Ingredients

Recipe for ancient Chamorro adze replica

Ingredients:
1 Tridacna adze head
1 L-shaped wooden handle
A few yards of Coconut fiber cord

Instructions:
Uh....What instructions? Don't you just put all three together and then "Bam!" you got yourself an adze?

Well, I wish it is that easy. In embarking in this creative journey, I often am reminded that putting together the ingredients or parts that you need for a project is sometimes one of the hard parts. Instructions and guidance is another quite illusive integer in the equation. This post is about a project that is still very much unfinished at this point because it is taking me a while to figure out the recipe. But join me, and we'll "talk stories" about this and about that!

I wanted to make my own replica of the ancient Chamorro adze. Gachai is the Chamorro word for adze according to the Chamorro-English Dictionary (Topping, Ogo, & Dungca) but I am not sure if it means the whole instrument or just the adze head. The gachai was the tool that the ancient people of the Marianas (in fact in Micronesian islands) to cut, chop and carve wood. Although it is easy to imagine it as an axe as I described it, think of it more being shaped like a hoe, with the cutting shaft or adze head almost perpendicular to the wooden handle. There is an abundant amount of Tridacna adze head artifacts left behind giving us a hint of how important this tool was for constructing houses, implements, and canoes. The gachai is composed of an adze head that served as the blade, a wooden handle, and to bind the two, some cordage most commonly made of coconut fiber, or gunot. So it was these three ingredients that I needed, and in the begining it seemed like such an easy undertaking.

The adze head
The ancient Chamorros utilized mainly the shell of mollusks for their adze head. The cutting shaft needed to be able to keep a sharp cutting edge and be hard enough to withstand a lot of hammering pressure. Shells of the spider conch or do’gas (Lambis sp.), large cone shells (Conus sp.) and the giant clam or hima (Tridacna sp.) were used for this purpose. I have seen pictures of haggan (sea turtle) bone used in other locales as well, but the hima was the most utilized in Micronesia.

There are a few species of hima in the waters of the Marianas, but the most abundant is Tridacna maxima (Röding, 1798), the elongate or maximum giant clam. It is not the largest of the giant clam family growing to only about 35 cm. in length. The bivalve shell is heavy, with pronounced radiating ribs that form concentric scales, and the edges are interlocking and scalloped. The shell exterior is off white or cream colored, sometimes tinged with yellow or orange, and the interior is white. The hima is a shallow reef dweller which makes it prone to it being overfished in many areas for food. Luckily for me, fragments of hima washes up readily on Saipan’s beaches, although finding a fragment big and solid enough is a challenge. (Please take note that it is illegal to take any live marine invertebrate on Saipan. Any harvest of hima must be done with a permit from the Division of Fish & Wildlife, Puerto Rico).

Here is a picture of a complete hima shell that I found in Obyan Beach, Saipan. It looks like it had been dead in the water for some time due to the encrustation inside and outside of the clam. It is a small specimen of 13 cm length and probably not thick or solid enough for an adze head.

I consulted The Catalogue of Prehistoric Micronesian Artifacts Housed in Japan (Intoh, May 1998) for some drawing examples of ancient adze heads. They had numerous illustrated examples from Saipan, Tinian and Rota, as well as Palau, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and the Marshall Islands. The illustrations showed me that the hima was cut with a cone shaped end and a flat end that was sharpened in to the cutting edge.

This is the hima fragment that I found at Wing Beach, Saipan and it is a 15 cm long fragment that I decided to use for my gachai. It is not much longer than first clam shown above but this one was more solid at about 1 cm thickness. As you can see, I’ve already cut it to a typical adze shape. It is still unfinished since I have not yet grounded and sharpened the cutting edge and the other end that lies on the handle shaft will need some shaping done to it so that it sits well. I feel that it is a good start though.

