FINAL REQUIREMENT IN IFUGAO INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

I. Introduction

Culture, being a shared beliefs and values of a group of people, is very significant to the
existence of an individual. Members who share the same must be knowledgeable of at least the
DOs and DONTs in order not to upset and disappoint others. One must also strive hard to
preserve what is worth preserving specially that the younger generation seems to care less about
what and who really they are. The documentation of some traditional beliefs and practices would
somehow help in the preservation of culture. However, how many of us are willing to walk extra
miles in order to document practices which are thriving at the moment but might die in a few
years? Do the people whom we put in authority try to lift fingers to prevent the adulteration of
our culture?

In this paper, it presents some cultural views of two elders from Burnay, Lagawe Ifugao,
one local government unit representative from Lamut, Ifugao and my own. The things to be
presented will only represent observations or perceptions of a very limited group of people and
not the entire population of the Ifugao people.

II. Interview with the Elders

The first elder whom I interviewed is Appuh Rosa Mamao Puddunan. Accordingly, she
was born on November 27, 1927. Since her parents do not actually know her real birthday, then it
was just a rough calculation based on some events which took place prior to her birth. She is
currently residing in Kunakun, Burnay, Lagawe, Ifugao.

When I asked her to tell me something about the way of life during her younger years,
she started talking about her childhood. She recounted that when she was a child, life was very
simple. The foods they ate everyday were “lapne” (sweetpotato) and some shellfish or mollusk
like “battikul” and “Ginga”. They also consumed organic vegetables which usually grow on the
rice paddies like “kunche”. Plates and spoons then were made out of woods and coconut shell.
Every after using those, they did not practice washing of dishes but rather they just used the
“ulut” or bundled rice stalks to sweep the surface of the plates. She also added that long ago,
when they took a bath, they used the ash of the burned “ulut” called “tayuyu” as their shampoo
because there were no available shampoos or soaps like the ones we have now. At other times,
they squeezed the papaya leaves and used its sap as their soap for washing their very limited
number of clothes. Their clothes named “lai” were made out of tree barks which were pounded,
dried and woven hence very rough. The process of making one is lengthy and difficult and that
explains why they have only one or two wrap around skirts and no blouses or shirts to cover the
upper part of the body. Finally, she recalled her engagement and she said that during her “tokop”,
the small pig was butchered in the house of her groom and only the body parts together with
some “moma, hapid and apul” were put in the “hukup”, a rattan woven container. The hukup
then was brought to her home by a trusted elder but along the way, some parts of the pig meat
were distributed to relatives. Her groom did not go to her house during the tokop until some
further rituals, like “kinnaiw and mangnong”, were finished.

Her experiences then are totally different with the way of life nowadays. Life seems
easier today. She said children these days do not like anymore eating sweet potato every day and
they don’t even like eating vegetables because they have more choices of foods unlike then.
Children now are picky or selective during meals. Some even play with foods because they do
not know the value of it. Plates, which are of various sizes and forms, are now being washed
with different dishwashers yet many of us are still getting sick every now and then. It is
sometimes ironic that the more we stay clean of almost everything, the more that we are prone to
sickness. As to the tokop, there is indeed a big difference. Nowadays, she witnessed that during
the tokop, the groom together with his family may go to the house of the bride and join the feast
which is like a simplified wedding due to the preparation of many foods like pancit, adobo and
desserts. The practice of kinnaiw and mangnong are no longer performed and the groom and
bride may stay together even before or right after the tokop.

One of the traditional practices that she wanted to revive is the “chang-a” which she
believed promotes strong sense of camaraderie not only among relatives but even among the
members of the community. She said that these days, even relatives do not help each other
anymore. They tend to prefer helping somebody who could offer them money. Another is the
high regard for women. She claimed that during the olden times, women were respected that
much because of the belief that without women there are also no men. In the event that men were
fighting, they stopped when a woman arrived. During fights, men did not hurt women or
children. However, these days many women and children were beaten or even killed. The respect
accorded to women seemed to vanish and Appuh Rosa or Lota only wish that high regard for
women will be revived.

Another person whom I interviewed is Herminia Dopiawon Puddunan. She was born on
August 30, 1947 making her 71 years old this coming month. She lives in Dayyuhan, Burnay,
Lagawe, Ifugao. She used to be a catechist in the barangay then later on became a Barangay
Nutritionist for 28 years. She was also a Supplemental Volunteer Worker for the DSWD feeding
program.

She started her story by telling how strong she was physically. She used to carry sweet
potatoes and she even worked in an open pit mining in Alimit, Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya. At home
in Burnay, people used to fetch water from a single source. Appuh Hermin together with other
kids used “aluwog” which is a bamboo made container to bring home water. She also said that
she used to have a nice pair of clothing given by the nuns. She wore those at school and right
after school, she changed it with an old pair which is “nalkonalkoban” or full of patches.

There are massive changes which she enumerated but I will just name a few. First, it has
something to do with work. People used to work manually using both hands and feet in dealing
with the farm. They used their hands and feet during “lamun, gaud and kaw-i”. Today, many
people are already using machineries at the field. The introduction of machineries helps the
farmer to have an easier and faster way of farming wherein they can have more products to
consume and sell at the market. Secondly, she recalled how difficult to travel long ago. People
have to walk by foot from Burnay to Lagawe and to other nearby places. She mentioned that it
was only during the 1970s when the first jeep was introduced by the Cambay’s family. The name
of that jeep was Baby Carol. At present, there are already numerous modes of transportation and
moving from Burnay to Lagawe will only take few minutes. Lastly, the cropping system or style.
Planting rice was seasonal. People plant rice only once a year and “Nikiwang” which is similar
to “tinawon” was popular then. Recently, there are already various variety of rice which are not
seasonal. Some are even possible to be harvested after three months. Hence, the production of
rice is much easier and faster at present.

