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The Aeta: The First Philippine People

Aeta tribe people in Santa Juliana, Capas, Central Luzon, Philippines

The Aetas, pronounced as “e ye-tas ,” are among the earliest known migrants or inhabitants of the Philippines . Over the years, the majority of their population managed to keep their cultural practices and traditions. But sadly, as one of the indigenous groups thriving in the country, they also face challenges such as displacement, marginalization, and poverty.

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The history of the Aetas

According to historians, the Aetas (also known as Agtas) are Australo-Melanesians. Historical accounts suggest that they’re of the same group as those of Aborigines in Australia and Melanesians of Solomon Islands. While they closely resemble physical characteristics such as curly hair and dark colored skin, it is not clear as to how they arrived in the Philippines.

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Their distinguishing characteristics and practices

Aetas are characterized by their skin color, height, and hair type. They mostly have dark to dark-brown skin, curly hair, and are usually below five-feet tall. Traditionally, Aetas are hunting and gathering indigenous people. They’re actually among the most skilled when it comes to jungle survival – they are even able to make use of plants as herbal medicine and possess tools and weapons. While they’re nomadic, they are able to build temporary houses made of sticks.

Aeta child, Capas, Philippines

Most Aetas practice monotheism and are animists. They worship a Supreme Being and at the same time, also believe in environmental spirits. They believe that various places in our environment are being governed by both good and evil spirits.

As for their clothing, they wear plain and simple attire. Traditional Aetas, who are skilled in weaving and plating, wear wrap around skirts or bark cloth (for women) and loin cloths for men. They are also into music and the arts – making use of ornaments as accessories and have ensembles of instruments to create melodious rhythms.

Colonial resistance and unfortunate displacement

Because they are usually scattered in mountainous areas, the Spaniards had a hard time introducing Catholicism to their population. They mostly resisted to change, which made it difficult for the Spanish to colonize their areas. This is also one of the reasons why they were able to preserve their cultural traditions and beliefs through to today.

Mt. Pinatubo crater lake, Capas , Philippines

Most Aetas can be found in the northern part of Luzon . According to historical accounts, they have lived near Mount Pinatubo in Zambales for thousands of years. But, when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, it devastated the Aeta population. The majority lost their homes while some re-settled in urban areas. This gave way to Aetas being modernly influenced by prevailing Filipino culture and practices. Some Aetas have already married Filipinos. Most Aetas also go to school nowadays.

Challenges today

In the Philippines, Aetas as well as other indigenous groups, belong to the marginalized sector of the country. They’re often displaced because their homelands have been destroyed due to illegal logging, mining, and slash-and-burn farming. Thus, these situations have forced them to relocate and leave their ancestral lands.

While the Philippine government has implemented mandates and acts such as the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 , it’s not enough to protect them and help them cope with matters such as access to jobs and livelihood support.

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The aeta people of the philippines: culture, customs and tradition [philippine indigenous people | ethnic group].

Aeta indigenous people of the Philippines ethnic group

It's possible that "Aeta" is derived from the Malay term "hitam," which means "black," or from its cousin in the Philippine languages, "itom or itim," which means "people."  Aeta, also known as Ayta, Alta, Atta, Ita, and Ati in early ethnographic records of the people, were sometimes referred to as "little blacks" because of their dark skin. 

Short and slender, the Aeta are also dark-skinned; their typical height is 1.35 to 1.5 meters; their frame is petite; their hair is kinky; and they have large black eyes. Later migrants are thought to have driven them into the highlands and hinterlands of the Philippines, where they are thought to have been the country's earliest settlers or aborigines.

Negritos are a diverse group of people who dominate the Philippines' archipelago from north to south, despite a perceived lack of inclusive terms to describe them. Philippine Negrito groups is the best term to use when referring to the Agta and Aeto in northeastern Luzon; the Aeta, Ayto and Alta in Central Luzon; the Ati or Ata in Panay and Negros; the Batak in Palawan ; and Iraya Mangyan in Mindoro . Remontado of Rizal province, the Remontado of Sibuyan Island in Romblon province, and the Ati are also included in this group.

Baluga or Ita is also known as Remontado or Ita in the provinces of Pampanga and Zambales; in Tarlac they are named Kulaman, Baluga or Sambal, while on Panay they are known by the names Ita or Ati. Aeta also goes by the names Kofun, Diango, Paranan, Assao, Ugsing, and Aita in the province of Cagayan.  

It is common for non-locals to refer to the Agat and Agtan people of the Philippines as "Dumagat" (meaning "seafaring people"). They are known as Mamanwa in Mindanao's northern provinces of Surigao and Agusan. the words man (first) and banwa (forest) combine to form mamanua, which means "forest inhabitants" (forest). However, the Mamanwa have also been referred to as "Kongking," which translates to "conquered" in Spanish.

As a result of their diverse social and geographical contexts, the Aeta have a wide variety of distinct names to call themselves. Aeta groupings have been classified in a variety of strange ways. Non-Aeta groups or neighbors may take offense to a name given by an Aeta group, especially if the given name is considered derogatory. 

The term "Ita" is offensive to certain Filipinos because of their dark skin tone. The Aeta are sometimes referred to as Baluga , which translates as "hybrid," in Central Luzon. As "brackish, half-salt, half-fresh" implies, other Aeta groups find this disrespectful. One subgroup of the Aeta of northern Luzon is known as the Ebuked, which comes from the Filipino term bukid (field) and refers to people who dwell distant from the lowlands. They are collectively known as the Aeta or the Agta. The Agta view the Ebuked as primitive and backward. In the north of Luzon, another ethnic group is known as the Pugut, a term used by their Ilocano neighbors to describe people with dark skin. Goblin or forest spirit are other possible translations in Ilocano.

"Abiyan" means "companion" or "fellow" in local dialect for the Aeta of Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur. During the Spanish period, this particular group worked for wealthy Christian landowners, hence the name. The term "Bihug" comes from the Abiyan slang term "kabihug," meaning "fellow at the meal." Workers in Quezon province known as Aeta, who clean coconut plantations and do odd labor for food and cloth, are also called Abiyan. Ata, Atid, and Itim are some of the other names Quezoners use to refer to themselves.

The Aeta population is made up of approximately 30 distinct ethnic groups. There are 117,782 Aeta people in the Philippines or one percent of the country's overall indigenous population. As of 2010, the Agta of Northeastern Luzon had 10,503; the Pinatubo Aeta had 56,265 members in 1997; the Mamanwa had 54,394 members; and the Ati had 9,258, distributed throughout the Visayas, with the majority living on Iloilo and Capiz islands.

It is interesting to note that despite significant social, political, economic, and geological changes, as well as distressing environmental shifts over the last two centuries, the distribution of the Philippine Negrito groups has stayed mostly unchanged. Despite this, they can still be found in parts of Western Cagayan, the Sierra Madres, Central Luzon, the Island Group, and Mindanao.

The Aeta group's diversity is evidenced by the fact that over 30 different Negrito languages have been recorded. However, only 17 of these are currently being used—namely, Abelling, Abiyan, Aeta or Ayta, Aggay, Agta, Atta (aka Ata or Ati), Batak (aka Binatak) , Cimaron, Dumagat (aka Umiray) , Iraya , Isarog, Kabihug, Mamanwa, Manobo or Ata-Manobo , Negrito, Remontado, and Tabangnon. In order to communicate with the locals, many Aeta have learned the language of the lowlanders they've encountered.

History of the Aeta tribe in the Philippines

It is still a mystery as to the origins of the Aeta, which anthropologists and archaeologists continue to investigate. 30,000 years ago, the Philippines was connected to Asia by land bridges, which brought the initial inhabitants of the country to the Philippines. The Malay peninsula was once connected to Sumatra and the remainder of the Sunda Islands, which could explain these migrations. It's possible that the Aeta dispersed throughout the archipelago that is now the Philippines at the time of their arrival.

The Aeta are more closely related to Asia-Pacific tribes than to the African group, according to genetic research. There is speculation that the Mamanwa have some unique genetic material not seen in the other Aeta tribes. These people are related to the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Guinea, who are descendants of Africans who migrated south. As an Australoid people, the Aeta are defined as having "enhanced survival value in a hilly tropical climate with inadequate nutritional resources." About 45,000 years ago, the first Australian aborigines arrived on the continent. The Mamanwa are thought to have broken apart from their common ancestor 36,000 years ago. As a result, the Mamanwa people may be the country's oldest ethnic group.

According to Chau Ju-1225 Kua 's chronicle, the Aeta were known as the Hai-tan. When thrown a porcelain bowl, they'll leap to their feet and roar in delight, according to reports of these masked assailants perched on tree limbs and ready to take down unsuspecting onlookers. On one of these islands "in some of these mountain regions are blacks inhabited by Indians as a general rule, and whom the latter capture and sell, and even employ as slaves," according to Miguel Lopez de Legazpi , a 16th-century explorer. Blumentritt was one of several writers who adopted Colin's theory about the Philippines' first residents being black mountaineers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

There are archaeological pieces of evidence indicating that, prior to the Spanish conquest, Aeta peoples lived in the lowlands, but they gradually relocated to the hills and highlands as a result of succeeding immigrants and conquerors like the Spaniards. There is evidence that the Zambales Aeta, for example, lived in the lowlands and along the coasts and rivers of the Zambales River.

The Aeta are known for their resistance to change. Throughout the span of the Spanish administration, the Spaniards' attempts to relocate them to reservations failed. Only when lowlanders established artificial government structures, such as a consejal (city councilor), a capitan (barangay commander), or police, did the political organization of the Aeta change.

With the acquisition of new colonies, particularly the Philippines, in the first decade of the 20th century, the United States became a global force. It was in Missouri, in order to present itself as a global superpower, that the United States created the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 . At the time, the world fair was the most ambitious effort of its type ever undertaken. The 47-acre Filipino reservation, which included 100 buildings, cost two million dollars. There were 1,100 individuals from the Philippines living on the reservation. Negritos and Mangyans made up 38 of the ethnic delegates. In the Philippines, the Negritos were supposed to represent those who were the least civilized.

Only the Pinatubo Aeta , who lived around the former US military bases in Zambales and Pampanga, were willing to engage in communication with the visitors from the United States. General Douglas MacArthur commended them after the war for their assistance to the US Air Force soldiers. They were permitted to penetrate the perimeter of the base and participate in scavenging activities there. The American special operations forces used them as jungle survival teachers as well.

Video: Paano nakaligtas ang mga katutubong Aeta sa pagsabog ng Mt. Pinatubo?

Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991 , forcing the United States to leave the bases. For more than a decade, the Aeta ancestral lands were buried under ashfall and lahar from this volcanic eruption, one of the largest natural disasters of the twentieth century. More than 50,000 people were killed by an earthquake that struck the Pinatubo Aeta on August 12, 1980.

The Aeta people of northeastern Luzon rebuffed attempts in the 1930s to introduce farming to their culture and were driven out of the area. They were able to adapt to social, economic, cultural and political challenges with amazing resilience, developing systems and structures within their society to lessen the impact of change when necessary. The Aeta, on the other hand, have declined in numbers during the second half of the twentieth century. Environmental catastrophes and anti-people sociopolitical and economic policies have put their very existence in jeopardy for decades.

Colonial and economic policies in the United States prior to World War II emphasized large-scale commercial logging and mining of the country's natural resources. Extractive industries continued even after the Philippines gained independence from the United States. Mining claims made by large corporations proliferated under the Marcos administration, which was bolstered by a presidential decree in favor of mining. Deforestation accelerated as foreign businesses and Marcos loyalists were handed wood licenses. Even after the EDSA Revolt in 1986, the administrations continued to encourage logging and mining activities.

Nickel mine operations prompted the Mamanwa to relocate to the lowlands in 1986. Mining deposits abound throughout the majority of Mamanwa traditional territories. Among the greatest iron deposits in Asia is Claver in Surigao del Norte, for example. Displaced from the trees that sustained their traditional lifestyle, the Mamanwa struggled in their new locations. Furthermore, the mining operations harmed the natural environment by clogging the waterways. Reversal of the Mamanwa's peaceful way of life was brought about by mining firms entering the Surigao provinces in the 1970s and 1980s.

Illegal and legal logging on the eastern side of the Sierra Madre mountain range has decimated Agta hunting and gathering practices. Because of the loss of forests, Aeta had no access to the plants and animals it needed to thrive. Hundreds of Agta were killed in Quezon province as a result of flash floods and mudslides caused by tropical depressions and typhoons in November and December of 2004.

