To celebrate Mes CHamoru, we are reprinting stories about our CHamoru masters. Today’s story is about Master Carver Julie “Jill” Quichocho Benavente. It originally appeared in the May 25, 2021
Local CHamoru master creates wearable art
By Anne Wen
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All is not glitter, all is not gold at the house of Julie “Jill” Quichocho Benavente, 62, who carves handmade CHamoru jewelry. Instead, Benavente uses natural resources from Guam’s shores giant clams, thorny oysters and cone shells to craft her pieces. Even heirlooms are fashioned of natural materials.
For thousands of years, Guam’s CHamoru ancestors have made artwork out of natural resources like coconut leaves and seashells. Benavente said that her nana, a suruhana, used to let her try local medicines and weave baskets, but as a young girl, she refused to learn ancient traditions.