to soul places

Hi

Iona

-

MANY thanks for your heartwarming letter! I immediately forwarded it

to the rest of the trustees. If I’m not mistaken, Barbara Gonzalez is

also known as Tweetums Gonzalez and has published a book or two in the

past. The link to her article is

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/LIFESTYLE200601213306.htm

We at the

Mangyan

Heritage

Center

are glad that the ‘discussion’ is

going even after the exhibit. That these questions and these

sentiments get to be articulated are all part of why we put up the

exhibit in the first place.

Please feel free to share the exchange to as many friends and

colleagues as possible. Let’s all be part of raising awareness and

refining the advocacy for the preservation not just of Mangyan culture

but of all our indigenous Filipino cultural heritage.

Again, maraming salamat!

Tatine

http://tatine.blogs.friendster.com/photos/myth_and_meaning/

www.mangyan.org

————

Here’s the exchange:

————

Dear All -

These past weeks you’ve received email updates from me regarding our

ongoing "Myth & Meaning: Mangyans of Mindoro" exhibit at the Ayala

Museum. Tomorrow, January 23, Monday, is our last day. I was planning

on sending one last email to simply coax all of you who haven’t

visited yet to do so. Barbara Gonzalez’ article in the Philippine Star

yesterday, January 21, changed my mind.

Does indigenous Filipino cultural heritage have value only if it can

be understood in a ‘modern’ way and transformed into a best-selling

commodity? Is raising awareness of the Mangyans and the beauty of

their culture ‘futile’ since their culture and other indigenous

culture will disappear anyway – erased by modernity?

The Hanunoo Mangyans are a shy, peaceful mountain people, considered

primitive by the lowlanders and even rumored by them to have tails.

And yet, these are the very people who have preserved a pre-Hispanic

writing system and kept alive their own ancient poetic tradition.

The "Mangyans of Mindoro" exhibit was set up to introduce this tribe

to our over-Americanized, consumer society. Their clothes, houses,

utensils may seem unsophisticated to us, and they are not materially

wealthy; but this is a society whose people often gather to recite

poetry late into the night, whose subtle minds prefer to speak in

allegories rather in dull, straightforward prose. They have no social

hierarchy but recognize judges by consensus to mediate disputes so

that there are no tribal wars - the word does not even exist in their

language. How, then, can we lowlanders presume to come in and lecure

them on clothing sizes and marketing fashions?

Their products may not be marketable to the tourists in Puerto Galera,

or to foreigners world-wide, but in their un-streamlined, homespun

quality, they convey the soul of a people. That soul may carry a clue

to our Filipino identity – that tenuous thing, that we search for and

agonize over. But we will never find it if we are bound by the

mind-set reflected in Barbara Gonzalez’s article that in order to

survive in the modern world, everything must be turned into a

commodity.

Can indigenous peoples thrive in the modern world while retaining

their traditional way of life? Is it possible for urban

"sophisticates" to learn the wisdom that can be taught by "primitive"

tribes? Would they even have the humility to know that they can learn

from them? This exhibit has no solutions, but will hopefully prompt

people to consider those questions. The point was "merely to raise

awareness of the Mangyans and the beauty of their culture" … that was

more than enough.

This is what we think.

What about you?

Tatine G. Faylona

Trustee,

Mangyan

Heritage

Center

www.mangyan.org

On 1/23/06, iona jalijali <ionaks@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi, Tatine!

>

> I hope you don’t mind this note from a stranger; but that was a

beautiful

> letter. Please don’t be disheartened. The work you do has tremendous

import.

> If only to show the world that such a people and culture exist,

indeed

> especially because of the threat of extinction — yes, for me,

that’s more

> than enough.

>

> As to your questions: "Does indigenous Filipino cultural heritage

have value

> only if it can be understood in a ‘modern’ way and transformed into a

> best-selling commodity? Is raising awareness of the Mangyans and the

beauty

> of their culture ‘futile’ since their culture and other indigenous

culture

> will disappear anyway – erased by modernity?" My thought would be

"NO.

> NEVER." Any presumption or insinuation that it is so is downright

absurd and

> reflects a sad, misguided ignorance clothed by pathetic elitism.

>

> I wish I could tell you that I was able to go see the exhibit, but I

wasn’t

> and I wish I had. At any rate, kudos to you and your organization.

