88 



COMMONWEALTH OF 



THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS 



Statement of Jesus C. Borja 



June 1, 1995 



phins, leaping from wave to wave. 

 Indeed, the early commentators were unanimous in their 

 praise of the speed and maneuverability of these vessels. An- 

 other example is from the Legazpi expedition in 1565: 



[Whenever] one attempts a description of the canoes, 

 one cannot but ceaselessly praise their skillful velocity 

 and maneuverability, for in all the universe, methinks, that 

 naught could prove their equal for beauteous celerity. When 

 they demonstrate their mastery of the waves, verily they do 

 resemble flying darts, and no steed could better heed the 

 driver's reins than they, nor swifter move. For even as we 

 maneuvered the short distance of a harquebuse's shot, they 

 had spun about six times. . . . [S]ome of these crafts are 

 large as any frigate and tall both fore and aft so that the 

 stern is hardly distinguished from the prow. ... So small 

 the frail masts and so simple the gear that the Indians com- 

 mand a veritable frigate and navigate into the wind with a 

 facility till now unknown to us. 



Carolinian tradition 



Our Chamorro and Carolinian people share this tradition. 

 The inhabitants of the Caroline Islands regularly navigated to 

 the Northern Mariana Islands in ocean-going outriggers prior to 

 arrival of the European colonizers. This sea route to the north 

 became known as "metawal wool" to the Carolinians, one of the 



Quoted in D. Farrell, History of the Northern Mariana Is- 

 lands 123 (1991) . 



2 



Quoted in id . at 104. For a summary description of early 



reports of Chamorro sailing and fishing techniques, see J. 



Amesbury, R. Hunter-Anderson & E. Wells, Native Fishing Rights 



and Limited Entry in the CNMI 23-27 (Micronesian Archaeological 



Research Services 1989). 



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