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| Yakan men of Basilan playing the kulintang |
Identifying
what the Filipino or the Filipino culture is can be a tricky thing. Only the
inadequately informed or brash will lay down what are perceived as the
characteristics of the Filipino. While not entirely false, they are limiting
and biased. Most likely, articles on these tend to describe the urban centers
in Christianized lowland areas. The fact is Filipino is but a construct, and
what is true is that there are about 77 ethnolinguistic groups indigenous to
the Philippines, spread around the archipelago, most of which have subgroups.
They have their own traditions and cultures, which in many ways are unique and
also in many ways exhibiting shared aspects with Southeast Asian groups as well
as adaptations of Western elements.
Many ethnic groups in the country
are erroneously described as “tribes.” Eminent Filipino anthropologist Dr.
Jesus Peralta asserts that there are no tribes in the Philippines.
Organizationally, Philippine societies do not conform to the strict meaning of
the term tribe, which is “a corporate
descent group below the state in integration.” Moreover, the popular usage of tribe for a number of ethnic groups
indicates “prejudice.” While tribe is
used for such groups such as Ifugao and Tiboli, it is not used for other groups
such as Cebuano and Ilocano, all of which are indigenous ethnic groups. Here,
the usage of tribe just implies being
“primitive.” But most of the ethnic groups, referred as “tribes,” have adapted
to modern ways and many of their members are educated and work in offices. And
many have retained their traditional cultures, which can be considered richer
than the cultures of those who call them “tribal.” Often neglected and many in
danger of vanishing, the traditional cultures of these indigenous groups are
where we must draw inspirations from to form a distinct Filipino identity.
Because of the sheer number of
indigenous ethnic groups in the Philippines, one can say that the country is
culturally diverse and rich. Many don’t realize it but traditional arts and
crafts, knowledge and practices have put the Philippines in the spotlight a
number of times, making many Filipinos proud. One prime example is the
designation of the Cordillera rice terraces in northern Luzon as a United
Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) World Heritage
site. Most of the beautiful and extensive ones are in the province of Ifugao,
named after the dominant indigenous people there, who built it hundreds of
years ago. The iconic Philippine monument is a feat of agricultural
engineering. The Ifugao carved out the mountains of the Cordillera to farm
rice, devising an irrigation system with water cascading from the mountaintop
forests to the paddies, and it resulted into stunning vistas. Associated with
the payyao or the Ifugao rice
terraces are several cultural practices such as the chanting of the hudhud. Included in the UNESCO list of Masterpieces
of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, the hudhud, which is chanted during the sowing and harvesting of rice
as well as during funeral wakes and bone-washing rituals, has over 200 stories
with about 40 episodes each in a language too complex to be transcribed, often taking
three or four days to recite in totality.
Philippine oral literature can
considered rich as another piece was included in the Masterpieces of the Oral
and Intangible Heritage of Humanity—the epic of the Darangen of the Maranao people, who lives around Lake Lanao in
northern Mindanao. The pre-Islamic Darangen
is one of longest, if not the longest, of the Philippines epics. The recorded versions,
which are composed of about 17 independent cycles, in iambic tetrameter or
catalectic trochaic tetrameter, contained in eight volumes, comprising 47 books
or verses. Preliminary studies suggest that the epic has about 72,000 lines,
which are chanted for several days. The Darangen
not contains stories and adventures but also traditional Maranao belief and
value systems as well as mythologies.
Other ethnic groups also have a number of epics
and chants, most which are performed from memory and orally passed on from one
person to another, including the Ullalim
of the Kalinga; Tuwaang of the
Bagobo; and Hinilawod and Labaw Donggon
of the Panay Bukidnon in Western Visayas. These epics contain the native
mythologies as well as age-old wisdom, among others.
Not all forms of indigenous and folk literature
is oral though. The Hanunoo Mangyan of Oriental Mindoro is known for its
literary tradition of ambahan, short
poems of seven-syllable lines, written in the Mangyan syllabic script etched on
bamboo tubes. The late Hanunoo Mangyan ambahan
poet Ginaw Bilog of Mansalay was the most known and finest practitioner.
A
popular source of fascination is the weaving traditions of the Philippines.
Textiles have been hand-woven in the country for many centuries and in many
parts. Several Cordillera groups and the Ilocano are known weavers as well as
the Hiligaynon of the Visayas and the Bilaan, Tausug, Bogobo and Yakan of
Mindanao. Perhaps the most intriguing among the textile weaving traditions is
the tinalak tradition of the Tiboli
of South Cotabato and Sarangani. Weaving the tinalak is a tedious process that takes several days from
extracting the fibers from the abaca, dyeing using plant dyes to actual weaving
using the back-strap loom. The designs on the textile are said to be gifted by
ancestors or a god to the weaver in a dream. Thus, the Tibolis are often called
“dream weavers.” Most known among the
Tiboli weavers is Lang Dulay of Lake Sebu. Too old to weave now, she is
teaching younger generations to weave the tinalak.
