Lineage
Melissa was born to Diane and Ray Martos, in San Diego California. Melissa’s parents were first generation American citizens who moved to the United States from Guam during high school. Both of Melissa’s parents are Chamorro, of Pacific Island descent. Melissa grew up and spent all of her adolescence in San Diego surrounded by her mother and father’s extended family.
Heritages, Traditions & Customs
Some of the main cultural heritages Melissa received from her family were to remember her ancestors, to be proud of her lineage and that family comes first. Chamorro cultural values are rooted in family unity but not just with your immediate family. While immediate family is important, the unity extends to the relationships within your community, “you are all one”. Within that community, Melissa recalls the frequent gatherings and sharing of Chamorro food while listening to island and reggae music. Religion Family influenced Melissa’s initial introduction to religion. As a child Melissa remembers her family being devout Catholic until an elder uncle, Uncle Joe, became a Christian. Then she recalls how slowly her entire family followed her Uncle Joe’s lead and converted to Christianity. Melissa remembers going to church regularly and that the focus of religion began to shift for her as she began her teenage years. When I asked Melissa how her focus shifted she said “my religious beliefs are no longer based on religious practices, it is a relationship, not organized but individual.” Elders One of the traditions that Melissa remembers growing up is showing respect for your elders. Whether you personally knew the elder or not, Melissa said you would show respect by acknowledging and greeting them with a kiss. The Chamorro culture believes that parents never age out. As your parents aged, it was natural and custom for them to live with the eldest child. When Melissa was young she remembers her grandparents living in her home. Then when Melissa’s father was involved in a car accident during his 40’s Melissa and her husband opened their home and provided for her father during his recovery and for the years that followed. While Melissa’s father, Ray, would go to Guam to be with his wife or San Diego, to be with his son, his room and belongings would remain at Melissa’s home until he returned. This continued until his passing a few years ago. Schooling All of Melissa’s primary and secondary education was through the San Diego public schools system. When I asked Melissa about having educators other than those of European descent, Melissa said “I remember having an African American first grade teacher and a female, Mexican principle.” She also remembers other staff members that were not of European descent and said, “where I lived in San Diego is a big melting pot, there were as many students that didn’t speak English as there were that did.” Melissa said that some of the cultures she could remember within her school were Somalian, Ethiopian, Mexican, …show more content…
Educationally Melissa does not remember being treated differently than other students in her class. However, culturally and demographically Melissa recalls being treated differently by the community of Boise. Melissa said the majority of rude remarks or vandalism that she experienced was due to her being a Californian. In moving to Idaho from California, Melissa recalls seeing “don’t Californicate” bumper stickers on cars. She also shared how before she was able to change her license plates to Idaho plates, her tires were slashed twice. Melissa recalls multiple remarks being said to her about Californians not being welcome in Idaho and to go back where she came from. While Melissa did not feel like it was a direct attack on her culture, she does remember that for years native Idahoans verbally assaulted Californians and she felt