Mandirigma.org» Ethno Linguistic Groups https://mandirigma.org Mandirigma Research Organization Fri, 23 May 2025 08:49:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6 Baybayin: Surat Bisaya https://mandirigma.org/?p=3868 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3868#respond Sun, 15 Mar 2020 11:40:59 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3868  

Original Article from Prehispanic CEBU:

https://prehispaniccebu.wordpress.com/2020/11/02/surat-bisaya/?fbclid=IwAR0c3WbOE-USQB3V4Yy7paNkvV_qzKa-LyzrzOVYi1gaFFhlrSd9_bN4u5Y

 

 

Surat Bisaya

   Etymology and Origins   2 Minutes

House Bill 1022 or the “National Writing System Act” was previously approved last April 23, 2018 and declares Baybayin as the country’s national writing system and thus aims to put the script to use in street signs, public facilities, government halls, publications and even food labels. Many linguists, historians and several Filipinos were upset that other Philippine scripts are ignored.

Prehispanic writing system has enjoyed a resurgence over the past few years with some Filipinos taking interest in learning as their means of tracing one’s roots and connecting with one’s culture. Of our 17 accounted Philippine syllabaries, systems of consonant plus vowel syllables, only four (4) remain in use among indigenous communities of present-day according to UNESCO.

Brahmic Scripts

Prehispanic Philippine syllabaries are the writing systems that developed (and soon flourished) all over the Philippines. Many of the Southeast Asian writing systems clearly descended from ancient alphabets used in India over 2000 years ago. In the languages of Sumatra, Sulawesi as well as Philippines, the native name for letter, or script, is the indigineous term: surat. By the 21st century, various Filipino cultural organizations simply collectively referred the scripts as suyat.

The country’s surat–or suyat–are related closely to other Southeast Asian writing, nearly all are abugidas or alpha-syllabary where any consonant is pronounced with the inherent vowel /a/ following it; using diacritical marks to express other vowels. It developed from South Indian Brahmi scripts utilized in Asoka Inscriptions and Pallava Grantha–type of writings during the ascendancy of India’s Pallava dynasty around the 5th century.

Surat (Suyat)

Baybayin does not encompass an entirety of writing systems being just one of those 17 prehispanic scripts present around the Philippines. Widespread use was likewise reported among other coastal-groups like the Bisaya, Iloko, Pangasinan, Bikol, and Pampanga in the 16th century. H.B. 1022 critics worry that relegating the Baybayin would erase the diversity that continue to exist and also perpetuate Tagalog-centric national identity.

The Visayans have Surat Bisaya, Suwat Bisaya or Sulat Bisaya (aka Badlit; Surat is historically the more appropriate name for Visayan scripts). It is written from left to right and requires “no spaces” between words. Space is applied only after ends of a sentence or punctuation, although in its modern writing it usually contains spaces after each word to enhance readability of the narrative. Artifacts found with Surat inscriptions then deciphered through our Visayan language included the Calatagan Pot, Monreal Stones (two) and Limasawa Pot.

When the Spaniards arrived, they studied and used surat to communicate with the early Filipinos; and teach Catholicism. As Filipinos soon started to learn the Roman alphabet from the Spanish, the use of our native scripts especially in lowland places began to disappear. Meanwhile, surat of Sulu and Maguindanao were replaced by the Arabic alphabet around the 14th and 15th centuries, respectively.

Phonemes and Diacritics

Surat Bisaya has 20 (originally from 18) phonemes: 15 primary consonants and 5 (from 3) vowels. Basic consonants (or sinugdanan na katingog)–b, k, d, g, h, l, m, n, ŋ (ng), p, r, s, t, w, j (y)–followed by inherent vowel /a/, are as follows: Ba, Ka, Da, Ga, Ha, La, Ma, Na, Nga, Pa, Ra, Sa, Ta, Wa, Ya.

Five vowels (the pantingog) are: A, U, O, I, E. In prehispanic period, Bisaya only had three vowel-phonemes: /a/, /i/, and /u/. This was later expanded into five (5) with the introduction plus integration of some Hispanic-words: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/.

Kudlit (or diacritical marks) enables the writer to change the default /a/ sound of any of our basic consonants via using the same character. Put that kudlit below the syllable to change the consonants default vowel to /u/ or /o/, or above the syllable for /i/ or /e/. Spaniards even introduced to terminate consonants default vowel as well as various panulbok (“punctuation marks”).

 

img_4368

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3868 0 Indigenous peoples of the Philippines https://mandirigma.org/?p=3491 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3491#respond Fri, 04 May 2018 10:54:43 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3491 Indigenous peoples of the Philippines

kali arnis eskrima escrima lameco sulite mandirigma.org

384px-TribalPhilippinesTraditionalRange

 

Indigenous peoples of the Philippines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The indigenous peoples of the Philippines consist of a large number of indigenous ethnic groups living in the country. They are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines who have managed to resist centuries of Spanish and United States colonization and in the process have retained their customs and traditions.[1]

In the 1990s, there were more than 100 highland tribal groups constituted approximately 3% of the population. The upland tribal groups were a blend in ethnic origin like other lowland Filipinos, although they did not have contact with the outside world. They displayed a variety of social organization, cultural expression and artistic skills. They showed a high degree of creativity, usually employed to embellish utilitarian objects, such as bowls, baskets, clothing, weapons and spoons. These groups ranged from various Igorot tribes, a group that includes the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankana-ey, who built the Rice Terraces. They also covered a wide spectrum in terms of their integration and acculturation with lowland Christian and Muslim Filipinos. Native groups such as the Bukidnon in Mindanao, had intermarried with lowlanders for almost a century. Other groups such as the Kalinga in Luzon have remained isolated from lowland influence.

There were several indigenous groups living in the Cordillera Central of Luzon in 1990. At one time it was employed by lowland Filipinos in a pejorative sense, but in recent years it came to be used with pride by native groups in the mountain region as a positive expression of their ethnic identity. The Ifugaos of Ifugao Province, the Bontocs, Kalinga, Tinguian, the Kankana-ey and Ibaloi were all farmers who constructed the rice terraces for many centuries.

Other mountain peoples of Luzon are the Isnegs of northern Kalinga-Apayao Province, the Gaddangs of the border between Kalinga-Apayao, and Isabela provinces and the Ilongots of Nueva Vizcaya Province and Caraballo Mountains all developed hunting and gathering, farming cultivation and headhunting. Other indigenous people such as the Negritos formerly dominated the highlands throughout the islands for thousands of years, but have been reduced to a small population, living in widely scattered locations, primarily along the eastern ranges of the mountains.

