Village to Village: Malesso’

This is #3 in my V2V project where I post a picture of a village sign and some info about the village.

malesso

Merizo (Malesso’)

Malesso’ is the southernmost village in Guam and Ernest T. Chargualaf is the mayor. As of the 2010 US Census, the population of Merizo was 1,850.

Always known as a place for fishing, the village’s original name, Malesso’, derives from the Chamorro word lesso’, a juvenile stage in the growth of rabbit fish. Juvenile rabbit fish, or mañåhak in Chamorro, run in schools at certain times of the year in the bays and inlets of the village. Their arrival is always an occasion of great excitement, as groups of people large and small work nets to gather the local delicacy.

While there are few accounts of the pre-Spanish colonial era on Guam, Merizo’s abundance of fresh water, its protected lagoon, extensive reef and shorelines, and its fertile valleys suggest that the area likely sustained a large population. By 1833, however, the population was estimated at only 318. By this time, disease, calamity and the Spanish-Chamorro wars had reduced the native Chamorros.

In 1946, the first woman was elected to the Guam Congress. Rosa Aguigui Reyes, from Merizo, served in the congress – an advisory body to the island’s naval governor – and was also a longtime educator. She died January 2007 at the age of ninety-one.

Learn more about Malesso’ from Guampedia:
http://www.guampedia.com/merizo-malesso/

Some of my favorite things in Malesso’ are: Priest’s Pools, Cocos Crossing, the annual Crab Festival, the view of Cocos Island from the pier and Josh Tyquiengco.

Raise your hand if you’re from Malesso’! Your own village is so cherry.