scholarly journals Sacred Texts and Symbols: An Indigenous Filipino Perspective on Reading

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Elena Clariza
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sacred Texts ◽  
Ancestral Knowledge ◽  
Printed Text ◽  
Filipino Culture ◽  
Filipino People

Reading in the Philippines is a process whereby the body, mind and spirit are engaged. Even though Filipinos are predominantly Catholic, many believe that creative energy, in the form of spirits, dwells in nature. These spirits must be respected or else they can unleash their wrath through sickness and natural calamities. As a contribution to preserving Filipino indigenous knowledge, this paper will explore whatok, the tattooing tradition of the Butbut people of Kalinga and t’nalak, the weaving tradition of the T’boli people of Mindanao. The aim of this paper is to preserve the unique culture of the Philippines’ indigenous peoples’ while sharing a decolonized perspective on reading. The term “decolonized” is used to mean peeling away the layers of nearly 400 years of Spanish and American colonial influence on Filipino culture. I will do this by studying the ways in which indigenous Filipino people record memory. The Philippines has an ancient syllabary system, but I will focus on older forms of transmitting ancestral knowledge, tattooing and textile making. Hopefully, this method will challenge readers to see tattoos and textiles as a valid means of documentation beyond printed text.

scholarly journals “In the mountains, we are like prisoners”: Kalinggawasan as Indigenous Freedom of the Mamanwa of Basey, Samar

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Apple Jane Molabola ◽  
◽  
Allan Abiera ◽  
Jan Gresil Kahambing ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Indigenous Studies

The Lumad struggle in the Philippines, embodied in its various indigenous peoples (IPs), is still situated and differentiated from modern understandings of their plight. Agamben notes that the notion of ‘people’ is always political and is inherent in its underlying poverty, disinheritance, and exclusion. As such, the struggle is a struggle that concerns a progression of freedom from these conditions. Going over such conditions means that one shifts the focus from the socio-political and eventually reveals the ontological facet of such knowledge to reveal the epistemic formation of the truth of their experience. It is then the concern of this paper to expose the concept of freedom as a vital indigenous knowledge from the Mamanwa of Basey, Samar. Using philosophical sagacity as a valid indigenous method, we interview ConchingCabadungga, one of the elders of the tribe, to help us understand how the Mamanwa conceive freedom in the various ways it may be specifically and geographically positioned apart from other indigenous studies. The paper contextualizes the diasporic element and the futuristic component of such freedom within the trajectory of liberation. The Mamanwa subverts the conception of freedom as a form of return to old ways and radically informs of a new way of seeing them as a ‘people.’ It supports recent studies on their literature that recommend the development of their livelihood rather than a formulaic solution of sending them back to where they were. The settlement in Basey changes their identification as a ‘forest people’ into a more radical identity.

scholarly journals Filipino Fiesta Its Historical Origins and Significance for Filipino People

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-235
Author(s):  
Daria S. Panarina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Philippines ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Modern Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Filipino Culture ◽  
Historical Origins ◽  
Filipino People

The article considers the phenomenon of fiesta as a religious Catholic holiday in the realities of the Philippines where it has acquired new, dis-tinctive features. The history of the fiesta tradition, its penetration and consolidation in the Philippines by the forces of the Spanish colonialists is given. The significance and functionality of the fiesta for the colonial Spanish authorities, its gradual assimilation into the Filipino culture, its acceptance by the Filipinos are analyzed. The author separately dwells on the role of fiesta in the formation of Filipino identity and the role of fiesta in the modern life of the Filipino population, in the cultural layer of the nation.

Juvenile Fiction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mavis Reimer ◽  
Clare Bradford ◽  
Heather Snell
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
British Literature ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Juvenile Fiction

This chapter focuses on the juvenile fiction of the British settler colonies to 1950, and considers how writers both take up forms familiar to them from British literature and revise these forms in the attempt to account for the specific geography, politics, and cultures of their places. It is during this time that the heroics associated with building the empire had taken hold of British cultural and literary imaginations. Repeatedly, the juvenile fiction of settler colonies returns to the question of the relations between settlers and Indigenous inhabitants—sometimes respecting the power of Indigenous knowledge and traditions; often expressing the conviction of natural British superiority to Indigenous ways of knowing and living; always revealing, whether overtly or covertly, the haunting of the stories of settler cultures by the displacement of Indigenous peoples on whose land those cultures are founded.