In the southern Philippines, upland and lowland tribal groups were concentrated on Mindanao and western Visayas, although there are several indigenous groups such as the Mangyan living in Mindoro. Among the most important groups found on Mindanao are collectively called the Lumad, and includes the Manobo, Bukidnon of Bukidnon Province, Bagobo, Mandaya, and Mansaka, who inhabited the mountains bordering the Davao Gulf; the Subanon of upland areas in the Zamboanga; the Mamanua in the Agusan-Surigao border region; the Bila-an, Tiruray and Tboli in the region of the Cotabato province, and the Samal and Bajau in the Sulu Archipelago. The tribal groups of the Philippines are known for their carved wooden figures, baskets, weaving, pottery and weapons.

Reservation

The Philippine government succeeded in establishing a number of protected reservations for tribal groups. Indigenous people were expected to speak their native language, dress in their traditional tribal clothing, live in houses constructed of natural materials using traditional architectural designs and celebrate their traditional ceremonies of propitiation of spirits believed to be inhabiting their environment. They are also encouraged to re-establish their traditional authority structure in which, as in indigenous society were governed by chieftains known as Rajah and Datu.

Contact between “primitive” and “modern” ethnic groups usually resulted in weakening or destroying tribal culture without assimilating the indigenous groups into modern society. It seemed doubtful that the shift of the Philippine government policy from assimilation to cultural pluralism could reverse the process. Several Filipino tribes tends to lead to the abandonment of traditional culture because land security makes it easier for tribal members to adopt the economic process of the larger society and facilitates marriage with outsiders. In the past, the Philippine government bureaus could not preserve tribes as social museum exhibits, but with the aid of various nationwide organizations, they hoped to help the tribes adapt to modern society without completely losing their ethnic identity.

 

luzon visayas mindanao lameco eskrima mandirigma.org luzon visayas mindanao lameco eskrima mandirigma.org

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3491 0 Books: Books on America and the Philippine Moros by Robert A. Fulton https://mandirigma.org/?p=3022 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3022#respond Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:14:54 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3022 Books on America and the Moros by Robert A. Fulton

http://www.morolandhistory.com/Books_page/Book_Page.htm

 

perf6.000x9.000.indd

 

 

 

Released January 15, 2012

    The Battle of Bud Dajo took place over three days, March 5-8, 1906. It pitted the U.S. Army. U.S. Navy, and the Philippine Constabulary against 800-1,000 dissident Muslims who had fortified the top of a rugged, 2,175 feet high dormant volcano on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippine Islands. Although beginning as a genuine military contest, it ended as a tragic and terrible, one-sided massacre, with no more than a small and pitiful handful of the Muslims left alive. 

    Although lesser known. It ranks beside such infamous names as “Sand Creek” (1864), “Wounded Knee”(1890), and “My Lai” (1968) as one of the darkest, bloodiest, and most controversial episodes in America’s long and troubled history of deadly encounters with indigenous peoples.

    More than just a straightforward account of an epic fight on a spectacular mountain, it is also the story of a second and equally vicious donnybrook within the nations’ press and on the floor of Congress to comprehend what had actually occurred on that remote field of battle and why. At stake were the careers of one the most well known soldiers of the early 20th Century, General Leonard Wood, former commanding officer of the famed Spanish-American War cavalry regiment, the Rough Riders. Also risk was a future President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Howard Taft, as well as the reputation of one of the country’s most popular Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt.

    But there is also a mystery here. The real story of what happened would remain buried for more than another century. Why? Was there a deliberate, and successful, cover up? If the real facts had come to light sooner, would it have mattered? Could it have impacted the course of American history? Is there a lesson to take away here, or at least a warning?

    HONOR FOR THE FLAG is based on path finding research into the original files, which was first published in 2007 my book MOROLAND; but it is much broader in scope and not only narrates a reliable account of the battle itself but how it rapidly evolved into a contentious and divisive debate over the moral basis of American intervention in foreign lands.

    200 pages, including 72 photographs and illustrations.

To see reviews and purchase, click on the web links below:

  PRINT - @ Amazon.com     KINDLE - @ Amazon.com

NOOK - @ Barnes & Noble.com

MOROLAND_cvr

Moroland is the lost history of the once-famed struggle between the United States Army and the “wild” Moros, the Muslims of the southern Philippine islands. Lasting over two decades, it was this country’s first sustained encounter with a volatile mixture of nation building, insurgency, counterinsurgency, and militant Islamism.

    An unanticipated byproduct of the Spanish-American War, the task of subduing and then “civilizing” the “Land of the Moros” was delegated to the U.S. Army. Working through the traditional ruling hierarchy and respecting an ancient system of laws based on the Qur’an, Moro Province became an autonomous, military-governed Islamic colony within a much larger, overwhelmingly Christian territory, the Philippine Islands.

    An initially successful occupation, it transitioned to a grand experiment: an audacious plan to transform and remake Moro society, values, and culture in an American image; placing the Moros on an uncertain and ill-defined path towards inclusion in an eventual Western-style democracy. But the Moros reacted with obstinate and unyielding resistance to what they perceived as a deliberate attack on the religion of Islam and a way of life ordained by God. This ignited a constant stream of battles and expeditions known in U.S. Army history as the Moro Campaigns and lasting more than a decade. In violence and ferocity they may have equaled, if not surpassed, the more famous late-19th Century Indian Wars of the Great Plains. It also led to the creation of the fabled Moro Constabulary, small contingents of native troops led by American, European, and Filipino officers.

    The backdrop is a bustling, raucous, newly-prosperous nation finding its way as a world and imperial power. But with this new-found status came a near-religious belief that the active spread of America’s institutions, values, and form of government, even when achieved through coercion or force, would create a better world. A subtext is a deep and bitter rivalry between two of its most prominent players, Captain John J. Pershing and General Leonard Wood, born only one month apart, each championing markedly opposed military philosophies. Eventually they would compete to lead one-million American “doughboys” into the cauldron of the world’s first Great War.

    Few Americans are aware that a century later the U.S. military has quietly returned to Moroland, to battle “radical Islamist terrorism”; using Army Green Berets, Navy Seals, and other elite forces. It is the smallest of the active fronts of the “global war on terror” and the least-covered or critically examined. It leads the reader to an obvious question: are we avoiding or are we repeating our own past?

    524 pages. Originally published 2007, revised in 2009 to add six new chapters.

