BAUKO, Mountain Province -- A pioneering work was launched March 14 in a bid to shed light on the history of its people and culture.
Milagros Aowat, Anita Cawayan, Gaston Kibiten embarked on a study, leading to the written history of Bauko which came out with the people’s perspective and data gathered from the community. A monograph of the book was recently launched on March 14 as a new component of the recently concluded 13th Begnas di Bauko.
"Most of the books written about us, where those from the Spanish friars and Europeans. There was never an insider’s lens on the ethno history of Bauko," Aowat said.
"This is actually a pioneering attempt to straighten, try to put together our own history. It is the history of the people Bauko to straighten the wrong notions or to give light to where we came from," she added.
The making of the research was funded by the local government unit through the Office of Mayor Abraham Akilit who tapped and commissioned the researchers.
The book will be tackling the contemporary period after the Japanese war until the present.
Akilit said it will also set the ethno history and the town being the water shed cradle of Northern Luzon. Bauko is headwaters to four major river systems the Agno, Magat, Chico, and Abra Rivers.
Majority of the residents in Bauko belong to the Kankanaey ethno linguistic group, which is also one of the major indigenous peoples in the country.
The mayor expressed to utilize possible means of communication to share the contents of the ethno history.
Aowat said the next step is to possibly popularize the ethnhistory of the town in schools through the Indigenous Peoples Education.