“I Was Impressed, in My Own Language”

Maria Salas Calvo, one of the first of Guam’s indigenous people to join the Church, had yet to read the Book of Mormon in her native language, CHamoru (formerly spelled “Chamorro”). CHamoru is one of only two languages of the 450 Austronesian languages spoken in the Pacific region that do not belong to the Oceanic subgroup. The CHamoru language seems to have arisen from a migration of a distinctive group of people from Southeast Asia to the Marianas around 3,500–4,000 years ago.

Maria and her husband, Don, also a CHamoru Latter-day Saint, thought a lot about how foreign colonization from the 16th century onward affected CHamoru language and culture on Guam. “Culture revolves around a lot of these traditions that were introduced by the Spanish,” said Maria. When in Guam, the Spanish sought to colonize the CHamoru people. “The people on the islands were subdued,” Don explained.

The CHamoru population shrank, as did the cultural space for CHamoru traditions and language. In the early 20th century, under US military rule on Guam, the CHamoru language was banned, and the naval administration even burned CHamoru-English dictionaries. Only in the early 1970s did government efforts begin to revitalize Guam’s indigenous language and culture.

Maria decided to translate selections from the Book of Mormon into CHamoru. Such a translation would contribute to the growing efforts to revitalize CHamoru on Guam. She consulted closely with Ann Rivera, director of the bilingual program in Guam’s Department of Education, to make sure her translation followed a recently created standard system of CHamoru spelling and grammar. She labored over the translation for two years.

“Sometimes during my translation work, my heart would feel so full and I was overcome by tears,” she said. “I was impressed, in my own language, that Father in Heaven does not ask much. He only asks us to love Him with all our heart and mind.”

In 1989, Maria completed translating a volume of CHamoru-language selections from the Book of Mormon: Sileksion Siha Ginen I Leblon Mormon—Otror Na Testamenton Jesu Kristo. She and other Church members presented the volumes to the local leaders, including Governor Joseph F. Ada. The Territorial Library of Guam included the CHamoru translation in the special collections section of the Guam archives.

On November 24, 1989, the territorial legislature adopted a formal resolution praising Maria’s work. It praised “Maria Salas Calvo, a dedicated and devoted Mormon as well as a proud and independent Chamorro,” for her accomplishment. The resolution declared that the Book of Mormon’s translation into CHamoru “represents a major accomplishment in the all-important preservation of the Chamorro language, providing in beautiful Chamorro an extensive account of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”