To see reviews and purchase, click on the web links below:

PRINT - @ Amazon.com                    PRINT - @ Barnes & Noble.com

KINDLE - @ Amazon.com                    NOOK - @ Barnes & Noble.com

For iPad or Sony Reader users:

Neither book is currently available from iTunes Books or the Sony ePub format. However you can download Free Readers by clicking on one of the links below and then purchasing either the Kindle or Nook eBook:

  KINDLE - @ Amazon.com                    NOOK - @ Barnes & Noble.com

Notice: For persons who own the earlier, 2007 edition, Moroland 1899-1906: America’s First Attempt to Transform an Islamic Society, you can obtain a PDF file of the eight chapters added to the new 2009 edition without charge by sending your mailing address to  mail101@morolandhistory.com.

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3022 0 Massive balangay ‘mother boat’ unearthed in Butuan By TJ DIMACALI,GMA News https://mandirigma.org/?p=1902 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1902#respond Mon, 05 Aug 2013 21:35:19 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1902 Massive balangay ‘mother boat’ unearthed in Butuan By TJ DIMACALI,GMA News
The largest sailing vessel of its kind yet discovered is being unearthed in Butuan City in Mindanao, and it promises to rewrite Philippine maritime history as we know it.
Estimated to be around 800 years old, the plank vessel may be centuries older than the ships used by European explorers in the 16th century when they first came upon the archipelago later named after a Spanish king, Las Islas Felipenas.
mandirigma.org kali arnis escrima eskrima
The find also underscores theories that the Philippines, and Butuan in particular, was a major center for cultural, religious, and commercial relations in Southeast Asia.

‘Nails’ the size of soda cans
National Museum archeologist Dr. Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, who leads the research team at the site, says almost everything about the newly-discovered “balangay” is massive.She holds up her hand and curls her fingers into a circle, as if grasping a soda can. “That’s just one of the treenails used in its construction,” Bolunia says.

An aptly descriptive term, a “treenail” is a wooden peg or dowel used in place of iron nails in boatbuilding.
So with “nails” that size, exactly how big is this boat?
Dr. Bolunia produces a piece of onionskin paper with a carefully-inked map of the archeological site. On the upper corner is a roughly pea pod-shaped boat wreck, about 15 meters long, one of nine similarly-sized balangays discovered at the site since the 1970′s.
But right next to it, discovered only in 2012, are what seem to be the remains of another balangay so wide that it could easily fit the smaller craft into itself twice over – and that’s just the part that’s been excavated so far.
Although the boat has yet to be fully excavated, it’s estimated to be at least 25 meters long.
Aside from the treenails, the individual planks alone are each as broad as a man’s chest – roughly twice the width of those used in other balangays on the site. The planks are so large that they can no longer be duplicated, because there are no more trees today big enough to make boards that size, according to Dr. Bolunia.
Proceeding with caution
Historians, and Bolunia herself, caution that much work still needs to be done before the boat can be conclusively dated and identified.”(The newly-discovered boat) will need more technical verification to establish its connection and relationship with the other boats already excavated, so that we can know its date, boat typology, and technology,” said Dr. Maria Bernadette L. Abrera, professor and chairperson of the Department of History at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, in an email interview.

“We have to be careful,” said Ramon Villegas, a scholar who has done extensive research on pre-colonial Philippine history. “There has not been enough time to study (the artifacts). It could be a Spanish boat or Chinese junk.”
Aside from carbon dating to determine the age of the wood, the construction techniques used and even the type of wood itself need to be ascertained before anyone can come to a definitive conclusion.
“Everything depends on the construction, on how the boat was built, before you can properly call it a ‘balangay’,” explains archeologist and anthropologist Dr. Jesus Peralta. He said he has yet to see the newfound boat for himself.
Nevertheless, the boat’s proximity to previous sites of buried balangays promises to send ripples through the academic world.
“It’s a ‘mother boat’,” Dr. Bolunia says with little hesitation, “and it’s changing the way we think about ancient Filipino seafarers.”
Rewriting Philippine history
It has long been established that Filipinos traveled across Southeast Asia as early as the 10th century, reaching as far as Champa – what is now the eastern coast of Vietnam – in groups of balangays.
These groups or flotillas have always been thought to consist of similarly-sized small vessels, an idea perpetuated by the term “barangay” – the smallest administrative division of the present-day Philippine government.
But, according to Dr. Bolunia, this new discovery suggests that these may just have been support vessels for a much larger main boat, where trade goods and other supplies were likely to have been held for safekeeping.
The discovery also suggests that seafaring Filipinos were much more organized and centralized than previously thought.

Butuan as a major center of culture and trade
“This balangay reinforces the findings of the earlier excavations about the role of Butuan as a commercial and population center in precolonial Philippines,” Abrera told GMA News.”Butuan seaport had long-time trade links with Champa and Guandong (China). You can retrace the importance of (the newly-discovered boat) by utilizing it as an archeological key to that period when Butuan was a busy link to the pan-Asian cultural and commercial intercourse,” historian Arnold M. Azurin told GMA News via Facebook chat.

In fact, Filipino seafarers were already exploring Asia over a thousand years ago, well ahead of our Chinese neighbors: as early as 1001, the Song Dynasty recorded the arrival of a diplomatic mission from the “Kingdom of Butuan.”

“In 1003 AD, a Butuan chieftain petitioned the Chinese Imperial Court to allow it to bring its products direct to Guandong—instead of using Champa as the entrepôt (main trading post),” Azurin added.

However, according to Azurin, the petition was declined because the Court insisted on regulating trade via Champa.

He also says that Butuan may also have played a major role in the spread of culture and religion in the Philippines long before Christianity and even Islam came to the islands.

“The boat’s possible deeper significance is that it may be one of the carriers of Hindu-Buddhist cultural influence in the Philippine Archipelago long before Islam and Christianity arrived here. Many scholars also say that the baybayin script arrived here through the same connection with Champa. Hence, you can deepen the cultural legacy of our ancestors,” Azurin said.

Older than Magellan and Jung He
While the newfound boat has yet to be accurately dated, its construction and position directly alongside a balangay from the 1200′s strongly suggest that it is also a balangay from the same time period.
If so, then the boat predates by hundreds of years Magellan’s arrival, and death, in the Philippines in 1521 and even the Chinese explorer Zheng He’s expedition across Asia in 1400.
“For more than a thousand years, the trade and settlement patterns and routes across Asia connected certain islands (of the Philippines), especially those with good harbors and steady supply of local products,” Azurin said.”Highly interesting is the mention of slaves-for-sale in (Magellan’s chronicler) Pigafetta’s account of the first circumnaviation: Raja Humabon boasted to Magellan that some boatloads of slaves had just left Cebu for Cambodia and Champa—likely in need of warm bodies for their wars of succession, or for new stonecutters for their megalithic shrines,” he added.

