Filiology

On National Indigenous People's Day, we returned from a long overdue, in person, visit to Kalinga.

This is the Awichon Cultural Village, where National Living Treasure, Alfonso Saclag, created a replica village of pre-colonial Kalinga architecture. There are no nails used, just joinery. Propped up on stilts, it keeps pests away as one sleeps and acts as security from outsiders. Cool in the daytime, warmer at night when the mountain air is a bit more crisp. It overlooks spectacular views of the forest and rice terraces, reminding one about how Kabunyian provides all that is needed. It's been almost 4 years since we have been back here, and reconnecting to elders after all this time has given us a chance to deeply reflect what this work means to us.

It isn't just about selling arts and crafts. It's culture... identity. To wear our roots with pride is a reminder of the wisdom of our ancestors. If we don't know who we are, how do we speak up in a time when we are needed? We are at a critical time when indigenous wisdom is needed to bridge the gap between nature and humanity. We've forgotten that what we do to nature, we do to ourselves. This is what our takeaway was as we reconnected with our elders. We hope that you also take the time to reconnect to your elders.

Today is

In this photo is a Mangyan community that has integrated traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) & methods with mainstream education by including their elders as co-teachers. This provides their youth with that allows them to stay rooted in their identity while building their capacity to work in mainstream careers.

Did you know that maintaining cultural identity is key to lessening the vulnerability of a tribe to injustices? It is also a key aspect in long-term ecosystem conservation.

What tribe are you from? And what are the most valuable lessons you have learned from your elders?

starts today. Let's start this month asking about the heritage of our elders.

One thing that's beautiful, but complex about being Filipino is realizing that being Filipino is a mixture of indigenous and settlers/colonizer/migrant blood. We have approximately 25% Indigenous population, but the rest have traces of Indigenous lines only our lolos/lolas may know about.

In this picture is Urduha. One of our lolas, who was wonderfully salty in her ways, was from her region: Pangasinan. Pang-ASIN-an refers to the people of the salt (asin). Urduha was famous for her skills in battle and it is said that she proclaimed she would only marry a man who could beat her in battle.

What's your grandparents stories? Share them here.

Image from SurvivalArts.org, painted by artist Macabuhay.

Find out more about Urduha here: https://survivalarts.org/articles/urduha

Honoring badass Filipina heroes of the Philippines.

"One of several female guerrilla leaders during World War II, Captain Nieves Fernandez—who also happened to be a schoolteacher in her native Tacloban, Leyte—commanded a group of Filipino guerrillas against occupying Japanese forces during the war.

Using mostly crude weapons such as homemade shotguns (“paltiks”) and whatever else they could pilfer from the enemy, Nieves and her group made life hell for the Japanese, killing 200 of them during the resistance. It got so bad for the Japanese that they had to put a 10,000-peso bounty on her head." - From https://filipiknow.net/greatest-filipina-heroines/

🇵🇭

14 Amazing Filipina Heroines You Don’t Know But Should | FilipiKnow Ask anyone on the street who our heroes are; chances are the answers would often be Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini, etc. While they are indeed deserving…

It's been awhile, but we haven't stopped sharing our beautiful culture with the world.

We've reached Italy! Say hello to some friends we've made here. They're leaving to go home to Israel soon and we wanted to give them a little token of our handmade weaving & beading tradition from Kalinga.

Thank you for the selfie, girls!

Tag us and show us where you wear YOUR weaves!

Indigenous Filipinos are OUR people, OUR ancestors, OUR heritage. To protect them is to protect OUR collective history, culture, identity, and OUR precious ancestral lands that are the life force of the environment amidst climate change.

What are your thoughts on being allies to the indigenous communities in your country?

***

Reposted from Scoutmagph The recent Bukidnon shooting—which took place during a sortie of presidential candidate Ka Leody de Guzman—is a jarring addition to a long history of threats against Indigenous people defending their lands.

📸: Inquirer
🎨: .jooz

Soldiers allegedly did nothing in the Bukidnon shooting. Who’s protecting Indigenous people? - SCOUT The shooting, which took place during a Ka Leody sortie, is a jarring addition to a long history of threats against Indigenous people defending their lands

As you might have read before, we're taking a short break from active operations to streamline and rerarrange some aspects of the business. Rest assured we will be back to better serve you and our partner communities.

We'll pop in once a week with a throwback from the past few years, some shared stories from our experiences on the road, and useful information about the Philippines, our heritage, and our culture.

Please hit the notify button on our IG account so we can let you know if we've shared something new.

Don't be a stranger!
Kita-kits.

Did you know about these local fruits? Which ones are your favorites?