As to the practices that she wanted to revive, she mentioned the chanting of hudhud
during harvest and wake and also the traditional ways of settling disputes. For her, chanting
hudhud during an event is much better than what is being practice now. It is used to kill time
rather than talking about other people’s lives. During wake, it is also preferred rather than
gambling which sometimes lead to misunderstanding and worst, fight or brawl. The traditional
ways of settling disputes are worth reviving also according to her. She said that the amicable
settlement is faster than the justice system we have now. It is also cheaper and once executed
properly, it prevents long lasting conflicts and misunderstanding.

As she grows gray hairs, she noticed that only the elders in the barrio are practicing the
belief of the “paniyo” and the “baddang or chang-a”. The paniyo is worth preserving for it helps
in maintaining a harmonious relationship among people especially the members of a family. She
said, during their time, it is paniyo to say bad words, to fight with parents, to sleep with relatives
of the opposite sex and even to fart in front of male siblings. They have so many paniyo things
and these restrict the movements of children unlike these days that the younger generation lacks
discipline and proper decorum. Nowadays, children just utter bad words whenever they wanted
and they just rant at anybody else regardless of age and gender. Children just shout at their
parents, older siblings or anybody else who would try to scold them. For the baddang or chang-a,
it is only practiced by selected groups of people mostly residing in far flung areas. She observed
that children of this generation always ask for payment in exchange of anything they do. She said
the practice should be preserved because it helps a lot of people. The feeling of “homok” or pity
will ignite the voluntarism of others to help those in need.

III. Interview with the Representative of the LGUs

Interviewing any representative of the Local Government Unit is a challenging task for
me because of the nature of my job wherein I have to be at school five days a week from early
morning until five in the afternoon. However, I devised a way wherein I can get one
representative to interview and Facebook messenger is very helpful in this matter. There are at
least six people whom I tried to interview but one said he is very busy at the moment while other
two said they have limited knowledge about some ordinances or programs on cultural and natural
heritage preservation. Luckily, the others were willing to share some insights about the said
topic.

Maribel M. Bu-ucan, a BNS of Poblacion East shared her observation on how the LGU
of Lamut tried to preserve Ifugao culture. She said that some programs of the local government
include competition of Ifugao dances during the town fiesta. The said competitions showcase our
different dances together with the beating of the gongs and the wearing of the different Ifugao
native attires. This is another way of preserving the Ifugao practices since it is done during an
event where there are many spectators including local tourist who are not knowledgeable of our
own culture. This practice could also impart knowledge to the younger generation who seemed to
forget their own culture. Her claim is supported by Honorable Linda Belingon of Barangay
Umilag, Lamut, Ifugao. She claimed that during town fiesta particularly the Barangay Night,
contested activities on the different kinds of native dances were portrayed by the different
barangays. In addition, cultural games like “akkad, hanggul, hinukting” and other games were
also played. The players were required to wear native attires while playing. These are some of
the programs of the Lamut LGU in promoting and preserving our Ifugao culture.

When I asked our very own Mayor Atty. Mariano Buyagawan, also known as Dee Jay-m,
about some ordinances on the sustenance of cultural and natural heritage, he said there is a
provincial ordinance which prohibits the dancing of the Ifugao Native dances using any music
just like the songs of Yoyoy Villame entitled “Magellan” and “Geography” and other songs. The
Ifugao dances should be performed with the beating of the gongs. As to municipal programs, he
said the development of our tourism village is one way to sustain our cultural and natural
heritage. In the said village, one could see some native houses built within the area. Last April 9,
2018, it is there at the tourism village where some cultural activities were held or performed like
the indigenous peoples’ parade, programs and games. These activities somehow promote or
sustain our cultural heritage.

IV. The Teacher’s Strategies

As a teacher in a Senior High School where the students are from different groups like
Ilocano, Tuwali, Ayangan and even Kalanguya, preservation and conservation of indigenous
knowledge is a challenge. Not only are our students composed of a mixture of culture but also
their parents. It is therefore necessary for us to have a little of everything or a taste of all their
culture in order not to offend or upset them.

In the classroom setting and during regular classes, we can integrate the preservation and
conservation of indigenous knowledge in our own subjects. However, we can have some other
activities outside the four walls of the classroom. Hence, I and my fellow advisers of the club
Historical and Cultural Society, planned to have cultural awareness and cultural preservation as
part of our action plan. For the cultural awareness, information dissemination is necessary. We
planned to invite reliable source speakers coming from the different groups to talk about their
specific culture. The elders from the community may take part in the said activity. They may be
the resource speakers who would be sharing their thoughts about indigenous knowledge. We
could do it also as a culminating activity for their subject Understanding Culture.

In order to achieve our goal on the preservation of indigenous knowledge, one of our
activities is the teaching of students who are willing to learn how to beat the gongs. We will be
inviting gong beaters from the community who are knowledgeable of the different Ifugao dances
and they will be the one to teach the students the proper beating for each dance and the proper
dance movements. Moreover, we will also start collecting artifacts for a school-based mini
museum. The parents who would like to donate artifacts will be acknowledge as donors and their
names will be engraved or written in the item they donated. To further the realization of the said
activity, we agreed that we will solicit funds to furnish a room which will serve as a mini
museum where we could place collected items for viewing, safekeeping and for future
references.