Could Filipino craftsmen have been deployed from Butuan to build ancient Asian monuments, like Angkor Wat?

“That’s a possible conjecture, considering that archeologists like Robert Fox, H. Otley Beyer and others have pointed out that some islands in southern Philippines had communities linked to (these places),” he said.

Continuing a seaworthy tradition

In any case, the “mother boat” and the  smaller balangays in Butuan were definitely made for exploring the high seas, according to Dr. Bolunia.
She says their overall shape and construction are suited to navigating deep ocean waters more than shallow rivers. The presence of a quarter rudder and sails would also indicate a sea-going vessel, although these have yet to be found, Dr. Bolunia says.
“That’s especially true for a boat this size,” she says of the giant balangay.
Even today, the Sama-Badjao of Sulu still practice boatbuilding techniques that are strikingly similar to those used in constructing the Butuan boats.
In 2010, replica balangays built by Sama-Badjao craftsmen and manned by Filipino adventurers completed a 14,000-km journey across Southeast Asia, proving the seaworthiness of the original balangays and the traditional woodcraft used to construct them.
One of the boats, the 15-meter-long “Diwata ng Lahi,” is now on permanent display outside the National Museum in Manila.

Textual evidence of large boats
Villegas believes it was only a matter of time before a boat of this size was found, pointing out the historical accounts about similarly grand Filipino vessels.
For example, Pigafetta also documented the existence of a boat fit for a king: “We saw come two long boats, which they call Ballanghai, full of men. In the largest of them was their king sitting under an awning of mats,” he wrote.
Native boats “intended for cargo capacity or seagoing raids” could be “as long as 25 meters,” said noted historian Dr. William Henry Scott in his book, “Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society“.
Scott also hinted at the existence of even more impressive vessels: “The most celebrated Visayan vessel was the warship called karakoa, (which) could mount forty (meter-long oars) on a side.”
“The care and technique with which (Filipinos) build them makes their ships sail like birds, while ours are like lead in comparison,” Scott quoted a Spanish priest as having written in 1667.
However, no large Filipino vessels have been discovered and excavated – until now, if the Butuan “mother boat” is indeed of ancient origins.
“Historians have always known there were other (large) boats. We should expect to find big boats because (we know) they existed,” Villegas said.
“It’s just that the National Museum only now has the funds to do the excavations. There’s a lot to be found even just in Butuan,” he added.
Lingering mysteries of Butuan
Dr. Bolunia and her team plan to return to Butuan in September to complete the excavation, and hopefully to date the massive new find.
They also plan to take a core sample from the ground in the hopes of answering one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Butuan balangays.
Dr. Bolunia explains that the archeological site, although now inland, was once an alcove that opened out to the sea. She says that all the balangays were found ”drydocked” on what was once the Butuan seashore.
That the vessels were so well preserved is largely because they were buried intact, and the submergence of the area over succeeding centuries kept the wood from decaying.
But exactly how did the Butuan balangays get buried there in the first place?
Dr. Bolunia says there are two competing theories: either the boats were intentionally buried, or they were left behind after a sudden cataclysm  – such as a landslide from an earthquake.
If the boats were purposely abandoned, why did the builders take the trouble of burying them? But, on the other hand, where is the evidence of any natural calamity that might have befallen the boats and their builders?
These are among the many remaining questions that face probers of the Philippines’ ancient past. If Dr. Bolunia’s hunches are correct about the latest find in Butuan, the mother boat could be the key to unlocking answers about how our Filipino ancestors lived, explored, and fought.  — with Howie Severino/ELR, GMA News
]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1902 0 Cordillera People’s Flag – Igorot Autonomous Region – Northern Philippines https://mandirigma.org/?p=2029 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2029#respond Sun, 21 Jul 2013 21:09:45 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2029 Cordillera People's Flag (Igorot Autonomous Region)

Cordillera People’s Flag – Igorot Autonomous Region – Northern Philippines

Explanation of the flag
The Cordillera people are 7 interior people native to Cordillera mountains which stretch from North Borneo all the way to Luzon Island. The flag has 8 lances: 7 which represent the 7 interior people and 1 which represents the Tagalog people. The flag is also used with the letters CPDF in black under the emblem when it is used as the flag of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front.

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2029 0 Documentary: Itinaga sa Bato – Baybayin Documentary written by Howie Severino and directed by Cris Sto. Domingo https://mandirigma.org/?p=2006 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2006#respond Sun, 21 Jul 2013 20:23:12 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2006 Documentary: Itinaga sa Bato – Baybayin Documentary written by Howie Severino and directed by Cris Sto. Domingo

 

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/227829/publicaffairs/iwitness/itinaga-sa-bato-documentary-by-howie-severino

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2010078/

Many Filipinos are in the dark about their pre-colonial past, or Philippine history before the Spaniards came.

That past is coming to light with Amaya, the first prime-time teleserye about Philippine society and culture before Europeans knew these existed. But even that history is based on what Spanish chroniclers wrote about the islanders they called indios.

A recently discovered stone may change all that. A doormat for many years outside a Masbate classroom, the stone slab was cleaned by school children, revealing beneath the hardened mud writing in the ancient Filipino script called baybayin.

Is it really a window into our pre-colonial past, or simply the work of a more recent hobbyist?

Howie Severino and his documentary team accompany scientists to Ticao Island in Masbate as they try to authenticate the stone’s origins and unlock its secrets. What does the writing say?

Their investigation leads Howie’s team’s to living baybayin writers in Manila trying to keep the ancient script alive, convinced that it is an essential element in Filipinos’ modern identity and a way for them to stand tall in a globalizing world where many languages, and the cultures they represent, are vanishing.

 

Itinaga sa Bato baybayin

 

 

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2006 0 Book review: “Baybayin Atbp.: Mga Pag-aaral at Pagpapayaman ng Kulturang Pilipino” – Why is baybayin relevant today? Ime Morales https://mandirigma.org/?p=2002 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2002#respond Sun, 21 Jul 2013 19:41:37 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2002

Baybayin Atbp book cover

Book review: Why is baybayin relevant today?

