Indigenous Peoples' Rights & Cultural Heritage

• Culture is a set of features in society that dictate ways of living together.

International Recognition of Indigenous Peoples (IP) Rights

• The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination helped IPs gain rights recognition.
• The UN Development Program acknowledged IPs' heritage and diverse knowledge as a global resource.
• The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity states that respecting human rights guarantees cultural diversity.
• Defense of cultural diversity is an ethical imperative, inseparable from respecting human dignity.
• The UN Commission on Human Rights says each culture must be respected and preserved, every people has the right to develop its culture, and the state should promote full enjoyment of rights.

Cultural Heritage

• Cultural heritage is a resource from the past passed down to future generations, forming a bond across time.
• It represents the cultural capital of contemporary societies.
• Cultural heritage can be tangible or intangible.
• The concept of cultural heritage involves responding to changing times.

Cordillera Heritage

• The Cordillera region includes Apayao, Abra, Benguet, Baguio, Ifugao, Kalinga, Tabuk, and Mountain Province.
• Cordillerans comprise various ethnolinguistic groups with a shared regional identity.
• "Tawid Kordilyera" refers to the shared history and culture of the diverse Cordillera groups.
• It encompasses knowledge systems, practices, settlements, and institutions developed since time immemorial, advanced, and safeguarded by Cordillerans for the future.

Cultural Amnesia

• Cultural amnesia involves abandoning tradition, heritage, community, and landscape when a society's history and heritage are manipulated by groups exerting power or control.
• It results in the loss of collective memory that once united a community and strengthened its identity.

UNDRIP (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People)

• UNDRIP outlines the basic rights of IPs.
• Self-determination, including autonomy or self-government, is a fundamental right rooted in land ownership.
• The right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is essential.

Divide and Rule

• The Austronesian movement originated from Taiwan and extended to the Philippines.
• The earliest inhabitants were the Negritos, still found in Apayao and Abra.
• The Ibaloys originated from Pangasinan, the Kankanaeys (Tingguans and Bontok) from Ilocos, and the Isneg from coastal Cagayan.
• Apayao and Kalinga are associated with the Chico River, while others were runaways from Spanish rule.
• Cordillerans are considered natives due to being the land's first occupants.
• Spanish colonization divided the people into those who conformed to the colonizers and those who resisted.
• Geographic locations were used to create identity by the Spanish.
• Ygolotte referred to gold traders of Benguet, Kayan, and Ifugao, later called Igorottes, or people from the mountains.
• Tingguianes were from Abra and Ifugao, with "tinggi" meaning high or elevated (Itneg-speaking people of Abra).
• Mandaya referred to those above in Apayao.
• Labels of levels of civilization were used to stigmatize and discredit groups, leading to ethnic divide and stereotypes.
• Infieles (pagans) and salvajes (savages) were used to describe Cordillerans.
• American colonialism continued the divide and rule strategy.
• Cultural differences between Cordillerans and lowlanders were institutionalized.
• The Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes (BNCT) was created to investigate the conditions of pagan and Muslim people and conduct ethnological studies in the Philippines.
• Studies reinforced Spanish observations and perceived Cordillerans as less civilized.
• Igorots were labeled as non-Christians, tribes, headhunters, savages, and wild.
• The 1946 Commission on National Integration, formerly BNCT, aimed to integrate minorities into mainstream society.

Layers of Identity

• Identity developed over time through geographic location, levels of identity, and ethnolinguistic group.
• Ethnic classification is a result of colonialism.
• Political division was used as a divide and rule tactic.
• Political affiliation was introduced.
• In 1908, the Mountain Province was established during American colonization with Bontoc as its capital.
• It consisted of seven sub-provinces: Benguet, Amburayan, Lepanto, Ifugao, Bontoc, Kalinga, and Apayao.
• A boundary realignment occurred in 1920.
• Alilem, Amburayan, and Lepanto were dissolved.
• The boundaries of Mt. Province and the lowlands were redefined.
• Tagudin and parts of Lepanto and Alilem were added to Ilocos Sur.
• The Jones Law led to the Filipinization of numerous government positions.
• Non-Christian provinces were given representation in the Senate and Lower Houses.
• By 1930, Igorots developed the more acceptable term "mountaineer" for themselves.
• BIBKA (Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc, Kalinga, Apayao) was an Igorot professional organization that preferred "natives" over "Igorots."
• In 1966, the Mountain Province was divided into four new provinces: Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, and (new) Mt. Province.
• Benguet is believed to carry the economic burden for the whole province through trades and mines.
• PD No. 1 of 1972 (Martial Law period) assigned regions in the Philippines.
• Region 1 included Mt. Province and Benguet, while Region 2 included Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao.
• Section 4 of Article X of the Philippine Constitution allowed the Cordillera to successfully gain its autonomy as a separate region.
• In SIPAT, July 15, 1987, C. Aquino entered into an agreement with CPLA to make the Cordillera a separate region.

Roots of Misrecognition & Reinvention

• The 3Rs refer to the roots of misrecognition, re-examining Igorot representation, and the reinvention of Cordillera identity.
• Recognition is a fundamental human need.
• Acceptance and recognition are crucial for self-esteem.
• Minority groups demanded recognition.
• The Philippine Constitution mandates the recognition of the rights of IPs.
• The IPRA Law or RA 8371 allows IPs to manage their ancestral domains and became its cornerstone policy.
• Non-recognition includes ignoring claims and appropriating material without regard for the culture.
• Voicelessness and invisibility heighten misrecognition.
• Misrecognition occurs when culture is essentialized or confined to a set of properties, leading to stereotyping.
• Stereotyping are intentional weapons of colonizers and oppressors.
• Exploitation, such as unfairly taking property and harming the culture, benefits the appropriator.
• Harms include commodification and loss of economic potential when culture is used for financial gain.
• Cultural appropriation involves making a culture your own without understanding or respecting it.

Cultural Fluidity

• Cultures are not fixed.
• Reinvention involves giving a cultural item a new form with cultural meaning.
• Reclamation involves reviving culture and removing its toxic traits.
• The inventiveness of tradition is used by the Kalinga people for cultural empowerment.
• Tattooing, known as "batok" in the Cordillera, signify tatak ng apat na alon tribe members.
• Macli-ing Dulag is known for the saying "land is life”.
• Fluid traditions involve traditions changing as they interact with other traditions.
• Mixing modern elements into traditional practices signifies positive cultural vitality.

Explore international recognitions of Indigenous Peoples' rights and the significance of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage connects past and future generations. Discover how the UN protects cultural diversity and human rights.