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Indigenous Religions (Reviewer) Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Goodluck sa exam gois!

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Indigenous People Overview

-Six percent of the world's population practices indigenous religions, including African tradit­ional, Chinese folk, Native American, and Australian aboriginal religions, witchc­raft, healing rituals, shamanism, ancestor worship, and spirit posses­sion, according to Pew Research Center 2012.


-Indig­enous commun­ities often view folk religions as simple, primitive, or less complex compared to establ­ished "­World Religi­ons­" in religious studies textbooks. It's crucial to consider indigenous beliefs to challenge stereo­types, as they are often associated with specific ethnic groups.


These are typically the indigenous people whose identities have been kept preserved against foreig­ners.2 There are many defini­tions of indigenous people but a common denomi­nator is that they are persons and their descen­dants "who lived on their lands before settlers came from elsewhere. The new arrivals later became dominant through means that may have included conquest, occupa­tion, and settle­men­t" (Bahr 2005, 3).


The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997 is a crucial law in the Philip­pines that protects and promotes the rights of indigenous commun­ities. It defines indigenous people as groups of people or societies who have lived on communally defined territ­ories, shared common cultural traits, and have histor­ically been differ­ent­iated from the majority of Filipinos due to resistance to coloni­zation and nonind­igenous religions and cultures.


Indigenous commun­ities (ICCs/IPs) include people who are considered indigenous due to their descent from the original popula­tion, coloni­zation, or the introd­uction of non-in­dig­enous religions or cultures. They retain their own social, economic, cultural, and political instit­utions but may have been displaced or resettled. Cultural Survival estimates that there are 370 million indigenous people, making up 5% of the world's popula­tion. They speak 4,000 languages and form 5,000 different groups in 90 countries, with 70% in Asia. In the Philip­pines, there are 14-17 million indigenous people, forming 110 ethnol­ing­uistic groups.

Indigenous Worldview

The Ifugao worldview is charac­terized by the presence of malevolent deities called Pulay, which can extract an indivi­dual's soul while asleep or prevent it from returning to the same body. These deities are approached through rituals known as baki, where the offici­ating mombaki chants the prayer and offers sacrifices to the deities. The items used during these rituals include betel nut, rice, a bolo, a hunting spear, and tobacco.

Indigenous commun­ities have been margin­alized globally due to colonial enterp­rises and modern­ization projects. They are often impove­rished, less educated, and vulnerable to military conflict and evictions. This margin­ali­zation is reinforced by stereo­types that they are uneduc­ated, unempl­oyed, and backward with their lifest­yles. Some activists fear that the Bangsamoro govern­ment, led by a Muslim-led govern­ment, will exacerbate the already margin­alized condition of indigenous people in Mindanao.

Rites are carried out based on the needs of a family or community, such as pahang for pregnant women, bubun for weddings, kate rites for deaths, and bogwa for cleansing rites. Rice rites are conducted throughout the year to seek protection for produce and blessing for a bountiful harvest

The mombaki officiates lukya at the start of the agricu­ltural calendar, where chickens are sacrificed to ensure rice consum­ption or sale. Panal is performed when seeds are sown to seek blessings for growth. During harvest, the mombaki performs ani, which includes the recitation of harvest narrat­ives. Pigs are often offered, as Remme (2014) argues that the offering of pigs embodies the transa­ction humans make with the deities.
 

Indigenous People

Igorot
Based in the Cordil­lera, the Igorot refers to various ethnic groups such as the Kankanaey, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga, Ibaloi, Isneg, and Tingguian. Igorot means "­people from mounta­ins­" (Cariño 2012, 4).
Lumad
Paredes (2015, 168) defines Lumad as a residual category reflecting indigenous commun­ities' secondary status in Mindanao, who did not convert to Islam and became Moros. Lumad, meaning "born from the earth" in Visayan, acknow­ledges the simila­rities and shared histories of different ethnic groups in Mindanao before contact with Spaniards, including 18 major Lumad groups which include the Subanen, B'laan, T'boli, Manobo, Talaandig, Mamanwa, and Manguangan (Cariño 2012). .
Mangyan
These are the indigenous people in Mindoro, Sibuyan, and some islands of Palawan. Some ethnic groups include the Tadyawan, Hanunuo, Tabanua, and Palaw-an.
Negrito
They are found in different parts of the Philip­pines but are distin­gui­shable because of their physical features such as dark skin and curly hair. Some Negrito groups include the Agta in Cagayan, the Dumagat in the Sierra Madre, the Aeta in Zambales, and the Ati in the Visayas.

Indigenous Worldview

The Ifugao, an indigenous community in the Cordillera Admini­str­ative Region, are known for their Banaue Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and two epics, Hudhud and Alim. Hudhud tells the creation narrative and the journey of Aliguyan, while Alim is about the god Makanungan and other Ifugao deities.
The Ifugao are divided into three subgroups based on dialects: Tuwali, Ayangan, and Henanga. The term "­Ifu­gao­" means people from the earth, with Pugaw referring to the earthw­orld. The Ifugao trace their ancestry to divine entities Bugan and Wigan, who moved to Pugaw due to its fertile soil and wild deer.
They settled along the Ibulao River in Kiyangan, where they are descen­dants of the Kabunyan deities. The Ifugao are known for their elaborate rituals dedicated to deities, with classi­fic­ations possible.
Anito
-The anito refers to the essence of the indivi­dual, typically understood as the soul. These are ancestral deities to whom sacrifices are mainly offered because of their ongoing involv­ement in the life of the community.
Namadjang
-Namadjang is believed to be the creator of the physical world. Although he is no longer involved in its affairs, sacrifices are also offered to him as a sign of respect and not for suppli­cation.
Mapatal
-Mapatal is the sun deity in charge of the weather
Pwulan
- A feminine entity, Pwulan is the moon deity concerned with fertility.
Mihtalapi
- These are deities that govern celestial bodies such as stars, clouds, and comets. Bunbuni. These are deities of the earth, which can affect natural geological catast­rophes such as landslides and earthq­uakes.
Bunbuni
- These are deities of the earth, which can affect natural geological catast­rophes such as landslides and earthq­uakes.
Aba’t and Umichaw
- Abat and Umichaw are deities of war, vengeance, and hostility.
Penaching
- These are commonly described as demons but not all are evil in nature. They are seen as inflicting trouble especially on children as they can cause pain and illnesses
Pulay
- These deities can be malevolent as they can extract the soul of an individual from his body while he is asleep. They can also prevent the soul from returning to the same body. It is believed, too, that mental disorders are caused by Pulay, entering one's body.