Text and photo by IME MORALES
If you think that baybayin, or the alibata, as it has come to be known in recent times, is simply our Filipino ancestors’ way of writing, then the contents of “Baybayin Atbp.: Mga Pag-aaral at Pagpapayaman ng Kulturang Pilipino” (Teresita B. Obusan, Raymond M. Cosare, and Minifred P. Gavino) will awaken your curiosity and, hopefully, your spirit. It is true, first of all, that baybayin is the indigenous writing form invented by our great grandfathers. But it is also true that it is much more than that.
During a September 28 lecture organized by UP Tomo-Kai in Palma Hall, UP Diliman, social worker and writer Dr. Teresita B. Obusan said that the baybayin is a symbol of our culture and a means to study and understand mysticism. She explained, “We did not copy this. It was created by our ancestors and it becomes us.”
In the booklet, which was printed earlier this year and written in the vernacular, she writes: “Baybayin is a gift from heaven, given to us through our ancestors; it is a legacy for the Filipino people… and it is our responsibility to take care of it and nurture it.”

 

Article continues at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/278915/lifestyle/reviews/book-review-why-is-baybayin-relevant-today

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2002 0 Boxer Codex Manuscript – circa 1595 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1736 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1736#respond Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:51:30 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1736 Boxer Codex

Boxer Codex is a manuscript written circa 1595 which contains illustrations of Filipinos at the time of their initial contact with the Spanish. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries, it also contains seventy-five colored drawings of the inhabitants of these regions and their distinctive costumes. Fifteen illustrations deal with Filipinos. [1]

It is believed that the original owner of the manuscript was Luis Pérez das Mariñas, son of Governor General Gómez Pérez das Mariñas, who was killed in 1593 by the Sangleys (Chinese living in the Philippines). Luis succeeded his father in office as Governor General of the Philippines. Since Spanish colonial governors were required to supply written reports on the territotries they governed, it is likely that the manuscript was written under the orders of the governor. [2]

The manuscript’s earliest known owner was Lord Ilchester. The codex was among what remained in his collection when his estate, Holland House in London, suffered a direct hit during an air raid 1942. The manuscript was auctioned in 1947 and came into the possession of Prof. Charles R. Boxer, an authority on the Far East. It is now owned by the Lilly Library at Indiana University. [3]

The Boxer Codex depicts the Tagalogs, Visayans, Zambals, Cagayanons and Negritos of the Philippines in vivid colors. Except for the Chinese, however, its illustrations of inhabitants of neighboring countries are odd looking. This suggests that the artist did not actually visit the places mentioned from the text, but drew from imagination. Boxer notes that the descriptions of these countries are not original. The account of China, for example, was largely based on the narrative of Fray Martin de Rada. The technique of the paintings suggests that artist may have been Chinese, as does the use of Chinese paper, ink and paints. [4]

 

Native Pre-colonial inhabitants of the Philippines

 

Tagalog royalty mandirigma.org

Tagalog royalty and his wife, wearing the distinctive color of his class (red).

 

Tagalog maginoo (noble) mandirigma.org

Tagalog maginoo (noble) and his wife, wearing the distinctive color of his class (blue.

 

Visayan kadatuan (royal) couple mandirigma.org

A timawa or tumao (noble) couple, Visayan Pintados

 

Visayan kadatuan (royal) couple mandirigma.org

Visayan kadatuan (royal) couple

.

References

  1. ^ Alfredo R. Roces, et. al., eds., Boxer Codex in Filipino Heritage: the Making of a Nation, Philippines: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc., 1977, Vol. IV, p. 1003.
  2. ^ Ibid., p. 1004.
  3. ^ Ibid., p. 1003.
  4. ^ Ibid.

 

 

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1736 0 Warrior’s Helmet (Oklop), Ifugao, 19th-early 20th c., National Gallery of Australia. https://mandirigma.org/?p=1594 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1594#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:55:30 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1594 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao

Warrior’s Helmet (Oklop), Ifugao, 19th-early 20th c., National Gallery of Australia.

 

Courtesy of http://pupuplatter.tumblr.com

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1594 0 Helmet, Masbate, 19th c., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid. https://mandirigma.org/?p=1591 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1591#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:53:15 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1591 7 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao

Helmet, Masbate, 19th c., Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid.

 

Courtesy of http://pupuplatter.tumblr.com

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1591 0 Shield, Bagobo, c 1900-1910, Penn Museum. https://mandirigma.org/?p=1588 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1588#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:45:53 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1588 6 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao 6 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao

Shield, Bagobo, c 1900-1910, Penn Museum.

 

Courtesy of http://pupuplatter.tumblr.com

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1588 0 Dagger Hilt, Butuan, 10th-13th c., Tony and Cecile Gutierrez Collection. https://mandirigma.org/?p=1575 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1575#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:39:43 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1575 4 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao 4 4 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao 4

Dagger Hilt, Butuan, 10th-13th c., Tony and Cecile Gutierrez Collection.

 

Courtesy of http://pupuplatter.tumblr.com

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1575 0 “Comisión encargada por el Sultán de Joló de visitar al Capitán General de las Islas Filipinas,” La Ilustración Española y Americana,” 1879. https://mandirigma.org/?p=1562 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1562#respond Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:23:09 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1562 mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao mandirigma kali arnis eskrima luzon visayas mindanao

“Comisión encargada por el Sultán de Joló de visitar al Capitán General de las Islas Filipinas,” La Ilustración Española y Americana,” 1879.

 

Courtesy of http://pupuplatter.tumblr.com

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1562 0 Indigenous peoples of the Philippines https://mandirigma.org/?p=1457 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1457#respond Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:06:00 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1457 kali arnis eskrima escrima lameco sulite mandirigma.org

Indigenous peoples of the Philippines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The indigenous peoples of the Philippines consist of a large number of indigenous ethnic groups living in the country. They are the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines who have managed to resist centuries of Spanish and United States colonization and in the process have retained their customs and traditions.[1]

In the 1990s, there were more than 100 highland tribal groups constituted approximately 3% of the population. The upland tribal groups were a blend in ethnic origin like other lowland Filipinos, although they did not have contact with the outside world. They displayed a variety of social organization, cultural expression and artistic skills. They showed a high degree of creativity, usually employed to embellish utilitarian objects, such as bowls, baskets, clothing, weapons and spoons. These groups ranged from various Igorot tribes, a group that includes the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankana-ey, who built the Rice Terraces. They also covered a wide spectrum in terms of their integration and acculturation with lowland Christian and Muslim Filipinos. Native groups such as the Bukidnon in Mindanao, had intermarried with lowlanders for almost a century. Other groups such as the Kalinga in Luzon have remained isolated from lowland influence.

