Title:
Relief Goods
Date Created:
2021-03-13
Description:
The first land seen after crossing west from the Americas is the Mariana Islands. Filipinas annually sent supplies there from Cavite during August or September. Everything from sardines to iron was brought for the mission post that started in 1668 and, constructed in 1671, a protective fort. By 1680 a Spanish settlement was being set up for galleons. It was a forlorn post to where exiles and prisoners were sent. An official could threaten anyone making passes at his wife with a sentence to the Marianas. Eventually Chamorros, the resident islanders, had to work two times weekly on government projects that included salt making by women and hunting wild boar by men. Other labors were onerous. Socorro (meaning “relief”) was the annual assistance of goods like food, coin, men to aid the community of Hagatma at the middle of Guam Island, on its west coast. A mile from that settlement is where Swan’s two boats anchored on May 21, 1696 at 11 pm posing as Spaniards. He had only enough food for 3 days and had land not been sited, his men would have killed and eaten him according to William Dampier whose eye-witness story is the basis for this set of Philippine culinary history vignettes.
Subjects:
Philippines -- Commerce -- Mariana Islands Mariana Islands -- Commerce -- Philippines Chamorro (Micronesian people) Charles Swan Hagåtña (Guam) William Dampier Labor
Exhibition:
Dampier 1686
Source:
A Spanish fort in Guam. dreamstime.com. Public domain
Type:
Image;Still Image
Format:
image/jpeg
Source
Preferred Citation:
"Relief Goods", Philippine Food History, Felice P. Sta. Maria
Reference Link:
felicepstamaria.net/items/coll193.html
Rights
Rights:
Public domain
Standardized Rights:
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/