THE Igorot International Consultation (IIC) 12 just ended in Hale Koa, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii. A very memorable gathering of friends and family from all over and one of the highlights was the turnover of host from the new generation to IIC 13 host Kalinga province. And one significant development is New Zealand winning the bid to host the IIC 14 by year 2022. Such a commitment and a foresight of the representatives of New Zealand. And these was all part of the Luau festival night.
The Bibak Hawaii hosting of the Sunday lambak was beyond expectations with overflowing food, music and dancing, gongs and solibao resounding, gag-ay of the new and old friends and relatives.
Well, one of the bonus we got by joining the IIC12 is the chance to reconnect with family including Carolyn Weygan Hildebrand, Michelle Dalmas Pinkerton Acosta, Hugo and Grace Prill and more. My husband, John and I had a chance to be with the Prills on Monday including a lunch in Chinatown. By Tuesday, Carol brought us to an extraordinary tour that started at the University of Hawaii, the indigenous knowledge, the East West Center and the Lyon Arboretum. We had a chance to visit several museums like the Bishop Museum, the contemporary Art Museum, Honolulu Memorial and the government centers.
Lyon Arboretum impressed me. It is part of the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a mission of increasing the appreciation of the unique flora of Hawai’i and the tropics, by conserving, curating, and studying plants and their habitats; providing inclusive educational opportunities; encouraging use by the broader community; and supporting the educational, scientific, and service activities of the University of Hawai’i.
The Arboretum is also a trail for walking that provides visitors to enter through the lower lawns, Manoa falls trailhead all the way to the Aihualama Falls. We did not complete the whole trail but we went through the plants native to Hawaii, the Hawaiian Ethnobotanical or plants traditionally used in Hawaiian culture. What hit me is the effort for Hawaii to have its people and visitors be educated of the traditional and endemic plants of the island. The intentional and commitment to preserve and propagate ethnobotanical is impressive and much can be learned from them.
We went further to the Fern Valley, the Royal Palms where they claim that the Arboretum hosting the largest palm collection of the world. The palm collection include Asian palms, African palms,native forest restoration and Pacific palms. Going up and down the trails, we read labels that identify trees and plants. There are birds like the shama thrush, originally from Southern Asia, found along the trails and friendly to visitors.
Everyone is welcomed in the Arboretum, there is even an area that is labeled ADA trail open to Americans with Disabilities Act where people with wheelchairs or canes can access. This is in the lower grounds which includes the other buildings.
The whole facility includes buildings and grounds. There are areas for lectures, the Marilyn Goss Children’s learning center, greenhouses, the residence of the Resident manager, tissue culture and seed labs, and officers.
As we go through the grounds, the inspiration and challenge to duplicate the facility even in a smaller scale warms the heart and the mind. I can’t stop wondering with disbelief why our government agencies like the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of plant industry, our universities offering agriculture and most of our government agencies are more open to introducing species foreign and not endemic to the host regions.
I remember that when we were in Bontoc in the 1990s, the farmers were having problems with the golden kuhol that was introduced to the rice terraces as they were fastly multiplying and becoming overpopulated even polluting the rivers.
As we go through the Arboretum, it is with mixed emotions as with warm inspiration and at the same time a deep frustration of the ongoing pinikpikan (killing me softly) of our endemic species in the forest and valleys of the Cordilleras. If only..... And even then.