Cultures
Chamorro
Peoples
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The Chamorro (Chamoru) are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, today divided between Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, descended from Austronesian-speaking settlers who reached the islands roughly 3,500 years ago. Spanish colonization from 1668 brought Catholic missionization, and most Chamorros today are Roman Catholic, though customary respect for taotaomona, the spirits of the ancestral dead, is still widely observed in Chamorro tradition alongside it.
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Origins
Origin RegionThe Mariana Islands in the western Pacific, today divided between the United States territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 1 Language FamilyChamorro, an Austronesian language usually placed in its own primary branch of Malayo-Polynesian rather than grouped with its nearer Micronesian neighbors. 2 Traditions
Principal Religious TraditionsRoman Catholicism, introduced by Spanish missionaries from 1668, held today alongside continuing customary respect for taotaomona, the spirits of the ancestral dead. 1 Practice
Practice StatusLiving, and practised in varied local forms 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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