiful, and later, colonial and occupational times allowed for more crops, better farming methods and a consistent harvest from Guam's lush volcanic soils.
Following the end of World War II, Guam was inundated with foods from the U.S. mainland, notably canned processed foods which islanders embraced for their flavor and ease of preparation.
Since then, Guam as the hub of the Pacific has also become a food capital, blending regional tastes, with dozens of cuisines to reflect the melting pot of its people.
Today, Guam is a leader in Pacific Rim cuisine and is at the forefront of the culinary revolution that embraced the world in the mid-90s. Its many talented cooks and chefs constantly push the standards of flavors and presentations, and it is easy to find a world-class meal on Guam.
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