In the vast open fields where an ocean of crops wave to the whistling rural breeze to towering mountain terrains where bushes of trees blanket the highlands of Mindanao, reside distinct herds of Lumad groups living harmoniously amongst each other and between the environment around them. More than a simple venue or a tourist destination, these lands are a place for food and shelter, for health and livelihood, for worship rituals, and for burial grounds of Lumad communities. In exchange, the roots of a surviving Lumad culture with their deep connection to the natural environment support and preserve these ancestral domains, their home and motherland.
The native land of the Lumadnon serves as a natural and sufficient resource for the needs of the community. The abundance of crops, along with the back-breaking determination of Lumad farmers, are able to fill the bellies of whole communities. In more wooded areas, the creatures of the forests from wild boars to tamed birds are hunted or gathered usually by Lumad men with the company of their trained dogs. The wonders of their soil not only puts food on their tables and a roof over their heads, but it also nurses the health of the community with the use of herbal medicines to treat the sick and the injured. These practices may be primitive, but the ancestors of the Lumadnon were beyond clever for establishing a ‘collective land ownership’ system, which simply means that every single Lumad individual will benefit from the hard-earned labor of their fellow Lumad, preventing them to depend solely on the government.
As their ancestors were able to adjust to the dangers of their natural environment, the Lumad descendants are also adapting to the modern challenges of their community through Lumad education. While this allows them to read, write, and compute, their education also grants them to, quite literally, learn beyond the four corners of the classroom. Now, this is where their land comes in. If aspiring medical or engineering students require laboratories, then Lumad students will need their fields for farming, agriculture, and other cultural practices in order to get the feel of the soft damp earth on their hands, the weight of the harvest on their shoulders, and the tenderness and flavor of their produce.
"As they are born from the earth, sustained by the earth, they shall also return to the earth."
The ancestors of the Lumadnon have lived in a time where, instead of buildings and towers, the mountaintops greet the heavens and the rivers swamp the valleys below. In this natural environment, the Lumadnon have come to believe that all things possess spirits that energizes or animates them and that all earthly phenomena, ranging from headaches to hurricanes, have spiritual causes. Similar to most religious beliefs, certain practices are performed as signs of respect to these spirits. As others have their churches or mosques, Lumad groups have their native lands to perform rituals to honor the sacredness of the land and deepen their connection to nature, especially before hunting, gathering, and farming. Their close relationship with the environment have even inspired them to cultivate the practice of pottery, basketry, and weaving, handmade especially by their people and whose raw materials are sourced from their land, to assist them in these ceremonies.
The ancestral lands of the Lumadnon allow them to continuously and freely execute their cultural beliefs, religious traditions, artistic expressions, and livelihood practices and they, too, shall become the vanguards of mountains and the armies of the environment. Hence, helping them protect their lands will not only preserve their natural environment, but will potentially save the lives of the Lumad. As they are born from the earth, sustained by the earth, they shall also return to the earth.
References
Anti-poverty chief calls to stop mining operations in Lumad lands. (2017, August 09). https://www.rappler.com/nation/anti-poverty-chief-stop-mining-operations-lumad-lands
Chandran, R. (2018). Driven from home, Philippine indigenous people long for their land. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-landrights-crime-idUSKBN1HQ034
National Museum of the Philippines Ethnology Division. (2020). Lumad Mindanao. http://nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/img/Lumad%20Mindanao%20(NMP,%202020).pdf?fbclid=IwAR1nxMAnskT3R40xUwE6B6yG6bJmA1_t9D2AccnGKP14UObcU9tpNWgfVjs
Nolasco, M. & La Viña, T. (2021). ‘Lumad’ schools and their right to education. https://opinion.inquirer.net/140876/lumad-schools-and-the-right-to-education
Torres, M. (2019). Defense of the Land: Lumad Education for Resilience and Resistance. https://admuaea.org/2019/11/17/defense-of-the-land-lumad-education-for-resilience-and-resistance/
Waldrep, J. (2018, September 21). Do You Know the Basics of Animism? https://www.imb.org/2018/09/21/do-you-know-the-basics-of-animism/
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