Project Katutubong Pilipino

Showcasing the beauty and depth of Philippine indigenous cultures and highlighting the many environmental and social issues these groups are currently facing.

Share This Post:
Every weekend many of the Bangon Mangyans harvest their excess produce and transport it to the lowlands to be sold. Many of the crops come from far up in the mountains, so floating everything down the river is the best way to transport it. Large tire tubes are used to float bananas and other produce down the river to be sold in the lowlands. Everything from ginger, bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, ube, and even charcoal come into town to be sold. Everyone helps transport goods into town, including children. Many Mangyan do not get a fair price for their goods, but are typically forced to sell them anyway. Tribe members will acquire small amounts of debt during the week from lowlanders when they buy rice or other products from their stores in town. Because they have this debt they are obligated to sell their products at a very low price. (Oriental Mindoro, Philippines)
Two Agta men catch an octopus on the northeast coast of Isabela. The men use a metal spear to pierce the octopus hiding in the rock and takes the two of them to pull it out. Agta are traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers living in small temporary camps widely-scattered over several thousand square kilometers of dense rainforest in the Sierra Madre of eastern Luzon. (Isabela, Philippines)
HanunÛío script is one of three indigenous scripts that is still being used today in the Philippines. The other two are the Buhid script (another Mangyan group) and the Tagbanua script in Palawan. This syllabic writing system, called Surat Mangyan is pre-Spanish and considered to be of Indic origin. Traditionally, the HanunÛío script was carved into fresh bamboo because paper was not readily available even 50 years ago. The HanunÛío script was occasionally used to communicate between communities and individuals, however, the main use of the script is to write love letters or love poetry called ambahan. The script has been well preserved, but those who know how to write it from memory may soon be gone. The script is written from left to right, but is rotated 90-degrees counterclockwise when read. (Oriental Mindoro, Philippines)
Nager, a Badjao fisherman, preparing to dive from his boat while his son waits onboard. Spearfishing in these waters takes a lot of time and concentration. Many of the larger fish have already been over-fished by more destructive means and it can take hours of effort to find small sized fish. Badjaos are noted for their exceptional abilities in free-diving, with physical adaptations that enable them to see better and dive longer underwater. Divers work long days with the ìgreatest daily apnea diving time reported in humansî of greater than 5 hours per day submerged. Some Badjaos intentionally rupture their eardrums at an early age in order to facilitate diving and hunting at sea. Many older Badjaos are therefore hard of hearing. (Davao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines)
A Mangyan mother carrying her children across a small river in Mindoro. In the Bangon Mangyan culture, if a married man wants to leave his wife for another woman he simply has to pay his current wife a set amount of money. The man and woman will agree on a price, which isnít generally too much, and then the man can leave. It is a fairly common practice and many men in this community had two or three previous wives. Many children end up having a number of step brothers and sisters. (Oriental Mindoro, Philippines)
A tattooed Kalinga woman from the village of Buscalan. Tattoos in this region are used as a form of beautification and identity. Tattooing in the Cordilleras is a thousand year old ancient art once commonly practiced among the major warrior groups in the region. Men traditionally got tattooed as a rite of being a warrior or taking a head which was fairly common place up until the time of WWII. Today, it is difficult to find men who still have tattoos especially among the younger generation. One of the primary reasons for this is the belief that male tattoos should be hard-earned by revered warriors, which has mostly stopped since the demise of headhunting. Women on the other hand would get tattoos to beautify themselves, signify acceptance, and show the different stages of their life. Body tattoos on women served as permanent upper garment and each design has different interpretations and meanings. (Kalinga, Cordilleras, Philippines)
Two Aeta men cross a flooding river in Zambales with their carabao (water buffalo) carts. Carabao carts are the primary way goods are transported between indigenous Aeta villages and lowland communities in Zambales. During the rainy season river levels can raise very fast leaving Aeta villagers stranded for days due to the dangerous water levels. (Zambales, Philippines)
A source of income within this Manobo community is the live capture of forest birds. These birds are eventually sold to Visayan lowlanders who will likely display it in their homes. The men use a sticky resin on a wooden pole and allure birds in with camote roots. When the birds land on the sticky resin they are caught. A bird of this size is sold for roughly 100-200 pesos. Manobos and other Lumad groups have been sustainably utilizing their forest resources for thousands of years. Indigenous peoples are often faced with immense outside pressure or threats to exploit their natural resources, especially in areas of Mindanao. Individuals or companies will lie or make threats to tribal Datus to obtain signatures to log their forests. Likewise, many groups are being displaced from their ancestral lands which are being militarized in order to pave the way for development projects imposed on their communities. Murders are common against those leaders or advocates who speak out about the exploitation. (Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines)
Every year in the Cordillera mountains of Luzon a ritual is held to celebrate the end of the rice harvest season. Over a two day period, three barangays gather to give thanks and blessings of post harvest with the celebration culminating in a ìpunnukî (tug-of-war) which is held in a river flowing through the heritage rice terraces. Throughout the two day period all processes are performed by a ìritual specialist,î a person ordained specifically to administer the various blessings required. The first day known as ìhuwahî proceeds at the house of a prominent elder who will receive other respected members of the community and guests to partake in the drinking of a rice wine especially fermented for this event (the rice harvest blessing). Before and during the opening of the wine the ritual specialist will conduct a blessing which takes the form of verbal chanting. The blessing involves five areas of tribal spiritual beliefs that need to be satisfied for the post harvest. The following day the punnuk takes place in the river ñ as a means of cleansing the soul and spirit with organic figurines being offered to the river as a means of thanksgiving. The event is a time for the whole community to come together in unity to celebrate. Three barangays challenge each other in the tug-of-war ritual with men, women & children partaking. Instead of rope two long sturdy branches known as a ìpakidî are interlocked & bound together. (Ifugao, Philippines)