The handle
The handle for a gachai needs to be hard and be able to take some pounding. The ancients could have used a number of indigenous hardwoods that could be found in forest and coastlines. I happened upon a niyoron (Cordia subcordata) that was butchered near San Jose Mart and that’s how I got this handle. It’s such a shame that property owners don’t know the value of trees though. Niyoron is not a very dense wood, but I chose to use it for my gachai to teach people of its importance. The Hawaiians esteemed this wood above all especially in the making of wooden bowls or calabashes. They called it kou and venerated it more than the now popular koa (Acacia koa) at one time before it became a rare tree due to an insect infestation from the States that was accidentally introduced to the islands. Check out Jack Ewing’s website on woodturning in Hawaii and their native trees like the kou here (I am a big fan): http://www.hawaiiwoodturning.com/. I wish our own islanders were more educated and appreciative of the native trees here. Check out the new Marianas Pride (MP) magazine's November-December 2007 issue for more information in an article on native trees and their importance.

Here’s a picture of the beautiful orange flowers of the niyoron. Some people believe that orange was a venerated color to the ancient Chamorros because of the Spondylus salape’ beads that they adorned themselves with. I really want to start a petition to change the CNMI’s State Tree and/or State Flower into indigenous/native ones. Why not place the same importance or esteem to the niyoron? We need to start appreciating our local trees more and educate ourselves on their importance.

Here is the beginning of my gachai handle. It will need to be carved to accommodate the hima adze head, get sanded, sealed, and maybe stained. I may also put some Spondylus inlays and carve some ancient Chamorro symbols on the handle as well.

The coconut fiber cord
Now this part of the ingredients is hard to come by on Saipan. I don’t think anyone here makes gunot or coconut fiber cord anymore unless it is a very special occasion (for the construction of a traditional canoe or a canoe house for example). I have seen some for sale during cultural festivals from Yap, but a bundle costs about $80 to $100. Knowing what making this cord entails, I would have paid that much to get some to finish my project plus some others that I have rolling in my mind.

To make cord out of gunot, mature punot or coconut husks are buried under wet sand for several weeks so that the “flesh” rots away from the gunot (I think someone told me once that the rotten flesh of the punot was malodorous but I will have to verify. Can you imagine though?). The flesh is then pounded out to reveal the golden brown fibers that are then dried and made ready to be rolled into cordage. A good friend, Jean Paul C. who has spent many years in Pohnpei has witnessed this traditional work. He said that people sit around “talking stories” and they roll the gunot on their thighs with their palms. Now that’s a lot of work! If you’ve touched coconut fiber, it’s not like cotton at all. It is rough and itchy! But a good tightly rolled and twisted cord is what I need to complete the ingredients for my traditional hima adze replica. Luckily, JP (as we call him) took a trip recently to Chuuk, and was able to find a man who was willing to part with a few yards gratis! The man had it twisted on a small stick and I am so thankful for his generosity. That’s the island way!

So, every time JP leaves Saipan for one of the Micronesian islands, I always ask him to keep an eye out for cordage. Thanks, JP! One day, I will experiment to make my own, or hopefully, I will get invited to a rare cord making session. But please, anyone else knows how to get some, please let me know.

Now, I got the ingredients: 1 Tridacna adze head (needs reshaping and sharpening), 1 wooden handle (needs carving, sanding, sealing, and maybe staining, inlaying and decorating), and a few yards of coconut fiber cord (to bind everything together. I even cut a cone shell adze head for a second one:

I’ll post up a follow up on this a bit later. I am already experimenting with some traditional and ornamental binding techniques. After looking for coconut fiber cordage, I say that this is the hardest part of the recipe because there really are no instructions or someone who can teach me how to do this. But once bound, my ancient Chamorro adze replica will be done! So keep it tuned and we’ll “talk stories” some more.

Thank you for letting me share.
The Beachcomber

UPDATE: Check out the finished adze and another one I made after.

Spondylus bracelets: Palauan money, Cinnamon and the Tiger

I attempted to make some Spondylus bracelets and I’ll showcase what I’ve got so far on this post. I am still in the learning process when it comes to binding the pieces that I cut, and honestly it was a struggle in the beginning trying to figure out what kind of cord, or binding, or knots (everything really about binding a piece) I should use. Luckily, I stumbled upon some instructions here and there on how to do a square knot (flat) and a half knot (spiral), which seem to be sufficient at this time. I know that sooner or later, I will really have to expand my knowledge on cords, binding, and knotting. One day, I will learn how to use more traditional materials like kafu or pahong (Pandanus), niyok (coconut), and even pago (Hibiscus tiliaceus) fibers to bind my pieces. For now, I still have a few braiding cord made out of cotton and some nylon that I purchased in Wal-Mart the last time I was stateside.

