This is a depiction of a scene in the village of the ancient Chamorros of the Marianas Islands. The indigenous Marianas people have this custom of "fangengi'" (spelling?). Its a show of respect to elders or anyone who is above you in the kinship system like your uncle who is only 5 years older than you. But mostly its for the Man'Amko' (elders). If you notice this picture, which was probably representative of the period of first contact by Europeans, the man standing with an upright posture is obviously a high-ranking individual. The crouching individual is practically on his knees, maybe asking permission for something. The figure in the background is probably just passing by in the presence of a high-ranking person and crouches as he walks by so that he is "lower" than him. It depicts a society that was once socially stratified by rank, endowed by what? I don't know. Ask Noel Quitugua at the CNMI Museum.
Today this practice has nearly dissappeared. Perhaps many of the high-ranking persons of the ancient Marianas have all been decimated as they would have been the primary targets of Spanish colonists and missionaries who wished to assert their power among the larger indigenous population.
However, it is still common for youngsters to bow in front of an elder and kiss or "sniff" their hand and say "nyot" for elder males or "nyora" for elder women (the "ny" part should have been spelled with one N with the tilda ~ on top, but I have no idea how to type it). It is a sign of respect. The man'amko' would then reply "Dios ta ayudi" or "God help us" (I think).
My grandfather was my "alpha elder". Everytime I would go with him to a rosary, novena, or anywhere for that matter, he made sure I fangengi all the man'amko'. If I encountered someone who wasn't that old, maybe younger than my Dad but it was determined that he or she was an uncle or auntie then fangengi was in order..jpg)
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Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I fangengi older folks here in Seattle. They would probably take a swing at me, if all of a sudden I bent down to grab their hand, put my head on it and fangengi. Unless of course they are already from the Marianas then the gesture would be welcome.
Crouching around elders is still somewhat practiced in Micronesia. In Chuuk, for example, when two people are talking to each other and you have to get from point A to point B and the only path is between them, you must lower yourself when you pass between them. However, you might notice that they will crouch out of view while they walk around you when you are conversing with someone. But I don't know if people in Saipan or Guam do that? I just remember it because my grandfather lived in Chuuk for decades and I have many relatives from there so maybe it just figured into habit.
I made this little ceramic sculpture while I was thinking about my grandfather, Tun Juan "Obo" Pangelinan. I made a little hanger with some baling wire so I could hang it in my room. The rosary beads were given to me by my beautiful girlfriend Katie, after she returned from her travels through Italy. It was made in Venice with glass beads!
Glazed Ceramic 7" x 9" x 6"
