The hima (giant clam shell)

In light of recent discussions about the possibility of hima (giant clam shell) being listed as an endangered species by the US federal government and how this might impact those who carve and create jewelry that uses hima and also those who wear hima, we thought we’d share some history of hima and its significance to the CHamoru people of the Marianas.

For thousands of years, the CHamoru people carved hima primarily for the purpose of creating tools such as higam (adze), guesgues (scrapers) and se’se’ (small blades). The higam (also sometimes referred to as a gachai) was created by attaching a blade made from shell or stone, to a wooden handle. Higam would be made in different sizes for different tasks, but their most prominent uses would be to assist in the carving of canoes and possibly to shape the latte, used as the foundation for houses.

It is likely that higam were also used for fighting, even if as weapons of last resort. The Jesuits priests documented this most famously in the defiant stand of Maga’låhi Ahgao during the CHamoru Spanish Wars in the 17^th century. In 1672, a meeting was called in Hagåtña, where several CHamoru leaders were invited to attend to negotiate with the priests for peace. The meeting was a trap and several leaders, including Maga’låhi Hurao were killed. One remaining warrior Ahgao was able to fend off a squad of Spanish troops using only a higam, until he could jump into a river and swim safely away.

Hima was also used in the creation of what we refer to today as the sinahi. In the 1990s, members of the CHamoru activist group Nasion Chamoru, most notably the late Senator Angel L.G. Santos first found artifacts made from hima in the jungle and began to wear them as necklaces. They gave them the name sinahi, which means “new moon” in CHamoru, as the shape of the artifacts reminded them of the changing phases of the moon.

As Nasion Chamoru was an organization dedicated to the protection of CHamoru lands and culture, the wearing of a sinahi at the time became heavily associated with one’s commitment to advancing the causes of the CHamoru people and protecting their culture, lands and rights. In time, cultural artisans began to recreate these artifacts, leading more and more people to wear sinahi as an expression of their love of their island, culture and people.

In truth, historians and archeologists remain divided over what the sinahi may have been called by CHamorus of the past or even how it may have been used.

The discussions and debates around the origins of the sinahi should not impact however the way it has achieved new meaning for CHamorus today as an iconic cultural symbol.