With the support of social-forestry initiatives like Integrated Forest Management Agreements and Community-Based Forest Management Agreements , the government has attempted to address the issue of deforestation in the country (CBFMA). Nagpana, a forest reserve on Panay Island, was designated as an Ati-only area in 1986. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is in charge of it (DENR). According to the agreement, the Ati are allowed to live in the forest, but they are prohibited from using forest resources for charcoal production or using forest land for kaingin (swidden farming). That's why they've started selling herbal treatments in nearby island provinces like Samar and Leyte and Cebu and Negros in order to make ends meet. As a result, Ati communities have sprouted up in places like Naga, Cebu, and Janiuay, Iloilo.

In 1998, the Batak of Kalakuasan in Palawan signed a CBFMA with the DENR covering 3,458.70 hectares of forest in Barangay Tanabag. It's a deal that Batak see as unsatisfactory because it only lasts 25 years and is only renewable if Batak can meet unattainable standards. Furthermore, the Batak are unsatisfied with their position as DENR subsidiaries because of the CBFMA's lack of security of tenure.

In addition to deforestation, the Aeta has been troubled by expulsion, displacement, serfdom, and mendicancy. Since the government and insurgent New People's Army (NPA) have been engaged in a long-term military war in rural regions, the Philippine Negritos, whose forest habitats are also battlegrounds, have been harmed. 400 Mamanwa households in Taganito, Surigao del Norte were evicted from their ancestral lands in the 1980s by military authorities who accused the Mamanwa of supporting the NPA. Families are being forced to flee their homes as a result of the harassment and expulsion they have been subjected to.

Aeta peoples have also been displaced from their natural grounds by hungry lowlanders in search of food. The Madia-as mountain range, which separates Iloilo and Antique, was the ancestral home of the Panay Ati. When the forest was reduced in the 1950s, the locals turned to swidden farming, selling medicinal herbs for a profit and working as farm laborers. Some Visayans took advantage of the time between planting seasons when Ati ancestral grounds were lying fallow and applied for government land titles for these ancestral holdings. The Ati attempted to retake their ancestral lands, but they were unable to demonstrate legal possession because they did not have the proper documentation.

The Ati in Negros have been reduced to the status of agricultural laborers or tenants, forced to work on land that was once theirs. In the lowlands, people hire them to do things like plow fields, collect coconuts, and cut bamboo into fish traps. A large number of Christian families employ women as maids or farm workers. A few people in Iloilo have taken to begging on the street. So it comes as no surprise that some Aeta (especially the Dumagat) succumb to alcohol. In the Dumagat culture, alcoholism was originally unknown. Lowlanders likely introduced it and unscrupulous merchants reinforced it by providing alcoholic beverages as payment for Aeta work. Even among women, intoxication has become a societal issue.

A Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title issued under the provisions of the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) gives Aeta tribes official acknowledgment of their ancient territories and waters (CADT). It has been possible for certain of the Pinatubo Aeta, Agta/Dumagat, Ati, and Mamanwa tribes to get land titles over ancient lands after enduring a time-consuming bureaucratic process. 400 Mamanwa families, for example, purchased a CADT in 2006 covering 48,870 hectares in Surigao del Norte, including a section of Agusan del Norte.

A formal land claim does not guarantee that indigenous peoples will be freed from their plights. This new income, which amounts to millions of pesos, has sparked friction among Mamanwa chiefs, who have been empowered by the IPRA to negotiate for a one percent royalty of the gross production of mining firms operating in their territories. Even though Quezon province's Agta/Dumagat ancestral lands comprise 164,000 hectares, they have not been safeguarded against illegal logging and the construction of a hydro dam that will eventually bury their forests and sacred sites.

Modern leaders have championed the group's economic, political, and cultural rights in recent times. At the vanguard of the Laiban Dam protests in 2009 was Napoleon Buendicho, a prominent Agta/Dumagat leader in Quezon. Tribal Council Governor Buendicho of the Agta/Dumagat and Remontado of Quezon Province led his fellow Agta in protesting the development of a dam that will flood at least nine barangays in Tanay, Rizal, and General Nakar, Quezon and leave 5,000 Agta homeless. Thirty Ati families headed by Dexter Condez obtained their CADT in 2013 on Boracay, a popular tourist destination. The CADT is located in Boracay's Barangay Manoc-Manoc and covers 2.1 hectares. However, private investors and other land claimants have disproved their claims. In February 2013, Condez was slain, and the Ati ancestral property's outer fences were destroyed. In order to protect Ati and local officials who were implementing CADT, the national government had to designate police authorities. Ati and island civilian authorities continue to face dire threats in spite of the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples' issuance of a warrant of execution confirming their land claim.

Pinatubo Aeta

The Pinatubo Aeta are members of a group of indigenous groups that inhabit hilly and forested places around the island. They're thought to be descended from the people who lived in the Philippines before the Spanish arrived. They are considered a significant ethnic group by social scientists. In addition to being the largest in number, they have maintained their cultural identity through the ages. 83,234 people were estimated to be members of the Aeta groupings in 1988. Pinatubo was home to the lion's share of this population. The Pinatubo Aeta grew at the same time as the Aeta in other parts of the country declined, a phenomena ascribed to Mount Pinatubo.

Prior to the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the Aeta occupied Zambales towns of Botolan, San Felipe, Cabangan, and San Marcelino; Mabalacat, Porac, Angeles, Floridablanca; Capas, O'Donnell, Bamban; and Dinalupihan in Bataan. Aeta is surrounded by the Tagalog, Kapampangan, Ilocano, and Sambal peoples of the lowlands, all of whom speak their own dialects of Tagalog.

Mount Pinatubo, which stood at 1,745 meters above sea level before the explosion of the volcano in 1991, was home to a wide variety of plants, wild fruits, and medicinal herbs. The landscape was also densely forested, with a wide range of tree species. It seemed as if rattan was everywhere. During the day, the air was muggy, but as the sun set, the temperature began to drop. Its terrain was difficult and inaccessible to land vehicles because of its variable topography, rough interior, and rugged interior regions. Trails and streams wound their way through the slopes, connecting several settlements. The hilly region is home to a single river that flows into the West Philippine Sea. During the rainy season, its tributaries cause a lot of erosion in the surrounding villages.

Its lower and higher reaches were home to a variety of barrios and sitios. People living in the mountain's lower grasslands and secondary forests are classified as "acculturated" or "isolated," depending on where they live in the mountain. There were only a few acculturated villages in the Pinatubo region by 1976: Yamot, Mantabag, Kalawangan and Taraw were the only ones left, with Maguisguis, Villar and Poonbato the only others. The Pinatubo Aeta were vulnerable because they were ill-equipped to deal with external pressures after being driven from their ancestral territory. As was to be expected, they were among the most severely affected by the largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century.. Aeta of Zambales lived in 24 villages before disaster: Tarao or Makinang, Manggel and Kalawangan of Zambales; Belbel and Balinkiang of Lukban and Belbel of Belbel of Balinkiang of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of Yamot of As a result of the blast, all of these were left in the dust. Lahar covered lowland areas around the volcano as it erupted, forcing evacuations and stopovers in various evacuation camps for evacuees.

But their incredible resiliency was demonstrated by the fact that their population remained roughly steady even despite decades of displacement. There were 56,265 Aeta in Zambales province in 1997, according to data from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). This is close to the population level prior to the 1991 calamity.

The Pinatubo Aeta have also lost their original language, like other Aeta tribes. Those who live on the coastal plains near Mount Pinatubo can now communicate in the Sambal language, which is spoken by lowland people. Those Aeta who live in Pampanga speak Pampango, whereas those who live in Bataan speak Tagalog on Mount Pinatubo's Batan side speak Tagalog. However, the Aeta people of Pampanga and Tarlac still speak a language known as Ayta Mag-anchi. There were some communities in Pampanga that spoke it before Mount Pinatubo's erupting ash cloud engulfed the region. Many barangay residents in Capas, Tarlac, spoke Ayta Mag-anchi as well. Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and San Clemente were the places where native speakers of the language could be found after the volcanic eruption.

Way of Life of the Aeta

The indigenous Aeta economy has traditionally included hunting and gathering food. The Aeta, except for those in Tarlac who knew how to produce rice, were nomadic hunters and fisherman in the 1880s. Fishermen used bows and arrows and dogs to harvest fish, and domesticated dogs to hunt for food like snakes and frogs. Wild fruits, vegetables, and honey were collected by women. 

Chinese and Christian Filipinos exchanged beeswax and arrowheads for tobacco and betel. It was common for the Aeta to employ three types of arrows for different types of games. This quiver was made of bamboo and contained arrows tipped with poison made from roots and herbs. They like to hunt at night using a flashlight that is attached to their hands with thick rubber bands during the dry season. The animal's eyes are clearly visible in the beam of light. After then, the light is dimmed to make it easier to creep up on the prey. A second time, the arrow is elevated and pointed directly at the animal.

A wide range of traps and hunting methods are employed by the Mamanwa. During the rainy season, from November to April, hunting is at its peak. To catch deer, pigs, monkeys, iguanas, and other large animals, the Mamanwa used bayatik (spear traps) and gahong (pit traps) in the forest.

We've seen a wide variety of fishing methods in action. Both freshwater and ocean fishing are practiced by the Aeta of Antique in Panay. Everyone in the neighborhood uses their bare hands to catch gobies, shrimps, and crabs. Building watertight dams with the help of parents, children redirect the flow of an adjacent river toward the main body of water. Fish, eels, and shellfish are harvested from the riverbed by hand once the water has receded. Aeta Pinatubo uses more modern methods. They use a metal rod attached to a rubber band to catch fish as they swim. The Ati of northern Negros has been spotted using hazardous fishing methods, hurling explosive lime bottles into the water.

Several Aeta tribes rely on honey-gathering as a major source of income. Pinatubo Aeta and Ebuked Agta eat honey as a delicacy. Besides nectar and honey, the Pinatubo Aeta also devours immature bees and pollen from hives. Prior to 2010, the Aeta Magbukun of Mariveles, Bataan were heavily involved in the honey-harvesting practice known as "pamumuay." It takes Aeta dads or elder brothers a week on a luwak (backpack) to go to the forest and get honey. In the height of pamumuay season, boys skip school to join their mothers in harvesting big trees. Traditionally, honey is packaged and sold by women in repurposed whiskey bottles. Around 3.4 to 7 liters of honey per week can be harvested by an average Aeta Magbukun household during tag-pulot (honey season), which starts in mid-December and lasts until May. It's a good time to be them during Tag-pulot, because they can afford to pay their bills with their weekly income of roughly 3,000 pesos.

Rattan gathering is a key source of income for the Dumagat and is mostly carried out by men. They don't have a set work schedule and meet every day. Rattan stems are gathered from the forest, cleaned and scraped, and then split into long, narrow pieces as part of the work cycle. Rattan is delivered by the hundreds by the Dumagat to the merchants. The Dumagat receives a basket of products containing sugar, rice, salt, soap, and betel nut from these merchants, who reside in the lower regions. The Dumagat have no idea how much their job is worth in terms of money. Their incomes are frequently insufficient to cover their basic needs. Since the Dumagat cannot pay the hefty interest rates, they are compelled to take on debt from merchants. Due to the merchants' constant need to collect more rattan as payment, the vicious debt repayment cycle never stops.

The Agta are commonly described as commercial hunters and gatherers. Instead of hunting and gathering as a means of subsistence, those who engage in commercial gathering do it as a means of bartering their labor for carbohydrate-rich foods. It's likely that Kaingin is a very new addition to their way of life. As recently as 1975, for example, the Casiguran Agta were spotted engaging in the practice.

The Ati of the Visayas , who lived in permanent farming towns in the early 1960s, practiced agriculture. For food, the Ati settled in these areas and grew a variety of crops such as corn, wet and dry rice and abaca as well as sweet potato and cassava.

Systematic food production is new in the Ati case study. Although the Aeta have a subsistence economy, they are being drawn into the cash economy of most Filipinos. Hunting and gathering may give way to agriculture because forest grounds are disappearing rapidly, lowlanders are moving into the ancestral domain of Aeta, and cash crops offer an attractive alternative source of income. Agricultural dependency increases as the Aeta become more involved in a monetary economy. To make a profit, the Batak of Palawan, for example, collect rattan cane, wild honey, and bagtik, a resin made from Agathis philippinensis , among other things.

Historically, bagtik or almaciga are used as house torches in the Philippines. To create varnish and paints of the highest quality, linoleum adhesive, waterproofing compounds, and adhesives, tapping resin became a need after World War II. For centuries, the Batak have been masters of resin gathering, utilizing a process that does not harm trees, unlike the destructive methods used by lowlanders.

