Uncle’s passing provokes need for handbook on traditional knowledge

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BOKOD, Benguet -- When Antonio Velasco Lamsis, 76, a.k.a. “Uncle Montel,” the youngest among the seven children of Noepe and Rita of Bokod, died last week; I instantly thought of the dilemma as to how we, his nephews and nieces were to manage his wake and burial rites, without being criticized by relatives, other uncles and aunts and fellow Ibalois.

Having been raised in Baguio and nearby La Trinidad where indigenous practices have slowly been overtaken by the more popular standards practiced by a mixture of lowland, Manilan, Tagalog and Visayan migrants; it was expected that Ibaloi children and that of other mountain tribes slowly lose their customs. As we moved uncle Montel from his deathbed at the Pines Hospital to the embalming room at the Benguet General Hospital, my mind could not break away from the reality that even contemporary life needed the guidance on how to go on living with indigenous practices.

There was confusion as to how his body would enter and be transported in a moving vehicle. Would it be head first or feet first? Someone said, it should be head first but this was opposed by another guy who said his feet should go in first so that it would look like he was facing front while being transported.

When it came to burying the dead in the ground or interring the remains inside the tomb, rules had to be followed so that both the dead and living survivors would be at peace.

Some Ibaloi families inter their dead facing east, while others prefer that their dead face west. It was at this point that I wondered if there was any book or primer that described proper procedures on how to handle the dead following traditional ways.

I came across written articles by local writers published in soft covers but the stories were limited to describing what kind of clothes should be worn by a dead Ibaloi as there were distinctions between the kadangyans or the richer class, middle class and the bagaen or household help. I also came across articles that talked about how to make tapuey (rice wine) for rituals, and I have read meanings of common Ibaloi terms.

But what I needed was a book that talked about the nitty-gritty of indigenous knowledge such as those that described procedures for death rituals, agriculture and harvest management, indigenous ways of solving land disputes, etc. We know that even before the founding of modern life ways, indigenous peoples (IP) already had their own means of survival in addition to having their own values.

Uncle Montel’s remains stayed at the Rex Chapel for two days before he was transferred to Bangkilay, Daclan, Bokod. This gave relatives and friends who cannot be present during his burial the chance to view him and be with him in his last moments in Baguio. On the day his remains was to be transferred to Bokod, indigenous “consultant” on Ibaloi concerns Uncle Noel Basatan advised that the “dawit” ritual has to be performed.

This is done by bringing a rooster to the place where the person died. This is performed for a person who died in an accident, a person who died of sickness in a hospital, for persons who died outside their homes. The person performing the dawit puts down the rooster on the floor, calls the spirit of the deceased and asks him to “come home.” The rooster apparently serves as the medium that the spirit enters.

Believers say the spirit of the departed remains in the place where his life expired, reason why he has to be called “home” by a relative performing the dawit. In cases where a rooster is not allowed to be brought in, such as in a hospital room, as in the case of Uncle Montel who died in one of the ICU rooms of Pines Hospital; a pair of pants, shirt, jacket, towel or any clothing of the departed  may be used.

Indigenous practices are behavioral conditions that help guide leaders and members of a community. Although traditional practices are special to a community that has a particular belief, they also change depending on the imagination of a community elder, a respected mambunong who also looks at the influence of modern cultures. But traditional knowledge contradicts modern knowledge founded by researchers based in modern schools and universities. 

Indigenous practices, according to Uncle Noel, differ depending on what has been accustomed in a certain community. Indigenous or traditional practices are carried on to the next generation by mouth and by imitation. Maybe one reason why the application of indigenous practices has not been recorded in books was because such practices go through slight changes at the moment that such are being performed.

While writing them down likely makes them permanent, doing so changes some of its original character. Traditional knowledge of doing things does not have an end as it constantly evolves, performed and performed again. These were performed again for four days until yesterday before Uncle Montel’s interment at Pushong Hill.   

While at the Rex, there were people asking me and my cousins about how many days the wake would be. Luckily, indigenous uncle Noel came to the rescue. Uncle Noel is no mambunong or high priest which some make out of him, but he is one person who is knowledgeable of Ibaloi customs and traditions that have been practiced, especially in Kabayan, Atok, Tublay, Bokod and Itogon.

He said, counting the number of days for the wake starts on the day when the departed relative is “fed” which is the day that butchering of pigs and “animals” starts, up to the day of burial. On the first day of butchering pigs or animals, the “sabusab” is performed. This is done by mixing grilled meat, boiled liver and ginger, all sliced into bits, and then served to the crowd, after immediate family members of the deceased has tasted the special recipe.

In Bokod, the sabusab is sometimes mixed with old silver coins in a basin, encircled by immediate members of the family who race against each other in grabbing their share of the food, together with the coins. By the way, the pig is differentiated from an “animal” which is a cow or carabao, while a horse orkavadjo is a horse.

The kavadjo, depending on the activities of the deceased while on earth, is butchered on burial day so that he or she will have a horse to ride on in his journey to heaven or Mt. Pulag, said to be a sacred mountain by the Ibalois. These are not found in the books I have read. Perhaps I will experience the rituals in the future, but will never see them written down in a book. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com