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
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