Igorotak met ah

Youthspeak: Igorotak met ah
Written By: editors on April 12, 2010 No Comment

By OFELIA EMPIAN

www.nordis.net

I am an Igorot. I eat pinikpikan and etag but I don’t eat dog meat. There’s one time they tricked me into eating it though, telling me that it was a goat meat .
I do not own an “Igorotak” t-shirt, and I don’t intend to buy one. But I sure am proud that my fellow Igorots thought of printing that, way before other groups decided that it was a cool way of being proud of your culture.
I am an Igorot. I don’t have a tail , but I do have tales to tell you, tales of how my fellow highlanders were discriminated and made fun of. One time, my cousin had a conversation with one of her acquaintances who just came from Bicol. Not knowing my cousin’s cultural identity, she proceeded to describe what an Igorot is based on her perception. She says Igorots are small, dark-skinned, curly-haired and “diaper”-wearing people who live far away in the mountains where they chase animals with their bow and arrows. She was then surprised to know that the person she is talking to is an Igorot, and to her shame, far from her descriptions. My cousin then pinpointed other Igorots around them, having fair skin, rosy cheeks, and wearing “normal” clothes.
Another encounter was from my other cousin, a ship stewardess. While they were having a meal, one of her colleagues, upon seeing her use spoon and fork, remarked:
“ Oy hindi ko alam na marunong palang gumamit ang mga Igorot ng ganyan ah!” (I didn’t know that Igorots know how to use that), while laughing .
A teacher of mine also told me his own experience, while walking in Minesview (where he lives) a group of tourists approached him and asked:
“Saan po kami makakakita ng Igorot?”
He replied:
“You are talking with one right now.”
And of course, who would forget the infamous “punchline” of Candy Pangilinan?
“Hindi po ako Igorot, tao po ako.”
Yeah right. Now tell me if that is funny at all.
I feel disheartened to the point of being sickened upon hearing similar stories like this. It is an outright discrimination and disrespect to one’s culture, this shameful ignorance of who we really are as Igorots. What happened to history and sociology teachers? Aren’t they supposed to be teaching their students the different cultures of our country? For several years the Igorot tribes were victims of mockery and ridicule just because many people lack “cultural education”. But could that be an excuse for simply mocking one’s identity? Just because you didn’t know who they are as a tribe, you have the right to ridicule them? That simply means lack of breeding and proper orientation of who your countrymen are. I hope you keep in mind that we are separated by islands that’s why we have different cultures and different ways of doing things, a different sense of pride. But I do hope you keep in mind that the islands we live in comprise one small dot of an island in the east side of the map, an island where we thrive and call ourselves Filipinos.
But despite all the negative things hounding my thoughts is the positive fact that many of those not from here, who came and settled here, have in them a sense of respect and awe to the Igorot culture. Painters, musicians, photographers, writers and many more have professed their love of the highlands, proof of this is that they have come and settled down here.
They have been partners of the Igorot tribes in attesting to the whole nation and to the whole world that these tribes have a rich and beautiful culture that have the capability to inspire and touch people’s lives in a subtle yet lasting way. A culture untouched by historic oppressors that is why it continues to linger on through generations.
A culture with a wondrous past and a bright future.
We Igorots will remain and will forever remain, Igorots.
So I guess, I’ll buy myself an “Igorotak” t-shirt after all. # nordis.net