War Dance

What I am going to talk about here is not the war dance of our Igorot tribes but a documentary film I recently watched, a movie about the Acholi tribes of Northern Uganda. It’s about the lives of the people in a war zone torn by unending wars between the rebels and the Government. I wanted to watch the film to learn better documentation coz it has won several awards and was even nominated for Oscar. I learned more than just documentation here.

I was supposed to title this entry “The God Forsaken Land” but I don’t believe God would abandon those people even though that’s what some people think of them. Listening to the children’s stories would make your tears fall. In this place, common people are killed by rebels for no reason at all. They would hack them mercilessly and force their families to bury them. In some cases, body parts were just scattered and families have to locate the corpses’ heads to identify their kin. Raping of women are common stories. Old enough boys are forced to join the army of rebels. For the rebels, the more children they abduct for their army, the higher their ranks will be. These children are ordered to kill or be killed. There are about 200,000 children orphaned by the war.

But despite of this cruelty the Acholi people have kept their love for music. Playing their songs and dances can make them forget even just for a while the cruelty and make them feel as if everything is just how it used to be. In 2005, in the farthest and most vulnerable government protected school in a camp in Patongo emerged a group of Acholi orphans who aspire to present their musical talents in a National Musical and Choral competition. First time to attend such a big competition, the group traveled for two days on rugged terrains under armed escorts to the capital City of Kampala. To many of them, just going to Kampala is a big enough dream. Coming from the north, they were insulted by other competitors as people from the bush, rebels and murderers. Most of the other competitors believed the first time contestants will finish last. The inferiority feelings made it hard for them to compete.

Yet where most of the news are killings and fighting, the whole City is excited to watch what these people from the north are to present. People are keen to observe every time they’re onstage. In the end, they have exceeded everyone’s and perhaps even their own expectations. They have proven that they’re more than just children of war. They are musicians. Although they don’t have the freedom and resources like everyone else, they brought home the trophy for their country’s traditional dance called Bwola. The very first time the Acholi tribe brought home such a trophy in a National competition.

This event inspired many of them that despite of growing in a cruel environment, they can still do great things. This group did not just win for Patongo, they won for the entire Acholi tribe and the people who live like they do. Like what one of the teachers in the documentary said, the war has taken their parents, brothers, sisters and relatives and left them a lot of scars. But that’s not where their story ends; they still have the chance to become the best.

This story has also won my heart. It’s more than just an excellent documentary where I learned a lot. It’s an inspiration.

If you want to help the people of Patongo or other people like them, visit http://shineglobal.org/

Old Agricultural Calendar of the Mountain Province

The old ways of the Igorots follows an orderly tradition. In this article we’ve gone deeper into the traditions of Sadanga who still adhere closely to the old agricultural calendar.

The old agricultural cycle in the Mountain Province particularly in the Municipality of Sadanga starts and ends after the planting season called Chinamey. Tak-chang, which actually means getting out of the field, signifies that the last season of the agricultural calendar which is the rice-planting is done. After the Takchang every household will have the Ap-apoy, a thanksgiving for having hurdled the planting season, the most difficult season of farming. During the Ap-apoy, each household will sacrifice a chicken to the spirits in their respective fields to bless their plants. After the Ap-apoy comes the Gup-khupo, a family gathering in their respective homes.

After the Gup-khupo, the elders will declare a Te-er. Te-er is a rest day after or before a grueling activity, signifying a pause, an end, or indicating the significance of the season. The Bontoc term Tengao is more popular to most. This may last for either one or three days; but always, this is a rest day or non-working holiday for the whole community. One who insists in working during Te-er is not given double compensation but is dished out a penalty.

