One common Northern Luzon artifact that has always left me with many unanswered questions is gongs – gansa or gangsa in most Philippine languages (ultimately from Sanskrit kamsa or kansya “bell metal”). Continue reading “Gong Metallurgy 101”
The half-forgotten Aytas
In the public mind nowadays, going ethnic has become hip. To wear your tribe’s gaudy colors and beads on gala occasions, or even for everyday work in provinces where ethnic diversity abounds, no longer elicits questioning stares. To declare one’s indigenous or minority roots is no longer as embarrassing as it was in earlier generations.
In fact it’s increasingly worn as a proud badge, on parade even in the halls of the United Nations in this Second International Decade of Indigenous Peoples.
Not so in the case of Aytas or Philippine Negritos. They are the half-forgotten minority among our national minorities, the most oppressed and down-trodden among our indigenous groups. Continue reading “The half-forgotten Aytas”
How boredom can lead to precious memories
Have you ever been pleasantly surprised to find an object from long ago when you were young? You probably made it, or kept it, merely to pass the time away and to kill boredom. And now that you find it, many years later, you realize that it serves as your magic door to precious memories?
Here’s one I did back in 1973 as a young teenage boy.
Continue reading “How boredom can lead to precious memories”