Greg Cabrera Oral History Interview BRUCE PETTY: So, you said your father’s name was Ramon Taisague. FEMALE: Taisague. GREG CABRERA: Taisague. BP: Taisague Cabrera. GC: Yes. BP: Okay. When was he born and where? GC: So, I don’t know that. FEMALE: I don’t know. I guess he’s born in -- (break in audio) BP: Was he born in Saipan or Guam? GC: I don’t know exactly what, maybe, maybe in Guam. BP: Okay. We can look that up later. FEMALE: We can find out. BP: What sort of work did he do here in Saipan? GC: He’s not working in Saipan; he’s working in Angaur, Palau. BP: Angaur. GC: Yes, Palau. Angaur, Palau. BP: Okay, the same place as your father. FEMALE: Yes. 1 BP: Okay. When did he first go to Angaur, do you know? GC: Well, from Japanese times to German times? BP: German town. Did he work in the mines there? GC: Working in phosphate. BP: The phosphate mine. GC: Yes. BP: Do you remember what year he came back to Saipan? GC: Me, I understand, he come back in 1932. BP: He came back -- GC: He had me. BP: Oh, you were born in Angaur? GC: Then my father still continued working there. BP: Okay, so your father went to work in the phosphate mines in Angaur during German times. GC: Yes. BP: And you were born in Angaur? GC: Yes. BP: And you had other brothers and sisters who were born there? GC: Yes. BP: How many? GC: Antonio. Six. I’d say -- FEMALE: Antonio, and Juan, one younger brother, so three, three brothers. BP: Three? Three brothers? 2 FEMALE: There was three, yes. BP: Okay, so you had three other brothers besides yourself. FEAMALE: Yes. GC: Yes. BP: And then you had three sisters. GC: Three sisters. BP: All born in Angaur. GC: Yes. BP: Then you had another brother who was born -- GC: One sister. BP: Who was born in Saipan. GC: One sister born in Saipan. BP: Now, you said you had a sister who died in Angaur, or she died in Saipan? GC: Angaur. BP: From disease or what? GC: I think this, they don’t inform me. BP: Okay, so then your mother returned here in 1932. GC: Yes. BP: Okay, but your father stayed in Angaur. GC: Stayed in Angaur and continued the job. BP: Then he came back here in -- GC: After the -- in 1944, ’45. BP: Nineteen forty-five. 3 FEMALE: Yes. GC: Yes, after the World War II. BP: Okay. When did he die? GC: He died in Saipan. FEMALE: I don’t know. BP: Okay. Now, your mother’s name was Concepcion Campos Camacho. GC: Camacho. BP: And do you remember when she was born or where? FEMALE: I’ve got everything. BP: Okay, we’ll look that up later. Okay, so then she had four boys and three girls then. FEMALE: Three boys. BP: Okay, so she had three boys and four girls. FEMALE: Four girls. BP: Were you the oldest or the youngest? FEMALE: No, the one from the -- I mentioned his older brother is Antonio, the one who lives in Guam. BP: In Guam, okay. Okay, well what are your earliest memories? Do you actually remember living in Angaur? GC: Angaur. BP: Do you remember that? GC: Yes. BP: What do you remember about living in Angaur? 4 GC: I remember my father’s working place, the dryer, brick, we call brick dryer. BP: He worked in a brick dryer, a brick-kiln? GC: The brick. The brick-kiln, they got long pipe, just dry, this brick go, go down to the ship, they ship, anchor there. So this one is that dry, things are going to that. BP: Oh, the phosphate. GC: The phosphate in the ship. BP: So he operated the -- was it a pipe or a conveyor belt? GC: So then my father is the engineer there, so he operated the machine, working that dryer. BP: Oh okay, okay. So what else do you remember about living in Angaur? Did you have school there? GC: Not school there. I’m seven years old, I come back to Saipan. I remember some of my friends take me to the mountain; I catch a chicken, a wild chicken. I remember monkeys. BP: Monkeys? GC: Yes. BP: In Angaur. GC: Angaur. I saw how to catch the monkey in Angaur. So one time, the Japanese come to buy monkey in Angaur, so I going to get that, to see how to catch the monkey. 