WHAT IS IT IN OUR CULTURE THAT WE WANT TO PASS ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION?

1. WHAT IS IT IN OUR CULTURE THAT WE WANT TO PASS ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION? 1

2. AGENDAWHAT IS CULTURE ANYWAY?THE CULTURE MODELTHE CULTURE OF OUR ANCESTORSCONCEPT & APPLICABILITY to Present GenerationWHAT MUST WE PASS ON? 2

3. What is Culture, Anyway? “Culture” in the Anthropological sense is defined in the following statements: 1. “ Culture refers to the entire way a group of people lives and is organized. A set of rules, standards, or mannersshared within a human group that describes a range of behaviors and beliefs that are proper, acceptable, and valid. These rules promote the survival of the group. These rules govern all aspects of behavior within the human group and provide for repercussions when the rules are violated. These rules also govern relationships to other human groups and the environment. These rules aren’t necessarily written down. They are, in fact handed down from generation to generation through tradition.” 3

4. What is Culture, Anyway? • Examples of Cultural Rules & Traits: • What must a person do when a member of a family dies? • The proper use of clothing • Who must lead a peace pact and what must this leader do? • What must a woman do when she delivers a baby? • How do we name a child? • Marriage customs • Myths, legends and histories • The Appropriate thing to say or eat at certain times 2.“ No culture stays the same. Every culture is constantly changing. The change either comes from inside the culture or from outside the culture through acculturation”. 4

5. The Culture Model • The Culture of a people may be grouped into • 4 MAJOR COMPONENTS : (What disguishes one culture from another) • Beliefs- ideas, customs, values, norms, traditions • Social Institutions - family, religion, education, government, economics • Humanities - attitudes, music & art, language, recreation • Technology - Methods, Tools, Machinery, Skills 5

6. The Culture of Our Ancestors Belief in supernatural powers/spirits. See narrative on Childhood experiences with a men sip-ok. • Beliefs • Ideas • Values • Morals • Customs • Traditions Respect for the elders. See narrative on Childhood experience with elders. According to Bishop Claver, the deepest part of a culture is its valuesbecause these, he says, make up one's identity, ''not dress, not dance, and not even language.'’ To Bishop Claver, the old Igorot ways of honest and open dealings with one another in their social, economic and political life are worth looking into” - & is in fact, worth passing on to the younger generation. Tayan - a common piece of land for members of a clan to cultivate. The concept is so that none in the clan will go hungry. Tayan is not for sale. See narrative for Childhood experience here.) Marriages, feasts; deaths, offerings Peace Pacts Naming conventions - children named after a relative because parents want child to inherit good traits of the relative; named after physical attributes of the child, etc. (Fowangan - aw-ai niyanak ay chak-chakowag nan puto na!) 6

7. The Culture of Our Ancestors (cont’d) The Igorot family has always been patriarchal and fiercely protective in nature. Social Institutions • Family • Religion • Education • Government • Economics Considered ritualistic pagans. Schooled on their own “rules of survival”. Ruled by the elders of the ‘ili’. Exist and live by taking only what they need from day to day. There are merits to these institutional traits - solidarity, discipline, loyalty, organized decision making process, and non-wastefulness. 7

8. The Culture of Our Ancestors (cont’d) TATTOOS - In the early years, young men and women in the Cordillera were usually tattooed by an elder who occupied a high position in the community. The men who returned from war with their enemy's head, however, were allowed to get their tattoos by a maingal (warrior). The women would mostly get their tattoos at a young age to make them more attractive, while the men saw tattoos as a mark of manhood. Humanities • Attitudes • Music & Art • Language • Recreation BAG-BAG-TO - a recreation - the bigger your wound, the more your harvest. Language of the Igorot is very descriptive of where the tribe comes from - hence, the Bontocs are known to be rough and direct; Kalingas, rather bold-shy; Ifugaos, pilosopos; Benguets, shy mango; and Apayaons, malumay. 8

9. The Culture of Our Ancestors (cont’d) Music & Art Songs, dances, chants - for different occasions definitely follow certain rules. 9

10. There are different dances for different occasions. Each dance has a story and a message. 10 The art of beating gongs requires spiritualty and a skilled sense of harmony and coordination. Beating the gongs while dancing at the same time, is a skill that only comes with enculturation and acculturation.It does not happen overnight. For some, it’s a spiritual experience.

11. Igorot dances are better appreciated when performed in the native attire. The designs on the tapis and wanes also tell a story and reflect the beliefs, myths, and legends of a culture. 11

12. The Culture of Our Ancestors (cont’d) Rice terraces technology. Technology • Methods • Tools • Machinery • Skills Crop rotation 9

13. “Planting rice is never fun, bent from morn till the set of sun” - to the Igorots, it is a family activity, it has its time, it has its season, it is an art that requires extreme coordination with Mother Nature. 13

14. Rice Processing Rice processing is such a painstaking activity that our people have learned to process just enough as needed. Con- sequently, it’s fresher and more nutritious. There is little waste. It’s a process that provides a time to chat. It requires‘Gag-get’, time, patience. 14

15. TECHNOLOGY Cont’d Pottery. Basket weaving. Wood carving - agar-aramid ti tao ken dad-duma pai. “Inasin” (Ham) meat salting preservation methods Rice Wine making. Jewelry - ahling, beads, etc. 15

16. TECHNOLOGY Cont’d Weaving - a family creativity resulting in a material that reflects the symbols, story and thoughts of a people. It does not happen overnight. It requires concentration, patience, and knowledge of the culture. 16

17. SO WHAT IS IT THAT WE WANT TO PASS ON? Can’t wear tapis to work or the wanes in NY city streets. Can’t afford to feed the whole town at your wedding Can’t butcher as many pigs in your house during death Don’t have the time to plant, pound, winnow rice for food. Are the dances and songs all that’s left? 17

18. VALUES learned from customs & traditions We must continue to hold our children close to us and teach them the values of close knit families from childhood. 18

19. We must teach the Symbolic meaning of our woven fabric designs “There is a time, and a season under the heavens” - and when we do wear our native attire, we wear it with pride and a degree of solemnity because we know what went into its creation.” 19

20. Every culture trait of the four aspects of the Igorot culture from beliefs, to institutional make-up, to humanities and to technology have the following basic values common to them: Concept of strength, patience, ingenuity in Technology one-ness with nature Respect for the elderly, rules & the memory of a relative who moves on to the “other world”. Sharing with the community in times of joy, as well as sadness. Simple living - taking only that which you need and ensuring enough for others. Cultivation of strong family ties. This is our people’s story- make it yours?. 20