Page 3 | Guampedia Newsletter, June 2019
Choco the Chinaman Featured MHC presentation excerpt by Dr. Judy Flores My personal interest in the Chinaman, Choco, grew as I learned more about the area between Inarajan and Merizo in southern Guam; a stretch of white sand beach today called Tonggan, and land to the south of Tonggan, called Bibesbes. My husband and I built our house inland from Tonggan in the 1970s, on family land that stretched from the beach to the lush hilltop. It wasn’t until the 1990s when I began to research Guam’s history that I learned of Choco who lived in Pa’a during the early missionization period. My conversations with archaeologist Richard Olmo and reading reports of his work at Achang Bay revealed that the lost village of Pa’a was in fact located in the Tonggan and Bibesbes area.
One bit of local information confirmed for me was that we now lived in the vicinity of Pa’a: just south of our property is the farm land belonging to a branch of the Chargualaf family. Their family clan name is “Choco”! The Chinese man, Choco, was firmly established in CHamoru society at the time of Pale’ Diego Luis de San Vitores’ missionization. Choco was instrumental in turning the CHamoru people against the missionaries. Traveling by boat from Hagatña, San Vitores entered Pa’a while singing the Act of Contrition, which he had then composed in the CHamoru language. Upon finding Choco, San Vitores began to argue with him about Christianity in CHamoru. The dispute lasted three days.
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