There were several indigenous groups living in the Cordillera Central of Luzon in 1990. At one time it was employed by lowland Filipinos in a pejorative sense, but in recent years it came to be used with pride by native groups in the mountain region as a positive expression of their ethnic identity. The Ifugaos of Ifugao Province, the Bontocs, Kalinga, Tinguian, the Kankana-ey and Ibaloi were all farmers who constructed the rice terraces for many centuries.

Other mountain peoples of Luzon are the Isnegs of northern Kalinga-Apayao Province, the Gaddangs of the border between Kalinga-Apayao, and Isabela provinces and the Ilongots of Nueva Vizcaya Province and Caraballo Mountains all developed hunting and gathering, farming cultivation and headhunting. Other indigenous people such as the Negritos formerly dominated the highlands throughout the islands for thousands of years, but have been reduced to a small population, living in widely scattered locations, primarily along the eastern ranges of the mountains.

In the southern Philippines, upland and lowland tribal groups were concentrated on Mindanao and western Visayas, although there are several indigenous groups such as the Mangyan living in Mindoro. Among the most important groups found on Mindanao are collectively called the Lumad, and includes the Manobo, Bukidnon of Bukidnon Province, Bagobo, Mandaya, and Mansaka, who inhabited the mountains bordering the Davao Gulf; the Subanon of upland areas in the Zamboanga; the Mamanua in the Agusan-Surigao border region; the Bila-an, Tiruray and Tboli in the region of the Cotabato province, and the Samal and Bajau in the Sulu Archipelago. The tribal groups of the Philippines are known for their carved wooden figures, baskets, weaving, pottery and weapons.

Reservation

The Philippine government succeeded in establishing a number of protected reservations for tribal groups. Indigenous people were expected to speak their native language, dress in their traditional tribal clothing, live in houses constructed of natural materials using traditional architectural designs and celebrate their traditional ceremonies of propitiation of spirits believed to be inhabiting their environment. They are also encouraged to re-establish their traditional authority structure in which, as in indigenous society were governed by chieftains known as Rajah and Datu.

Contact between “primitive” and “modern” ethnic groups usually resulted in weakening or destroying tribal culture without assimilating the indigenous groups into modern society. It seemed doubtful that the shift of the Philippine government policy from assimilation to cultural pluralism could reverse the process. Several Filipino tribes tends to lead to the abandonment of traditional culture because land security makes it easier for tribal members to adopt the economic process of the larger society and facilitates marriage with outsiders. In the past, the Philippine government bureaus could not preserve tribes as social museum exhibits, but with the aid of various nationwide organizations, they hoped to help the tribes adapt to modern society without completely losing their ethnic identity.

 

luzon visayas mindanao lameco eskrima mandirigma.org luzon visayas mindanao lameco eskrima mandirigma.org

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1457 0 Ilustration: Early Sulu Warriors and Weapons & Ilanoan Warrior https://mandirigma.org/?p=1193 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1193#respond Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:08:39 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1193 www.mandirigma.org kali arnis eskrima

 

http://woodside.blogs.com/.a/6a00d8341f9d6353ef0120a5d8f0cc970c-800wi

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1193 0 The Filipino People – Early contacts of the Malays and Hindus, and the rise Islam https://mandirigma.org/?p=3216 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3216#respond Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:33:13 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3216 Original Source: https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/792/the-filipino-people-early-contacts-of-the-malays-and-hindus-and-the-rise-islam

The Filipino People – Early contacts of the Malays and Hindus, and the rise Islam

 

More than two thousand years ago, India produced a remarkable civilization. There were great cities of stone, magnificient palaces, a life of splendid luxury a highly organized social and political system. Writing known as Sanskrit have been developed. Two great religions, Brahminism and Buddhism, arose, the latter still the dominant religion of Tibet, China, and Japan. The people who produced this civilization are known as the Hindus. Fourteen or fifteen hundred years ago Hinduism spread over Burma, Siam, and Java. Great cities were erected with splendid temples and huge idols, the ruins of which still remain, though their magnificence has gone and they are covered today with the growth of the jungle.

This powerful civilization of the Hindus, established thus in Malaysia, greatly affected the Malayan people on these islands, as well as those who came to the Philippines. Many words in the Tagalog have been shown to have a Sanskrit origin, and the systems of writing which the Spaniards found in use among several of the Filipino peoples had certainly been developed from the alphabet then in use among these Hindu peoples of Java.

A few hundred years later another great change, due to religious faith, came over the Malayan race – a change which has had a great effect upon the history of the Philippines, and is still destined to modify events far into the future. This was the conversion to Islam. Of all the great religions of the world, Mohammedanism was the last to arise, and its career has in some ways been the most remarkable. Mohammed, its founder, was an Arab, born about 572 A.D. At that time Christianity was established entirely around the Mediterranean and throughout most of Europe, but Arabia was idolatrous. Mohammed was one of those great, prophetic souls which arise from time to time in the world’s history. All he could learn from Hebraism and Christianity, together with the result of his own thought and prayers, led him to the belief in one God, the Almighty, the Compassionate, the Merciful, who as he believed would win all men to His knowledge through the teachings of Mohammed himself. Thus inspired, Mohammed became a teacher or prophet, and by the end of his life he had won his people to his faith and inaugurated one of the greatest eras of conquest the world has seen.

The armies of Arabian horsemen, full of fanatical enthusiasm to convert the world to their faith, in a century’s time wrested from Christendom all Judea, Syria, and Asia Minor, the sacred land where Jesus lived and taught, and the countries where Paul and the other apostles had first established Christianity. Thence they swept along the north coast of Africa, bringing to an end all that survived of Roman power and religion, and by 720 they had crossed into Europe and were in possession of Spain. For the nearly eight hundred years that followed, the Christian Spaniards fought to drive Islam from the peninsula, before they were successful.

Not only did Islam move westward over Africa and Europe, it was carried eastward as well. Animated by their faith, the Arabs became the greatest sailors, explorers, merchants, and geographers of the age. They sailed from the Red Sea down the coast of Africa as far as Madagascar, and eastward to India, where they had settlements on both the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. Thence Arab missionaries brought their faith to Malaysia.

At that time the true Malays, the tribe from which the common term “Malayan” has been derived, were a small people of Sumatra. At least as early as 1250 they were converted to Islam, brought to then by these Arabian missionaries, and under the impulse of this mighty faith they broke from their obscurity and commenced that great conquest and expansion that has diffused their power, language, and religion throughout the East Indies.

