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Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Oledan: Weaves of tapestry
By Radzini Oledan
Spice of Life
WE ARE all connected. Each aspect is a strand that contributes to the whole design. Take any fraction of the strand and the whole design collapses.
Today, we celebrate the 68th Araw ng Dabaw. Amid the festivities, we give honor to our ancestors who built Davao City to what it has become today.
We give credit to the indigenous peoples and all the tribes who trailblazed and fought for the land and the people's freedom.
They are the heart and soul of our city. They are the earliest inhabitants in the city we have learned to call home. They are the ones who have a colorful yet fast eroding culture threatened by modernity.
In the past, the city's indigenous people live along the coasts. They settled near rivers not too far from seacoasts such as the Lasang river that divides Davao City and Davao province. As such, they commonly derive their tribal names from the name of rivers in the territories and domains where they dwelt.
What probably sets them apart is their strong sense of territoriality, deeply rooted respect and reverence for the environment. Their spiritual relations with the land, with no concept of absolute individual ownership of land and its resources, including their general adherence to customs and traditions.
They are the same people who are pushed into the hinterlands as migrants from all over the country started to build their lives in the city, taking on new systems and imposing their own culture.
Today while celebrating as one people, we are also challenged to look beyond our own successes and failures into the more encompassing realities on the ground.
Systematically marginalized in governance and unable to access a culturally sensitive educational system, our indigenous peoples now live in utter lack of opportunities to fully be a part of the community.
Oftentimes tapped in token ceremonies and activities and used by groups to further their interests, the story on how they were driven further and further inland into the uplands and hinterlands they now call home is a history in itself of denial, deceit and deprivation.
We are all connected. Thus, the development of the majority of the sectors today will lack meaning if one or two sectors are unable to fully enjoy the benefits of development.
While the City Government has not been remiss in its task to respond to the needs of all sectors, certain national mechanisms and systems have to be reviewed and even challenged, if we are to talk about genuinely improving the lives of all people.
I could still remember an interview with Bai Alma Dinayap years ago where she pointed out the exploitation of indigenous peoples by the well educated migrants. It could very well capture the same situation confronting all tribes in Mindanao.
"Years ago, our ancestors inhabited the land when settlers came, waving in front of them a piece of paper called land title. Our ancestors did not understand it. Like most of us now, they were illiterate," Dinayap said.
"But they did not want trouble and the mountains were still vast and unoccupied. So they fled up, bringing their families along and leaving precious and sacred roots behind."
We all share the burden of correcting the historical injustice.
Recognizing such situation is a good start but moving on and concretely working to help these tribes empower themselves have to be a conscious decision of policy makers and program implementers.
This is important in the context of sustaining peace in Mindanao especially that of the provinces in the country, Davao could claim the distinction of having within its territorial boundaries the most number of indigenous tribal communities.
The situation of the indigenous peoples should touch our spiritual and moral conscience as a people. They not only suffer the loss of their land but of their identities. We can never claim to be multi-culture in the face of a blurred cultural identity.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (March 16, 2005 issue)
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