In some cases, the elders may hold the Fvegnash after the Gup-khupo, the most festive of all the Te-er. Fvegnash is like the Gup-khupo of the whole community. The community will gather together in their Ator and have a community-wide celebration and thanksgiving with lots of dancing, beating of gongs, singing and imbibing fvayash and tapuey. Back when there were no Christmas, Hero’s days and Holy weeks, Te-er was the community’s holiday

The Sherdang follows the planting season. Sherdang is the time when the fields are turning golden brown as the rice ripens and harvest is in the offing. In some cases, Fvegnash/Begnas does not happen after Takchang but during the Sherdang. This is also a reason for a thanksgiving for the awaited harvest and also a time to sacrifice to the spirits for a bountiful harvest.

Before the harvest, the community elders declare a Te-er for Kagkaat, a one-day none working holiday. Non-working, in a sense that they are not allowed to work in their fields to harvest their rice fields. However, they’re allowed to weed out their pathways in preparation of the Harvest. Kagkaat actually means to weed out.

During Te-er, elders would police around the community to inspect who went to work that day. This is called “inlapat”. If one person in the community is chanced upon working by other members, uproar of screams will ensue and the guilty party will feel the pressure of the community. The guilty will be penalized either with a boar or other agricultural products.

Next comes the harvest season or Ani. After the Ani, the rice grains are dried then kept in their granaries called Agamang. Another Te-er is declared after the harvest.

Keshep is the second cycle in the agricultural calendar. The next timetable is to cultivate the fields for other plants like camote and other vegetables. With this system, the earth is recycled for the next season of Chinamey.

In the colder days comes the Shaknit. This is the time for them to gather sugar canes and extract their juices to make fvayash, their local beverage. The fvayash will mature in time for the next Fvegnash.

After the camote and other vegetables are harvested from the fields, the soil will be prepared for another rice planting season. Another Te-er is declared. This Te-er before planting is the strictest of all. No visitors are allowed to come to the village and no villager in the community is allowed to work. Signs will be posted in all entrances of the community. Once an outsider enters, he will be penalized. After the Te-er, the next planting or the Chinamey ensues. After the Chinamey, another agricultural cycle begins.

The system help establish unity among the people in the community. At the same time, it protects them and their agriculture from pests. If one does not adhere to the system, he will not only suffer the pressure of the community but his crops will also suffer from pests. In the old belief, this is a punishment from the spirits for his uncooperativeness. But the system has a different explanation in today’s scientific studies. Field rats live in a colony. When there are enough foods they multiply. When there’s scarcity of food, their numbers would decrease.

When the plants start to bear fruit, the rats’ populations also starts to increase. However, since the vastness of the field has been planted, no matter how fast the rats multiply their presence are barely felt by the farmers. And before their number increase to become uncontrollable plague, the rice fields are already ripe for harvesting. The goods are kept in the rice barns that are inaccessible to the pests. If someone did not follow the calendar and planted earlier or later than the rest, the bulk of the pest will feast on his field during the time it is the only one yielding fruit.

Their Panyao (taboo) beliefs also helped in the system. It served as a protector when the elders are not there to watch over them.

The system has helped protect the environment for as long as their history can tell. They have developed an excellent symbiosis with nature. No one would go hungry since everyone has his own field to till and animals to raise. Their treasures are the abundance of food, land to till and animals.

This was what the conquerors saw when they arrived in these mountains, yet they branded them as ignorant. They introduce accumulation of monetary exchange as the real treasure. With their mind set changed, the people of the mountains began to abuse their lands to produce more. Their important inheritances found their ways in the halls of the affluent as decorations. They would try different systems like fast growing seedlings so that they could convert more rice to the much coveted symbol of wealth. The use of chemical fertilizers was introduced and it slowly affected the land. In many places, rice can no longer grow without the use of these chemicals. The old agricultural cycle has changed in many places. Some have abandoned their fields to find a better way to earn. Farm workers decreases while other ventures increases. With less farmers, shortages of food is in the offing. Such is just one prize of the introduction of the so-called civilization.

But many places like Sadanga still adhere closely to the old system and they are proven to be effective agricultural practice that will still work in the centuries to come. These places may not have enough money in the banks but they will never run out of daily necessities for their main treasures are still the same, farmlands.