It seems a regular practice on the island for a small group to get together and buy a cow to butcher-- after which they divide the spoils evenly among them.
This was a group of ten men (or ten families) that had formed a group to buy a small cow. A small cow can be bought for $400-$500. A large cow would run $700-$800. I'm not sure how much meat each would actually receive for their share of the cow.
This group of men happened to all be Muslim. This was fortuitous for me, as I had been looking for Muslims on the island I could talk to about their religion. I am currently reading the Koran for the second time (I just have a couple of chapters left), and have lots of questions. Unfortunately they do not have an official leader on the island (sounds a lot like our small group of Mormons); they have a formal leader on Saipan that comes to visit every few months. In the mean time they meet together weekly to study the Koran on their own.
The meat and bone is cut up into small squares about the size of your fist, then it is weighed and put in plastic bags. I assume that, as they are Muslims, they have a specific method of killing and preparing their meat-- in fact, like the Jews, they probably cannot eat meat that has not been properly prepared.
The one I spoke with--and who could speak English a little-- was named something like Jamareel Hussein. They were very friendly and invited me to come worship with them anytime; although it was clear they would be hesitant to answer religious questions-- they simply study the Koran. If I wanted to ask questions, I would have to go to Saipan.
It is very difficult to get good meat here on Tinian, so this would be a great way to get what you wanted... although it was obvious that they were not professional butchers, separating the 'good' cuts of meat from the bad ones. They seemed to simply be cutting it all into as equal portions as possible, then weighing the meat for distribution.