How did you get your name?
Some may say “after my father”, thus they have a “Jr.” or a Roman numeral (like III) after their surname.
Marliza will tell you her name, like that of many others in the country, is a combination of syllables taken from her father’s “Marlon” and mother’s “Analiza”.
Others are named after favorite personalities, months of their birth and what not (I remember my father as telling me they named me after an essayist he used to read).
What’s in a name, really, other than explaining, as Shakespeare did, that “a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”
The question came to mind again when I learned about the theme of a global celebration early this week — the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on Aug. 9.
The event focused on the campaign – “Honoring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being.”
With the advances in science and technology, I believe that many IPs all over the world today (the United Nations says there are about 476 million of them living across 90 countries, including the Philippines) have access now to primary health care, like delivery of children.
This was not the case several decades ago for Negritos, or the ‘ati’ in Negros and Panay and other parts of the country, when they were still nomadic in their way of life.
When I did my major study for my journalism graduate degree, I lived for a while with an evangelized Ati community in the uplands of northern Iloilo.
My research assistant and I had to walk then on a rough and slippery road for about two hours to reach the Nagpana Negritos’ settlement, which is now accessible via motor vehicles, in Barotac Viejo town.
My ‘apo’, Nessa, the daughter of my nephew, surprised me with a Facebook post in mid-July that she wandered to Nagpana, immersing with the community for a few days. Her posts brought me to memory lane once more. It has become a full circle of some kind, I thought.
US-born Nessa is a widely-traveled artist, designer, feature writer and documentarian, who is working on her masteral degree in Paris. She was on summer break when she went home to Bacolod City until early this month.
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One of the things I learned from the late Utod Vero Elosendo, the recognized Nagpana community organizer, leader and pastor, was how Atis were named by their parents.
It wasn’t a difficult choice, Utod Vero told me during those research days. “Children were named after the plants where their mothers delivered them,” he said, as he reminded me of their nomadic way of life.
Because Atis roamed from place to place in search of food and a place to stay, women had to seek shelter under plants or trees when the birthing pains occurred, he told me.
That’s why our elders were named, among others as “Kadapdapan” (those born under the dapdap trees), or “Kalubihan”, or “Kamaisan” Utod Vero recalled.
As time went by, Negritos engaged in inter-marriages with native Ilonggos and other groups. Utod Vero introduced me to another term common in their tribal community: “Kapihakan”, one who is an offspring of an Ati and a native Ilonggo. The term is the equivalent of the colonial “mestizo”.
With the passage of time the Nagpana Ati has been integrated into the Ilonggo mainstream that while many still bear the features of their ethnic origins, others who are ‘kapihakan’, hardly reflect the features of their past.
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In the country, the Ati group is one of the more than 100 ethno-linguistic indigenous groups — whose members comprise about 10-27 million, or at least 19 percent of the country’s population.
Along with the Ati and similar groups, IPs are spread across the country — among them, the high-mountain groups in the Cordillera region, like the Ifugao and Bontoc; and the Lumad, the non-Christian and non-Muslim indigenous hill tribesfolk of Mindanao — among them the Manobo, T’boli, Blaan and Bukidnon.
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To celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, the United Nations, in its effort to spend greater awareness of IPs and their concerns, shared the following facts and figures:
• There are about 476 million Indigenous Peoples in the world living across 90 countries.
• IPs make up less than 6% of the world’s population, but account for at least 15% of the poorest.
• They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.
• At least 40% of the 7,000 languages used worldwide are at some level of endangerment. Indigenous languages are particularly vulnerable because many of them are not taught at school or used in the public sphere.
• Indigenous Peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. They have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Despite their cultural differences.
• Indigenous Peoples from around the world share common problems related to the protection of their rights as distinct peoples.
• IPs have sought recognition of their identities, their way of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources for years. Yet, throughout history, their rights have been violated.
• Indigenous Peoples today, are arguably among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world. The international community now recognizes that special measures are required to protect their rights and maintain their distinct cultures and way of life.
• Indigenous Peoples’ territories encompass 28% of the surface of the globe and contain 11% of the world’s forests. They are guardians of most of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
• Indigenous Peoples’ food systems have high levels of self-sufficiency, ranging from 50% to 80% in food and resource generation.
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At least 40% of the 7,000 languages used worldwide are at some level of endangerment. Indigenous languages are particularly vulnerable because many of them are not taught at school or used in the public sphere.
We trust that the millions of IPs all over the world, including those in the Philippines, enjoy to the fullest the provisions of UN’s various Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the No. 3 SDG — Good Health and Well-being — which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all people — from birth to their entire lifetime.
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A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1) | NWI
