I Tinituhon

In the Beginning, it was Putan yan Fu'una. This is how the world started according to Ancient Chamorro's.

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Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Guam
• Guahan
• Chamorro
• Chamoro
• Putan
• yan
• Fu'una
• Marianas
• CNMI

[Taipati671]

CORRECTION:

The term :MANGINGI'/FANGINGI' derived from the root word "NGINGI' meaning to sniff or smell.

The mangingi' today is the Spanish way of respecting our elders which is smiliar to the Philippines since both were colonized by the Spanish.

The word NGINGE' is indigenous word, that is why we practice it until today. It evolved into what it is now after centuries of Spanish colonization and influence.

The old way is to sniff/smell by rubbing eachothers noses and inhaling!

[nesianboy]

This has been discussed earlier and will continue to be something that we will talk about in the future.

I don't think we can know for sure how it evolved but I am sure we had customs of greeting and showing respect prior to Spanish colonization.

I think the difference and similarities may be found in our location in the Pacific and who colonized us. Obviously we were colonized by the Spaniards but not sure which other islands were colonized by Spain, besides Philippines.

[nesianboy]

The similarities is that we are Catholics, acquired by Spain and geographic position. The difference is how it has evolved from its original practice to how we perform the gestures. It may have been more of the meeting of the nose/sniffing gesture of Polynesians. I don't remember how spread out the Spanish empire was though. Lets not forget what the Spanish wrote down how we showed respect by bowing to other higher rank of Chamorros.

[nesianboy]

Then to how we converted to Catholicism and their practices. Regardless, we share a lot of commonalities with the Philippines than any other island. That is before and after Spanish colonization. South East Asians have customs of greeting and showing respect.

I believe we all share commonalities in our linguistics in the overall Austronesian family. Austronesian includes us all. So our mangigni/fangigni is a bit of everything now.

[nesianboy]

Speaking about this and sharing information is one of the best things to do. A good question is if the Mexicans or other indigenous people of Central and South America share this custom of greeting and respect. It will prove the point of geographic position because we don't share much with the Mexica people other than our history of colonization.

[CHAM0RRITO]

@nesianboy We share much hispanic heritage with the Philippines, but the Filipinos were exposed to other cultures and influences prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. They do not share the same islander mentality with Chamorros, Hawaiians, Palauans, etc. because they were not an isolated people. Our cultures developed out of extreme isolation. Also the Chamorros and other PacIslanders were great navigators and sailed great distances. Filipinos never had that because of their geography.

[CHAM0RRITO]

@nesianboy The Mexicans contributed plenty to the Chamorro culture that exists today. Mexican indigenous languages also influenced Chamorro language. NANA & TATA come from the native NAHUATL language of Mexico. Other things: TORTILLAS, TAMALES, ATOLI, CHALAKILIS, CHAMPALADU, etc. Chamorro dances (not the re-created 'ancient' ones) have heavy Mexican influence. We must remember our SPANISH heritage is from NEW SPAIN. Present day MEXICO. Hope more Chamorros visit Mexico to see for themselves.

[CHAM0RRITO]

@nesianboy Officially, all of the Marianas, Palau and the Caroline islands were part of the Spanish East Indies. This included the Philippines as well. Mangingi custom is a blend of both our native and hispanic heritage. It is uniquely Chamorro.

[kuraku3]

@aguonzar maybe so. but it does not look like mangingi. still looks like its not a sniffing. looks more like the filipino way.

[aguonzar]

@islanchamoru If you look closely, you can see the girl sniff the Maga'haga's fingers. 

[Guammy671]

you know islanchamoru all my life my mom and dad and grandma always taught me to fangingi by sniffing the hand and not putting their hand to the forehead. i have this filipino friend and she says that the way they do it, they put the hand to the forehead. so i believe that that is part of the filipino custom NOT the Chamorro custom. and like kuraku3 says that his elders would smell his face. elders still do that now especially to babies.