Skip to content

Summary

The Legend of the Ko'ko' (Guam Rail) and the Hilitai (Monitor Lizard)

12-19 guam museum The Legend of the Ko'ko' and the Hilitai

The Legend of the Ko'ko' (Guam Rail) and the Hilitai (Monitor Lizard)

The Legend of the Ko’ko’ (Guam Rail) and the Hilitai (Monitor Lizard) is one of the best-known animal legends told by the CHamoru people. In it, a hilitai who sings wonderfully, hopes to upgrade his appearance to match his voice. He makes a deal with a ko’ko’, that they will paint each other to make them look more beautiful.

The ko’ko’ paints small spots on the hilitai’s green skin. The hilitai loves his new look, but when it comes time to paint the ko’ko’, he adds a few stripes, but then gives up not wanting to continue. The ko’ko’ punishes the hilitai for breaking his promise by pecking his tongue, splitting it in two so he could no longer sing.

This legend provides a story for why both animals look and act a certain way. It also has an important moral, reminding children to not be so vain or selfish as to forget about promises you have made to your friends.

Image is from the Hale’-ta book: Hemplon Nåna Siha.

If you enjoy the work the Guam Museum is doing, consider making a donation to the Guam Museum.

Donate to the Guam Museum
In her first solo show, Julia Birn presents Chewing on Static. She regards this body of work as an exploration of what it means to live in a life that no longer feels entirely familiar. Ms. Birn uses her work as a way to consider what happens when something changes the way one moves through the world, the relationship with oneself, and understanding of the future, as a result of chronic illness. Her paintings emerge from this unresolved experience, giving shape to the feeling of living with something that cannot always be explained or communicated. Through abstraction, fragmentation, and restricted palettes, the works hold onto that tension, allowing forms to shift and remain ambiguous. What emerges is a reflection of what it is like to live with a reality that has become difficult to recognise. The title of the exhibit, Chewing on Static speaks to the mental noise that comes from searching for clarity, questioning one's own experience, and trying to communicate something that refuses to become simple or certain. It is about what happens when one is forced to construct a new understanding of oneself and continue living within something that is unchosen. Through her work, Birn asks the viewer to enter a space where certainty is difficult to find, and to sit with what cannot be resolved. Julia Birn is an accomplished artist, graphic designer, and entrepreneur, who has participated in multiple large and small group shows in Guam since 2022. She has recently earned her BFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Summa Cum Laude. Follow her on Instagram @deafeningsilenceco or contact via email at deafeningsilenceco@gmail.com

Chewing on Static

Chewing on Static https://www.guammuseumfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Chewing-on-Static-INSTAGRAM_4K_H265.mov The next exhibit opening October 24, 2026 at the Guam Museum Cafe Gallery. In her first solo show, Julia Birn presents

Read More »
Load More
error: Content is protected !!