Funerals in Guam blend faith, tradition and family, honoring the dead with deep-rooted CHamoru customs. KPRG's Mia Perez explores the significance of måtai on the island.
This story concludes the first episode of Current Perspectives, KPRG's new podcast exploring the people, practices and issues shaping the region. Listen to the full episode now, and stay tuned for new episodes on the last Friday of every month.
TRANSCRIPT
HOST/NAINA RAO: When the sun sets on a loved one in Guåhan, the island typically considers three things: the formalities of a funeral, religion, and the roots of an indigenous culture. K-P-R-G’s Mia Perez reports on måtai and funeral culture on the island.
MIA PEREZ/BYLINE: On Guam, a loved one’s passing marks their transformation into an ancestor, guiding and protecting future generations while preserving traditions. Dan Ybarra is a funeral director at Ada’s Mortuary Crematorium, He says the family-run business goes above and beyond to lift the burden from grieving families, ensuring they feel supported throughout the process.
DAN YBARRA: We get to know our family before we discuss anything further. We know why they’re there We want our families to know that we’re here with you we’re gonna let us do all this legwork here and we’d never like to say no this can’t happen we always want to make sure that we exhaust all possibilities.
PEREZ: Ada’s Funeral Home sets intentions to align with enduring CHamoru values of Familia, Inafa’maolek, Faith, and Celebrasion. Each of them holds importance in ancient, traditional CHamoru cultures. But according to Rita Nauta, in modernity, they all come together in one space especially when honoring and grieving someone who has passed away. Nauta, a CHamoru woman si Taotao Sumai, is the managing director of the non-profit research group, Guampedia. For transparency, she’s a relative of mine. She explains why CHamorus prioritize the traditions of funerals in such a grand matter.
RITA NAUTA: To coexist in one of the harshest environments in the world, you need all the people you have, so every life was precious, and that person, especially elders who have so much knowledge that if they didn't share that knowledge, they take that knowledge with them, you know, so the loss of someone is very meaningful and very impactful to a small island community, and that's been kind of embedded, here we are in the 21st century. We have 170,000 people in our community, but life is still precious. The customs may have changed, but the values are still embedded and still keep us the same.
PEREZ: Rosaries are a part of this grieving process. Father Felix Berto has been a priest for 45 years. He explains the lisåyon matai, or death rosary, is a tradition that spans from nine to 18 nights leading up to the funeral.
FELIX BERTO: The good thing about the lisåyo, is that it gives time for mourning. We pray for the soul of the deceased because as Catholics, we believe that when a soul passes away, they don’t automatically go to heaven. When you’re already deceased, you cannot pray for yourself, someone else has to pray for you.
PEREZ: Catholics gather right after death and again one year later, during the Finakpo’, or the anniversary of a loved one’s passing.
BERTO: The first anniversary helps to bring a special remembrance of the deceased. And the good thing is that the one year is a celebration with others, with family and friends. And that helps to continue the sense of remembrance that the person is still pretty much a part of your life, even though they’ve been deceased. Because even though they’re not there physically, but just the idea of remembering them in a special way, you keep moving on with your life.
PEREZ: That’s why you see families coming together for many days to pray, funeral processions of cars stopping traffic, and obituaries with extensive lists of family members. Nauta says it’s because…
NAUTA: Presence is so critical, and if you think about living in an island environment, you have to depend on each other. From a CHamoru standpoint, family is not the Western definition of the nuclear family. We operate with the extended family system where the family system is rooted in a clan system where you have a communal sense of family.
PEREZ: In a community so involved, Nauta says when you get that call that someone is nearing death, or that someone has passed. Its a call you have to answer. For KPRG’s Current Perspectives, I’m Mia Perez.
KPRG News transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a KPRG contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of KPRG's programming is the audio record.