I really wanted to keep my pieces closely resembling ancient Chamorro ornaments but my best friend said I should try experimenting with a few “not-so traditional pieces.” There are some people on Saipan that are big into making jewelry out of beads and they turn out real quality work that you can sell at high end stores on the island. But I really wanted an emphasis on a “traditional” flavor. As I see it, anyone can order bulk beading materials and get a book or video that gives you instructions on how to produce really good looking pieces. I am not knocking anyone who does this (in fact it’s a pretty neat hobby) but I think I will stick to utilizing things that I cut myself and not resort to store bought beads, etc.

This is the first bracelet that I attempted with a beautiful orange Spondylus centerpiece. The centerpiece reminds me of some Palauan money beads that are in the same shape and color. I then alternated two uncommon purple colored Spondylus salape’ disc beads, two orange ones, and closed the bracelet off with another purple salape’ bead. This was my first attempt on a bracelet form utilizing a square (flat) braid and a loop & toggle for the closure. I think I will rebind this another day, because the loop & toggle style on this bracelet makes it a little hard to put on by yourself. My best friend (who owns this piece now) struggles a few moments before she can get it on her wrist.

This next bracelet I call Cinnamon. It is made up of two orange Spondylus salape’ beads and the center bead is of an uncommon cinnamon colored Spondylus. This beauty is one of a kind!

My best friend saw some beads from a tiger cowry (Cypraea tigris) that were cut into squares in a gorgeous piece that was put together with some glass and plastic beads. She convinced me to experiment with this very non-traditional shape and I think the piece turned out attractively. I complained the whole time I was cutting it though saying things like, “This is not a traditional shape!” and telling her that the tiger cowry was probably over fished where it came from, and that if I wanted to be a “beader” then I should stop cutting my own pieces, and so on and so forth. So I ended up calling this piece Tigiri, the Chamorro word for tiger (from the Spanish word tigre, of course). Look closely and you’ll see Tigiri’s stripes.
Thank you again for allowing me to share.

The Beachcomber

Spondylus salape': Non-classic colors

On an earlier post, I mentioned that the classical Spondylus salape’ beads are usually orange in color. Most people are convinced that the Spondylus species that the ancient Chamorro artisans fashioned into orange beads are Spondylus varius. I am not too convinced yet if this is all that correct because of the varied species of the thorny/spiny oysters that are found in our waters. Classifying or naming a specimen using pictures from a shell book or even from Internet sources is a difficult task. Expert and amateur taxonomists alike can attest to this challenge.

One of the people I “talk stories” on biology with is a good friend and former colleague Dr. John S. He looked up in the Micronesica (the University of Guam journal of natural sciences of Micronesia and the region) to find that we have have present in CNMI waters: S. varius, S. multimuricatus, S. nicobaricus, S. squamosus and S. violascense. At times I wonder if I should have been a taxonomist because of the way I want to catalog/classify things in nature. You see, I want to be sharp enough to pick up any Spondylus shell fragment and say to a certainty that this is what it is. I know: NERD!

So how does this all translate to the pendants that make? Again, the classical Spondylus salape’ are mostly orange and I experimented with other fragments that I found that are what I call non-classical in color.

I call this salape’, Korason, the Chamorro/Spanish word for heart. It has a beautifully striated red color. The toggle is from a smaller fragment that I found that matched Korason’s colors surprisingly well.

This next piece is Papakyo, which means stormy in Chamorro. The word pakyo is very similar to bagyo, the Tagalong word of the same meaning, which hints to the Austronesian language link between the Mariana Islands and my mother islands of the Philippines. I am sure that Papakyo is a Spondylus squamosus which has an unmistakable dark maroon color. I picked up this shell fragment after a small tropical disturbance in the area hence the name. Papakyo has a rectangular toggle cut from the same shell fragment.