A powerful Muslim Malay settlement was established on the western coasts of Borneo probably as early as 1400. The more primitive inhabitants, like the Dyaks, who were a tribe of the primitive Malayans, were defeated, and the possession of parts of the coast taken from them. From this coast of Borneo came many of the adventurers who were traversing the seas of the Philippines when the Spaniards arrived.

The Muslim population of Mindanao and Jolo owes something certainly to this same Malay migration which founded the colony of Borneo. But the Magindanao and Illanon Moros seem to be largely descendants of primitive tribes, such as the Manobo and Tiruray, who were converted to Islam by Malay and Arab proselyters. The traditions of the Magindanao Moros ascribe their conversion to Kabunsuan, a native of Johore, the son of an Arab father and Malay mother. He came to Magindanao with a band of followers, and from him the datos of Magindanao trace their lineage. Kabunsuan is supposed to be descended from Mohammed through his Arab father Ali, and so the datus of Magindanao to the present day proudly believe that in their veins flows the blood of the Prophet.

Islam was still increasing in the Philippines when the Spaniards arrived. The Muslims already had a foothold on Manila Bay, and their gradual conquest of the Archipelago was interrupted only by the coming of the Europeans. It is a strange historical occurrence that the Spaniards having fought with the Muslims for nearly eight centuries for the possession of Spain, should have come westward around globe towards the Philippine Islands and there resumed their anchient conflict with them. Thus the Spaniards were the most determined opponents of Islam on both its western and eastern frontiers. Their ancient foes who crossed into Spain from Morocco had been always known as “Moros” or “Moors,” and quite naturally they gave these new Muslim enemies the same title an Moros they are called to the present day.

Such, then, were the elements which form the population of these islands, a few thousands of the little Nigretos; many wild mountain tribes of the primitive Malayans; a later immigration of Malayans of higher cultivation and possibilities than any that preceeded them who had been influenced by the Hinduism of Java and who have had in recent centuries an astonishing growth both in number an in culture, and last; the fierce Muslim sea-rover, the true Malays.

Source:

History of the Philippines, David P. Barrows, page 36-41, Chicago: World book company, 1926,
University of Michigan, Special Collections (digital) Library.

malays

 

The Malays (Photo credit: http://www.sabrizain.org/)

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3216 0 Book: Sinaunang Habi – Philippine Ancestral Weave by Marian Pastor-Roces https://mandirigma.org/?p=687 https://mandirigma.org/?p=687#respond Wed, 25 May 2011 07:47:04 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=687 The Nikki Coseteng Filipiniana Series
“Sinaunang Habi: Philippine Ancestral Weave”
by Marian Pastor-Roces
Photographs by Dick Baldovino and Wig Tysman
Published by Anna Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng

 

ABOUT THE BOOK
“Sinaunang Habi’s first edition was published in 1991, and reprinted in 2000. It has become a sought-after book in the international circuit of textile connoisseurs of indigenous traditions. This unique book gives us not only a rich collection of haberdashery imbued with artistry and beauty, but also a rich insight into the different ethnic groups in the Philippines. The extensive and informative essays provide a historical and anthropological background on the indigenous people inhabiting each region. The clothing silently but expressively speaks of a nation’s unique cultures, customs, ceremonial life, rituals, and practical needs, lending beauty to handcrafted objects while continuing age-old traditions.”

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

 

lameco ilustrisimo suite ricketts eskrima escrima kali arnis

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=687 0 Cordillera Administrative Region – Northern Philippines https://mandirigma.org/?p=2013 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2013#respond Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:40:21 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2013 Cordillera Administrative Region

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) of the Philippines is a land-locked region consists of the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Apayao. Baguio City is the regional center. The Cordillera region encompasses most of the areas within the Cordillera Central mountain range of Luzon, the largest range in the country. This region is home to numerous indigenous tribes collectively called the Igorot.

The Cordillera Administrative Region is the only landlocked region in the country.

Source: wikipilipinas.org

PH_Cordillera_Administrative_Region_flag

Cordillera Administrative Region Flag

 

Ph_locator_car

Cordillera Administrative Region Map

 

Cordillera Administrative Provinces/Seals

 

Ph_seal_benguet Ph_seal_kalinga Ph_seal_mountain_province Ph_seal_baguio Ph_seal_apayao Ph_seal_abra Ph_seal_ifugao

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2013 0 The IGOROT People – Bontoc, Ibaloi, Isneg (or Apayao), Kalinga, and Kankanaey https://mandirigma.org/?p=1312 https://mandirigma.org/?p=1312#respond Sun, 26 Jan 2003 07:29:16 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=1312
IGOROT Bontoc, Ibaloi, Isneg Apayao Kalinga Kankanaey IGOROT Bontoc, Ibaloi, Isneg Apayao Kalinga Kankanaey


Inhabiting the rugged terrain of the Cordillera Region of Northern Philippines are six ethno-linguistic tribes known as the Ibaloy, Kankana-ey, Ifugao, Kalinga, Apayao/Isneg, and the Bontoc. They are referred to by a generic term, Igorot, a word coined from the root word, “golot” meaning mountain. Unlike most of the Philippines, which were ruled by Spaniards for about four hundred years, the Cordillera region was generally unfazed by Spanish colonization. The Igorot tribes are held together by their common socio-cultural traits as well as their geographic proximity to each other. During pre-Christian Cordillera (and to some extent, the present), the six different tribes shared similar religious beliefs, generally nature-related, and they make proprietary offerings to “anitos” (spirits) as well as to household gods.

 

Cordillera ethnic groups

The Igorots are grouped into six ethno-linguistic groups, the Bontoc, Ibaloi, Isneg (or Apayao), Kalinga, and the Kankanaey. Below are brief descriptions of the Igorot ethnic groups

The Bontoc

A Bontoc warrior (c. 1908)

The Bontocs (alternatively spelled Bontok) live on the banks of the Chico River in the Central Mountain Province. They speak the Bontoc language. They formerly practiced head-hunting and had distinctive body tatoos. The Bontoc describe three types of tattoos: The chak-lag′, the tattooed chest of the head taker; pong′-o, the tattooed arms of men and women; and fa′-tĕk, for all other tattoos of both sexes. Women were tattooed on the arms only. In the past, the Bontoc engaged in none of the usual pastimes or games of chance practiced in other areas of the country, but did perform a circular rhythmic dance acting out certain aspects of the hunt, always accompanied by the gang′-sa or bronze gong. There was no singing or talking during the dance drama, but the women took part, usually outside the circumference. It was a serious but pleasurable event for all concerned, including the children.[4] Present-day Bontocs are a peaceful agricultural people who have, by choice, retained most of their traditional culture despite frequent contacts with other groups.

