Overview
The lecture discusses Dr. Alicia Marquez’s ethnographic research on the Panay Bukidnon people, focusing on their origins, traditional lifestyle, epic chanting, and efforts to preserve and promote their cultural heritage.
Ethnographic Expeditions in Panay
- Dr. Alicia Marquez explored Panay’s central mountains with NCIP and later with her own research team from UP Visayas.
- Expeditions aimed to document Panay Bukidnon communities, their traditions, and especially their epic chanting practices.
- She confirmed that mountain residents in Panay are descendants of coastal dwellers who migrated inland after colonization.
Panay Bukidnon Community Life
- Panay Bukidnon houses are typically one-room, elevated bamboo structures with essential tools for rice pounding and cooking.
- Major livelihoods include rice farming, root crop cultivation, charcoal making, bamboo/rattan weaving, and hunting/trapping wild animals.
- Bukidnon use many traditional tools and traps, displaying deep knowledge of their environment.
Food Gathering & Farming
- Food sources include rice, root crops, coffee, hunting, fishing, and gathering from forests and rivers.
- Traditional fishing uses handmade traps and techniques adapted to rivers and streams.
Beliefs, Rituals, and Social Life
- Respect for spirits in nature is strong, alongside exposure to Western influences.
- After work, elders chant sugidanon (epics) that teach values, history, and Bukidnon worldview.
- Traditional rituals and ceremonies remain central to cultural identity.
Epic Chanting (Sugidanon) and Cultural Transmission
- Epics are performed primarily by women (binukot), who are often secluded from a young age and pledged for marriage.
- Epic stories include romance, adventure, conflict, and lessons on social structure, morality, and history.
- Federico Caballero, a master chanter, was awarded National Living Treasure (Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan) in 2004.
Cultural Preservation Efforts
- School of Living Traditions (SLT) established to teach epic chanting, dance, music, and crafts to children.
- Epic texts have been archived, digitized, and translated for broader dissemination and preservation.
- Ongoing research and cultural promotion encouraged to keep traditions alive.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Panay Bukidnon — Indigenous community in the mountains of Panay, Philippines.
- Binukot — Secluded maiden, often an epic chanter, valued for cultural knowledge.
- Sugidanon — Oral epics chanted by elders, recounting myths and legends.
- School of Living Traditions (SLT) — Community initiative where elders teach traditional arts and skills.
- Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) — National award for exemplary traditional artists in the Philippines.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Continue research and documentation of Panay Bukidnon epics and traditions.
- Support publication and dissemination of translated epic texts.
- Encourage cultural education and transmission through community programs like SLTs.