Two Chamoru women prepare higai or coconut leaf thatch in Guam in 1945/1946.

Higai would be used in a balangai or gupot higai, a large-scale gathering where families and neighbors would work together to repair the roofs for their homes.

The gupot higai was a common event in prewar Guam, and continued in some villages for a few years after World War II. It was a regular cultural  metaphor for the sense of chenchule’ or reciprocity amongst CHamorus. In exchange for everyone pooling their labor and giving up one day to help a neighbor, all knew that when it came time to thatch the roofs for their homes, they would be taken care of.

When we talk about inafa’maolek as a CHamoru cultural value today, its roots lie in these sorts of communal activities, where labor, time and resources are shared by individuals to benefit the larger collective, whether the family or the village.