Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Comparison of Music of Suluwesi and the Philippines
Possible resource in the attempt to validate cultural connections to ethnic groups within Philippines.
Suluwesi Studies
"This paper will discuss a comparison of music in the Philippines and Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. This paper will be divided into two parts; the first part will provide a general description of the historical background between the two places and the relationship between them. The second part will address the comparison of the music in terms of the instruments, the way they are played and the music produced...
"This topic could be vague since the historical spread of instruments and music can not be confined by national borders. As we know, many modern nation states in Southeast Asia such as the Philippines and Indonesia are not based on the similarity of culture but according to divisions imposed by colonization...
...The most fascinating aspects of this study probably will be realized where there is a similarity in the instruments but differences in the way they are played since the locations are contiguous but have different histories. This paper may serve as a stepping stone to serious research about the relationship between the two areas or the spread of musical culture in the archipelagos of Southeast Asia."
Bibliograghy Present
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Inner Tribe -Role of the Dato, Asog, Baliyan and Osong_Urban Anito
Interesting suggestion about the Osong (Trickster) in service to the community- applied in our modern context.
"The Inner Tribe
As for tribal values-- I'll be honest here. I love democracy, specifically the idealistic kind that doesn't truly exist in its perfect form. I abhor the idea of people being forced into slavery, and so the discovery of the uripon/oripon class in Bicolano tribal society was disappointing. I'm also aware of Cordillera tribes and their past head-hunting and slave-taking practices. I do not propose the acceptance of those values, because my temperament and philosophy naturally moves towards the more peaceful tribes, the ones that are so knowledgeable about their environment they've dodged colonization and the war-mongering tribes by retreating deeper into jungle, where they know what will feed them and what will kill them instantly, watching from a distance as those who chase after them get destroyed and eventually give up. Unfortunately, the existence of those tribes are being threatened by the advancement of technology to take away the very natural resources and symbiotic relationship they have to their environment that preserved thousands of years of oral lore and tradition. In my opinion, there is a way to live symbiotically with the environment and those around you without resorting to war, exploitation, and colonization and still incorporate technological, sustainable advancement.
I see this in the dato, as a symbol of physical strength. They were able to withstand the harshness of the elements and the rigors of their environment. But they also need the versatility and in-between-ness of the baliyan and asog, their diplomacy and social acumen, their ability to listen, heal, and negotiate with the spirits. Lastly, in the face of colonization by overwhelming might, the Filipino trickster, the osong, is a rebellious figure who does not resort either to physical prowess, like the dato, or to the spirit world for help, like the baliyan and asog, but to their own cunning and ruthlessness under a mask or with a mix of blatant numbskullery.
How do I interpret this for Urban Anito? Life is no longer separated into tribes, so for me, it's important to cultivate the physical strength of the dato, the industry and hard work of the dulujan, the connection with the spirit world like the baliyan and asog, and the trickery of the osong or Talang Silangan, specifically against colonizing and oppressive powers that promote poverty, environmental destruction, and human rights violations. To borrow liberally from Jung, these figures are some of the main characters of the Filipino collective unconscious, and when one becomes more dominant than the other, we lose collectively as Filipinos and as human beings. It's not enough to just be a warrior, or a consumer/producer/worker, or a priestess, or a rogue that does anything to survive and one-up everyone else with wits. These people, with the exception of the trickster, were all part of a community, working together. It's arguable that the trickster is a product of when a community is fragmented due to an oppressive force, like the kings that are usually the trickster's opponent in Filipino folklore. It may not be possible anymore for different personalities to balance themselves out together in a tribe, especially when oppressive, colonizing forces abound. To me, it's important to cultivate these characteristics internally, with the trickster in service to the community, and then to create a tribe of people based around these like-minded worldviews and value systems, while still making allies with other, different-minded tribes-- remember the value of kapwa. Also, in the matter of the asog, this also translates to equal rights for those with diverse gender expressions and sexual orientations that differ from the heterosexual male model." Link
Sacred-Texts.com_Myths and Origins and the Deluge
Covers across Austronesian cultures including much on areas of Philippines.
Link: Myths and Origins and the Deluge
Note: Lane says to use caution...written through Western perspective -think out of the box to extract useful leads.
Link: Myths and Origins and the Deluge
Note: Lane says to use caution...written through Western perspective -think out of the box to extract useful leads.
Resources: Tugtug/Tuktuk_Filipino Bark Cloth Project
- Trans-oceanic transfer of bark-cloth technology from South China-Southeast Asia to Mesoamerica? -Judith Cameron, Dept. of Archeology and Natural History, Austrailian National Univ.
- Bark-Cloth in Indonesia -The Journal of the Polynesian Society- 1934 article by Raymond Kennedy of Yale Univ.
- People of the Philippines -eBook, Alfred L. Kroeber, 1919
- Bark-Cloth Beater, New Stone Age, Arku Cave, Penablanca, Cagayan 1255-605 BC, image- Nat'l Museum of the Philippines
- Stone Bark-Cloth Beaters of Late Neolithic Period Philipines, Table- Tentative chronology of Philippine History, Alfredo E. Evangelista, p.49-50, Part 7, Asian Perspectives 1962
- Filipino Tapa Bark-Cloth Shawl, image- csueastbay, anthropology museum
- Collection of Bark-Cloth Beaters, Sulawesi, image- Univ. of Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology
- Bark-Cloth Blouse, Sulawesi, Indonesia, image- Ministry of Education, Taiwan R.O.C.
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