Owner at risk of losing Amot Farm

The fate of a long-time herbal medicinal farm could close due to a lease issue. The owner is now waiting for the CHamoru Land Trust Commission's board's approval to find out if her farm is here to stay or if she has to pack up and leave. 

Amot Taotao Tano Farm has been known a part of Guam’s community for the past 13 years. Bernice Tudela Nelson opened the farm in 2010. Her mission of protect and preserve Guam's native medicinal plants, while perpetuating CHamoru traditional healing practices.

Inspired by her suruhana aunt as a child, but it wasn't until bernice was in her adult years that she put those lessons to use.  "I’ve always been interested in medicine, herbs, what’s good for you, and all that but I didn’t call her up until we were in Hawaii and if she could come and teach me the chant," she said.

For more than a decade, she has given tours to various groups, organizations, and families, teaching them about the variety of plants. Bernice now on the verge of possibly losing it all.

The issue starting when she applied for the small business assistance loan to help with the damages the farm sustained post-Typhoon Mawar.

The land is being leased from CHamoru Land Trust. Under the Organic Act, in order for her to keep it, she had to be able to prove her family was living on Guam before 1950. Bernice had difficulty finding the documents to prove it.

"Because of my grandfather, they didn't issue birth certificates back in 1895 and my grandfather was born here and only certified birth certificate and then certified baptism in one card, but one certificate but it didn’t say birth. They want to issue a birth certificate, and then I went back and they said I need a death certificate because somebody from Saipan said that my grandfather was born in Saipan so I call up my cousin and she gave me the birth certificate and it shows that he was born here on Guam," she said.

She later got word, "They just called me up and said that I was here in  1948 when I was just a baby before 1950."

But she’s not out of the woods or in this case, farm just yet. "I didn’t know that I was going to get married so I gave the lease to my dad to farm but we moved from Chalan Pago to here since I became a US citizen but when I got married  I had to leave because I can’t just stay because my husband’s military so we had to go to different places so when he retired, I asked him to come back so he was here in 1996," she said.

It’s now up to the CLTC board to make the final decision.  The board expected to meet next week.

Still, Bernice remains hopeful, saying, "I’m happy and I pray with my ancestor and the holy spirit to help me because doing this farm is not for me, I could take off any time but because I’m doing it for the next generation and the young kids because what we have, the plants is really good medicine, it’s natural."