Pulan Collective: 13 Moons 13 Meals

13 Moons
13 Meals
Pulan Collective

13 Moons
13 Meals

Pulan Collective: 13 moons 13 meals is a multimedia cookbook
and cultural memory project of CHamoru women living in
the Bay Area. Members of the Pulan Collective met monthly
around the full moon to combine intergenerational artistic
forces of storytelling, photography, poetry and culinary
prowess. The project explores how we can decolonize our
minds, heal from intergenerational trauma and harness our
matrilineal power through acts of creative collaboration in
the form of shared meals.
This chapbook is a selection of the images, meals, recipes
and excerpts of blog posts on pulancollective.com that
were part of the 13 Moons 13 Meals project from June 2019
to June 2020.

Gualåfon
For Felix
By Clarissa Mendiola
one of your first words was moon
soon after mama after dada it was always
moon which you said out of the corner
of your mouth whenever it appeared in the sky
at night we crouched to see
it out of our small kitchen window we
dimmed the lights for contrast your sweet
gasp and the fragrance of my milk
on your breath
growing you i once found myself lost
amid rolling red dirt hills wearing dozens
of small cuts on our body proof we reconciled
sword grass together we wandered for hours
as you grew inside me edging this body
forward willing all the laws of gravity
to carry us to our meeting place
that first night on the beach we swam together
soaked in moonlight two thirsty crystals
our island’s lagoon a bag of waters
preparing to birth us both is it possible
you remember the weightlessness
04

the sunsets the salt water the petrified coral
forest the butterflies swarming above us as
we quietly passed ancient villages near the ocean
or the scene we took in with our whole
bodies standing at the edge of the earth
as if it was not enough to merely witness it
with my eyes alone
is it possible you carry those visions too
lumbered in your bones the way we carry
traumas an heirloom laceration
for every pain our ancestors bore
some nights the moon’s light feels brighter
than sun and i think yes you must carry flashes
of life seen through my eyes a moon
a gossamer compass visible even in daylight
05

Makmaomao
We can contribute to the CHamoru movement for
sovereignty and self-determination through creative
endeavours that bring people together through food,
story and indigenous craft by feeding the body, the
mind and the soul.
Collectively allowing the process to be the
artful product.
Fina’denne’
- Soy sauce, lemon juice, rice vinegar, jalapeños
- Lemon juice, shallots, donne’(hot pepper)
- Soy sauce, white vinegar, red onion, donne’
06

07

Mananaf
They pulled salt from the caves, spread
salt over the rocks by the reef, in the holy
water for the baptism
In the waves rocking the blue and the edge
of the womb
(that’s why they wanted you, Sumay the
village at the tip of the spear, curve of
earth and wave where the
fisherman waited)
Fu’una, now your body is America’s
unsinkable aircraft carrier
Fortress Pacific.
They pulled salt from the part in her hair
She pressed salt into the lines of her palm,
to dry the blood of the wound
Salt of sweat and ocean and birth, salt
from the tide, salt running down the baby’s
stillborn cheeks
Pickled Papaya
- Green papaya
- Salt
- Donne’
- Rice, coconut or white vinegar
Peel the papaya and slice into thin, bite-sized pieces. Spread the
pieces evenly in a shallow dish or pan and sprinkle with salt. Give
time for the salt to bring out the liquid in the papaya. Then add
vinegar and the crushed hot pepper. Cover, chill and allow to
pickle for several hours or overnight before transferring to a jar
or sealable container.
09

Semu
At night you stand in the shower and let the
water run loose,
you close your eyes and see the woman who
opens her mouth without sound.
You are quiet and still, you let her move through
you, she seizes your bones until they ache, her
fingers wrap around your wrists and her roots
swim through your spine.
You open your eyes and speak.
Kamuti in Coconut Milk
- Sweet potatoes
- Coconut Milk
- Salt
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into large chunks. Put in a pot
and sprinkle with salt. Pour coconut milk to cover. Cover and
simmer until the kamuti is tender.
12

