The Pakde

by: Felisa Daskeo

What is PAKDE?  
 'Pakde' is pronounced as (pak - duh).

Pakde is a community affair of the Igorots which is purely cañao without any dancing and playing of gongs.  Opposed to the Begnas to which neighboring people are invited, entry of visitors is strictly prohibited during the celebration which could be extended to as many days until the bile of the pig says so.  The pigs butchered are not to be cooked but are equally distributed to every household.  It has to be known also that the cost incurred has to be equally shared by each household in the community.

Pakde is performed before rice planting season which is aimed at invoking the blessings of the spirits for the healthy growth of the plants.  The celebration prohibits going to work in the fields although house chores are allowed.

The Pakde is still celebrated up to now by the people in the Mountain Provinces.  The traditions and practices are still being celebrated even to this modern day.  I’m sure that the anitos are happy looking at the people who still believe in their existence.  As an afterthought, I still believe in our traditional customs and still talk to our ancestors who were long time dead. 

My old folks used to teach us that the spirits of our ancestors are still mingling with us and that we should always talk to them and offer them some food specially if we received blessings.  In short; we should share our blessings with them.

To help the readers understand the article better, definition of words is added below.

Cañao – a feast celebrated by the people in the Mountain Provinces

Anitos – the spirits of the dead

Copyright 2013 Felisa Daskeo

A Glimpse of the Igorot Way of Life

by: Felisa Daskeo


Igorotsare Filipinos who live in the northern mountain provinces in the Philippines but they have their own culture that is a little different from the other Filipinos. Known as very hardworking Filipinos, the Igorots have long been admired worldwide for the work of art they have built in the mountains. The rice terracesthat have stood harsh times for thousands of years are still being built today by the Igorots because this is part of their culture.

In this modern age when most people are using the latest methods of farming, the Igorots are still rooted in the primitive method of farming where they use crowbars and hoes to excavate the mountains in order to terrace them so that they could plant crops of different kinds.

One of the unique characteristics of the Igorots is their skill in building stonewalled rice terraces. In their expertise with the craft, the rice terraces have stood earthquakes and typhoons without being eroded.  Most of the rice terraces have not changed since they were built by the Igorot ancestors, and they are still beautifully crafted around the mountains up to this day.

The Igorots are one of the most versatile people around that you can see.  Known as uncivilized, ignorant and tailed people to some Filipinos, the Igorots take the discrimination lightly and instead take it as a challenge.  

Although Igorots still embrace their culture, their lifestyle today has switched to different flow and follows a modern way of life.  The young generations are not anymore keen on observing the traditions, practices, and beliefs.  They are now modernized and live a life just like the other Filipinos.

Except for the rice terraces and some primitive practices, the new Igorot generation has blossomed into the new world and transitioned to a modern lifestyle.   You could go around the Igorot communities and find the new generation using the latest model iPhone, iPod, cellphone, and laptop.  And to top it all; in every household, you can find diplomas crowding the walls.

The Igorots are one of the groups of Filipinos who can speak the English language very well. And what’s very surprising, the old men and women speak better English than their Filipino language.

It seems ironic that the Igorots who are often branded by other people as the ignorant and primitive have the knack of the English Language and to top it all, the elderly people have a more understanding of the English Language than the Filipino Language. My grandfather, who was born in the late “1880s and died in 1971, loved to read books. I could still clearly remember how he used to sit at the foot of our ten-step stairs holding an English pocketbook and reading it while we played with grasses, flowers and other things available around. That was in the 1960s and ‘70s. My father’s uncle who died at the age of more than a hundred in the mid ‘90s was still a puzzle in my mind. Although he could not read books and magazines, he loved holding them and scanning them.

While Igorots are discriminated up to this modern day, they could gladly say that they have a lifestyle that they can proudly expose to the world.  The knowledge that Igorots have are far wider than what other people know.  They are educated, learned and modernized.

And I am reminded of my late father and I smile when I think that in the middle of the rice fields where he used to work, my father used to bring with him an English magazine that he read when he had his lunch break from excavating the mountain to build the rice terraces.  And this was not the year 2012, but in the 60s.

Copyright 2012 Felisa Daskeo

The Footprints of Kabunian Embeded on a Rock in Tadian, Mt. Province

by: Felisa Daskeo

Tadian, Mt. Province is one of the very quiet towns in the northern part of the Philippines, this is the place where Kabunian- the Igorot God was believed to have stepped down because he left footprints on a big rock.  Just like the many other towns in the Philippines, Tadian has also its share of folktales, beliefs and practices.  Because the olden times were primitive times, people didn’t write stories.  They were merely related from mouth to mouth.  Most of the stories were told by the old men and women and nobody dared wrote them and made books about them.

