Kalinga 'living museum' pushed with culture law

LIVING HISTORY. Naty Sugguiyao, (left), former chief of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Kalinga, in this undated photo shows the traditional tattoo inscribed on her skin using the soot of a “saleng” (pinewood) and sugarcane juice. She said that a "living museum" with people singing, dancing, and practicing their traditions and rituals will be a more effective way of passing on the Kalinga culture to the next generation. Also in the photo are former Cordillera NCIP director Ronald Calde (center) and Ifugao NCIP director Esther Licnachan. (Photo from the FB of Naty Sugguiyao)

By Liza Agoot 

A former chief of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Kalinga on Monday suggested that the Kalinga culture be preserved not only through a typical museum housing artifacts but also through "living museums" -- or people who practice and pass on local rituals and traditions to the younger generation.
    Naty Sugguiyao, considered as Kalinga culture bearer, made the appeal two weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte signed on May 24 Republic Act 11770 or “An Act Establishing the Kalinga Cultural Center and Museum in the province of Kalinga, defining its purpose and objectives and appropriating funds.”
    "There should be living museums who wear the tapis, practice the rituals that start from birth to death and the life of the i-Kalinga, persons who sing and moves the body thru the dances," he said.
    She said that Kalinga has a very rich culture revolving around weaving, pottery, rice planting, and death, among others that need to be passed on to future generations through practice and not just through mementos displayed within the four walls of a traditional museum.
    She said that while the concept of a structure for the museum is good, a living museum will be better with people not just seeing old things which are part of the culture but feel them through practice and make them a part of their daily lives.
    She said as culture bearers, i-Kalingas are responsible for passing on the traditions and culture of the province to the next generation.
    "I would go for something that is out there to be practiced because it will become more relevant and important,” Sugguiyao said.
    Sugguiyao, who is from Lubo, Tanudan town, is a "living art" herself with her body inked in traditional tattoos.
    She used her whole arm and parts of her lower neck and chest as an art canvas to depicts Kalinga culture through tattoos.
    Among the tattoo designs on her body are the "agdan-agdan" and the "inagid," which resembles a snake skin meant to symbolize protection.
    Sugguiyao said her tattoo was inscribed using the soot of “saleng” (pinewood) added with sugarcane juice instead of water.
    She said that while “Apo Whang-od” has become the most popular mambabatok or tattoo artist from Kalinga, there are many others like her in the province.
    “If I have my way, I would prefer a living museum not just a repository for the younger generation and the others who will visit the place to see, feel and experience the culture,” she said in Ilocano.
    Jail Supt. Mary Ann Ollaging-Tresmanio, warden at the Baguio City Jail Male Dorm and a native of Tinglayan, Kalinga, said in a phone interview on Monday that she wants Kalinga's “tinnulung” (the Bayanihan spirit and helping hand) culture to live on.
    “When a family loses a loved one, the community condoles by sharing the burden financially or in material things and even helps out during the wake. I want it to live on because it is a good practice among us that we want our children, especially those who are not residing in the ‘ili’ (province) to adopt,” Tresmanio said.
    RA11770 provides that the museum “shall serve as the institutional medium for the protection, preservation, presentation, and promotion of the cultural, artistic, archeological, social, historical, religious and philosophical heritage of the Kalinga land and its people in view of the richness of their legacies and of their relevance to their contemporary and future aspirations." -- PNA