Rain or Shine Shield: Language and Ropes of Sadok Making

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loyalda T. Bolivar ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The People ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Materials Used

A sadok or salakot is a farmer’s cherished possession, protecting him from the sun or rain. The Sadok, persisting up to the present, has many uses. The study of Sadok making was pursued to highlight an important product, as a cultural tradition in the community as craft, art, and part of indigenous knowledge in central Antique in the Philippines. Despite that this valuable economic activity needs sustainability, it is given little importance if not neglected, and seems to be a dying economic activity. The qualitative study uses ethnophenomenological approaches to gather data using interviews and participant observation, which aims to describe the importance of Sadok making. It describes how the makers learned the language of Sadok making, especially terms related to materials and processes. The study revealed that the makers of Sadok learned the language from their ancestors. They have lived with them and interacted with them since they were young. Sadok making is a way of life and the people observe their parents work and assist in the work which allows them to learn Sadok making. They were exposed to this process through observations and hands-on activities or ‘on-the-job’ informal training. They were adept with the terms related to the materials and processes involved in the making of Sadok as they heard these terms from them. They learned the terms bamboo, rattan, tabun-ak (leaves used) and nito (those creeping vines) as materials used in Sadok making. The informants revealed that the processes involved in the making of Sadok are long and tedious, starting from the soaking, curing and drying of the bamboo, cleaning and cutting these bamboo into desired pieces, then with the intricacies in arranging the tabun-ak or the leaves, and the weaving part, until the leaves are arranged, up to the last phase of decorating the already made Sadok. In summary, socialization is one important factor in learning the language and a cultural practice such as Sadok making. It is an important aspect of indigenous knowledge that must be communicated to the young for it to become a sustainable economic activity, which could impact on the economy of the locality. Local government units should give attention to this indigenous livelihood. Studies that would help in the enhancement of the products can likewise be given emphasis.

scholarly journals Tropical Imaginings and Romantic Nostalgia: 75 Years of Giliw Ko and the Colonial Gaze

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Forbes
Keyword(s):  
The Philippines ◽  
Cultural Constructs ◽  
Binary Oppositions ◽  
Filipino People

In 1998, Australia restored the 1939 film musical, Giliw Ko, the earliest extant film ever produced in the Philippines. Through its National Film and Sound Archive, Australia presented the film as a gift to the Filipino people to mark 100 years of independence. Celebrating its 75th year of production next year, the film as gift is ironical as it can be argued that the Philippines never gained independence, at least not from the strong colonizing effects of over 50 years of US rule. Giliw Ko tackles themes of a people’s infatuation and confusion over Hollywood images and what it means to be cultured and Westernized. In this essay, I explore American cinema’s historical and cultural constructs as a natural continuation of the colonialist project that is based on binary oppositions of West/East, civilized and uncivilized, conqueror and conquered. Utilising the film Giliw ko, I examine these constructs that are carried to the present day in Philippine cinema.

scholarly journals The Essence of Education in Disruptive COVID-19 Crisis: Capturing the Lived Experience of College Students in the Philippines

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cahapay
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Recovery Phase ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Relevant Education

Asserting a responsive, appropriate, and relevant education has historically always been a problem for most learners from marginalized groups. This extant inequality has been magnified in the present novel crisis. Thus, drawing from the lived experience of college students belonging to the marginalized group of indigenous peoples, this research described the essence of education in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis. Following the phenomenological approach based upon the hermeneutic rule of Dahlberg et al. (2008), the researcher interviewed 10 Filipino college students who identify themselves as indigenous peoples. Four themes emerged: 1.) It surprised me: Education has a changed ecology; 2.) It overwhelmed me: Education is fraught with divides; 3.) It motivated me: Education is a driver of aspiration beyond crisis; and 4.) It taught me: Education has unintended positive outcomes. These themes form the structure of the essence of education amid the COVID-19 crisis from the perspectives of college students belonging to the group of indigenous peoples. This research underlines the practical significance of analyzing the state of the students amid a virulent crisis. Given the extant inequality and considering the anticipated educational recovery phase, measures should be planned towards the attainment of responsive, appropriate, and relevant education.

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