The piece below I named Putitainobiu after the Chamorro name for the flower Bougainvillea (puti=pain, tai=not have, nobiu=lover). I used to paint acrylics a lot and orange was a difficult color for me to utilize. I am convinced that only the Creator, the Master Artisan himself, can put pink and orange together and make it work this beautifully.

One day I was cutting a beautifully colored shell fragment with soft pink and white striations. In handling it, I knew this piece would polish quite nicely. My mind raced though, troubled by some odd news and some deep wounds caused by the remembrance of a recent break up. Although I was outside on a beautiful day, under the shade of a kind mango tree and a light breeze cooling my bare skin, my cutting was disturbed by what was effectively turmoil inside. I knew I had to calm myself down and focus on the task of creating.

You see, I somewhat believe that there is something to energy, be it positive or negative, and how it affects things you touch or handle, and in this case create. I know this is all hokey to Western science, and maybe even some Christians would think it a bit odd too, this theory of energy transfer. Well, although I can’t really explain it or prove anything I can personally say that I know there is something to it. Just for an example though, so you don’t think I am all weird and everything, when I practiced massage on Guam a few years back, I’ve experienced feeling ill after treating some clients that were really in bad shape. A number of experiences like that convinced me not to treat anyone if I was feeling out of tune (physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.) as well, so that I don’t transfer any negative energy to the client.

Anyway, although in cutting an inanimate object such as a shell fragment is not the same, I tend to apply the same personal theory. I’d like to approach the art of creating like a Zen Japanese sword smith who undertook their task with great solemnity, and purity of heart and mind, undergoing fasting and ritual purification before laboring in the art of metallurgy. Well, my mind should at the least be clear and positive anyway.
So anyway while cutting this particular piece, thinking about a friend who came back from vacation as a single woman really bugged me. I took it a bit to heart since I at the time was mending a broken heart and although I never really met the former nobiu, I thought their relationship was all good. It made me think of how fragile relationships really are and how many things could go wrong. But I know that there are reasons for breakups and they are usually for good reasons. I had to dig deep to not be so bothered and accept things that I couldn’t do anything about really.

So how did I get rid of the internal drama and perform the task at hand? I focused on who my friend was. Although we don’t spend a lot of time together, I know that she is special. I firsthand see that she is well loved by colleagues, the kids that she teaches, the drama team she’s a part of, and so on. I think they also call her, the Northstar, since her unwavering character is a good reminder to all of us what beauty really is inside and out. She is a real beauty, as is this piece of salape’ that I made with her in mind. This one is called Mai-Rhea. Isn’t she lovely?

Thanks again for letting me share.

The Beachcomber

I missed the show!

I was thinking of selling some Spondylus, hima (giant clam), and bone pendants this weekend at the Christmas Artists Bazaar at the Multipurpose Center, Susupe, Saipan. I missed the boat though and they ran out of space while I contemplated if I had enough pieces to sell. We all should go though in support of the very few handful of artisans that we have in the CNMI. I believe it is on both Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 till 19:00. Bring some cash for some good art. I hope to see you there!

Here is a classical style Spondylus salape' pendant that I made for my good friend Tina S. The shell fragment that I cut this from had a gorgeous red orange color and I really did not want to waste any of the shell. The best way I thought to do so was in the style that you see now. Even the toggle that closes the necklace is from the same shell fragment.

Now, I usually think about the significance of the characteristics of a piece quite extensively. But this design really just made me think of an exclamation point and the Exclamation perfume bottle that was marketed a few years back. From a graphics arts perspective, the design was genius in my mind.

But what significance does this have in terms of my friend Tina? Well, she has surprised me in many occasions in the many things that she is involved with in our community. But if anything, I wish that this little piece of Spondylus is a reminder of how precious the community that both she and I serve is. In our work together a few years ago, she was the one who quoted to me, "Community first, above all." Courage, strength, truth, honor, equity, compassion and so on and so forth is what I wish for you to have and is really who you already are to me, Tina. Good luck on your new role.