Aeta can earn money in other ways as well, of course. In weaving and plaiting, the Aeta have a talent. Handicrafts are made to meet the everyday necessities of the community, as well as for personal decoration and exchange with outsiders. Winnowing baskets, armlets, small bags, and mats are all products made by the Mamanwa and Agta tribes. Bartering and trading honey and tamed animals, as well as selling medicinal plants and roots, are common pastimes among the Ati of the Visayas. The Pinatubo Aeta are known for their mastery of metalwork, making it their most highly skilled vocation. A majority of the work is done by males, but women and children may also participate in the process.

The Aeta are still getting to grips with the idea of land ownership and formal titles. With the support of lowland allies in government offices, certain communities like the Mamanwa of Agusan have been able to gain land titles. However, the land is usually sold soon afterward. Due to the fact that traditional Aeta tend to be short-term foragers, this is the case. They've been conned into selling their titles for food, clothes, and trinkets, or putting them up as collateral for debts.

It is possible for the Aeta to be empowered by legislation such as the 1997 IPRA and Executive Order 247, which safeguard indigenous peoples' rights. Using natural resources and genetic materials in ancestral domains with legal titles in the Philippines ensures that monetary and non-monetary profits are shared, according to Philippine law. It is common for laws to govern and prescribe profit-sharing for the scientific and commercial usage of plants and animals. In exchange for allowing mining corporations to operate in their ancestral territory, the Mamanwa are entitled to take a one-percent portion of the gross revenues. The Pinatubo Aeta also want a piece of the money generated by visitors to the area around Mount Pinatubo. Subic Freeport and the Aeta of Zambales and Bataan agree on financial and non-monetary benefits from the utilization of their ancestral lands.' Negotiations might take a long time, but the payoff is worth the effort. Civil society and government organizations help Aeta groups negotiate with businesspeople, especially large corporations and international investors, because the Aeta groups need unique assistance in negotiating with businessmen.

Indigenous Aeta's Self-Identity, Sociopolitical Structures, Political System and Self-Determination at the Local Level in the Philippines

The Aeta's political system is mostly built on respect for elders who are in charge of judicial matters and are responsible for maintaining the band's peace and order. Aeta characteristics like honesty, openness and a lack of interest in gaining authority and influence for one's own benefit have resulted in an informal system.

We can think of it as an open-minded democratic political group. The main responsibility of the chieftains, who are often elders, is to keep the band in good order. Tradition serves as the foundation for the generally recognized rules and regulations. It is up to the pisen (elders) of Palanan, Isabela, to decide on critical communal issues. Panunpanun is the Ati term for this group in southern Negros. The panunpanun's leader is the group's eldest member. He or she must also be a good advisor, a good arbiter, and a mananambal (eloquent speaker).

However, it is still up to each individual to accept the judgments of the elders or chiefs. Members of the Agta band in northern Luzon are never forced to follow the advice of their leaders. They persuade through examples of good deeds.

They have also disrupted the tribal political structure by forcing them to elect members of the Aeta who serve in quasi-legal posts like councilors, barangay captains, and paramilitary officials who serve as a conduit to the outside world and not necessarily as leaders of the tribes themselves. Civic and religious groups in the lower regions have assisted some Aeta groupings in consolidating and pursuing their rights.

Native American rights are protected by the 1997 IPRA, a landmark law that was passed in 1997. As a result of the law, traditional Aeta leadership and sectoral organizations are being revitalized and strengthened. Their elders can accept or deny projects or activities inside their ancestral lands, as CADT holders, because they have the authority as CADT holders. Pastolan Aeta, for example, covers 4,200 hectares, some of which are located in the Subic Bay Freeport area. It is the Aeta's right to implement the IPRA law, which ensures them control over the Subic Base Management Authority (SBMA), the area manager, through their elders council.

Aeta Tribe Social Organization, Customs, and Tradition

With an average size of 10 families or 50 people descended from a common ancestor, the Aeta live in tiny groups. A lack of social stratification or classes is also evident.

In Aeta society, the nuclear family is the main social unit, however widows and widowers receive special attention. They appear to have equal rights and responsibilities as a couple, and their relationship appears to be pleasant. Parents and children have a solid relationship, and children are valued. As a result of this, the children show respect for their older relatives—their parents, aunts, and uncles.

Lowland culture has influenced traditional marriage traditions. Elders used to have a strong influence over how people got married in the past. When they were first introduced, they could only be organized by the couples themselves.

The Aeta mostly practice monogamy, although some communities allow polygamy. Among the Agta, it is customary to marry someone from a different ethnic group, a practice that may be widespread. The act of incest is frowned upon. First cousin marriages are common among the Pinatubo Aeta, but only after a rite known as "separating the blood."

The Dumagat have a tradition of courtship. Dropping ilador tibig leaves along the path where she gathers water is a way for a boy to show his feelings for her. The places where the bamboo leaves were dropped indicate whether or not she likes him. If she doesn't, she'll cover the ilador tibig with other leaves. Afterward, the boy would sing for her at her house. A gift in cash or in kind, such as a bolo or dress, must be given to the girl's parents if she is the youngest of her sisters.

By the time a young man reaches the age of 20 and a young woman reaches the age of 16, they can get married. All grooms must pay a bride-price in the form of a "arrow-bow bolo," "cloth," or "homemade firearm" in addition to money. By donating a piece of their bandi to the girl's family, the boy's family arranges for him to marry her. Alternatively, the male could be compensated by providing services to the girl's family. After the couple's marriage, the boy or his family may pay the further installments. When the wife's family fails to pay the bandi, it might cause strife among the Pinatubo Aeta. Elopement with someone who was not previously contracted is another source of the difficulty.

Every Aeta chapter has its own unique wedding ritual. When it comes to Dumagat weddings, the Dumagat sakad (a series of around three official meetings between the two groups) takes precedence over the kasal (wedding eating and drinking). It is customary in the Abiyan culture for the boy and girl to smoke a cigarette made of grass, which is then lit and given to them by their family members. Abiyan wedding traditions include the preparation of a betel combination for the couple to suck on.

The bride-to-be lives in the home of her husband-to-be. However, further studies demonstrate a shift in people's preferences for where they live. Whether or not the chosen location is close to one's parents, newlyweds prefer to reside in areas with agricultural land.

If both parties agree, divorce is possible. Laziness, cruelty, and unfaithfulness are all acceptable reasons for divorcing your spouse. In the end, the decision is made by a joint council of both families. The children are taken away from the guilty party. If the lady is to blame, the bandi must be returned to her. After a divorce, both parties are free to remarry.

The Aeta tribes consider intermarriages with lowlanders to be acceptable because of the social standing that may be achieved through such unions. Physical differences between the Aeta and lowlanders are thought to be reduced by these measures. Nearly all lowland men married Aeta women in Negros Island by 1974, but the Batak rarely married someone from Tagbanwa.

A pregnant woman's safety is guaranteed in their community. The safety of an unborn child necessitates restrictions on pregnant women. She should avoid tying knots or treading on cordage during childbirth, according to the Pinatubo Aeta. She must not be there when the stored tubers are dug out in order to avoid an early birth. Twin bananas and other oddly shaped fruits should not be eaten by her since they could cause a freak to develop in her.

Aeta women typically have an easy time giving birth and can return to work within a few hours of the delivery. A worldwide practice, massage, has been around for a long time. When it comes to childbirth, Aeta women of northern and eastern Luzon prefer to sit or kneel, unless there are significant complications and lying down is preferable. The birth of a child is open to all who wish to be present. A bamboo blade with a fine point is used to sever the umbilical chord. A loincloth is used to wipe the newborn after it has been wrapped in a little piece of cloth, laid by the mother's side, and smeared with ashes. That's because fire and ashes, which the Aeta believe protect them against evil, illness, and the cold.

Postnatal practices handle the umbilical cord and placenta symbolically. In the event that the infant becomes ill, the umbilical cord can be rendered inert and administered as medicine. Even in the privacy of your own home, it can be displayed in the form of an ornament. Hanging it dry and throwing it in the water can also help the child's development. The placenta can be disposed of in a variety of ways, including burying it under the house or returning it to the location of birth. The placenta is thought to cause illness or death if it is not properly disposed of.

Male circumcision is practiced by the Aeta, in which the foreskin is sliced open rather than cut off. Circumcision in the Dumagat language is referred to as bugit . An indication that a boy's role as a husband-to-be is about to change, young men between the ages of 11 and 16 are circumcised. The Agta of northeastern Luzon believe that a boy becomes a man when he or she kills or captures a wild animal on his or her own. The boy's father now considers him a man and allows him to date a girl from another tribe.

The commencement of menstruation marks the beginning of a girl's adolescence. In other words, when she has her first period, it's time to start dating, get engaged, and get married. It's customary for mothers to give their daughters crimson headbands when they've had their first menstruation as a mark of respect.

Even though the Aeta groups differ in their funeral customs, the following characteristics are found in all of them: Mourners leave material artifacts beside the cemetery to ensure the deceased's continued goodwill, and the burial site is abandoned after the grieving period.

Religious Beliefs and Practices of Ethnic Filipino Aetas

Aeta's way of living: dwellings and community settlements , aeta arts and crafts, cultural and oral literature of the aeta people.

Muminuddukam A ningngijjitam. (Pinnia) (It wears a crown but isn’t a queen It has scales but isn’t a fish. [Pineapple]) Assini nga pinasco ni Apu Nga magismagel yu ulu na? (Simu) (There is a cave with a bolo in it Full of bones it isn’t a grave. [Mouth]) Ajjar tangapakking nga niuk Awayya ipagalliuk. (Danum) (When you cut it It is mended without a scar. [Water])

Aeta Mythology: The Legend of Creation

There was no earth in the beginning, according to an Aeta creation narrative that is also known to the Mangyan . Manaul, a winged king who had been imprisoned by his vengeful opponent Tubluck Lawi , managed to escape.  For not being able to locate somewhere to sleep, King Manaul vented his fury at both the sky (with fierce winds) and the ocean, which responded by unleashing tremendous waves.  Manaul, on the other hand, was nimble and light on his feet. The battle carried on for years before both parties grew tired and agreed to compromise. Then Manaul requested for light, and he received thousands of fireflies in response.  All kinds of birds were provided to him as counselors when he requested for them. In contrast, Manaul pounced on the chicks and small birds with equal ferocity.  The fireflies were devoured by the owls and other huge birds, who in turn fed on them. Angry at the owls' disrespect, Manaul replaced their eyes with larger ones and ordered the birds to stay awake all night as a form of punishment.  Angrily stamping his feet and spitting out lightning, thunderbolts, and winds, the king of the air lashed out at Manaul for what he had done to his advisers. Also, King Captan of the Higuecinas, a genius among seafaring people, attempted to smash Manaul by throwing massive rocks and stones from the skies. Because he kept missing, land began to form.

Musical Instruments of the Aetas

Aeta's traditional songs .

Umanga kitam didiya takawakanam Nge kitam manggeyok ta aget Ta isulit tam tatahiman tam Ta wan kitam nga makaddimas nga Agta. (Brother come, Let’s hunt wild pig, To barter for something good, So that we will not be hungry.)

What is the song called "Kakanap?" It is sung by two Agta. In the kakanap, each melodic phrase is six syllables long. The sentences are sung one after the other, except for the final phrase, which is performed jointly. A Christian kakanap is as follows:

Eeyoy, eeyoy Anu oy, anu oy Itta ay kofun ko Had en o, had en o Awem ay maita Atsi o, atsi o Te itta in teyak Had en o, had en o Apagam, apagam On man tu, on man tu Ayagam, ayagam On mina, on mina Petta kofun hapa Anu kan ngagan na Hesus kan Hesus kan Onay o, onay o Kofun tam hapala Onay o, onay o. (My friend, my friend, What? What? I have a new friend Where? Where? This one you can’t see. Why? Why? He is with me here. Where? Where? Try to look for him Where then? Where then? Now you call him. I wish I could. So you can be friends too. What’s his name? Jesus is his name Is it? Is it? Jesus is our friend. O yes! O yes!)

The magwitwit is an Agta fishing song sung solo in metrical rhythm

Angay nge taka alapan nga magwitwit tahayaw Tahikaw posohang ku nga magwitwit tayaw Tatoy dimumemat nga ibayku magpawitwit Tahikaw pasohang ku nga magwitwit tahayaw (Brothers come let’s go fishing because someone came to ask a favor that I catch fish. I would want you to help come help me catch fish, because someone came to ask a favor that I catch fish.)