The pre-Christian Bontoc belief system centers on a hierarchy of spirits, the highest being a supreme deity called Lumawig. Lumawig personifies the forces of nature and is the legendary creator, friend, and teacher of the Bontoc. A hereditary class of priests hold various monthly ceremonies for this deity for their crops, the weather, and for healing. The Bontoc also believe in the “anito”—spirits of the dead who must be consulted before anything important is done. Ancestral anitos are invited to family feasts when a death occurs to ensure the well-being of the deceased’s soul.This is by offering some small amount of food to show that they are invited and not forgotten.

The Bontoc social structure used to be centered around village wards (“ato”) containing about 14 to 50 homes. Traditionally, young men and women lived in dormitories and ate meals with their families. This gradually changed with the advent of Christianity. In general, however, it can be said that all Bontocs are very aware of their own way of life and are not overly eager to change.

The Ibaloi

The Ibaloi (also Ibaloy and Nabaloi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines who live mostly in the southern part of Benguet, located in the Cordillera of northern Luzon. The Ibaloi people were traditionally an agrarian society. Many of the Ibaloi people continue with their agriculture and rice cultivation.

The Ibaloi language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages family. The Ibaloi language is closely related to the Pangasinan language, primarily spoken in the province of Pangasinan, located southwest of Benguet.

Baguio City, the major city of the Cordillera, dubbed the “Summer Capital of the Philippines,” is located in southern Benguet.

The Ibaloi’ major feast is the Pesshet, a public feast mainly sponsored by people of prestige and wealth. The Pesshet feast can last for weeks and involves the butchering and sacrifice of dozens of animals. One of the more popular dances of the Ibaloi is the Bendiyan Dance, participated in by hundreds of male and female dancers.

The Itneg

The Isneg (or Apayao) inhabit the banks of the Apayao River and its tributaries in Northern Luzon. Like most erstwhile headhunters, they are slash-and-burn farmers who have recently, under the influence of their neighbors, begun to practice wet-rice agriculture.

As a dry rice farmer, the male head of a household annually clears a fresh section of tropical forest where his wife will plant and harvest their rice. Itneg women also cook the meals, gather wild vegetables and weave bamboo mats and baskets, while the men cut timber, build houses and take extended hunting and fishing trips. Often when a wild pig or deer is killed, its meat is skewered on bamboo and distributed to neighbors and relatives. Nearly all Itneg households also harvest a small grove of coffee trees since the main cash crop of the area is coffee.

The Isneg speak the Isnag language.

The Kalinga

Inhabiting the drainage areas of the middle Chico River in the Kalinga Province, the Kalingas are noted for their strong sense of tribal awareness and the peace pacts they have made among themselves. The speak the Kalinga and Limos languages. They practice both wet and dry rice farming and have developed an institution of peace pacts which has minimized traditional warfare and headhunting and serves as a mechanism for the initiation, maintenance, renewal and reinforcement of kinship and social ties. The Kalinga are divided into Southern and Northern groups; the latter is considered the most heavily-ornamented people of the northern Philippines.

Kalinga society is very kinship-oriented and relatives are held responsible for avenging any injury done to a member. Disputes are usually settled by the regional leaders, who listen to all sides and then impose fines on the guilty party. These are not formal council meetings, but carry a good deal of authority. A system of peace pacts called Bodong.

Kalingas are also known as Limos or Limos-Liwan Kalinga.

The Kankanaey

The Kankanaey’s domain includes Western Mountain Province, Northern Benguet, Southeastern Ilocos Sur. Like most Igorot ethnic groups, the Kankanaey built sloping terraces to maximize farm space in the rugged terrain of the Cordilleras. Kankaney’s of Western Mountain Province from the municipalities of Sagada and Besao identify themselves as part of a tribe called Applai or Aplai. Two famous institutions of the Kankanaey of Mountain Province are the dap-ay, the men’s dormitory and civic center, and the ebgan, the girls’ dormitory where courtship between young men and women took place.

The Kankanaey differ in the way they dress. The women soft-speaking Kankanaey’s dress has a color combination of black, white and red. The design of the upper attire is a criss-crossed style of black, white and red colors. The skirt or tapis is a combination of stripes of black, white and red. The women hard-speaking Kankanaey’s dress is composed of mainly red and black with a little white styles, as for the skirt or tapis which is mostly called bakget and gateng. The men wore a g-string as it is called but it is mainly known as wanes for the Kanakaney’s of Besao and Sagada. The design of the wanes as they[who?] call it may vary according to social status or municipality.

Kankanaey’s major dances include tayaw, pattong, takik, a wedding dance, and balangbang.The tayaw is a community dance that is usually done in weddings it maybe also danced by the Ibaloi but has a different style.. Pattong, also a community dance from Mountain Province which every municipality has its own style. Balangbang is the modernized word for the word Pattong. There are also some other dance that the Kankanaey’s dance like the sakkuting, pinanyuan(wedding dance)and bogi-bogi(courtship dance). Kankanaey houses are built like the other Igorot houses, which reflect their social status.

The name Kankanaey came from the language which they speak. The only difference among the Kankanaey are the way they speak like intonation and the usage of some words. In intonation, there is a hard Kankanaey or Applai and soft Kankanaey. Speakers of hard Kankanaey are from Sagada, Besao and the surrounding parts or barrios of the said two municipalities. They speak Kankanaey hard in intonation where they differ in some words from the soft-speaking Kankanaey. While the soft speaking Kankanaey comes from Northern Benguet, some parts of Benguet, and from the municipalities of Sabangan, Tadian and Bauko from Mountain Province. In words for example an Applai might say otik or beteg (pig) and the soft-speaking Kankanaey may say busaang or beteg as well. The Kankanaey may also differ in some words like egay or aga, maid or maga. They also differ in their ways of life and sometimes in culture.

The Kankanaey are identified by the language they speak and the province form where they come. Kankanaey people from Mountain Province may call the Kankanaey from Benguet as Ibenget because they come from Benguet. Likewise, the Kankanaey of Benguet may call their fellow Kankanaey from Mountain Province Ibontok.

 

Political map of the Cordillera Administrative Region
]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1312 0 “PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE TREE” Diagram, by William Henry Scott (1984) https://mandirigma.org/?p=935 https://mandirigma.org/?p=935#respond Mon, 17 Jul 2000 17:56:09 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=935 “PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE TREE”, William Henry Scott (1984)

eskrima eskrima eskrima eskrima eskrima

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=935 0