In this article, you will learn about the ancient Chamoru culture of Guam and their unique method of building homes.

Guam is an island and a U.S. Territory located in Micronesia. Guam’s indigenous people are called Chamoru. In this culture, roles practiced by men and women are balanced, and responsibility and power are equally shared. The relationship between brothers and sisters is especially valued.

The Chamoru are thought to have arrived on Guam 3,500 years ago. Archaeologists believe that from 900–1521 CE, the Chamoru cleared the land. The Chamoru managed the land with tools they made from materials they found in Guam. Can you imagine making all your own tools with materials found only in your neighborhood? They then left the cut plants to decay on the ground before the ground was prepared for planting. As with many traditional cultures, the Chamoru probably rotated their planted fields, leaving a field to recover for a season or more after harvest. The Chamoru were highly skilled and knowledgeable of their environment.

The early Chamoru people fished and cultivated rice, breadfruit, coconut, ginger, bananas, and sugar cane. They also ate taro, yam, and arrowroot tubers. A tuber is an enlarged underground part of a plant, like a potato.

Today, Chamoru culture is experiencing a revival after centuries of colonization. Colonization happens when an invading people steals land and resources from a local people and replaces the original culture’s government with the government of the invader. As with most indigenous cultures, Chamoru recovery from colonization has required enormous commitment on the part of the Chamoru people. Chamoru cultural recovery is supported by the Chamoru culture’s sacred relationship with Guam, her land, and oceans.

One example of the Chamoru culture’s connection to the environment is their calendar. Evidence of an ancient Chamoru calendar indicates that the year was divided into 13 moon cycles (from crescent moon to full moon and back). This calendar is different than the Western calendar that consists of 12 months and is connected to the solar year.

Each month of the Chamoru calendar highlighted activities related to fishing or farming. For example, fish activity is sensitive to the moon phase. Knowing the moon phase would help fishers know when certain fish were available to catch, where fish might be located, and when not to catch certain kinds of fish. The tenth month was known as “planting time,” providing guidance to farmers about the best season to plant crops. This moon calendar continues to be used today by Chamoru fishers and farmers.

The Chamoru language provides insights into how the Chamoru people used astronomy to support ocean voyaging. An ancient cave painting was found in Guam of a different kind of calendar based on the stars. The Chamoru had names for the stars, an indication of the stars’ importance.

Some of the most iconic symbols of Chamoru culture are latte stones and latte houses. Latte stones are pillars with an inverted half-sphere of stone sitting on top. These stones, generally 4–7 feet high, were usually set out in four pairs, and a single-story thatched house was built on top. The house was rectangular, built with poles and thatch, and had a steep roof. The Chamoru first built these houses between 800 and 1200 years ago. The Chamoru stopped building latte houses about 300 years ago.

The reasons the Chamoru used latte stone pillars are not known for sure. Some possible reasons include: (1) stone does not rot, and stone cannot be eaten by insects; (2) raising a house’s floor can keep the floor dry while allowing air to circulate underneath, keeping the house cool; (3) a raised floor can provide protection from an attack; (4) the space underneath could be used as a workspace; (5) the two-piece pillar may have absorbed shocks from earthquakes; and (6) the cap’s shape may have kept unwanted animals from entering the house. One thing we know for sure: latte stones are important symbols of Chamoru culture.

The ancient Chamoru likely used fire in limited ways to manage agricultural lands, but today, fire in Guam has greatly expanded and is now a serious conservation problem. Human-caused wildfires kill native species, degrade watersheds, reduce water quality, and cause sediment to enter near shore areas where it covers and kills coral reefs. As in other tropical geographies, these wildfires also threaten the health and safety of human communities in Guam.

The Forest Service has developed a wildfire awareness curriculum to help address the wildfire threat in Guam (and other Pacific Islands) in partnership with the Forestry and Soil Resources Division, Guam Department of Agriculture; the Guam Department of Education; the Pacific Fire Exchange; and the Center For Getting Things Started. The Guam curricula can be found here.