Look closely at the center part and you can see the a pair of footprints.  The left footprints have the holes on the toe part.

The Footprints of Kabunian (The Igorot God), has been told and retold several times by the old folks of Tadian Mt., Province.  

The story goes that, in the very olden days some old men who were gathered in a place called Bimmukod witnessed a very strange sight.  The old men gathering in a certain place is a normal situation in Tadian as the old men often gathered together in a certain place in order to settle disputes or talk about some very important matters because in those olden times, the old men were the law and they were the wise men who talked about problems in the community and offered solution or else settled them.

If you look closely, the footprints are there but they are obscured by the dirt.

It was told that suddenly, the men were disturbed by the sudden appearance of a man from out of the blue.  He was a very strange man; described by the old men as foreign looking, tall, huge with a very fair complexion.  The man just came out from a place they called “Liang”.  Liang means a very shallow cave.  There is a big rock here and below it is a very shallow cave. 

Look at the little holes.  Those are the toes.

No one saw where the stranger came from, but they spotted him first in Liang.  The men merely watched in awe and shock as they were blinded by the glittering hair of the man and his shining clothes.  With a walking cane and a dog, the men recognized him as Kabunian.  The stranger walked to the rice paddies with fast strides, then disappeared in the woods and was never seen again.

Shocked but still conscious, the men went to see the big rock where the man was first spotted and to their amazement; they saw fresh footprints embedded on the rock.  The man left footprints on the hard rock, which was impossible for an ordinary man to do.  This time the men have proven that the man was no ordinary man and that he was Kabunian because what normal man could leave footprints on a rock?  Only Kabunian, their God, is capable of leaving an indelible sign.  There were big footprints embedded on the rock with the traces of the dog's footprints too and the cane being stuck on the rock.  All these were tangible signs of Kabunian's visit to the place.

And so the story of the old men who witnessed the passing of Kabunian and his dog in Tadian was handed down from generation to generation until I heard it and I thought it was worth writing for the people to learn that there are some events that are like fairy tales but there is proof that the story of the strange man has really happened a long time ago.

The footprints on the rock are still there, ; embedded and had stood the harsh times but marred by the passing of time.  When we were small kids, we always went to play on the big rock and I can still remember clearly that the footprints then were still clearly embedded on the rock.  The last time I visited the place in May 2012, the footprints were not any more prominent.  They were obscured by accumulated dirt and weathering, but the big footprints are still there and you can notice them when you look closely.  The sizes of the footprints are too big for a normal Igorot man.  The footprints are too large.

Kabunian who was believed to have stepped down in Tadian, Mt. Province may have been watching the place for a long time until he finally left the place for good.  Where?- nobody knows but the people believe that Tadian, Mt. Province is a blessed place visited by Kabunian.  

The strange man was never spotted again and the people concluded that it was really Kabunian who passed by the place.

Basing from the many stories that circulated for perhaps hundreds and hundreds of years, Kabunian always held a cane and was always accompanied by his dog.  

Copyright 2012 Felisa Daskeo

The Igorot Tradition for the Dead

Igorots keep the coffins of the dead open until it is ready for internment.  The coffin is usually made by the men from wood materials around.  There are no funeral parlors so the family and the people around help each other in taking care of their dead.

 Different rituals are done from the start of the wake.  Old men have their own way of praying for the dead with the use of rice wine and meat.  The moment the men start their ritual; no one is allowed to talk or even stand up.  It is a very solemn moment and only the men praying could be heard.
 

 We call the blanket PINAGPAGAN.  This is one of the most expensive blankets for the dead of the Igorot Tribes.

The internment:  A priest blesses the dead before it is laid into the resting place.

During the wake, pig is butchered and prepared to feed the people but the most important part here is determining if the bile shows signs of a good omen for the aggrieved family or not.  Only the old men could read what the bile would indicate.  If the men sees something negative, another pig should be butchered.  This is very important since the family of the dead will suffer whatever consequences if the ceremony is  not properly done.   Silence must be observed strictly as the men are performing the ceremony.

Women are in charged of preparing the food to be served.  

Although gambling seems an inappropriate way to raise money to help the aggrieved family. It has become part of the wake.  This is where most of the money comes from.  The percentage cut from the winners is a big help to pay for the expenses incurred.  I will at least lessen the burden of the family.