Much of the culture and life in the Cordilleras revolves around rice. From planting to harvest, each period represents a time that is honored and sacred in its own way. Rice is the staple crop for most of the indigenous groups in this region and they have built some of the biggest and most advanced rice terraces in the world. These terraces represent an ancient and sustainable system for communal rice production. To this day many of the tribes still practice thanksgiving rituals before planting and at harvest time. The Begnas ritual for the Kankanaey and the Bumayah for the Ifugao people are two examples of this. (Kalinga, Cordilleras, Philippines)
Agta children playing a game of basketball on the side of their home. Popular Filipino sports have been adopted by many indigenous groups, basketball being the most significant. In rural villages, children games such as holen (marbles), shatong (stick flinging) and sungkit-goma (rubber bands) are also commonly played. (Isabela, Philippines)
A young Sama-Bajau bride on her wedding day. Henna tattoos are placed on both the bride and grooms hands to signify their bond together. The tattoo design is created by the couple. It is customary for the Sama-Bajau to marry off young women when they come of age. (Tawi-Tawi, Philippines)
Two Ibanag boys using a bamboo raft on the Pinacanauan River, a tributary of the Cagayan River. The Ibanags are an ethnolinguistic minority numbering a little more than half a million people, who inhabit the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya. They are one of the largest ethnolinguistic minorities in the Philippines and speak the same language under the same name. Ibanag is also known as ìYbanagî and ìYbanakî or ìIbanakî and is derived from the Cagayan Riverís ancient name, Bannag. (Cagayan, Philippines)
A Tagbanua man cooks dinner in his home over an open fire on Coron Island. Many of the Tagbanua homes on Coron Island are built using native materials against the limestone cliffs or on the beach. Cooking over an open fire is the most common, and usually the only way to prepare food in most villages. Even in more urban areas where gas stoves can be used, open fire cooking is the preferred method. Gathering firewood is usually a daily chore done by all members of a family. (Palawan, Coron, Philippines)
An Agta father taking time to look after his child while waiting for the rain to clear. Typically, there are very defined roles for men and women within the many indigenous groups throughout the archipelago. Women tend to be the caretakers of their young children while men are often the ones making a living or gathering food for the family. (Isabela, Philippines)
Sama-Bajau women apply a natural paste on their faces which they call burak. The paste is made from pounded rice, turmeric and other ingredients to beautify their faces and act as a natural sunblock. Burak is applied to the face as a wet paste. It eventually dries creating a white or yellowish coating. Generally, within Sama-Bajau communities, it is only women who apply this to their skin. (Tawi-Tawi, Philippines)
The Philippines is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire that contains much of the worldís copper and gold resources and Compostela Valley is often dubbed the ëgold mining capital of the Philippinesí. Aside from mining companies, small-scale gold mining has emerged as an increasingly important livelihood for people throughout Compostela Valley, including the Manasaka and other indigenous groups. Along with these mining practices come a number of environmental and social issues within the tribe. (Compostela Valley, Mindanao, Philippines)
Rolando Caballero helps guide his blind wife, Pricilla Caballero, who was the last known Binukot of the Panay Bukidnon Tribe in central Panay. From the time she was a young child until her wedding day, Pricilla Caballero was kept from the public eye, secluded to her home and rarely exposed to the sun. On her wedding day she saw her husband for the first time whose family paid a large dowry of cash and one water buffalo for the honor of their son to marry her. Traditionally, the Binukot is isolated by her parents from the rest of the household at 3 or 4 years of age. She is not exposed to the sun, not allowed to work, and is even accompanied by her parents when she takes a bath. This results in a fair, frail, fine-complexioned and long-haired woman. As she stays at home most of the time, her parents and grandparents entertain her with various oral lores and traditional dances. This makes the Binukot excellent epic chanters and repositories of their history. Tradition persists that the Binukot must not be seen by any man from childhood until puberty. Only the family members and the female servants may come face to face with her. In order to keep her away from mens eyes, as well as shield her from the sun, she bathes in the river in the evening. A makeshift enclosure may also be made for her in the river for this purpose. No man actually would dare to look at a Binukot as there was a threat of punishment by death to anyone who would violate her by looking. Today, the practice no longer happens. Pricilla Caballero passed away in 2017.
Ati children preparing for their first holy communion on Boracay Island. This only remaining Ati community on Boracay is under the care of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. Many of the Ati in this community have now adapted Catholicism. The whole of Boracay island was once originally home to the Ati people long before the Spanish arrived centuries ago. After the tourism boom started in the 1970ís the Atis have been slowly pushed aside and today only occupy 2.1 hectares of the islands total 1,032 hectares. (Boracay Island, Aklan, Philippines)
Landrey, a native Tagbanua, spearfishing on Coron Island. In 1998, the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) was awarded to the Tagbanwa of Coron Island, comprising over more than 22,000 hectares of land and sea. It gives the Tagbanua the right to manage the area and preserve its rich marine and land resources which have sustained them for centuries. However, a number of outsiders still fish within the Tagbanua territory. The Tagbanua people are descendents of some of the oldest people in the Philippines likely coming from Borneo and historically had strong relations with Brunei. Today there are various subgroups of the Tagbanua throughout the province of Palawan. In Coron, the Tagbanua are distinct from the Tagbanua on mainland Palawan, not only in their language spoken but also their general way of life. The Calamian Tagbanua (those living on Coron Island and on mainland Coron/Busuanga and surrounding islands) have adopted a sea oriented way of life, living off of the ocean and its resources. (Coron, Palawan, Philippines)

