Kantan Chamorrita
The Kantan Chamorrita giya/in the Marianas is a 2025 publication of the Inetnun Kutturan Natibun Marianas/Kkoor Aramasal Marianas (IKNM/KAM). Co-authored by Carmen Songsong Taimanao and Manuel Flores Borja, the 383-page book (soft-cover) contains more than 600 older kantan Chamorrita verses, as well as more than 100 newer verses that have never been published before.
For this bilingual (Chamorro and English) book, the authors researched, and interviewed more than 70 people (mostly elders) on Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan, about their experiences hearing kantan Chamorrita, and collected old and new song verses from multiple sources.
The table of contents includes:
Acknowledgement; Dedication; Special Notes (the word “Chamorrita” and the phrase “Kantan Chamorrita;” on the interview; the Chamorro orthography used; the Kantan Chamorrita tunes; why there are no composition of English song verses); Message from from Mayor Felipe Camacho Mendiola at the Tinian Senior Center; Foreword by Zita Diaz Pangelinan, Håya Foundation, Guam; Preface I, Carmen Songsong Taimanao; Preface II, Manuel Flores Borja; Chapter I, Introduction; Chapter II, People’s Kantan Chamorrita Experiences; Chapter III, Compilation of Kantan Chamorrita Verses (appearing in the Chamorro section only); Chapter IV, Compendium of Research and Development on Kantan Chamorrita (appearing in the English section only); Appendix 1, The Story of the Få’i (Rice) Chant by Frances Manibusan Sablan; Appendix 2, On the Pacific Golden Plover (Dulili); Appendix 3, On luchan, kåttan, håya, lågu (“south, north, east, west”); Appendix 4, On Making a Thatched Roof Home; Bibliography.
This book is available for sale on Saipan at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library, MANGO office in Garapan, Garapan Public Market, and at Joeten Store in Susupe.
On Guam, the Kantan Chamorrita giya/in the Marianas will be available by the end of March this year.
The first publication of IKNM/KAM was the trilingual (Carolinian, Chamorro, English) Directory of Traditional Healers and Medicinal Plants in the CNMI, co-authored by Joe Somorang Roppul and Manuel Flores Borja, published in 2009, and reprinted in 2022, and is also available on Guam. On Saipan, they are for sale at the Joeten-Kiyu Public Library and at Joeten Store in Susupe.
All proceeds from both publications go to IKNM/KAM, a non-profit organization, chartered in the CNMI and whose mission is to preserve and promote the indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian cultures, languages, traditional healing practices, and history of the Northern Mariana Islands through projects like language revitalization, documenting cultural icons, and creating cultural resources for the community, ensuring these traditions thrive.
For more information about the books for sale, please email: iknmkam21@gmail.com.