13

Tenhos
Assembling the core group was the first real recipe.
The ingredients came together with an unexpected
ease and presented themselves right on time.
I followed an intuition by reaching out to several
famalao’an I had just briefly met and knew very little
about. Casting aside any of my fears and insecurity,
I sent them messages and invitations. Was I being
guided by our saina? As I think back to my original
practical reasoning, it was to assemble artistic
individuals, but I was also being pulled by something
I couldn’t identify any more than it being a sense of
feeling right. A sense of kindred connection. Later I
would come to understand it all more clearly through
Lehua’s simple but profound statement:
I know because I know.
Menu
- Salmon steaks with kale, onion, garlic and
turmeric in coconut milk
- Roasted sweet potato with sriracha mayo
- Cucumbers with rice vinegar
- Pickled green mango with donne’
- Cabbage salad with miso dressing
- Fina’denne’ dinanche
- Butter mochi
- Fresh market fruit: strawberries, sweet
plums, pluots
15

Lumamlam
We sat together in the sun and shared a meal:
Aunti Mart’s cool, tart, and creamy lechen
biringhenas, sweet figs from Lehua’s garden,
warm flour titiyas. I offered a poem as a wish
for the collective — and for all of our CHamoru
relatives—to carry flashes of joy seen through
our ancestor’s eyes, a moon, a gossamer
compass visible even in daylight.
Every act of reindigenization — learning our
language, reconnecting to the ocean and the land,
engaging in cultural practices, reviving ancestral
foodways — is an intentional processing of
generational pain … and also joy. This is the work
of the Pulan Collective. It is simple. It is hard.
It heals. It hurts. It inspires. It is everything.
Menu
- Chard, zucchini, leek, ginger, turmeric, egg frittata
- Sweet potato in coconut milk
- Radicchio, fennel, pomegranate salad with persimmon vinaigrette
- Lechen biringhenas
- Pimiento cheese stuffed chocolate peppers
- Fresh titiyas with butter and fig jam
- Mango coconut muffins
- Fresh figs
- Coffee, rosè, white wine, pineapple sage shrub
16

18

Fangualo’
Tonight I realize we are gathered around a guåfak
we are weaving with our hearts.
We eat and tell stories of food — always food. We
pinch shrimp heads between our fingers and slurp
coconut milk while remembering other times we’ve
eaten shrimp heads. Or we plan for times to come
when we’ll make the kåddo the same, or a maybe
just a little differently, or maybe we’ll make it the
way our bihas made it, who knows. All the while,
our hearts work at the guåfak, preparing a place for
us to keep gathering. The place for family and hope
and births and home. For the first time in a long,
long time, I feel just the right amount of full.
Menu
- Whole head-on shrimp kåddo with white rice
- Purple yam chips with spicy mayo
- Pickled daikon with donne’
- Pickled green papaya with donne’
- Roast lamb with squash & pumpkin
- Fuyu persimmons
- Fresh fruit salad
19

Sumongsong
We have that same deep Marianas Trench love for
our island and peoples. Shown and expressed in
so many ways when we gather together with the
stories we tell, the jewelry we wear, the laughs we
share, and the food we cook.
Sa’ every time we gather together, I am always
gifted with medicine for my soul. Medicine in the
wisdom and love given from each of these strong
maga’hågas. I am blessed to constantly share
sacred space with them and continue the traditions
of our ancestors, creating new ways of decolonizing
and resisting. I look forward to many more moons
in the new year and for always.
Menu
- Pork adobo with cabbage
- Salmon kelaguen with red chili and fresh lemon
- Kale gollai hagun suni
- Kamuti in coconut milk
- Sweet rolls
- Litiya
- Baby banana and dark chocolate sweet lumpia
- Fresh papaya and asian pears
20

21

22

Umayanggan
Hu tungo na ha pega gi sanhalomna i linalan
i manainata.
I know she has placed within her being the life of
our ancestors.
Salmon Kelaguen
- Fresh salmon
- Lemon
- Salt
- Onion
- Donne’
Cut raw salmon into chunks and spread them
out evenly in a dish. Squeeze fresh lemon juice
over the fish, then add salt and donne’ to taste.
Add sliced onions and toss to combine. Cover
and chill to marinate for several hours. Add more
lemon, salt or donne’ to desired flavor.
23