An example of a lullaby is the adang, sung by the Agta of Palanan, Isabela. The soloist sings the adang accompanied by the busog. Rendered in verse with eight syllables per melodic phrase, the song has an arpeggiated melody in ascending and descending contour.

Annin ne annin annin bemahana a pala pala Guduhunga ipagtatoy unduhunga tema tema Guduhunga tama tama nungsuhunga palagi da Lakahana pagi pagi Wanahaney anni anin Bamahana Nene, Nene, Neneheneng Annine, anni, annin bemahana lallakbayan Bankahana nema nema Cuduhunga ema ema Nungsuhunga Nene, Nene, Neneheneng. (Oh! Oh! Oh! My! the waves. The child went boating in the sea. The shield traveled because she was left alone so she left far away, oh! oh! My! Nene, Nene, Neneng! Oh! Oh! Oh! My! she traveled by boat alone The child traveled o’er the big waves Nene, Nene, Neneng!)

In the town of Malay, Aklan, the pamaeayi, which is the practice of obtaining parental approval for marriage, may occasion the song “Kuti-Kuti sa Bandi”

[Woman]: Kuti-kuti sa bandi, [Man]: Kuti sa bararayan; [Woman]: Bukon inyo baray dya, Rugto inyo sa pangpang. [Man]: Dingdingan it pilak, Atupan it burawan; Burawan, pinya-pinya, Gamot it sampaliya. Sampaliya, malunggay, Gamot it gaway-gaway; Gaway-gaway, marugtog, Gamot it niyog-niyog. Hurugi ko’t sambilog, Tuman ko ikabusog. (Woman: Scrutinize the dowry. Man: Scrutinize the house. Woman: This is not your house! You live across the river. Man: Its walls will be made of silver, Its roof made of gold, As golden as the pineapple, And the root of the bitter melon. Bitter melon, malunggay, The root of gaway-gaway; Beat the drums now And let’s start the feast! Drop me some coconuts, For I am thirsty and hungry.)
Inan uning kulalu ung’ Ha ko ha ay takay laman ningbunlong Hua ay iya makukokabukilan tamaangwaking a gong ditan Hako ay naluluwa ikon nako pon nanangan Ha ay papatulo talon ti hua mata Pa-rung hm hm Pampanikibat na-an ay Sumaukan laos ti kaya kong pakidungo no lu ako ay ako’y magpapa a ganbag song kahit ta malantong Kaya kong ipagpalit apunan un Kungi kong diling masakit ti lalamunan ay ibularlar ko alaw ay iniong ay atong (The birds are chirping I ate a foul-smelling bagoong Hay I am going to the mountains to get ubod, which I will barter for my dinner. I am hungry, I have not eaten If only my throat weren’t aching I will tell. Oh, mother, oh, father, will spank you Hay I think my body is exhausted.)
Ho wa ay kay ti ho ni ko panghuyutan Ay yo hay yo pan yambutan nining almungan yabi ya bing ya saunghaay kay ti ing panghuyutan pam yam butan alimungan ng u mi ya aw kulyawan Ay-yay pangambutan alimungan (This is where she caught up Ay, hay. My love caught up with me. Late in the night did I go to our meeting place. Ay, hay, love caught up with me. When the kulyawan cried my love caught up with me.)
Haqaroq Aruq uy baking ka iq nang Hanggaang ta tala as tasa ay Aruy hinlunabing ing ka long au lo Lin bak nuq ay ti a rap ti a anang diok. (Aru, Why mother? She said, You are pitiful.)
Tatadi’i di’im Na di ta nga dididi’i maninga domobang di’i Hi nadida nga kangi di’i Eh iy di nga o’oh Ada di ka busaw o Patongo o kami nga nag alima nga di toni bayo Nami ni ngi di toni (Do not worry that you are placed on the sacrificial platform as offering at bagobayan om Ha do not wish ill or pronounce a curse even if om you await death until each and all of us have offered dances to the spirits di’i Do not be hurt that di’i you will be killed o’oh Do not hex or get even with us because no one is to be blamed)
Wawa dadi danga ingidi’im Omoyo san-o sagaya’on o dingi dingi Bongo nado di banang posan di kasan bobayang nga’on Tabangga nga dowa nga’om. Ha iba nga ibato di tana a gingi ingi ingi nga Linongta tanga tanga ingi ingi dingim Ha nayon ngo ngo nga di na inda nango di dingin Na nga’o nga’o da dina ona o pona din donga ongo diga o (This is the first time my voice dingi dingi is recorded, that my presence at bagobayan is being recorded. I wish to say that this voice should not be made fun of ingi ingi dingim. What I have pronounced are the words dingin of the highest of all the spirits.)

Aeta's Dance Rituals

Documentaries, Films and Videos Featuring the Aetas

ALDAWNetwork. 2012. “ Palawan: Our Struggle For Nature and Culture .” via  Vimeo .

Amnesty International. 2009. “Mining and Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Are Human Rights.”  Amnesty International.  http://www.amnesty.org.nz/ files/Amnesty-International-Taganito-Briefing.pdf.

Arbues, Lilia R. 1960. “The Negritos as a Minority Group in the Philippines.”  Philippine Sociological Review  3 (January-April): 39-46.

Arguillas, Carolyn O. 2009. “Largest Royalty Payment to Lumads Divides Mamanwas.”  MindaNews , 22 February .  http://www.mindanews.com/c87-mining/2009/02/qlargest-royalty-paymentq/to-lumads-divides-mamanwas/.

Aurelio, Julie M. 2009. “‘Nga-nga’ Protest against Laiban Dam Project.”  Philippine Daily Inquirer , 31 July. https:www.causes/com/cause/327438/updates/211342.

Balilla, Vincent, Julia Anwar-McHenry, Mark McHenry, Riva Marris Parkinson, and Danilo Banal. 2012. “ Aeta Magbukún of Mariveles: Traditional Indigenous Forest Resource Use Practices and the Sustainable Economic Development Challenge in Remote Philippine Regions. ”  Journal of Sustainable Forestry  31 (7): 687-709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2012.704775.

Baluyut, Joelyn G. 2012. “Center for Kapampangan Studies.” Headline Gitnang Luzon , 17 September. http://www.headlinegl.com/center-for-kapampangan-studies/.

Barrato, Calixto Jr. L., and Marvyn N. Benaning. 1978.  Pinatubo Negritos . Field Report Series No. 5. Quezon City: Philippine Center for Advanced Studies Museum, University of the Philippines.

Barrows, David P. 1910. “The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines.” American Anthropologist  7 (July-September): 358-376.

Bean, Robert. 1910. “Types of Negritos in the Philippine Islands.” American Anthropologist 7 (April-June): 220-36.

Bellwood, Peter. 1978.  Man’s Conquest of the Pacific . Auckland: Collins.

Bennagen, Ponciano. 1969. “The Agta of Palanan, Isabela: Surviving Food Gatherers, Hunters and Fishermen.” Esso Silangan  14 (3).

———. 1977. “Pagbabago at Pag-unlad ng mga Agta sa Palanan, Isabela.”  Diwa 6  (January-December) .

Beyer, Henry Otley. 1918.  Population of the Philippine Island in 1916 . Manila: Philippine Education Company.

———. 1921.  The Non-Christian People of the Philippines . Manila: Bureau of Printing.

Beyer, Henry Otley, and Jaime C. de Veyra. 1952.  Philippine Saga: A Pictorial History of the Archipelago Since Time Began . Manila: Capitol Publishing House.

Blumentritt, Ferdinand. 1916. “Philippine Tribes and Languages.” In  Philippine Progress Prior to 1898 , edited by Austin Craig and Conrado Benitez, 107. Manila: Philippine Education Company.

———. (1882) 1980.  An Attempt at Writing a Philippine Ethnography . Translated by Marcelino N. Maceda. Marawi City: Marawi State University Research Center.

Brosius, Peter J. 1983. “The Zambales Negritos: Swidden Agriculture and Environmental Change.”  Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society  11 (2): 123-48.

———. 1990. “After Duwagan: Deforestation, Succession, and Adaptation in Upland Luzon, Philippines.”  Michigan Studies of South and Southeast Asia  2. Michigan: University of Michigan Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies.

Calzado, Conchita. 2013. Interview by R. Matilac. General Nakar, Quezon, 8 and 10 October.

Carolino, Ditsi. 2014. “ The March to Progress in the Philippines .”  Viewfinder Asia , 4 November .

Catoto, Roel. 2013. “ Mamanwa Leaders Nix Manobo Ancestral Domain Claiming Surigao Norte .”  MindaNews , 22 October.

Cembrano, Rita. 1999. Todom: Gawa-gawa Apu Nilomboan Kahimonan Ritual, Thanksgiving with the Boar Sacrifice Ceremony .  Philippine Oral Epics . Ateneo de Manila University. Accessed 13 October. 

Dacanay, Julian Jr. E. 1988.  Ethnic Houses and Philippine Artistic Expression . Pasig: One-Man Show Studio.

De la Cruz, Beato A. 1958.  Contributions of the Aklan Mind to Philippine Literature . Rizal: Kalantiao Press.

De la Peña, Lilian C. 2014. “ Between Veneration and Prejudice: The Ati in the Visayan World, Museum of Three Cultures .”  Academia . Cagayan de Oro City: Capitol University. 

De la Torre, Edicio, ed. 2005.  Significant Change Stories: Caraga Region 13 Mindanao Philippines . CONVERGENCE for Community-Centered Area Development, Inc. and Fundacion IPADE.

Dodds, J. Scott, director. 2000. Batak: Ancient Spirits, Modern World . Film on demand. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: Films Media Group. http://digital.films.com/play/4ZQ8L4.

Eder, James F. 1993.  On the Road to Tribal Extinction: Depopulation, Deculturation, and Adaptive Well-being among the Batak of the Philippines.  Quezon City: New Day Publishers.

Empeño, Henry H. 1991. “Living in Limbo.” Philippine Graphic  (12 November 1991, 18-19, 39.)

Espada, Dennis. 2003. “ Dumagats: A People’s Struggle to be Free .” Bulatlat  3 (24). 

Estioko-Griffin, Agnes A., and P. Bion Griffin. 1981. “The Beginning of Cultivation among Agta Hunter-Gatherers in Northeast Luzon.” In  Adaptive Strategies and Change in Philippines Swidden-Based Societies , edited by Harold Olofson. Los Baños, Laguna: UP Forest Research Institute.

———.1985.  The Agta of Northeastern Luzon: Recent Studies . Cebu: University of San Carlos.

Eugenio, Damiana L., ed. 1982.  Philippine Folk Literature: An Anthology . Philippine Folk Literature Series 1. Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Folklorists Inc.

Flores, Simplicio, and P. Jacobo Enriquez. 1950. Sampung Dulang Tig-isang Yugto . Manila: Philippine Book Company.

Fox, Robert B. 1952. “The Pinatubo Negritos: Their Useful Plants and Material Culture.” Philippine Journal of Science  81 (September-December): 173-414.

Gaillarde, Jean-Christophe, Catherine C. Liamzon, and Jessica D. Villanueva. 2007. “‘Natural’ Disaster? A Retrospect into the Causes of the Late-2004 Typhoon Disaster in Eastern Luzon, Philippines.”  Environmental Hazards  7: 257–70. www.elsevier.com/locate/hazards.

Garvan, John M. 1964.  The Negritos of the Philippines . Edited by Herman Hochegger. Vienna: Verlag, Ferdinand, Berger, Horn.

Gironiere, Paul P. de la. 1972.  Adventures of a Frenchman in the Philippines , 9th edition. Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild.

“ A Glimpse of the Mamanwa Peoples. ” 2008. Accesed April 2014. Youtube.

GMA Network. 2013. “ Meet the Batak, the Smallest Tribe in the PHL , on ‘I-Witness.’” GMA Network , 6 July. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/316241/publicaffairs/iwitness/.

GMFxStudio. 2013. “ Rise Dumagat ,” YouTube video, 21 minutes.

Gonzaga, Robert. 2011. “ Aetas Fighting for Land Rights Draw Inspiration from Fallen Leader .” Inquirer Central Luzon , 22 August. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/45569/aetas-fighting-for-land-rights-draw-inspiration-from-fallen-leader#ixzz3K0xLsuf3.

Headland, Thomas N. 1975. “The Casiguran Dumagat Today and in 1936.” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society  3: 245-57.

———. 1977. “Teeth Mutilation among the Casiguran Dumagat. ” Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society  5 (1-2): 54-64.

———. 1986. “Agta Negritos of the Philippines.” Cultural Survival Quarterly  8 (3): 29-31.

