Bringing back pride
Stella A. Estremera
(The following article is an updated copy of the cover story of The Davao Yearbook 2004, a publication of Sun.Star Davao Publishing Inc.)
| THEY were forest people who under stood and respected the land and the creatures that live in it. They knew each forest creature by name and respected them and feared them for the power they have over people.
Even their musical instruments represented the sound of nature. The kubing, for one - that thin bamboo instrument placed in the mouth and tapped with the fingers to make music with -- is the sound of birds of prey.
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But that was in the past.
Civilization cut down the forests that once provided for them and the land that nurtured them became a much sought-after property. Worse, the civilization that all people craved likewise deprived them of their culture and heritage and being a lumad meaning "of the land" became something to be embarrassed about.
But as more and more of their people are forgetting their heritage, a few are beginning to realize that it is only by retrieving this heritage that they will again become complete.
"I'm trying to retrieve what has been lost by bringing back our music and dances," Armand Bigcas, a Tagabawa, who hails from Baracatan said in the vernacular.
Tagabawa, he said, means "of the south".
It's not an easy task, he admits. The pride of being a lumad has long been lost as the young yearn to be as modern as the world is.
"It's sad, but in my family's attempt to retrieve our heritage, the most appreciative are those who are not even lumads," Armand, or Dodo as he is better known, said.
And so, he's starting with his family: a very talented one too...
His mother (whom just about every one of his lowlander friends calls Nanay), while claiming dancing the muscle-straining footwork now gives her arthritic
pains, still danced well and she played a mean rhythm on the agong and sludoy, too, among other ethnic instruments. Nanay, however, is now going blind from
age and can no longer perform as she did last year.
(Here's a trivia on ethnic instruments. The lumads in this part of the region, contrary to general perception, do not make agongs and brass bells although agongs and brass bells have always been part of their dances and music and costumes. These brass instruments and trinkets were actually from Maranaos who even in those days of yore were already traders.
The lumads got these from the nomadic traders in exchange for farm animals and produce.) The expert in ethnic instruments, however, is Dodo's Tiyo Ito who can whip up music like you've never heard before.
His teenage daughter Ace follows her grandmother's footsteps, dancing and thumping on the agong beautifully.
And the family proudly showed several photo albums of her debut - the salagkot kamagi - a coming out ritual for women of their tribe between the ages of 16-20.
Evening before bedtime at the family's ancestral land was spent listening to Nanay tell stories. Stories told by her parents that impart values and morals.
She also recalled the days before the war, the sufferings they had to endure during the war, and the harsh punishments their tribe meted on those who violate their laws.
Nanay recalled a couple who decided to marry even though they were relatives, a gross violation of their tribal laws and a shame in their eyes. The couple was isolated in a bamboo patch and was later chopped to pieces by the tribesmen, the penalty for such infraction.
Harsh though it was, it was the law and their people obeyed it. Admittedly, this can no longer be revived as there are the present-day laws to follow. But they still have their dances, their music, their costumes, and their traditions that can be retrieved.
"We can only protect our people and our land if we all understand and take pride in what binds us together," Dodo said.
Up in the mountains of Marilog, Matigsalogs, Bagobos, and Clatas are likewise going through the same harsh awakening of a heritage lost.
"When logging became rampant here, our forests were destroyed and Panayangan (the demi-god of the forest) abandoned us because we have abused our environment," Datu Noreto Embak, supreme tribal leader of the Matigsalogs, said.
They believe that they fell into greater dire straits when they were caught within the war waged by the communist rebels that saw their people taking arms as well as being massacred.
"Since blood has been shed without justice, then our forests have become barren. Panayangan has left us," Datu Embak said.
The tribal leaders explained that the supreme God, Manama, is what provides for all. Manama, however, has demi-gods (tinugyanan or helpers) that guide and provide for the various activities and endeavors a tribe embarks on.
Aside from Panayangan, there is Karang, the demi-god of love. This demi-god provides the blessings for those who seek to be married as well as intercedes for marital problems.
Timbalong is the demi-god for all creatures in the forests. Kalayag or Ibabasok is the demi-god for planting. Pamolingan is the demi-god for things that men craft for their livelihood, like their bolos. Pahilum is the demi-god for health. Mandalangan is the demi-god of war. Anip is the demi-god of harvest.
Gamohamo is the demi-god of the waters. And Pantigum is the demi-god of fertility. Sahabikal is the demi-god of talent.
There is actually a 12th demi-god that unfortunately wasn't listed in the interview notes and time no longer allowed another trip for an interview.
Heaven is Buhongan, earth is Panubaran.
The influx of Christianity was what first threatened their culture, they said, because Christianity especially Protestantinism that was what made great incursion in the hinterlands, only believed in one God. There was no room for their tinugyanan.
But they didn't know any better then and thus embraced Christianity decades ago.
The hardships their people went through after the forests were denuded in the early 1970s, however, slowly made them think twice about how they have abandoned their beliefs.
"We are not pagans as we were called before, because pagans don't believe in the Supreme Being. We do," Datu Embak said. Aside from their beliefs in the spirits that rule their environment, the lumads also hold dear to their hearts their costumes.
Their clothes, they said, not only identify them and their culture, it also shows their present state of mind as a community.
It's in the color of their costume, they said. Blue, the predominant color that their menfolk wear these days means hope and peace.
The menfolk, on the other hand, only wear red when they are at war. That's why, they said, their menfolk these days no longer wear predominantly red costumes.
There are other practices that they do without these days, mostly because present situations no longer allow these.
Pangayao (tribal vendetta) for one is now but a vague memory since they have again put up their tribal elders council where all misunderstandings are settled.
Among the Tagabawas, Nanay said, they once believed that the direction from which on hears the sound of an alimukon (pigeon) is a portent of what will happen to your day.
Nanay said if you hear an alimukon coo to your right, then it's a good omen. To your left, it brings bad tidings.
But that no longer mean much to them now. For one, alimukons are no longer heard regularly in their mountain homes.
The Matigsalogs and Bagobos also had what they called duway or having more than one wife, with the wife choosing the second, third or fourth wife. Their conversion to Christianity put a stop to that.
Now that their returning to their old ways, it's also no longer practical because life is hard for them these days, they can hardly provide for one wife.
In those days of yore, having more than one wife was practical because it was the women who worked the fields.
The menfolk were only for going to war and hunting. Thus, the more wives a man had, the more workers he had in the field. But that was before when the land provided for them.
Now they are wondering...
"A long time ago, only our women worked the fields and yet we had more than enough. Now, the all of us, including our children, work, but we cannot even feed ourselves," one Bagobo datu said.
In retrospect, they believe this is the punishment they are harvesting for forgetting their heritage, their culture and their beliefs.
"We have abused our environment, we have forgotten the past, and we became ashamed of our people and what we are. Now we are reaping God's wrath," they said.
They now look forward to better days by reviving their culture and heritage to bring back the pride their people once had.
"We have to stand up as our own people once more and we can only do that if we revive our past," they said. |