Umagahaf
Growing up away from Guåhan, there’s a sense
of distance at all times, a lingering feeling of
inaccessibility. Being in community together
is a way to bridge that distance. While we have
different interests and passions, we are connected
on such a basic level. And those connections
bubble up in every conversation we have about our
childhoods, family, food, or our experiences
as CHamoru women living on Turtle Island.
A rhythm has developed, and our intentions are
aligned with i pilan.
Menu
- Baked salmon fillet
- Fina’denne’ selection
- Pork fried rice
- Lechen biringhenas
- Soy & vinegar cucumbers
- Kale, red cabbage, avocado salad
- Poppy seed cake
24

Tumaiguini
Coming together every moon to share food and
celebrate i famalao’an, the woman, feels like an
ancient ritual. Grounded in culture and inspired by
tradition, each delicious dish brought to the table
is an offering in the spirit of our ancestors. With this
act of sharing, six island daughters reach across
unfamiliar spaces as we come to know one another
and then remember. Standing erect, we recite our
familial lineage to claim our place and the legacy of
our matrilineal heritage. We harvest our gardens, read
poetry, master family recipes, experiment with new
ingredients and birth beautiful babies to awaken the
senses. Weaving our stories plait by prose, we lift our
collective hearts in chant and paddle our galaides, our
canoes, home.
Menu
- Tinaktak with ground beef,
green beans, tomatoes, garlic,
onion, coconut milk, lemon
- Red rice
- Corn soup
- Månha titiyas
27

Maimo
With every moon, our gatherings strengthen our resolve to
nurture our connection to our ancestors and traditions.
Our cultural staples are ever present. However, we begin to
examine the context of how the food we bring to our kitchen
table is produced and who produces it. What are the ecological
considerations? Are relationships respected? Responsibilities
upheld? How do we navigate these complex issues? What did
our ancestors do? Hami i ManCHamoru, i manaotao i tasi, i tano’,
yan i langhet ham. We the CHamoru people are the people of the
sea, the land and the sky. We are after all, Wayfinders.
Menu
- Chalakiles
- Salmon kåddo
- Mungo beans with achiote
- Pickled papaya
28

29

29

Umatalaf
Sometimes satiation is not always found through
food. It’s the company and the fullness we get by
being together and talking story. Of course, we
still talk about the food, the recipes, the stories
and the memories. The matrilineal force is
strong in all of us. We tell stories of our mothers,
our grandmothers, our daughters, our granddaughters,
and ourselves.
Nourishing our matrilineal legacy means mothering
and caring for one another, weaving our hair
together to catch each other in time of need and
to hold our island close.
Fina’denne’ Satdinas
- Onion
- Cherry tomato
- Coconut vinegar
- Donne’
- Sardines
Slice onion and cherry tomatoes
and combine with coconut vinegar
in a bowl. Add donne’, and gently
nestle the sardines in the mixture.
30

Lumuhu
<<>>
To enact those memories in this life, I create.
Dream. Create again. Pastpresentfuture all
emanating from spiralized time. From and to,
yes, but throughout all, part of. An Indigenous
sensibility. A CHamoru sensibility.
(We are speaking of the language of beginnings.)
<<>>
Menu
- Red rice bowl with pickled papaya,
cucumbers and smoked salmon
- Turmeric, honey, apple cider
vinegar shrub with sparkling water
31

Pulan Collective
Angela Carrier
Clarissa Mendiola
Kayana Leon Guerrero
Kerri Ann Borja
Lehua Taitano
Martha Duenas
Samantha Marley Barnett

Saina ma'åse to Carolyn Kuali'i of Kua'aina Associates,
Inc. for her guidance through the SF Indigenous Artist
Cohort program.
This project is made possible through a grant from the
San Francisco Arts Commission.
Brand Identity, Layout, and Website Design by:
Kayana Leon Guerrero
pulancollective.com