———. 1993. “Westernization, Deculturation, or Extinction among the Agta Negritos: The Philippine Population Explosion and Its Effect on a Rainforest Hunting And Gathering Society.” Paper presented at the Seventh International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies, Moscow, Russia, 17-23 August.

Headland, Thomas N., and Janet D. Headland. 1974.  A Dumagat (Casiguran)-English Dictionary. Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School and Pacific Studies, Australian National University.

Hirth, Friedrich and Rockhill, W.W., trans. 1970. Chau Ju-Kua: His Work on the Chinese Arab Trade in Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Entitled Chu-fan-chi . Taipei: Ch’eng-Wen Publishing Company.

Krieger, Herbert W. 1942.  Peoples of the Philippines . Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

Kroeber, Alfred L. 1919. “Kinship in the Philippines.”  Anthropological Papersof the American Museum of Natural History  19 (3): 69-84.

Lane, Robert F. 1986.  Philippine Basketry: An Appreciation . Manila: The Bookmark, Inc.

Lebar, Frank M., ed. 1975. “Negritos.” In  Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia: Philippines and Formosa , vol. 2, 24-31. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files Press.

Lumbera, Bienvenido. 1969. “Consolidation of Tradition in Nineteenth-Century Tagalog Poetry.” Philippine Studies  8 (3): 377-411.

Maceda, Marcelino N. 1964.  The Culture of the Mamanuas Compared with That of the Other Negritos of Southeast Asia.  Cebu: San Carlos Publications.

“ Manoro: The Teacher (by Brillante Mendoza),” Facebook video, posted by Knowledge Channel, 14 September 2012. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10151060364637638.

Marche, Alfred. 1887.  Luçon et Palaouan: Six Annees de Voyagesaux Philippines . Paris: Librarie Hachette et Cie.

Miclat-Teves, Aurea G. 2004.  Land Is Life . Quezon City: Project Development Institute.

Minter, Tessa. 2010. “The Agta of the Northern Sierra Madre. Livelihood Strategies and Resilience among Philippine Hunter-Gatherers.” PhD dissertation, Leiden University.

Musical Instruments and Songs from the Cagayan Valley Region . 1986. Tuguegarao: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.

NCCP-PACT. 1988.  Sandugo.  Manila: National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

Noval-Morales, Daisy Y., and James Monan. 1979.  A Primer on the Negritos of the Philippines . Manila: Philippine Business for Socia Progress.

Novellino, Dario. 2008.  Kabatakan: The Ancestral Territory of the Tanabag Batak on Palawan Island, Philippines . Canterbury: Centre for Biocultural Diversity (CBCD), University of Kent.

———. 2014. Update: The Batak (Palawan, Philippines) Digital Archive . Accessed 26 November. https://www.kent.ac.uk/sac/research/files/update_batak_digital_archive.pdf.

Obusan, Ramon. 1991.  The Unpublished Dances of the Philippines . Souvenir Program published by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila in conjunction with the event of the same name, 25-26 October.

Omoto, Keeichi. 1985. “The Negritos: Genetic Origins and Microevolution.” In Out of Asia: Peopling the Americas and the Pacific, edited by Robert Kirk and Emoke Szathmary, 121-31. Canberra: Journal of Pacific History.

Orejas, Tonette. 2013. “ Fight over Pinatubo Erupts Anew. ”  Inquirer Central Luzon , 10 March. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/371269/.

Orosa-Goquingco, Leonor. 1980.  Dances of the Emerald Isles . Manila: Ben-Lor Publishers Inc.

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———. 1990. “Notes on the Buag Ayta of San Marcelino, Zambales.” National Museum Papers  1(2): 1-40.

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———. 1978. The Ecology of Social Boundaries: The Agta Foragers of the Philippines . Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

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Prudente, Felicidad A. 1978. “Ang Musikang Pantinig ng mga Ayta Magbukun ng Limay, Bataan.”  Musika Jornal  2 .

Rahmann, Rudolf, and Marcelino N. Maceda. 1958. “Some Notes on the Negritos of Iloilo, Panay, Philippines.” Anthropos  53: 864-70.

Rai, Navin K. 1982. “From Forest to Field: A Study of Philippine Negrito Foragers in Transition.” PhD dissertation, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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———. 1904.  Negritos of Zambales . Philippine Islands Ethnological Survey Publications 2. Manila: Bureau of Public Printing.

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2 comments:.

Hello ! I would like to know from which book/article comes the legend of origins displayed in this post and whether there are more Aeta stories that were recorded and translated. Thanks for this interesting post !

Hello ! Thank you for this interesting article. I would like to know from which book/article the tale of origins displayed in the article comes and whether there are other Aeta tales that were recorded and translated.

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Ethnonyms: Ayta, Agta, Atta, Ata, Ati, Ita Countries inhabited: The Philippines Language family: Austronesian Language branch: Malayo-Polynesian

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Aeta Community in Pampanga: Coloring the Lives of Indigenous Children

This post was most recently updated on October 17th, 2018

The Aetas, being one of the biggest, in terms of number, member of ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, are indigenous people living in different mountainous places in Luzon. They can be found in the provinces of Pampanga, Zambales, and Tarlac, to name a few. In Pampanga alone, Aetas are scattered in the municipalities of Floridablanca, Porac, Guagua and Angeles.

Sitio Camachile, Barangay Nabuklod, Floridablanca, Pampanga

Color Your Life team chose Sitio Camachile, Barangay Nabuklod, Floridablanca to be the venue of its second project since the community is far from the city, which limits the sources of knowledge in school. There is also only a few that gives alternative teaching in this community. Not only that, these Aetas have been living in this place all their lives. Crops, livestock, and poultry are their only means of living. Imagine if there would be tropical storm, it’s really saddening to be in that situation.

#ProjectFloridablanca was held on October 23, 2017 in hope for the Aeta children to get basic knowledge in primary colors. We prepared art activities for a total of 50 participants with ages 4-12 years old. The facilitators conducted the usual art activities such as “Color By Number”- individual art activity – and “Color Your Lives”- collaborative art activity. As an ice breaker and feel-good vibes to start the day, the kids enjoyed CYL’s prepared action songs—Ako ay May Lobo, Takure and the famous dance craze, Baby Shark. Included in our project was the usual storytelling, which can feed them moral lessons from “Nang Magkakulay and Nayon” at an early age.

Volunteer experience with the Aeta community in Pampanga

The children were creative, smart and very orderly. The Color Your Life supports the Aeta community through the use of Art. We dream that someday the team can go back to Sitio Camachile to build activities that can help them explore their artistic talents more.

Volunteer experience with the Aeta community in Pampanga

Top Places to Visit in Pampanga

As part of traveling with a purpose, it’s not complete without exploring the beautiful places in the area. Given that, I listed down the Top Places to Visit in Pampanga . Whether you’re going for a short day trip or a long holiday with your family or friends, it’s likely you’ll be scrambling for time to catch all the attractions in this place.

We only know Pampanga as a go-to destination when it comes to satisfying those food cravings and also a place to party, but the thing is Pampanga has a pretty diverse mix of sights that you should definitely visit. Here are my top picks:

Alviera Sandbox

Sandbox is inarguably one of the most exciting places in Pampanga. This newest destination in Porac, Pampanga is fit for all outdoor junkies. For as low as 500 pesos you can try their popular attractions including wall climbing, giant swing, rappelling, and free fall. They also have a themed kiddie playground for the little ones and a mini golf course for the oldies, making it a family friendly site. They’re open from Tuesday-Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. You may purchase your tickets online .

FONTANA LEISURE PARKS AND CASINO

Fontana WaterPark

Fontana is one of Pampanga’s well-known leisure parks. It is located in Clark Freeport Zone which is home to some of Pampanga’s top attractions like Nayong Pilipino Park, Mimosa Golf Course, Air Force City Park, and Aqua Planet. You’ll definitely want to see its beauty for yourself as it’s the only resort in the Philippines integrated with a theme water park, golf course and casino.

PRADERA VERDE

Wakeboarding at Pradera Verde

Pradera Verde is an ideal destination whether you want to relax or try extreme sports. If you’re from North then I don’t think there’s any more reason to go to Nuvali as Pampanga has its own version of wake park. The 315-hectare of vast greenery sits in Lubao, Pampanga which is directly opposite of Floridablanca. Aside from its wakeboarding activities, its main features also include affordable villas where you can stay and relax.

More information about Pradera Verde here.

https://www.facebook.com/praderaverde.ph/

ZOOCOBIA Love is in the Air

Pampanga is not only home to the fancy resorts and hotels but it’s also a place where one can enjoy the nature. Zoocobia is a family-friendly park where you can interact with animals. They also have gravity car that is patterned after the Luge in Sentosa in Singapore. Make sure to book your tickets in advance. You can directly buy right here .

MOUNT PINATUBO

Mount Pinatubo Crater!!!

No visit to Pampanga is complete without a visit to this stratovolcano caldera, Mount Pinatubo. Ride a 4×4 and trek to the crater that sits in Botolan, Zambales. The volcano is in the boundaries of the provinces Pampanga and Tarlac. Plan your trip ahead as it requires good physical health for a whole day journey. If all sound appealing to you, check out a complete guide to Mount Pinatubo, right here .

Pint it for later.

Community Project for Aeta Community in Pampanga

Kevin del Prado

Kevin is currently working as a Business Analyst. Interests also include traveling, watching movies, outdoor activities, and photography. He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering.

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18 comments.

The children looks happy.

I a dreaming of going to the Phillipines. Pampanga region seems so beautiful. I especially would like to see with my own eyes the caldera of MOUNT PINATUBO because this really looks unreal. Pure beauty! Great pictures!

That smile on their faces worth the long and tiring tips. I love community service, I wish to join you guys when I have the chance to be in Luzon. I would love to volunteer, pls. include me ([email protected]) in your community service update. Thanks! All the best. ~ Farrah

Sure! I will inform you for the upcoming projects.

What a great community project/effort to do that for the Aetas. The indigenous people are often neglected by the government. It is good to know that there are private and non-profit organizations that are doing something for them. Kudos to you for blogging about it to create awareness.

Oh, those kids are precious! I love that they’re being exposed to art. I think that does so much to enrich children’s lives. This sounds like a great program.

I didn’t know such a community existed in Philippines. This blog is a revelation. Color Your Life team is doing a great job with this project. It makes a difference to the lives of the kids, one step at a time. I can see the joy on their faces in this picture.

Its a beautiful concept – travelling with a purpose. Those kids seem super talented and so happy to have received their colouring kits. The smiles on their faces are priceless! So inspired to see how you’re giving back to the community and helping children is one of the most amazing things you can do. You have my respect and admiration!

ooh those smiles are worth every bit of this trip. Such a lovely initiative taken. It must be so much fun to color with them or tell them stories. I find myself getting a little overwhelmed too. Besides the fun with the kids, the sandbox stuff seems like a cool thing to do.

I was reading through your article with great interest. The pictures look beautiful, and the area must be amazing to travel to. But above all it is fantastic that you are making an effort to change the world there! Nice job! Big respect for that!

I haven’t heard of Pampanga before but spending time with the Aeta community must have been so fulfilling. The kids are adorable. Mount Pinatubo looks beautiful too.

This is a really heartwarming post, especially to see how happy those kids looked! There are some beautiful places in this region, and that extreme sport park looks fun. One post to pin for sure!

Awww this post brings me so much joy! I’ve never heard of Pampanga before, every day I learn something new. What a fulfillment to know that you are the reason you made them smile that day! I am also looking for ways to get more involved in volunteering projects around the world. Is this something you do often? If so, I would love to chat about it! Lets connect. Best, – Ella

You are doing a great job by coloring the lives of these little ones. I’ve never heard of Pampanga, however, it looks like a beautiful place to visit. Thanks for listing down the major attractions of the area. Sandbox is a cool place for trying some adventures. The view of Mount Pinatubo is magical! Hope to visit Pampanga someday and check out the listed places.

I was nominated for the 2018 Liebster Award by The Barefoot Backpackers. To continue the flow, I am nominating you also for this award. You may find my blog post about it here: https://valeriebuaquen.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/2018-leibster-award-nomination/

Sending hugs from the Philippines,

Valerie Buaquen valeriebuaquen.wordpress.com instagram.com/valeriebuaquen facebook.com/buaquen.valerie

Hi! How can we volunteer there?

Thank you for your interest! You can send us a private message on our Facebook page.

Hi. I’m from Convergys and we’re looking to give out bags to the Aeta kids in Pampanga. Would you know anyone in their place I could coordinate with?

