Chamorros

the indigenous population of the Mariana Islands, in Western Micronesia. Decimated in the 17th century by Spanish colonists, the Chamorros spoke a Malayo-Polynesian language. They engaged in land cultivation and were evidently at the stage of the disintegration of the primitive communal system. A small number of the surviving Chamorros intermarried with the Spanish and with the Filipinos and Mexicans serving in the Spanish armed forces. The name “Chamorros” is now applied to the resulting group, which is made up of métis and has retained the old language. According to a 1971 estimate, the Chamorros number approximately 65,000. They engage primarily in land cultivation and are nearly all Roman Catholics.