Mata'pang

Matå'pang (died 1680) was a Chamorro maga'låhi or chief of the ancient Chamorro village of Tomhom on the island of Guahan. His name meant "to be made pure by cleansing," in the ancient Chamorro language.

Mata'pang is best known for resisting the Spanish invasion of his country and for his conflict with a Spanish priest Diego de San Vitores, an early missionary of the colonial Spanish empire on Guam, and his Filipino associate, Pedro Calungsod, resulting in the deaths of the foreigners at the hands of Matå'pang and his companion Hurao.

Today Matå'pang has become iconic among many activists for Chamorro self-determination.

Cultural references

Matå'pang today has been reclaimed as a celebrated figure by many in the younger generation of Chamorro activists, who view him as a moving figure of resistance against imperial domination and cultural erasure. Jay Baza Pascua's spoken-word poem "A Descendant of Matå'pang" is a good example of this movement to rehabilitate Matå'pang as a Chamorro icon.[1] In that poem, Pascua states:

"You see, Father Luis de San Vitores was determined to bring God to the “Indios” of the Pacific.

"Determined enough he disobeyed Matåpang’s order not to baptize his ailing child ... Matåpang retaliated by killing the missionary priest.

"It was not that Matåpang defied the missionary’s spiritual relief but that San Vitores defied Matåpang’s cultural belief.

"In so doing … this legendary chief ignited the flames that started a 30-year war between the Chamorros and the Spanish ... the embers of that fire continue to burn within the hearts of those who want Guam to be free from colonial rule."

Academic critiques

Professor Vince Diaz has critically examined the legacy of Maga'låhi Matå'pang in his presentation and later article "In the Wake of Matå'pang's Canoe." His talks deconstruct the varying accounts of Matå’pang from both indigenous and colonial views. In doing so, he utilizes the metaphor of the canoe — the literal and symbolic seafaring vessel of the Chamorros — and delves into the linguistic variations of the word matå’pang between Chamorro and Tagalog. “The first step is to displace momentarily San Vitores as the principle sign in favor of Native perspective and reality, so that the new protagonist is Matå’pang,” said Diaz. “The second step would be to appreciate Matå’pang in native discourse, that is, in terms of how it has and how it can be understood and comprehended in indigenous ways.”[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.plattevalleyreview.org/Webpages/2011%20start/Short%20Fiction%20A-K/Perez.html
  2. ↑ http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/39635-an-alternative-view-of-guams-matapang
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