Jacob Maentz

describe aeta family essay

THE AGTA & DUMAGAT OF ISABELA

Isabela, luzon, philippines.

I just returned from a two week trip to Isabela province in northern Luzon to document the Agta and Dumagat Indigenous people in the area. Oma and I traveled for three days to reach our destination; starting in Manila we traveled by bus for two days and then took a 15 hour boat ride on a small outrigger to reach the towns of Divilacan and Maconacon. These two towns are separated from “main land” Luzon by the Sierra Madre mountains. There are no roads going here and the towns are only accessible by boat or a small plane. The remoteness of the area is what initially attracted me because I was hoping to find something more authentic, something different from other places I have been to in the Philippines. The east coast of Isabela did offer the authenticity I was looking for, but I also found there a way of life that I started to fall in love with. The beautiful indigenous people, the unspoiled beaches, rivers and forests, and the simple way of life that could touch any travelers heart.

The men spend most of their days either fishing, hunting or tending to agricultural crops. The Agta men will hunt or set traps in the forest for deer, wild pig or monitor lizards, although they often have to go very far into the forest to find these animals. Fishing for eels, shrimp and small river fish is also a very common practice among the Agta men. Although we did see some Agta planting rice and other crops this is still not very common as the Agta like to keep their semi-nomadic lifestyle. The Dumagats living close to the ocean fish use spear guns or a single rod spear. Sometimes the Dumagats will venture into the forest to hunt as well. The forest, ocean and rivers are of vital importance to the Agta and Dumagats because everything that supports them comes from these places. I recorded a short song by an Agta man on the shore of the Blos river after he had finished fishing. He told me the song is about the river and the importance of the forests for them as a people. You can listen to the song HERE .

We were able to visit a number of Agta and Dumagat communities while in Isabala. Life is simple in these communities with people doing the typical day to day chores and tasks most people do. The men will spend the day hunting and gathering food while the women generally stay back and watch the children. Some of the Agta and Dumagats find work in the towns of Divilacan and Maconacon and in one community a big percentage of the children have started to attend school.

Although somewhat shy, the Agta and Dumagats are some of the friendliest and gracious people I have met in the Philippines. They welcomed us into their communities and shared what little they had with us. We laughed together, played together, ate together and I even tried their natural drug (from a seed), called mama. If you ever get the chance to try this I would stay away. It made me completely dizzy and I lost all the strength from my body. I was zapped. There was some communication problems and I didn’t realize I was actually taking some kind of drug. I thought it was just something they chewed on for flavor. 🙂 The Agta and Dumagat are constantly chewing this stuff, but I suppose they build up a tolerance.

The communities we met seemed happy with what they had, which by most peoples standards is not much. The possesions they own are very little, a few pairs of clothes, a simple covering to keep them dry and the tools they need to get food. After our trip I realized that the Agta and Dumagat are relatively content with the life that they live. Many have been given the option to move into permanent housing, but they prefer to use a tarp roof and continue their semi-nomadic lifestyle. As long as they are able to catch fish and hunt for food, which in turn will be traded to buy rice, coffee, sugar and tobacco, the Agta and Dumagat seem content. Its nice to see a group of people that want to continue their way of life despite the growing pressures from outside. Perhaps this will start to slowly change when the proposed road to connect these municipalities to “mainland Luzon” is approved. Apparently a proposal to build a road is in the works and we heard a lot about this from local government officials. Personally, I know if a road is built that the way of life of these Agta and Dumagats we were able to witness for the past two weeks will start to change. There are always positive and negatives sides to any project, but in this case I believe a road will slowly start to wear away one of the last remote places in the Philippines, socially, ecologically and culturally. Perhaps certain types of development are not always ideal?

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describe aeta family essay

Hinubog ng panata — a photo essay

BY PAU VILLANUEVA

Indigenous peoples have long been considered guardians of global biodiversity, who have accumulated intimate knowledge of the ecosystems in which they live. Villanueva’s photo essay shows how development aggression not only threatens indigenous culture that is deeply rooted in land, but also the extinction of an entire heritage, in the context of the Aetas in Capas, Tarlac.

Nature and biodiversity are more than just sources of food, water, energy, and raw materials for the Aeta communities of Capas, Tarlac. Their cultural identity, well-being, and spiritual traditions are grounded on their regard for the living world. Among Philippine indigenous groups, the Aetas are known for their extensive knowledge of herbs and indigenous healing methods. 

Spirituality is a way for them to honor their worldview, which was adopted by their ancestors who had lived in the Luzon mountain ranges long before Spanish colonization. Aeta healers, locally called “mang-aanito,” are sought after. Considered custodians of ancestral knowledge and philosophies, these community elders are keen on preserving their indigenous ecologies. 

One of the local healers in Sitio Binyayan, Nida Cautibar, recalls how her calling began. “When I was sick with typhus, my Aeta neighbors took care of me and eventually taught me how to use herbal medicine,” says Nida. “Being entrusted with this knowledge, it has now become my responsibility to heal the sick without asking for compensation,” she adds. Aeta healers believe their mission is to share their healing experiences as a means of keeping society together rather than as a means of acquiring wealth. Healing, for them, is also a way to give back to the Aeta and the non-Aeta communities.

But the multi-billion New Clark City development project in Capas, Tarlac is threatening the indigenous ecology and continues its relentless path without free, prior and informed consent from the Aetas who live there. According to the website of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), the project’s implementing agency, New Clark City is designed to be “wrapped around magnificent views of the hills.” The change in landscape – from flora and fauna to roads and infrastructure – is rendering irreversible damage to the natural world that is the Aetas’ only source of information, passed on from one generation to another through oral tradition.

“We used to roam the forests freely but now, we are scared. We are restricted in our own lands,” says Rosette David, an Aeta healer who has been living in Sitio Bagingan for more than 28 years. “Nature is vanishing as roads are being paved.”

The world over, indigenous peoples have long been considered guardians of global biodiversity, as they have accumulated intimate knowledge of the ecosystems in which they live. Development aggression not only threatens indigenous culture that is deeply rooted in land, but also the extinction of an entire heritage.

describe aeta family essay

A small native hut in Sitio Alli where an Aeta family lives is situated near one of the construction sites of New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac. The Aeta residents find it difficult to sleep whenever construction goes into the night.

describe aeta family essay

An Aeta devotee of the Crusaders of the Divine Church of Christ in Sitio Kawayan kneels before the chapel’s altar to pray. Other religious orders and benevolent groups are recognized by Aeta communities in Capas, Tarlac. Even within these denominations, Aetas still practice spiritual beliefs instilled on them by their ancestors. 

describe aeta family essay

Nida Cautidar, a local healer from Sitio Kalangitan, performs a diagnostic ritual by cracking a raw egg into a glass of water to be examined for any change in shape that might suggest the nature of one’s illness. Nida learned these healing practices from years of living in Capas, Tarlac, surrounded by Aeta communities.

describe aeta family essay

An alternative diagnostic ritual performed by healers to identify maladies involves hovering a blank paper over a gas lamp. According to Nida Cautidar, the resulting burnt formations suggest that the sick person has unconsciously disturbed dwelling places of spirits.

describe aeta family essay

Aeta resident Leah (name changed to protect her privacy) holds freshly picked hagonoy weeds while strolling along a flattened road in Sitio Alli, Capas, Tarlac. According to Leah, they used to roam freely in the area, which was covered with herbal plants and fruit-bearing trees. Security cameras have been installed to monitor intruders amid the construction of New Clark City.

describe aeta family essay

Lily De Guzman, an Aeta healer from Sitio Gayangan, prays over medicinal plants to be used for her sick grandchild. As one of the senior Aeta healers from her community, Nanay Lily is revered for her spirituality and vast herbal knowledge.

describe aeta family essay

Sambong leaves are pounded to extract juice, taken orally to cure stomach ache and diarrhea. The Aetas, who live in the mountains, have utmost respect for the living world. Their traditional medicine practices are deeply rooted in nature.

describe aeta family essay

Lily De Guzman presses on hagonoy leaves mixed with salt onto her grandchild's forehead after he shows flu symptoms. Lily and the Aeta community of Sitio Gayanon firmly believe that the hagonoy plant keeps them safe from the Covid-19 pandemic.

describe aeta family essay

‘Anituhan’ is a kind of community healing ritual that is often performed by the healer along with family and relatives during a full moon. In Aeta culture, the ‘anito’ represent environmental spirits residing in the natural world. Aetas believe that their traditional dances and music make it possible for one to be in contact with caring spirits. ‘Pag-aanito’ is the purest and highest form of the ritual that they can perform to heal a person possessed by spirits. 

describe aeta family essay

Oscar Capiz, an Aeta healer, chants as he performs the healing ritual of pag-aanito to his daughter Mary Grace (kneeling face down) and a grandchild. Oscar says he traveled for two hours to his daughter’s house in Sitio Flora after his personal spirit guide told him that his daughter was having a severe stomach ache. When medicinal plants don’t work, a healer is called to hold a ‘manganito,’ a séance, to ask the spirits for instructions to remove the cause of the illness.

describe aeta family essay

Rosette David, an Aeta healer, walks back to her home with her children after gathering herbal plants. Medicinal herbal knowledge and spiritual culture are passed on to the next generation of Aetas through oral tradition.

describe aeta family essay

An Aeta looks at a construction site that was once cultivated land in Sitio Alli, Capas, Tarlac. Aeta communities fear their natural cultural markers are being demolished with the construction of the New Clark City project.

This story is one of the twelve photo essays produced under the Capturing Human Rights fellowship program, a seminar and mentoring project

organized by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and the Photojournalists' Center of the Philippines. 

Check the other photo essays here.

describe aeta family essay

Larry Monserate Piojo – "Terminal: The constant agony of commuting amid the pandemic"

Orange Omengan – "Filipinos face the mental toll of the Covid-19 pandemic"

Lauren Alimondo – "In loving memory"

Gerimara Manuel – "Pinagtatagpi-tagpi: Mother, daughter struggle between making a living and modular learning"

Pau Villanueva – "Hinubog ng panata: The vanishing spiritual traditions of Aetas of Capas, Tarlac"

Bernice Beltran – "Women's 'invisible work'"

Dada Grifon – "From the cause"

Bernadette Uy – "Enduring the current"

Mark Saludes – "Mission in peril"

EC Toledo – "From sea to shelf: The story before a can is sealed"

Ria Torrente – "HIV positive mother struggles through the Covid-19 pandemic"

Sharlene Festin – "Paradise lost"

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Norman King, the first Aeta UP Graduate, and the words of wisdom that helped him succeed

  • BY INQUIRER.net BrandRoom
  • June 19, 2018

describe aeta family essay

The moment Norman King claimed his diploma wearing the traditional Aeta bahag (loincloth), he made history. Norman is the very first Aeta to graduate from the University of the Philippines Manila who – just like his own father, a tribe leader – vows to become the voice for our Aetas and other indigenous groups.

describe aeta family essay

Along with a degree in BA Behavioral Science is a story filled with discrimination, poverty, and natural calamities. Norman King was born in 1988 at the foot of Mount Pinatubo, only three years before the deadly eruption. He was the eldest of seven siblings and worked at an early age to help provide for the family.

Below is an inspiring video of Norman King, his story, and how he has achieved what he has today:

Ang taong madumi ay taong hindi malinis ang puso. (The unclean person is one whose heart is not clean.)

describe aeta family essay

Behind Norman’s success is a figure to which many of us owe our lives: a mother. Warlita King was Norman’s voice of reason during trying times. It was she who had told him that “the unclean person is one whose heart is not clean.” Without her wise words to live by, her “pabaon sa buhay,” Norman King probably would not be the intelligent, firm, and strong man that he is today.

Alin ang karapat-dapat hangaan? Isang taong madali ang buhay? O isang taong dumaan sa matinding hirap? (Who is worthy of admiration? One who has led an easy life? Or one who has overcome extreme hardship?)

describe aeta family essay

There is a part in the video when Norman asks his mother for a fresh set of uniforms, comparing his old, worn shirts to his classmates’ brand new ones. To this, Warlita asks, “Do you want to hide the fact that we’re poor?”

Norman’s life was filled with the struggles of poverty but his mother reminds him that he owes his growth to all the hardships he has faced, that a man who has fallen and risen is someone who commands respect and honor.

Kailangan ba talagang magbago para lang matanggap ka ng ibang tao? (Do you really need to change to be accepted by others?)

describe aeta family essay

Just like every adolescent growing up amidst peer pressure and the desire to fit in, Norman King wanted to be accepted by the environment that he was in. That didn’t stop Warlita from telling her son what he needed to hear. Because all the greatest life lessons begin at home.

