A CHAMORRO and Carolinian canoe blessing ceremony marked Saturday’s edition of the 2024 Micronesian Cup at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan Beach in Garapan.
The Micro Cup is a regional va’a outrigger race that is hosted alternately by Guam, Palau and Saipan.
This year, teams from Guam, the CNMI and the Marshall Islands competed in men’s, women’s, juniors and masters canoe paddling races. The event featured over 200 participants.
At the canoe blessing ceremony, noted suruhuanu/yo’amte Donald Mendiola and Master Navigator Mario Benito asked ancestral spirits to keep the canoes and racers safe.
Mendiola and Benito sailed at the event aboard 500 Sails canoes. Mendiola was on the 26-foot Chamorro vessel Richard Seman while Benito rode on Mikaela, the newest canoe in the 500 Sails fleet that was designed and built by Benito and other local residents.
Mikaela is a Carolinian-style sailing canoe with fiberglass hulls and traditional wooden spars, yards, and mast.
Also participating in the canoe blessing ceremony was the canoe Anaguan.
Prior to the blessing, emcee Gordon Marciano shared a traditional oral history about Garapan, as told to him by Ghilisoow Canoe Federation Chairman Ray Tebuteb and Master Navigator Cecilio Riukiulipiy.
Marciano said Garapan was once known as Anaguan in Chamorro and Arabwal in the Refaluwasch or Carolinian language.
He said the lagoon in Garapan remains an important site for visiting navigators, and is used as an arrival point.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the 500 Sails canoes sailed off. Mikaela is housed at the Carolinian Affairs Office while Richard Seman and Anaguan are kept at the Guma Sakman in Susupe.
Donald Mendiola, local healer, blesses a racing va’a prior to the start of the Micro Cup.
Donald Mendiola, left, and Mario Benito bless the canoes and racers on the second day of Micro Cup.
Gordon Marciano shares an oral tradition associated with the Micro Cup.
The crew of Anaguan: Wilson Gaul, Connie Camacho, Lia Rangamar, Andrea Roberto and April Repeki.
This photo was taken from the deck of Mikaela as it sailed away from the Micro Cup race venue. In the background are Anaguan and Richard Seman.
Master Navigator Mario Benito sits on Mikaela while a racing crew prepare their va’a in the Saipan Lagoon.
Mikaela, foreground, on the shore while Richard Seman and Anaguan sail through the Saipan Lagoon.
