A PRESERVATION of culture and heritage is continuing in Sagada town.

The Cordillera News Agency Foundation Inc. (CAN) this week will open the “The Dogo Siwang Pagbuyaan” (Performance Area) and “The Dogo Siwang Utuan ya Panganan” (eating place by the rice fields) at Barangay Patay, Sagada, Mountain Province.

The addition of the two traditional facets, The Dogo Siwang Utuan ya Panganan traditional kitchen will help give an interactive experience for visitors by demonstrating real time preparation of the preserved meat and rice wine which will be showcased in the setting of a traditional kitchen.

The traditional making of the ‘etag’ (saltedmeat) and the ‘tapuey’ (rice wine) will become a living testament to the preservation of culture and the continuing promotion of the culinary heritage of Sagada.

The traditional kitchen will house the ‘dapuan’ (traditional stove and kitchen) to showcase mainly the preparation of etag through the ‘masuukan method’ (smoking) utilizing ‘tuk-uk’ (wooden apparatus to hang the meat) and tapuey.

Sagada elders believe in the folklore ‘Todo id Baguilota’ when Kabunyan told his son Lumawig to drop to the earth and bring three presents, ‘balbeg’ (spear), ‘gameg’ (bolo) and etag. It is believed that Lumawig carried the gifts himself and introduced it to the Sagada villagers, with the etag kept as food of Lumawig on his way to the earth, prepared from the heavens.

Today, Sagada etag is processed in three ways, the binalag, through the drying in the sun, masuukan method to smoke in the ‘dapuan’ (traditional stove) or ‘pat-yay’ (chimney), and finally preserved through the ‘binul-nay’ or inside a jar.

It will be in the Dogo Siwang Utuan ya Panganan where these traditional methods of preserving meat and the preparation of rice wine will be shown and explained fully in real time.

Sagada smoked meat is known to be the best, the making of the etag will be executed by the elders and will be passed on to Dogo Siwang staff and to any interested visitors thereby preserving and perpetuating a Sagada tradition.

While the installation of ‘The Dogo Siwang Pagbuyaan’ is envisioned to become an area for cultural performances or demonstrations for bigger crowd which will also double as a receiving area for all visitors touring art hub.

The completion of the Sagada Dogo Siwang Art Hub was through a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in partnership with the Daoas family and the CNA.

The art hub is envisioned to be a venue for convergence in tourism, education and cultural exchange which will champion preservation and promotion of arts, culture and heritage not only in Sagada but the entire Cordillera.