“Ang turo sa’kin ng nanay ko,” says Norman, “‘pag natanggap ko na kung sino ako, mas malayo ang mararating ko.” (Ma taught me that only when I have accepted who I am, will I go further in life.)

Just like Warlita King, mothers give their children what they need to take on the world, making sure that what they take from home will protect them in life. Safeguard supports every parent who strives to provide the right pabaon at home that will protect their children as they explore the world on their own.

Safeguard believes in the power of these different “pabaon sa buhay” or life provisions that will set their children ready for life. What kids learn at home protects them for life (ang natutunan niya sa bahay, proteksyon niya sa buhay). INQUIRER.net/KT ADVT

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Reflection on the Aeta Community

Reflection on the Aeta Community

Through the Etas, In the course of our conversations especially one of their leaders, Angelo Gaulle, and based on my direct observation, I learned how they valued their health, preserved their Indigenous health traditions and practiced health care among themselves.

At the beginning, I was told that this area Including what Is now the Cubic Freeport Zone had been their ancestral land as the first people who had populated the Islands. Through various stages, they had been displaced from their land, most recently from what is now a commercial-residential upland area. Since then, they have managed to live off the tropical forests of Mat. Assam.

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What struck me is their resilience in asserting their independent indigenous way of life in the face of the presence of what is to them alien culture, and the history of their physical and geographical dislocation. In the course of my visit, I was able to realize how their socio-economic context determined their health attitudes and practice. As related by Salina one of the housewives of the council of leaders, they remain largely in a communal hunting- gathering economy, although practicing to a secondary extent sedentary communal farming.

The men are principally relied on to hunt and catch such prey as wild boar as well as fish in mountain streams for food. On the other hand, the women forage for medicinal plants, other ornamental plants such as rids and harvest root crops. The Teen age youth preferred to work as contractual workers in the Cubic Free port Zone. The catch and produce and even the small Income from selling herbal plants Is shared communally, as practiced though centuries of generations.

Their regard and treatment of their food and other produce as their common wealth was extended to other aspects of their way of life, Including health care. They possessed an intimate knowledge of medicinal plants In the rich bloodlessly of species of the tropical rainforest’s. Moreover, they considered not only the plants themselves, but also their native Indigenous knowledge of herbal medicine and cures heir collective property and legacy shared freely throughout their community and down to each new generation.

Some of these herbal plants they cultivated themselves, such as sambaing and taking; ordinary diseases such as headaches and stomach pain. Through such health products, the bonding they shared between each other in the community was similar to their bonding as a community with their natural environment. They possess an organic connection with their environment, favoring natural and avoiding chemical methods and practices in their farming. Moreover, they value the nutritional and organic quality of their food production and consumption.

For instance, they consider gamete or sweet potato, a particularly healthy food to be a source of energy. But above all, they regarded their particular variety of upland rice cooked and eaten whole-grain and unwilled as essential and the most important to their health. They also roast and grind this upland rice to make rice coffee, a beverage they greatly value for its health-giving properties. This kind of thinking can be said already, that they truly reflect an appreciation for food s a preventive medicine.

Since they regard their upland rice as their major source of nutrition, capable of serving as the only food in a meal, they do not sell their upland rice, whereas they sell what they consider to be less essential, such as their gamete and pub produce to outsiders. In this sense, it can be said that the Eat community values their health above considerations of income. Aside from their organic and ecological perspective, I found impressive the way members of their community all had free access to these health resources in the form of health food and herbal products and services.

Just as these goods and services were distributed in a communal way, so in the communal manner was governance practiced in the community, with the council of all tribal elders exercising decision-making powers for the community on health matters. For instance, the tribal council of elders decide collectively to send the sick to the hospital, when they already consider it necessary. This altruistic spirit and camaraderie contrasts highly with the egoistic culture fostered in modern or mainstream societies such as those dominant in the Philippines today.

Also impressive to me is their remarkable self-reliance as a community, their use of local resources near to them, the high collective respect for their own indigenous culture, and the great sense of dignity they possess based on a long cultural heritage. All this gives them a high level of well-being not enjoyed by the mainstream of Philippine society, which is by and large subject to various forms of cultural alienation. Finally, I realized that the mainstream of Filipino society can learn much from the health attitudes and practices of Eat communities in their organic.

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THE LIVELIHOOD RESOURCES, PRACTICES AND VALUES OF AETAS IN MID-BAYTAN, ZAMBALES, PHILIPPINES: IMPLICATIONS TO EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

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The study describes the livelihood resources, practices and values of Aetas in mid-Baytan, Botolan, Zambales, located in Central Luzon, and Philippines. It aimed to provide a basis for an indigenous development program and drew implications on education and community development. Specifically, this study described 1) the characteristics of the residents, 2) livelihood resources and practices, 3) cultural practices and values, and 4) their problems. Participants and key informants were interviewed during fieldworks. Documents were gathered from pertinent offices. Data were analysed drawing patterns and categories. Participants were 21 to 76 years old, mostly women, married, with elementary education and 2-5 members per household. Livelihood resources were family-owned or communal. Livelihood practices included enterprise combinations, production and marketing processes. The majority of the participants are into farming, gathering mountain products, and hired labour. Family roles and traditions were well-defined. Prominent values are shared, trust in God and determination. The g-string and arrows symbolized their practical philosophy and open-mindedness. Low prices for products and inadequate capital resulted to low income that led to poor health, absenteeism and early marriage. The study concludes that the Aetas of mid-Baytan possess the needed resources, skills and values to break the cycle of poverty. Family culture keeps their marriage and community peaceful. It is, therefore, recommended that 1) formative IPED emphasize the role of the Aetas in Philippine history and study their way of life; 2) an indigenous development program be drawn encompassing leadership, local governance, livelihood enhancement, gender sensitivity integrating culture and cohesiveness; and, 3) line agencies collaborate for more directional impact.

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roel anicas

Indigenous tribes are said to be the living treasures of a country. The study aimed to determine the relationship of the Aetas with other residents in the community. Qualitative method of research using Photovoice, interviews and observation through FGD among 729 families were used.The following are the themes: 1) The Longing for the Sense of Belongingness as Part of a Community – “Am I welcome to this place?”; 2) Noblest Task as a Member of the Community; 3) Leverage on Sound Interpersonal Relationship; 4) Willingness to Success and Avoidance of Discriminations – “Am I belong?”; and 5) New Hopes, New Aspirations, New Life ... “Unwavering Support from Stakeholders”. The following were the findings: they felt that discrimination exists; there’s willingness to help and support the community; there are conflicts between their co-Aetas but settled righteously; and there are groups of NGOs, Government Agencies, or Private Companies extending help, and aids in the community. It is conclud...

describe aeta family essay

ian mark anthony alpa

FEL SOLOMON LUZON

: The Philippines is a nation blessed with several ethnic groups. This condition makes the Filipinos socially and culturally different . The Filipino character is actually a combination of the E astern and W estern culture s . The study attempted to find out the beliefs and practices in the life cycle of the Agta of Lupigue, Ilagan, Isabela , Philippines and their social implications. The ethnographic research method was used to attain the purposes of this study. Structured and unstructured interview and participant observation were conducted to confirm and validate the data gathered through field study . Documentary analysis was employed to draw vital information on the origin of the Agta and the community where they live. Findings of the study revealed that among the Agta of Lupigue , there are beliefs that are consistently practiced and observed. This study poses a great challenge to social scientist , especially in the i r role as agent of social transformation. The study recomm...

Vesna Podgornik

This research into the non-formal education of the Aeta, an indigenous tribe in the Phi-lippines, who became migrants after a volcanic eruption, highlights the significance of community-learning models for the purpose of integrating migrants into a society. The community education system, in which the Aeta are involved, found its inspiration in the Danish model of folk high schools and Freire&#39;s &quot;Pedagogy of the Oppressed&quot;. Their programmes are prepared according to principles of flexibility and inclusiveness. The findings of an analysis of the non-formal education system show that the literacy programme is integrated into community education and activities, which encourages the inclusion of indigenous people in adult learning, and thus also the development of active citizenship, empowerment, an evolving community and the preservation of the Aeta culture.

Journal of Anthropology

Julia Anwar McHenry , Vince Balilla

The Indigenous Aeta Magbukún maintain a primarily nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in their forested ancestral lands. Through the continued encroachment of non-Indigenous populations, the Aeta Magbukún persist at a critical level. Finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their traditional livelihoods, they must engage in informal commerce to procure sufficient food throughout the year. This work explores the basis of self-identity, traditional kinship ties, evolution of sociopolitical organisation, and the developing political options that sustain the small and vulnerable Indigenous population. Despite recent tentative sociopolitical developments, securing cultural protection requires greater effort in developing political communication and representation at a local and national level. In doing so, the Aeta Magbukún can meet their basic needs, secure traditional cultural knowledge, and are able to influence their own development during a time of relatively rapid acculturation within the mainstream Philippine societal complex.

Rosarie Gabuya

ABSTRACTCognizant of the special needs of indigenous people in the Philippines, the Republic Act No. 8371 of 1997 was established to promote and protect their rights. Over the years, a number of community organizing efforts for the improvement of these communities were conducted by stakeholders from the private and public sectors. However, resistance has been reported due to poor understanding and integration of these indigenous populations’ varied cultures and traditions. This study aims to describe the predominant principles and frameworks used for community organizing among indigenous people. Specifically, it seeks to propose a community organizing approach that is culturally sensitive and appropriate for indigenous communities in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas in the Philippines. A systematic review was conducted on four databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, Google Scholar) by four independent researchers. Inclusion criteria involved studies about comm...

Bernardo Zabala Jr

This research focused on the migrated Indigenous People (Aeta) who were displaced during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and resettled at the Military Reservation at Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City, NuevaEcija, Philippines. It revealed the different cultures exist as practice by the indigenous people at the relocation site: religious beliefs, songs, dances, arts, marriage practices, education, child caring practices, and superstitious beliefs, challenges met by the indigenous people and aspirations of the indigenous people. The qualitative approach through purposive sampling was used in this study. Barangay Doña Josefa, Palayan City, Nueva Ecija as the study locale. The respondents were twenty (20) original settlers (aetas) who migrated from Mt. Pinatubo, Pampanga, Philippines. Prior consent was taken from the elders before the study. Survey-questionnaire, observation guide, interview guide and focus group discussion were the instruments used in data gathering. The frequency count, percentage and weighted mean are statistical tools used. The IPs (Aetas) is continuously treasure their own culture in terms of religious beliefs, songs, dances, arts, marriage, education, child caring and superstitious beliefs despite of the influence of many people around them. They believed on their old practices; look back on their past experiences and never forget their own culture. The Aetas were bullied, degraded and missed their life at Mount Pinatubo. They wanted that their children will become professionals. The people shall respect their culture, rights; avoid prejudices, discriminations and racism. The people shall avoid culture-biased.

Asia Pacific Journal of Advanced Education and Technology

Asia Pacific Journal of Advanced Education and Technology (APJAET) , Joseph Revilla

This study investigated the needs and aspirations of Indigenous Peoples in Central Luzon. First, it described the profile of the Indigenous Peoples. This also discussed the Needs and Aspirations of the Indigenous Peoples and identify the issues, problems, and concerns they experience in attaining such. Through this, the study formulated programs, projects, and activities to solve such problems. The study used a descriptive research design and three (3) instruments in gathering data, namely: interview guide; observation, and document analysis. As synthesized in the findings of the interview the needs and aspirations of the Indigenous People in Central Luzon are as follows: Livelihood, education, clean water source, road improvement, health services, legal services, ancestral domain, respect and implementation of rights, preservation and showcasing of arts, culture and tradition and leadership.

Guillume Tamayo

Part of the uniqueness of Indigenous Peoples is their rich culture and traditions which they have passed down from generation to generation. Focusing on the Indigenous Women of the Kalanguya Tribe in Capintalan, Carranglan, the study endeavors to learn and chronicle the traditional role of the Kalanguya women, how it has evolved through the years, and the factors that caused change. It compares the past and present roles of the Kalanguya women and delves into reasons why acculturation has taken place and why a radical shift in perspective has become evident not only in the Kalanguya women’s way of thinking but also in their way of life.

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Essay on My Family for School Students and Children

500+ words essay on my family.

Families are an integral part of one’s life. It does not matter if you have a small or big family, as long as you have one. A family serves as the first school to the child where one learns about various things. The basic knowledge about one’s culture and identity comes from their family only. In other words, you are a reflection of your family. All the good habits and manners one has incorporated are from their family only. I feel very lucky to be born in a family which has made me a better person. In my opinion, families are an essential part of one’s being. In this essay on my family, I will tell you why family is important.

essay on my family

Why Families are Important?

