Ethnic Borderlands
A lowland-highland divide
Higaunons are but one of the many indigenous groups of Mindanao. Land scarcity has pushed settlers squarely into what was left of the Higaunon homeworld, creating a cultural borderland. To settlers, this forested expanse is truly the frontier of civilization, 'far away' from the real world. To Higaunons, of course, this is the centre of the known universe, and all other places appear vague and unreal. Since World War II, Higaunons have been rapidly re-orientating their worldview. Along with the increasing presence of settlers has come the acceptance that they form but a minute part of a larger nation. Lately, so too has the notion that they live in the hinterland, that this is 'far away' from the places and things that really matter, and that they are primitive and backward.
* By OONA THOMMES PAREDES
In Southeast Asia, local political history tends to revolve around an ethnicized 'upland-lowland' axis. As in the rest of this region, 'lowlanders' are the dominant group in the Philippines politically, economically, numerically, and socially. This is significant because, since World War II, Mindanao has been inundated with lowland settlers from more northerly islands, particularly the Visayas. Ultimately, this migration has pushed Higaunons into marginal interior mountain areas, to which they owe their current 'uplander' status. (They are also referred to as bukidnon or tagabukid, Visayan terms for 'mountain dweller.' In contrast, Higaunons call lowland settlers dumagat or 'ocean-side' people.) Because immigration into the Philippines has been quite limited, Higaunons live with the distinction of being an indigenous minority in a country of natives.Cultural differences between lowlanders and Higaunons are great, including spoken language, upbringing, diet, religious beliefs, social mannerisms, body language, and material culture. Some lowlanders even claim that such differences are racial in nature, despite the fact that, as groups, they are physically identical. But these differences are not insurmountable. Many, if not most Higaunons in this area have readily adapted to the dumagat world, in an effort to bridge the many differences that are advantageous to dumagats, such as the use of a majority language, formal education, using cash, and wearing 'normal' clothes. These are important for avoiding taunts and discrimination when traveling or living in the dumagat world because, on some level, Higaunon traits are viewed by lowlanders as deficiencies.
These adaptations have resulted in many notable changes in modern Higaunon life, as compared to their idealized 'traditional' lifestyle (as recorded by observers in the late 1800s) a forest-based lifestyle with long-fallow shifting agriculture, hunting, collecting, and considerable residential mobility a lifestyle that few Higaunons are able to live today. It is also increasingly rare today to find visual markers of Higaunons' identity (weapons, elaborate hairstyles, beaded jewellery, ceremonial clothing, and elevated open houses) in daily use. A few of the significant accommodations Higaunons have made include: learning to speak dumagat languages; using dumagat-style clothes; using 'public' dumagat names while maintaining private Higaunon names; sending children to dumagat-run schools; using more intensive farming practices; establishing permanent settlements and constructing low, enclosed 'dumagat-style' houses; applying for government land titles; creating parallel political organizations (assembling 'tribal councils' to deal with government, electing Higaunon customary leaders into local government offices); and adoption of a major ('real') religion (some choose a Protestant religion to differentiate themselves from largely Catholic dumagats). Establishing 'patron-client' bonds with the dumagats they deal with economically, an adaptation to the widely-used dumagat system of social patronage, considered essential to conducting business.
The more regular the dumagat contact, the more extensive the adaptations, such that those living in coastal cities are indistinguishable in appearance, movement, and speech from the average dumagat. With their accommodations, Higaunons have gained considerable experience in 'crossing' the ethnic border, showing that they are culturally quite cosmopolitan and progressive, rather than backward and primitive.
Keepers of Nature
There are purists who claim that those deviating from 'tradition' especially in religious matters are no longer 'pure' Higaunons. Some also claim that pure Higaunon ancestry is the only sure way to determine identity. But too many Higaunons, even among those who work vigorously for Higaunon rights, would fail these tests through their behaviour or their genes, or both. (Some very 'pure' and traditional Higaunons, in the pursuit of monetary gain, have worked with dumagats against their own people). In reality, Higaunon identity is not so simple, and the situation at hand determines what criteria are important.
There is a growing sense that true Higaunon identity revolves around aspects that cannot be coveted, copied, or bought by dumagats (unlike their land and material culture). Some of these are their distinct language and localized dialects, their oral traditions (genealogies, musical forms, epics, and ritual oratory styles), the ability to walk comfortably on forest trails, a preference for 'isolated' forest living and forest food, and a deep love of their ancestral lands, with which they have complex historical connections (unlike recent settlers). In response to dumagat prejudice, Higaunons also readily declare their moral superiority, and characterize dumagats as abusive to the land, natural resources, and fellow humans, and driven by monetary gain. In this aspect of life, at least, Higaunons can 'prove' they are more highly developed than dumagats, and it is a powerful motivation for maintaining cultural identity. It is also advantageous in the struggle for Higaunon land-rights, as they claim the moral high ground when it comes to protecting natural resources, a claim that happens to match internationally popular 'environmentalist' rhetoric very nicely.
Some dumagats have been changed by their daily encounters with Higaunons. Coexisting peacefully as neighbors can and does foster genuine and mutual respect (but not often enough). Intermarriage also happens, and this gives dumagats the option of living in the Higaunon world. Gaining rightful access to Higaunon land offers the promise of self-sufficiency to poor migrants in a remote area with few prospects of a livelihood. Few dumagats truly 'go native' and live primarily as Higaunons, but it does happen. However, fundamentally different ideas about land tenure guarantee disappointment when dumagats pursue marriage purely for material gain. This form of exploitation is an unfortunate reality in this ethnic borderland, and the abandonment of Higaunon spouses and their mixed-blood children is the tragic result.
On the brighter side, Higaunons and other tagabukids are idealized by some dumagats as representatives of true Filipino culture, untouched by the colonial experience. This provides an aura of exotic mystery, which can generate awe, fear, or envy in a dumagat. With this cultural myth, tagabukids are celebrated on occasions that showcase local culture to tourists, to the extent that the 'ethnic' look is fashionable among some dumagats. Tagabukids have become a precious natural resource, just like Mindanao's endangered species and disappearing forests. Now, they are also idealized as the true keepers of the forests, in whose care the environment can revert to a more 'natural' state. Such romantic ideals are a mixed blessing. Until recently, Higaunons often hunted now-endangered species for food and participated in illegal logging to earn cash. They have had to modify these and other forms of behaviour, and integrate 'environmentalist' ideals more fully in their struggle for political and land rights rights that are criucial to securing a decent future in the dumagat world.
Oona Paredes is a PhD student at the Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University.
E-mail: oonaparedes@hotmail.com