An iconic photo of two CHamoru fishers from the article, "Guam - Perch of the China Clippers" that was part of the July 1938 issue of National Geographic magazine.

An iconic photo of two CHamoru fishers from the article, “Guam – Perch of the China Clippers” that was part of the July 1938 issue of National Geographic magazine. Despite the beauty of the image, the article used it to focus instead on Ferdinand Magellan and his encountering the CHamoru people in Guam in 1521.

The caption for the photo began, “From the palm-fringed shore of Guam, islanders put out to meet Magellan and his starving crew four centuries ago.”

It then continued, “A scene like this met the eyes of the explorer, when he sighted the island while circumnavigating the globe – the first land he had reached for three months and twenty days. The seaman, beset with scurvy, had been reduced to a diet of rats and leather. After provisioning, Magellan noticed one of his small boats had been stolen. With 40 armed men, he landed, avenged the theft, then sailed away.”