“With the appearance of Europeans on the islands, new weapons and a different outlook on tactics and objectives forever changed the nature of warfare in the Marianas.”

By George Yagi Jr.

TODAY, MUCH IS known about warfare among Native Americans of the continental United States. However, little has been published about the residents of America’s overseas territories. Among these are the Mariana Islands, an archipelago located in the western North Pacific Ocean, which are now politically divided between the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

In the centuries leading up to the arrival of the Spanish in 1521 under Ferdinand Magellan, warfare in the Marianas was limited to operations of skillful maneuver among its indigenous inhabitants, the Chamorros, rather than full pitched battles. Clashes normally occurred between villages and were often the result of some perceived wrong.

During his missionary efforts in the late 1600s, Father Peter Coomans observed the various slights that might precipitate conflict among Chamorro clans.

“Should a palm tree be cut, a harvest pulled out, or if children have a dispute among themselves, this generates a battle,” Coomans reported.

Describing the actual fighting, another missionary of the era, Father Diego Luis de San Vitores, recorded how combat itself would unfold.

“One village rises against another with a big hurrah, but without a leader, without order and without discipline,” wrote San Vitores. “They are customarily on a campaign several days without actually meeting in battle, each group observing the movements of the other, and when they arrive at the moment of battle, peace is quickly adjusted.”

Normally, contests were decided by the death or injury of two or three warriors. Afterwards, the side with the most casualties would offer up a gift to the victors, which was commonly a turtle shell. Once this act was completed, a communal feast took place.

With the appearance of Europeans on the islands, new weapons and a different outlook on tactics and objectives forever changed the nature of warfare in the Marianas. Guns, gunpowder, crossbows and the introduction of Spanish steel all wrought havoc in what would come to be known as the Spanish-Chamorro Wars (1670 to 1699).

Given the nature of limited warfare before the arrival of the Spanish, a Chamorro warrior possessed only a small selection of arms and armour to face invaders. Here are some weapons that a typical fighter might have had available:

Armour and Shields

Chamorro warriors relied primarily on palm leaves and wood for protection.

Describing their armour, Father Coomans recorded, “Their defensive weapons are hardly more than palm mats, which they place like a hat on their heads by way of a helmet. They also used another [mat], which they tie around their chest by way of a breast-plate.”

In an earlier account, a member of Magellan’s crew, Antonio Pigafetta, noted that the islanders enjoyed some protection by use of “small hats” that were “made of palm leaves.”

As fighting on Guam intensified in 1671, a shipwrecked Chinese trader named Choco taught the Chamorros how to construct a large moveable wooden shield, behind which groups of warriors could find some safety from the Spanish.

On the utility of this sort of mobile barricade, Father Andres de Ledesma remarked: “Under their shelter, they also raise some palisade which encircled ours, trusting the protection of their boards and portable trenches, with which they defend themselves from our fire and attacked with a continuous rain of spears and stones.”

However, although the large shields offered some protection, they were no match for European weaponry.

Slings and Slingstones

The sling or diyunk patu was made from woven coconut or pandanus fibers. Slingstones or atupat were generally egg shaped in appearance and were smoothed down using a number of methods.

Father Coomans noted their effectiveness:

“Their offensive weapons include the sling, which they aim very skillfully at the head. Out of small ropes they weave a sort of net-bag, in which to carry stones with an oblong shape, some formed out of a marble stone, and others of clay, hardened in either the sun or fire. They whirl and shoot those so violently. Should it make an impact upon a more delicate part, like the heart, or the head, the man is flattened on the spot.”

Armed with the sling, a skilled warrior could easily strike a foe with great accuracy up to 50 yards, although some were said to be able to hit a target as far away as 200 yards. The projectiles could be extremely fatal on impact; well-launched slingstones possessed enough force to penetrate a coconut tree.

During the first encounter with Magellan’s forces in 1521, armed outrigger sailing vessels, known as proa, pursued the Spanish caravels after they had attacked a village on Guam. As Magellan sailed away, his sailors were pelted with slingstones hurled from the pursuing craft.

Spears

The spear or fisga was the primary battlefield weapon of Chamorro warriors. They could be used for thrusting at enemy fighters at close range or thrown at distant foes. The simplest spear was fire-hardened and honed to a point. More elaborate spears featured tips made of sharpened human bones with rows of intricately carved barbs. These specially made spearheads varied in length, some measuring up to 16 inches. With their jagged edges, they were particularly destructive when plunged into victims.

Following an attack on the island of Rota in 1602, Father Juan Pobre de Zamora recorded the fate of a Spanish sailor named Sancho who was skewered by a Chamorro spear.

“The wound, seen through many tears, was treated with coconut oil, the only medicine in the islands. Yet, had there been many medicines, all would have been useless, since there was no way to extract the thick spearhead, which, toward the end of its shank is fashioned like a dart, but is barbed to the very point. It enters the body easily, but cannot be withdrawn without tearing the flesh.”

In the case of Sancho, not only was the point lodged in the spine, but as Zamora added: “The situation was made worse because the spearhead lay deep inside and must have passed through vital organs and intestines.”

Since there was no way to remove the deadly instrument, the sailor died 10 days later. Others who suffered a similar fate would succumb to infection or blood loss. In 1680, on the fierce reputation of this weapon, the honorary governor of the Mariana Islands, José de Quiroga y Losada remarked, “there is nothing that can be done against their poison.”

Dr. George Yagi Jr. is an award winning author and historian at California State University, East Bay. Follow him on Twitter @gyagi_jr