>

> Am just wondering, is the article by Gonzalez on the Net? Can you

possibly

> provide a link thereto? Who is she anyway?

>

> My best,

> iona

On people:

1. Who we really are does not matter as much as who we try to be; character is that which fills the gap between our nature and our humanity.

2. There is a thin line between self-confidence and arrogance. It is called humility, a.k.a. “pulling one’s head out of one’s own ass.”

3. Noone is insignificant. Not even you (so go and claim your rightful space in the universe!), and not even the people you think the world would be better off without (so stop wishing them dead and go and claim your rightful space in the universe!).

On heartbreak:

1. It will pass!

2. The best kind of closure is the kind that we give to ourselves — it does not depend on hearing the words “It’s over!” from someone else’s mouth.

3. It will pass! Really!

On family and friends:

1. To borrow from Vince: The best friends are those with whom you have no “walls.” This is not to say that you can say anything or do anything to them and get away with it. True friends will stick around even when you’re being difficult or a bitch — but they sure will make you accountable. True friendship is unconditional; but it is not blind.

2. There is no greater hurt than being betrayed by someone you thought of as a true friend; and there is no greater comfort than knowing that there are people who got your back.

3. There is nothing more frightening than having a member of your family put in danger. For me, that is the only thing truly worth worrying about.

On what’s right:

1. There is such a thing as Black and White. But, for the most part, the things people do fall within the spectrum of colors in between. The trick is to know the difference.

2. What we have, but do not need, is not truly ours. When we give what, for all intents and purposes, is in excess, it is not generosity nor charity nor kindness. It is justice.

3. GMA should not be President. But then, was she really ever?

On life:

1. Very little is worse than getting diarrhea and not having a clean bathroom and enough toilet paper.

2. The best things in life are free — what we need money for is to make those non-ethereal and less-than-super things in life not seem so bad.

3. But seriously: The most important moments, the ones which will really matter, are of such nature that they can pass you by before you even realize how precious they are: a good laugh; a perfect day spent outdoors with your lover; a stimulating conversation; flying a kite; a heartfelt hug from friend; a roadtrip with your best buds; your child telling you “I love you”; and those million simple acts of kindness shared between two people… So, keep your heart and mind open, always, so that you are ever aware…

On love and relationships:

Ummm… I think I’ll pass on this one. Wala pa ata akong natututunan dyan! Hehehe…

Mojo, our beloved Chinese sharpei, is going under the knife this morning for (you won’t believe this!) an eyelid lift.

A sharpei being a sharpei, she has all that excess skin. Seems her eyelids have gotten so heavy and folded over that she actually can’t lift them up anymore! Lately she’s been walking around the house bumping into things, and keeps on pawing at her eyelids as if wanting to open her eyes by hand (or paw) — it’s the saddest, funniest thing you’ll ever see! (Not to make fun of my doggie’s suffering, but really, she could be sooooo cute! I mean, check her pictures out!)

Anyway, so the vet is going to slice off some of the skin on her lids, and pull the rest of the eyelid up – an eyelid lift, so to speak… Gosh, I wonder if that would be as painful for her as cosmetic surgery is supposed to be for humans… I sure hope not. I mean, she just came out of a severe depression, for chrissakes!

See, over a month ago, when she was in heat, the family decided to have her studded. The thing was, my overeager parents went through the stud’s papers only after the deed was done, and lo and behold, turns out that Mojo and the stud have the same mother! So not only did she get raped, it was incestuous, too!

Anyway, after the gruesome act, Mojo came home severely depressed. She refused to eat on her own for almost a month! She’d only take oatmeal with raisins and Virgin Coconut Oil (I do not lie!), and only if you rub her back while she’s eating. She must’ve lost 3-5 pounds, which is a lot when you’re just about 40 pounds to begin with… Jeez, talk about canine virtue…

She still hasn’t quite been able to go back to her usual self. She used to be so hyper (the vet did say that she’s the most hyper sharpei he’s ever come across) but now, she’s so, well, mellow. I’m thinking that after the whole loss-of-her-virginity thing, maybe our dog’s growing up or something — tipo bang nagdadalaga! I miss her chasing me around the house already… but then again, with her recent near-blindness, I guess running around hasn’t been such a good idea… So maybe that’s all there is to it.

Haaayyy… the travails of Mojo. And I thought I had problems…