204 years ago this month, the scientific expedition of Louis de Freycinet visited the Mariana Islands. The ship Uraine arrived in Guam on March 17, 1819 and stayed for three months, gathering geographic and ethnographic data from the region and its people. They spoke with Spanish colonial officials and also interviewed CHamorus about their culture and history. Some of the most iconic images of our region’s past were drawn from this trip.

One of the expedition’s artists, Jacques Arago, was very critical of the Spanish government and in his mind, their poor treatment of the CHamoru people or Marianas as they were sometimes called then. He wrote, ” … Poor Marianos, it is not only medicine that is unknown among them, but also the arts, the sciences and luxury. Certainly, the populace is bright and intelligent, but its natural talent is not well directed and its instructions does not go beyond what is necessary to earn a good life. If ignorance exists in Guam, it is because no one has been told that it is necessary to learn. The Mariana Islands are neither civilized nor savage, the ancient customs and modern practices existing side by side, the superstitions and idolatries of the early days partially buried under the fanaticisms of the Spanish conquistadors …

Arago, like others who visited Guam at this time also noted the everyday lyricism of the CHamoru people,, he wrote, “The Mariano is musical more by nature than by instinct. He sings while he works, he sings while bathing and sings until he sleeps. His language is almost music.”

At the time of their visit to the Marianas, it was almost a century since the end of the forced Spanish resettlement of the majority of CHamorus in Guam, which was designed to compel CHamorus to accept Spanish rule and the Catholic religion. While CHamorus initially resisted the Catholic religion by the start of the 1800s, it had become an every part of CHamoru life. As Arago wrote, “Not in Spain, nor in Portugal, nor in Brazil nor in any country have I seen as many [religious] processions as here. Everyday there is a new saint to glorify.”