5 BP: Now, what did the Japanese buy the monkeys for, do you know? GC: I don’t know, there is some Japanese come to buy the monkey and they take them with them. BP: They take them away, okay. Did they have a catholic church in Angaur? GC: Yes. BP: And they had a priest there too? GC: Yes. BP: Do you remember the priest’s name? GC: I don’t know. BP: Do you remember anybody’s name from those days in Angaur? GC: Yes, the Sablan family, from Saipan, I know the names. BP: Are they still alive today here? GC: Maybe one, two, three. FEMALE: The one that is still alive is Ben. BP: Ben Sablan? FEMALE: Yeah. BP: How old is he? GC: More than I think 70, 80. BP: About 80. Does he speak English? FEMALE: Yes. BP: Ben Sablan. GC: I think so, just like me. 6 BP: Well, that’s good enough. What else do you remember about living on Angaur, much of anything else? GC: The Angaur soil is very good. I never see a small papaya there. If you go to the mountain, you can find big papayas. BP: Big papayas. GC: Nothing small papaya in Angaur. BP: Not like in Saipan. GC: Not Saipan. You go to the mountain; you can see different papayas, lacking that one. BP: In Angaur they’re big. GC: Because the soil is very good. BP: Was there a lot of farming going on in Angaur? GC: No. BP: No farming, just the phosphate. And so you came back in 1932. GC: Yes. BP: What do you remember about the voyage coming back? Was it a long voyage? Did you stop at other islands? GC: Yeah, the ship come to Angaur, so I arrive from the ship, going to Palau and stop, and then get more passengers from Palau, coming direct to Saipan. BP: Do you remember the name of the ship? GC: I don’t know. 7 BP: So your mother and all of your brothers and sisters were with you. GC: Yes, everybody come. BP: Did you get seasick, or what do you remember about the voyage? GC: No, I didn’t, I’m not sick. BP: Okay. Was that a big adventure for you then maybe? GC: Yes. BP: Okay. What do you remember about when you first arrived in Saipan? What do you remember? GC: So, I arrived in Saipan, the first thing, my mother take me to the school, Chamorro School. BP: Chamorro School. GC: To register, but the registration is already closed that day. So, the Japanese teachers say you wait until the next registration. BP: Nineteen thirty-three? GC: Nineteen thirty-three. So we register for first grade in 1933. BP: So where was your home when you arrived back in Saipan, where did you live? GC: I stayed in Garapan, live at Four Street. So I stayed in (inaudible). BP: What’s that near today? 8 GC: I stayed in Third Street, my father’s brother’s house. BP: Okay, so you stayed in your uncle’s house. GC: It was in that house to stay. BP: Okay. If you were to locate your house today, what would it be near? Would it be near the Hyatt? Would it be near Happy Market? What was it close to? GC: No, now it’s near to the, I think Martha’s Store. BP: Martha’s Store. I’m not sure where that is. GC: Close to Martha’s Store. FEMALE: Next to the Holiday Inn. BP: Oh, Saipan Holiday Inn, in Saipan. FEMALE: Saipan Holiday Inn. There’s a 24-hour, the market store. BP: So you lived with your uncle, aunt and uncle? GC: My uncle’s house. BP: Was he there too, with his family? GC: My family and his family. BP: All together. GC: Together. BP: So you stayed with your father’s brother and his wife was your mother’s sister, so it’s a big, big family. GC: Yes. BP: Okay. Was anybody in your family married to a Japanese? GC: No. 9 (break in audio) BP: Was anybody in your family married to a Korean? GC: No. BP: Did you know any Koreans on Saipan in those days? GC: Yes, they have Korean, very few at that time. BP: Very few. GC: Yes. BP: Okay, what did they do mostly, were they farmers? GC: No. The Koreans, they give jobs like [steamroller?] company. BP: Oh, for a [steamroller?] company? GC: And working in the ship, loading, unloading. BP: Did your family own property on Saipan? GC: Yes. BP: Where was the property? GC: The property, they have in Garapan, they have in Gualo Rai. BP: In Gualo Rai. GC: Yes. BP: Is there a farm there? GC: The old line is they are renting from the Japanese, Okinawa; they are using the land, planting like sugarcane. 10 BP: Okay. Did you or anybody in your family ever have any problems with the Japanese, before the war? GC: That time is nothing, no problem.