Buklog is an elaborate thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanen, an indigenous people in the southern Philippines. The head of a host family, usually a village chief called ‘timuay’, plans the ritual system to express gratitude to the spirits. The rituals ensure harmony among family, clan and community members, as well as among the human, natural and spiritual worlds. They include asking the spirits for permission to gather materials from the forest, presenting coin offerings, inviting the spirits of the departed to feast, invoking spirits of water and land, and music and dance.
■National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Philippines
ICHCAP
#philippines #culturalheritage #thanksgiving
Official: https://www.unesco-ichcap.org/
Facebook: / ichcap
Instagram: / unesco_ichcap
Script
For several days, an indigenous community performs several ceremonies and a structure towering over a village is constructed.
Chants weave through the gurgle of the river and rustle of the forest.
The sounds of flutes and gongs and thump of wood and feet reverberate through the house.
Sacrificial animals are slaughtered.
Almost all members of the community comes together in festivity and solemnity, displaying multiple expressions of their beliefs, aspirations and traditions, embodied and unified in a spectacular system of rituals.
The Subanen is an indigenous ethnic group in southern Philippines whose traditional homeland is the Zamboanga Peninsula of Western Mindanao.
They are spread out in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay, and in some municipalities of Misamis Occidental province.
The Subanen, whose name means “people of the river” because they used to inhabit areas near rivers, are traditionally swidden farmers.
While ethnically identified as one, the Subanen vary according to language, geography and religion.
Their rich culture can be seen through their traditional crafts such as basketry, vernacular architecture, embroidery, mat weaving and art forms such music, dance and oral literature.
Some elements of Subanen traditional culture and way of life have changed or been lost over the course of time, but some also endure, such as the buklog, one of the grandest and most complex rituals among indigenous cultures of the Philippines.
Unique to the Subanen and the most important of their rituals and celebrations, the buklog is known for its magnitude and complexity, involving the whole community and numerous aspects of their traditional cultures, from animistic beliefs and native cosmology to crafts making and arts.
Thus, the buklog has become a hallmark of their culture and a very significant maker of their identity.
An ancient practice with mythical origins, mentioned in Subanen epics, the buklog is an elaborate thanksgiving ritual with several attendant rituals.
It is held to appease and express gratitude to the spirits for many reasons such as a bountiful harvest, recovery from sickness or calamity, or acknowledgement of a new leader.
The most distinctive feature of the buklog is a tall structure with a highly flexible platform,
which serves as a sacred and social space for rituals and the community dance.
Aside from being a sacred area, it is also acts as a large musical instrument.
As participants dance, the buklog structure makes a distinctive percussive sound, drawing more people.
One buklog held in recent time is called Buklog Thindeg, where several communities all over the Zamboanga Peninsula joined, affirming the importance of the ritual in Subanen culture and identity.
The buklog ritual is planned by the head of a host family, usually a village chief called timuay if the leader is male, or timuay glibon, if leader is a woman.
They initiate, lead and promote the observance of the Buklog to reaffirm their integrity as a socio-political unit and to share their resources with the community.
Along with other community leaders, they negotiate and solicit the people’s cooperation and support, and act in consonance with the advice of the gohuman, the council of elders.
All community members are engaged in the planning and preparation of the Buklog, reinforcing social cohesion. Everyone is encouraged to prepare contributions of food, offerings, labor and forest products, because those who contribute are believed to partake in blessings from the gods.
A shaman or ritual specialist, called balyan, officiates the buklog and a series of attendant rituals, with help of the timuay and his assistants.
Holding continuing access to power in healing, divinations and mediation, the balyan maintains the ability to see and communicate with the spirits, to discern their presence and actions, and to know how to deal with them even in exceptionally difficult situations.
Информация по комментариям в разработке