Taotaomona Story

Taotaomona Story

There are many supernatural stories about Guam and its past. One of these beliefs is
about the taotaomona. It goes way back in Guam’s history and culture where these powerful
spirits were tasked to protect the land. Some say you have to say “dispensa yu” when walking
into ancient places or before using the restroom in the trees or something will happen to you.
I have heard some personal encounters from friends and family, and I have also encountered
something scary a couple of years ago which could be related to the taotaomona. Some of the
stories were about seeing something unnatural happen or hearing weird sounds. Some people
have even talked about being pinched from something. My story occurred during my senior
year of high school. A couple of friends and I decided to go crabbing down south in the
village of Inarajan. We did this once a month because of how fun it was catching crabs in the
dark and seeing how much we can catch. We went a good distance into the jungle, it was
dark, and we were just casually catching crabs. A couple hours in, around 1 am, we were
laughing and making jokes until we heard a loud scream that kept repeating. What did we do?
We sprinted as fast as we can out of the jungle. We knew it could not be a boar or animal
because we know what they sound like, and that scream did not sound like an animal but
sounded like someone telling us to get out. We reached our vehicles, called it a night, and just
slept at a friend’s place. That next morning, I noticed that one of our friends had a bruise on
his back and we talked about the taotaomona for hours. From that day on, every time we went
crabbing, we would always let the jungle know that we are entering to catch crabs and we
would not talk that much or loudly while doing it. It was an experience that made me believe
more about Chamorro beliefs, especially the taotaomona.