kumusta

No thanks to the gross ignorance of the Spaniards, Maharlikans were called indios when the former came to the islands uninvited in 1521. They used the term to mortify the islanders, who welcomed them as any civilized, gracious hosts would.

More than three hundred years after, the label is still hard to shake, even after the life sacrifice of a European-educated brown man, who fought to give dignity to his people by naming them after an undeserving king. Nowadays, so-called experts are curiously engaged in studying what is left of the cultures the Spaniards tried so hard to wipe out. As if the subject of these studies don’t already know, social scientists are now attesting to the degree of “civilization” these people had before and are trying to preserve until now.

With our western, er, supposedly modern frame of mind, we name stars of these cultures who are highly skilled in their “art”. We look in awe at their eloquent expressions: Ginaw Bilog for ambahan poetry, Masino Intaray for kulilal music, Lang Dulay for tnlalak weaving and Federico Caballero for keeping the kiniray-a oral tradition alive. Sadly, most of us miss the point. Most likely, this could be attributed to our limited perspective that is so-ingrained in our consciousness since our mothers started nurturing us with imported vitamins and classical music when we were still inside their womb.

The point is, these indigenous cultures do not dichotomize and compartmentalize things as we do. For them there is no difference between art and way of life, no distinction between ritual and dance, no line between poetry and perspective. Their life is simple and whole. They are complete. They live their art without being aware of it. They breath their culture and do not watch them from museums.