Spondylus salape’: The classical shape

Disc beads made from the Spondylus or more commonly known as the spiny or thorny oyster, were used as ornaments by the ancient Chamorros of the Mariana Islands. Some archeologists believe that they were also used as money or salape’. Purportedly, the beads were greatly valued and were treated as heirlooms as well . Archeologists tell us that these beads were produced during the archaeological milestones of the Mariana Islands known as the Transitional Pre-Latte (AD 1 to AD 1000), the larger Latte Period (AD 1000 to AD 1521), and even through the Early Historic Period (in between AD 1521 to 1700).

The traditional or classical characteristic of the beads are disc shaped, orange in color, highly polished and without any surface blemish. Their dimensions are generally about 10 to 20 mm in diameter, 1 to 2.5 mm in width, and weighing about .5 to 2.5 grams. Most beads are biconically (two cones) drilled from both the front and the back surface but some are drilled completely through. Most beads have holes drilled in the center of the disc. There is a picture of some bead artifacts found on Tumon Bay, Guam here: http://historicguam.org/Historic%20Preservation%20Plan%20for%20Guam.pdf

Below is a picture of some ancient Spondylus disc beads housed in the CNMI Museum of History and Culture in Garapan, Saipan. The biggest disc bead here is about 51 mm in diameter. Look closely, and you’ll see that this particular bead has two holes to accommodate binding. Can you see the conically shaped drill hole of the top middle bead?



The next two pictures are also from the museum. It's a display collection of different ornamental artifacts collected by former United States Marine lieutenant and archeologist/naturalist Hans Hornbostle in the 1920s. According to the label, the artifacts were returned to Saipan by the Bishop Museum in Honolulu Hawaii in 1999.



After learning a little about the history of these artifacts and seeing how beautiful they are, I was hooked. I decided that I too would like to embark on a creative journey, much like the ancient people of my adoptive island home. So I “cut”, polish and bind my own versions of the Spondylus salape’ to give homage to the past and hopefully inspire others to discover for themselves the beauty of the ancient Chamorro culture.

This is a finished necklace and some bead discs that are ready to be bound. You can see that the Spondylus varies greatly in color which we shall explore on an upcoming post.


Finally, here are three more finished necklaces all in the classical shape of the Spondylus salape’ (the bead on the left is a toggle that closes the loop of a necklace. These are bound by beading cord of 100 % cotton.



Thank you for letting me share once again.

The Beachcomber

Hafa adai, everyone!

Hafa adai! Welcome to my blog and my first post. Being an avid beachcomber and general nature lover, I thought it would be nice to be able to share some of the things I see and discover in the wonderful islands of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.

I have lived on Saipan for 5 years now and there are still many things to do, see, experience and learn even though the island is just 20 km (12.5 mi) long and 9 km (5.5 mi) wide. Saipan is all about the things that enjoy so I hope I am able to share with you some interesting anecdotes on my interest in nature, history, health, or really just about anything and everything.

Blogging has become a favorite past time here on Saipan. I will mostly keep my blogging anonymous since I like my privacy very much. Please do the same for me and respect my privacy. I hope that this is something that I will find fun to do and fun for you to share in as well since I feel like there are somethings that I see or do that others may appreciate too.

So, Here we go. I'll try to make this entertaining. Thank you for allowing me to share!

One of my hobbies:

The ancient people of the Mariana Islands had an affinity for the Spondylus, or spiny oyster. The Chamorros made coin like beads with a hole (mainly in the middle) that they bound together and used as ornamentation. Some people believe they were also used for monetary purpose as salape' (money).

After seeing only a few artisans here on Saipan fashioning pendants and other ornaments made out of Spondylus and other natural materials, I decided to give it a try myself. Future posts will showcase the learning process that I go through in developing my new hobby, but ultimately, I hope that this inspires others to reclaim the lost arts of the past and so that knowledge of the ancient Chamorros is appreciated and not forgotten. I invite other artisans to share ideas and techniques within these blogs as well so that interest in the ancient arts grow and continue to be refined.

This is a picture of the first three Spondylus salape' pendants that I cut, polished and bound. Although you cannot see it in this picture, the necklaces are bound by a simple loop and small salape' toggles. I used hemp-like beading cord that are made of cotton. Finishing the first three gave me a lot of satisfaction since it was accomplished all through trial and error. I hope you like them too.