THE Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTBMLE) is an opportunity for indigenous peoples to realize the value of their indigenous knowledge systems, and to mine the wealth of their cultures, which have always been regarded as very rich.
Composed mostly of oral culture communities, the nation is certainly teeming with intangible cultural markers that have not been systematically codified. Among these are the languages, literatures, music, songs, chants, rituals, dances or what might be generically referred to now as the complex systems of indigenous knowledge.
The Unesco has recognized the Ifugao hudhud, a very long chant associated with manual rice culture, as one of 19 Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in May 2001. Shouldn’t all our children start learning the lessons embedded in such a literary masterpiece?
In her study of a chant of a small (“minority”) ethno-linguistic group (Kalanguya) in Northern Luzon, Philippines, Smithsonian scholar Patricia Afable (2000) concluded that the particular intangible cultural form is a “rich cultural resource.” This means a cultural form, because of its unintelligibility, may often be dismissed as simply important to the cultural group but may not mean anything to others.
Afable’s study shows that several significant things about a society can actually be learned by looking deeper into what may seem like a trivial chant.
The Commission on the Filipino language is hoping that the not only will Filipino children learn how to read and write in their own mother languages and in the national language, but they will also attain a cultural education that will result in a better appreciation of who they are as a people and as citizens of the world.
In a post on the Internet, Fabio Y. Lee Perez (2005) reports that during the vast 2004 tsunami, the Moken indigenous people of Thailand, and of the Gunung Sitoli on Nias Island, Indonesia reported a lesser cases of death and injury.
Perez states that, “It is due to their knowledge and understanding of the way of nature, and their traditional resource management practices.” Lee Perez concludes, “Although our understanding of science has increased and information technologies have become intense, we have lost our human’s primary instinct of survival. We have much to learn from the keen environmental awareness that many indigenous people possess.”
In a recent article “Katutubo ba sa atin and coral reef?” in his column “Kulo at kulorum,” National Artist and KWF chair Virgilio Almario (2014) talks about his unease about the use of “coral reef” in the Philippines as though it were a foreign concept.
He says in fact many language groups in the Philippines have indigenous terminologies for it because coral reefs are part of the everyday lives of many Filipinos. We can therefore unveil more indigenous knowledge and wisdom through word studies. Here are some examples.
Mëkhing, from the Ibaloy of Benguet. For a long time, we have been calling the Kabayan mummies mummies and never cared to find out how those who have been preserving their dead this way actually called the desiccated bodies.
Mëkhing comes from the word nakkhing which means very dried to the point of being very dark and shrunken.
In Tinongshol in Kabayan today, there is a big rock that contains coffins of mummies. The people have long stopped the practice but it is said that mummification involves pouring saline solution into the body to prevent rotting. The body is also washed with guava and other herbs, and smoked for several months.
Nakem, from Ilocano. Nakem is defined as the consciousness that helps a person to decide between good and evil in his/her thoughts, words and deeds. (Rosal, 2015). Other words that derive from nakëm are: nakem ti Dios (will of God); nanakëm a tao (a prudent man); awan manaknakemna (wishy-washy person).
Pakinasën, from Cuyonon in Palawan. Among the Cuyonon, pakinasën is an inclusive word covering all seashells, seaweeds and other sea creatures that make for delicious dish or soup. These are often accessible during ënas or low tide sa ënasan. Those who collect or gather pakinasën are called manigpakinas. Pakinasën also specifically refers to seashells of various shapes and sizes. (Erlinda San Juan, 2015)