Chief Taga Day Festival

On Oct. 1-6, 2019, The Marianas will host the 2^nd Chief Taga Day Festival, honoring one of its most legendary figures, the indigenous Chamorro chief Taga.

“Gineptin Ha‘anen Taga’” (Chief Taga Day Festival) will be held on the island of Tinian, recorded as the place where Taga last lived and was buried.  Tinian is also home to the House of Taga, a landmark on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and the site of the largest standing limestone latte stones in The Marianas.  Latte stones served as support pillars for ancient Chamorro structures.

The event is sponsored in part by the Marianas Visitors Authority, partnering with the Tinian Mayor’s Office and Tinian Municipal Council to bring the story of Taga to life for visitors and residents.”

Chief Taga is one of the most recognizable figures in Marianas history and mythology.  In Spanish written records, Taga was recorded as aiding shipwrecked sailors off the reef near Tinian in the 1600s.  In Chamorro mythology, Taga was known to possess superhuman strength, uprooting a coconut tree as a young child to catch a coconut crab and leaping from Rota to Tinian.

The festival will be held at Tinian in the main village of San Jose.  Accommodations are available at the Tinian Ocean View Hotel, Fleming Hotel, Lorilynn’s Hotel, Tinian Street Motel,_Green Field Lion House, the newly opened Marpo Valley Inn and The Cabin.   Camping is also allowed at Kammer Beach, where bathrooms, outdoor showers, barbecue pits, and pavilions are also available for use.  Activities include lectures, storytelling, and cultural demonstrations are planned for the week.

For more information, contact Chief Taga Day Festival Committee Chairman Joseph San Nicolas of the Tinian Mayor’s Office at 1.670.433.1802 or email.joesntiq@gmail.com, the 17^th Municipal Council at 1.670.433.3470, or  MVA Field Office Supervisor Vida Borja at vborja@mymarianas.com or 1.670.433.9365, or visit www.facebook.com/mymarianas.