Jacob Maentz

Jacob Maentz (b. 1979) is an American travel and documentary photographer currently based in Cebu City, Philippines. His passion lie…

Topics
Environment Social Justice Traditional Culture
Sub Topics
Environmental Degradation First Nations Habitat Destruction
Regions
Philippines
Philippine indigenous cultures

About Project Katutubong Pilipino

Project Katutubong Pilipino is a long-term documentary project with the aim of showcasing the beauty and depth of Philippine indigenous cultures and highlighting the many environmental and social issues these groups are currently facing.

With 110 recognized indigenous groups in the Philippines there is a depth of cultures that makes this island nation extremely rich in human history, traditions, language, knowledge and ethnicity. These diverse groups of people populated and spread throughout the archipelago over a span of 30,000 years creating thriving societies and distinct lifestyles. Troughout time and despite centuries of colonization and western influence, many of these indigenous groups managed to hold onto their culture and ways of life, often through very turmoil conditions. Today, modernization is moving at an extremely fast pace, both socially and economically, which is accelerating change and influencing significantly the remaining indigenous groups of the archipelago. Change is inevitable but its been happening without the conscious understanding of what is being lost and in most cases comes from external pressure, not from within the communities themselves. Because of this, Filipino indigenous groups are facing numerous social and land rights issues, and in general are being highly marginalized and neglected by society.