The Tiboli’s neighboring ethnic group to the northwest, the Tausug, is known
for the bright colors of its hand-woven textile, which is conspicuous as a
headwear, the pis syabit. The late Darhata
Sawabi of Jolo, Sulu, was the most celebrated Tausug weaver, while the Tagabawa
Bogobo had Salinta Monon, also deceased, who created the native abaca tube
skirt with intricate designs.
Most of these textiles are made into
naïve attires, which are varied and often embellished with beadworks and
embroidery. Most of the Philippine ethnic groups have their own ways of
adorning clothes, using materials such as colored threads, wood, bones, plastic
beads and even coins. The traditional designs are folk renderings of things in
nature—celestial bodies, mountains, sea, plants, and animals.
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| A Bagobo blouse with elaborate beadwork |
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| A Sorsogon Bicolano woman making earthen pots in Paradijon, Gubat, Sorsogon |
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| A Tiboli blouse |
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| An Ifugao farmer in Batad, Banaue, Ifugao |
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| An Itneg couple in tradtional attire in Namarabar, Penarrubia, Abra |
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| Kalinga men in traditional attire in Awichon, Lubuagan, Kalinga |
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| Kalinga weaver Cecilia Aweng weaving in a traditional Kalinga hut in Awichon, Lubuagan, Kalinga |
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| Manlilikha ng Bayan Alonzo Saclag, Kalinga performer, plays the gong in Awichon, Lubuagan, Kalinga |
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| Regina Caballero, Panay Bukidnon teacher and chanter of Calinog, Iloilo, in traditional attire |
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| Tausug youth of Zamboanga dance the pangalay |
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| Young Kalinga women doing traditional embroidery in Awichon, Lubuagan, Kalinga |
Mat weaving is also a manifestation of
indigenous creativity. Arguably the most known groups making mats that are
intricate and colorful are the Waray of Basey, Samar, and the Sama Bajau of
Tawi-Tawi. The Basey mats use the grasslike fimbry or bariw, traditionally woven under rock shelters, while the Sama mats
use the pandan and are known for its
exuberant colors. Sama weaver Haja Amina Appi of Ungos Matata, Tandubas,
Tawi-Tawi, had been known to produce mats that combine the designs of her
ancestors with her own artistry.
While most of them rudimentary,
almost all indigenous groups have their own dances, often associated with
rituals or used to entertain in certain occasions such as weddings. Many of the
movements imitate the movements of animals such as the binanog dance of Panay Bukidnon, which takes inspiration from the
flight of the hawk. Perhaps, the pangalay
dance of the Tausug, known for the dancers wearing long artificial fingernails,
is one of the most graceful, even when danced by male dancers, and exhibit the
most visible connection with Southeast Asia. Popularly, the pangalay is danced with the song “Dayang
Dayang,” claimed to be of Tausug or Sama origin.
And with dance comes music. While
many Filipinos consider the original Pinoy music or the so-called OPM as
originally Filipino it is but an adoption of the Western pop music. If we are
to point out really original music of the Philippines, it will be coming from
the indigenous peoples, which have their own forms of music as well as their
native instruments. While there are many types of musical instruments among the
indigenous communities, the most common instruments are the lutes and zithers,
commonly called kudyapi and kudlong, and the gongs.
The stringed instrument lute, which is plucked
when played, varies in shape and name from ethnic group to another, and is
present in the cultures of the Alangan Mangyan, Iraya Mangyan, Ata of Davao del
Sur, Bagobo, Batak, Bilaan, Mindanao Bukidnon, Higaonon, Kalagan, Maguindanao,
Mamanwa, Mandaya, Mangguangan, Agusan Manobo, Obo Manobo, Mansaka, Maranao,
Matigsalog, Pala’wan, Panay Bukidnon, Subanon, Tagakaolo, Tagbanwa, Talaandig, Tiboli
and Teduray. The other hand, the zither is also present in as many ethnic
groups, often alongside the lute. Perhaps, the most known player of the kudyapi is the late musician Samaon
Sulaiman, who belonged to the Maguindanao, one of the largest Islamic
indigenous groups. According to composer and professor Felipe de Leon, Jr., Sulaiman had “achieved the highest level
of excellence in the art of kutyapi
playing. His extensive repertoire of dinaladay,
linapu, minuna, binalig and other forms and styles interpreted with
refinement and sensitivity fully demonstrate and creative and expressive
possibilities of his instrument.”
The gong is also a popular
Philippine musical instrument, often seen in its basic form in the northern
indigenous groups, and as kulintang
or gong chime among southern indigenous groups.
These are but some of the traditional arts and
crafts of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines, which form an invaluable
part of our cultural heritage. And like any kind of cultural heritage in this
country, it is in constant peril of perishing. It is from our cultural heritage
that we draw from to create a distinct identity and to aid in national
development. It is from this creative wellspring that should give us pride,
something more lasting and profound than achievements in beauty pageants and
boxing.
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| Version of article published in Philippine Panorama, January 4, 2015, Volume 44, Number 1 |
All photographs by Roel Hoang Manipon
