Wisdom in Gotad

CULTURAL NOTES

Richard Kinnud

Having seen some social media posts on the recent Ifugao provincial fiesta, a curious friend asked me, “What is gotad?”

    His question somehow bemused me but had some gathered some mental notes to respond to him with the little that read and heard about it.  I told him that the gotad is an Ifugao feast of old hosted by a couple or a family that seemed to be a way by which they introduce their identity as ‘kadangyan’ (rich) or fortify status as such.

    My friend then asked, “Wouldn’t that be an egotistic reason to hold a feast?”  He further argued on who then would be honored in such a celebration if the host is the government.

    I grew up at a time when indeed the practice is no longer common among families but rather at a time when the “gotad” is used to refer to fiestas funded by local government units.  I then have to dig deeper into the memory of what I have heard from oldsters so as to satisfy the curiosity of my friend.

    I told him that it may not really be a self-seeking affair as the host of old isn’t really saying look-at-me-I-am-rich but rather come-to-me-and-let-us-eat-together. In other words, it is a way of sharing wherein such kadangyan will share the produce of their land.  In those times when it was authentically done, tenure of land is the measure of “kinakadangyan.”

    Further, even as there is a host household, it encourages more sharing in the community.   Neighbors would feel obliged to brew wine from their own produce to have something to serve. Those who come to the gotad are not expected to stay solely at the house of the host but are anticipated to roam through homes in the neighborhood. It would be noted that attendees would not just come from within the community.  Friends and relatives from farther places will usually take the occasion to visit their kin too in that community. 

    Aside from the merriment of sharing and communion, the gotad is also an occasion of hope and blessing.  According to an elder who witnessed how it was done in earlier times, there was always time for guests to pronounce "wagah" (blessings) on the host family or couple. The message usually was for the work of the hands to be fruitful like for “the backyard poultry, swine and cattle to be plentiful, and the field produce to be high yielding, and for the present and next generation to be prosperous.”

    My friend’s final question was, “Would it be then an appropriate name for a modern fiesta considering that it has its origins with homes as hosts?”

    I replied that if the point is that it changes the meaning of the feast then that would be a good argument.  We have to admit that though cultural change is real.  No household holds a feast and call it gotad at present time.  Or to be more precise, I haven’t attended one yet.  Gotad as practiced in the past has disappeared.  Thus, to at least have a memento of such that can be said to be a good cultural practice, then putting it as a name of a public affair is I think appropriate.  Besides, there are semblances of that which faded and the current one.  For instance, there are preparatory events prior to the grandest week of the gotad.  Likeness of such events are also done now.  Also, the occasion should have a nabah, a series of vigil nights before the grand day, and in these nights are the liwliwa (chants/epics sang spontaneously by those who participate).  The present one has them transformed in the form of cultural literary competitions.  And of course, food, wine, and community participation is not absent.    

    More importantly, the essences are captured.  There is a headship – the local government unit, who would say come-and-partake-with-what-is-there-to-share.  It also gives the message of hope and blessing.  Particularly at this time of pandemic, people are surely looking for them.  I believe the theme that was adopted for this year summarizes everything – “Dinalnogan di Punhanaan, Luminggopan ya Kiphodan.”  It is an appropriate definition of gotad – “Celebration of Thanksgiving, Recovery and Development.”