Umatalaf

Written by Angela Carrier | May 2020

Ilao | photo by Ifit

Pulan : Umatalaf - to catch guatafi

Sometimes the satiation is not always the food. It’s the company and the fullness we get by being together and talking story. Of course, we still talk about the food, the recipes, the stories and the memories. The matrilineal force is strong in all of us, we tell stories of our mothers, our grandmothers, our daughters, our granddaughters, and ourselves.

aunti mart shares her fina’denne’ satdinas recipe with us over a virtual meeting and it makes our mouths water. The pungency of the coconut vinegar, the acidity of the tomato, the oily richness of the sardine, the crunch of the onion and the heat of the donne’. 

She tells us how this was a recommended dish in an education and nutrition program for teen moms on Guåhan she worked at in the mid-90s. And then she shared a beautiful story of when she discovered an illustration of a mother and baby, that was being used on a flyer given to every mom upon discharge from the Guam Memorial Hospital, was actually from a photo that had been taken of her a decade earlier in Santa Cruz! The photograph of her and baby was taken for an article in Mothering magazine in the 1980’s on postpartum acupuncture and moxa treatment. Yet here her image was, years later back on Guåhan encouraging young mothers. 

I found out I was pregnant the same week I sat in the open panel grant review for this project. Having tried for years to have another child, there was this positive momentum and energy as the dreams I had put into the universe were manifesting, in almost overwhelming synchronicity. With the growing daughter inside, I felt the need to be surrounded by strong women, an urge to be bonded to our island and our shared ancestors. And our gatherings have exceeded any expectations I had to share cycles of the moon with these famalao’an.

Nourishing our matrilineal legacy means mothering and caring for one another, weaving our hair together to catch each other in time of need and hold our island close.

Fina’denne’ satdinas

• onion

• cherry tomatoes

• coconut vinegar

• donne’ 

• sardines

Slice onion and cherry tomatoes and combine with coconut vinegar in a bowl. Add donne’, and gently nestle the sardines in the mixture.