Families are a blessing not everyone is fortunate enough to have. However, those who do, sometimes do not value this blessing. Some people spend time away from the family in order to become independent.

However, they do not realize its importance. Families are essential as they help in our growth. They develop us into becoming a complete person with an individual identity. Moreover, they give us a sense of security and a safe environment to flourish in.

You can read essay on my mother here .

We learn to socialize through our families only and develop our intellect. Studies show that people who live with their families tend to be happier than ones living alone. They act as your rock in times of trouble.

Families are the only ones who believe in you when the whole world doubts you. Similarly, when you are down and out, they are the first ones to cheer you up. Certainly, it is a true blessing to have a positive family by your side.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Pillars of Strength

My family has been always by my side in ups and downs. They have taught me how to be a better person. My family consists of four siblings and my parents. We also have a pet dog that is no less than our family.

Within each family member, lies my strength. My mother is my strength as I can always count on her when I need a shoulder to cry on. She believes in me more than any other person. She is the backbone of our family. My father is someone who will always hide away his troubles for the sake of his family.

describe aeta family essay

In short, I will forever be indebted to my family for all they have done for me. I cannot imagine my life without them. They are my first teachers and my first friends.

They are responsible for creating a safe and secure environment for me at home. I can share everything with my family as they never judge one another. We believe in the power of love above everything and that drives us to help each other to become better human beings.

describe aeta family essay

FAQs on Family

Q.1 Why are families important?

A.1 Families are important because they nurture and develop us. They make us happy and give us the chance to become better human beings. Families enhance your confidence and make you believe in yourself.

Q.2 How do families act as pillars of strength?

A.2 Families are the pillars of strength because they give us the courage to face the world. They are always there when we need them. Even in the loneliest of times, families make us feel better.

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Essay on My Family

List of essays on my family, essay on my family – short essay for kids in english (essay 1 – 250 words), essay on my family – for children (essay 2 – 300 words), essay on my family – paragraph (essay 3 – 400 words), essay on my family –topics (essay 4 – 500 words), essay on my family (essay 5 – 500 words), essay on my family – why i love my family (essay 6 – 500 words), essay on my family – for school students (class 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 standard) (essay 7 – 500 words), essay on my family (essay 8 – 750 words), essay on my family – long essay (essay 9 – 1000 words).

A family is one of the greatest gift god has given to all living creatures on the earth including humans. It is a privilege to have a happy family as not everyone in the world has it.

The joy of living with your parents, fighting with your siblings over petty can just make you smile the moment you think of it. In order to inculcate the values of a family in the students, we have composed some short essays for students.

These essays are suited for students of all ages and classes. Not only these essays shall give an insight on how a family should be but shall also enrich the students with the moral values of a family.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for kids, children and school students.

Family is important to every one of us and we all love our family. Wherever we go in this world and whatever we may achieve, our heart and soul will always be in our home because it is where our beautiful family is. Nothing in this world can be stronger than the bonding of the blood . The members of the same family may have differences of opinions, may quarrel often for silly things but in spite of all these it is our family that supports us during our ups and downs.

As the saying goes, “ Family is the best thing you could ever wish for. They are there for you during the ups and downs and love you no matter what”.

Contrary to this saying, we cannot choose our family as we choose our friends. But I can say that I’m blessed with a wonderful family. My family is very small with four members – my mother, my father, my elder sister and me. My family is a middle class family and my father is officially the bread winner of our family. My mother supports him financially by taking tuitions for school children.

We do not have much money or wealth but what my family has in abundance is love for each other which cannot be replaced by anything else in this world. My father and my mother are the role models to my sister and me. They struggle a lot to give us a better life. More than anything they have taught us discipline and morals of life which is helping us to lead our lives in a righteous path even today.

I cannot ask anything more to God since he has already showered me with my family which I treasure the most every second and will safeguard even in the future.

The family is a valuable god gift which plays a most crucial role in every individual’s life. I love my family very much because all of my family members stand in my good as well as bad times. From moral teachings to love and support, my family has always helped me without any demand. There is no doubt that we experience our biggest triumphs when we really connect to them.

My family is like a strong pillar for me, on which I can rely blindly anytime I require support. From my family, I have learned the social graces of loyalty & cooperation.

My family consists of my grandfather, my grandmother, my mother, my father, two young sisters and myself. My grandparents are the pillars of my family and my grandfather is the head of my family. He is the one whose decision relating to any matter is final and all of us do respect it.

Right from my childhood, my family members have prepared me for the challenges that I’ll face in the years ahead. In addition to this, all of my family members help and serve each other at times of need. These qualities that I have learnt from my family has helped me to shape my adult life in a right manner.

I am really very attached to my grandfather. He holds an excellent life experience because he has already faced so many ups and downs. My Grandfather has helped me to build my perception & vision towards society.

My family has always been there to motivate and encourage me to overcome all difficulties in life and achieve success. The role of every member in my family is unique and important in their own way. I thank God that I have grown up in a family full of love and discipline. My family values will definitely help me in becoming a better person.

A person without family and its love never becomes completely happy in his/her life. I am complete and happy with my family that includes five members. My family is a group of five including me, father, mother, brother, and sister. Family bonding is a unique type of love that gives you every lesson needed to live a harmonious life.

Growing under the supervision of a caring and loving family will increase our social values and overall well-being. Each member of my family carries out equal responsibility in sculpting the strong bonding needed for a better future and develop moral importance in each other.

My father owns a successful business of office stationery store. He uses the money to cover all our expenses and give a better lifestyle to the family. He works hard day and night to get us better education, food, home, etc. He hides all his tiredness when he comes home after a long day to spend quality time with us.

My mother is a talented homemaker who also does a part-time tailoring at home. She does all her duties with at most interest, from taking care of us to all the household chores and finds time to pursue her passion as well. She is a multi-tasker and does all the tasks from helping us in our studies to preparing delicious healthy foods to sculpt us into a better human being.

My brother is an engineering graduate and does a job in a well-known company. He is my best well-wisher and helps me in all ups and downs. My sister is also an engineering graduate and an employee in an IT company. She always finds time to help me with all my difficulties and she is my secret keeper too.

My family is a lifeline to whom I can run to, whatever may be the situation I am facing. My family guides me to be a good person and help me in nurturing good values. We, humans, are animals that live together spreading love and care for each other, and this togetherness is called family. The absence of such a divine bonding make us equal to animals.

Family value and growing in such a caring surrounding helps me to pass all the struggles and hardships that I face in my daily life. Whatever be the situation we are facing, our family will never leave us alone. My family is a blessing for me and I value everyone in my family with equal respect and love.

Most of the people in the world are blessed with having a family. A family, with whom you can share all your joys and sorrows, who is there to guide you through your growing years, who stands by you in the toughest of the situations. I too am blessed to have such a family.

My family is one the most bizarre family in the world. We are four people, my mother, my father, my younger brother and me. While my father is the one who does work for a living, it is my mother who is the boss of the house. My father is a humble person. He is an officer in a government department. My mother is a housewife. It is our mother who takes care of our studies as our father is often busy with his official assignments and even travels for days together. We just miss him when he is not at home.

He never scolds us. But, our mother is just the opposite. She wants us to remain disciplined and we often get scolded by her. However, our father comes to our rescue most of the times. My brother, still in school is the one with whom I love to spend my time the most. Not because I love to play with him, but because, being the elder sister, I enjoy instructing him and showing him who is more powerful at home. He, at a time, seems so helpless when our mother says to obey his sister. I just love that moment. But not all days are the same. I hate having to study all along while he gets to play more than me.

The Atmosphere in my Family:

We largely have a peaceful atmosphere at home. After school, our time is spent on studying, playing and watching television, which of course our mother does not like. Unlike other couples, my mother and father seldom have a fight. In fact, as soon we see an argument brewing up, one of them just withdraws and it is just rare to see a heated conversation between them. This is what I like the most about them as I feel that my parents are so cool. It is only me and brother who love to fight with each other.

However, we know that behind those fights, it is actually our love for each other which binds us together. I just enjoy being at home spending time with my parents and my brother. I just feel how bad it would be when tomorrow I and my brother shall move on for our professional lives and we shall not be able to spend much time together. However, it is the memories of today which shall be with me forever and will bring a smile on my face anytime when I feel low.

The Importance of a Family:

A family is said to be the first school of a child. It is from here you start to learn how to speak, walk and interact with the world. It is important to value the importance of a family in one’s life. At times, people feel that they are grown-ups and that their parent’s advice does not matter anymore, but that is not true. It is the elders of the family who at any given of time would know the world better than us and we should all respect our family members and love our siblings as well. It is the family who builds our character and we should feel fortunate to have a family around us.

Introduction

My family values are what I take so dear to my heart because they have made me what I am today and I plan on passing these great values to my children in future. Every family has those things, acts and values that they hold in high esteem and they cherish so much. These vales have become a part of them: most times, it is what distinguishes the traits in each family and in some ways it makes or mars the future of the family members. Same applies to my family, we have some set values that has become a part of us and it has made my life a lot better because I have become a better person who is not only valuable to himself but also to the society at large. I will be sharing some of these values with you.

My Family Values:

Some of my family values include:

1. Honesty:

This is a principle that is highly protected in my family. My dad has this saying that, “honesty is the best policy.” Ever since I was little, my family has taught me how to be honest and the benefits that lie within. Sometimes, my parents even test us in ways we were not expecting and a reward is given to the person that comes out honest. This is one of my family values that I cherish so much and I am proud that it is what my family hold in high esteem.

2. Kindness to Others:

This is not a common trait to all. My mom has this belief that if the world and everybody in it shows love and kindness to one another, there will be no hatred and wars will be eradicated. This is a family value that we cherish so much. I learnt to show love to everybody. Even when we did not have much, my parents will still give to those who are needy. My dad says that the world is like a river, we would eventually flow into one another later and you do not know the future, the person you helped today might eventually be of help to you tomorrow.

3. Education:

This is a value that has been passed from generation to generation in my family. My dad would say that education is the best legacy you can give to a child. My family does everything in their capacity for you to get a sound and benefitting education. The acquisition of knowledge is also quite important. All of us try to gain more and more knowledge because we all have a family slogan that says “knowledge is power and that power makes me a hero.”

4. Dress and Appearance:

This is a religious value we cherish in my family. My dad would say that you are addressed the way you dress. I do not want to be address wrongly and give out a wrong impression. So, our appearance really matter a lot to us and the way we dress.

Conclusion:

Every family has one thing or the other that they hold in high esteem and tend to pass on from generation to generation. This is what makes a family a united sect not because we are related by blood but because of we share the same values.

Introduction:

Why I love my family is a question that has been floating through my mind for a very long time because no matter how hard I try to pin out a reason why I love them, I just can’t find one. This can be due to fact that they mean the whole world to me and I will do anything for them. I love my family a lot and I would like to share some of the reasons why I love my family and will never trade them for anything.

Why I Love My Family:

I have a family that consists of 6 people: my father, my mother and four children which includes me. For you to understand why I love my family I will tell you a little about each of them and why I love them so much.

My father is the best father in the world: well, that’s what I say. He is a business manager. I look up to my father a lot because I will like to take a lot of his behaviours and make it mine. He taught me to be contented with whatever I have. We did not have much when I was growing up; my dad lost his job and still did not allow anything of the pressure change how he behaved to us at home. He is caring, gentle, accommodating and disciplined.

My mum is the best cook in the world. I do not know where I would be today without my mum. I owe her a lot. She is a teacher by profession and this fascinates me a lot because not only is she inculcating knowledge in the young minds of tomorrow, she is also building the future of our society at large. I want to be like my mum. I remember those times when she had to sacrifice when the most precious of her things just to make me happy. She is loving, caring, understanding, accommodating. In fact, she is everything you can ever wish for in a mother.

My elder sisters are the best. Although they can be frustrating sometimes but that is mostly because of my stubbornness. They pretend they do not really care but deep inside they do. The things they do even subconsciously say otherwise. I remember a day in elementary school, I was being bullied a boy in class. On this particular day, he hit me. Unknowing to me, my sister heard about it and she beat the boy and made him apologise to me, I felt so happy that day because I had someone who had my back.

My brother is one of the best gifts I have received. He is the last child and this gives him an opportunity to be annoying if you know what I mean. He is joyful and always ready to heed correction. There was this day, I heard him bragging to his friends about how awesome I am, and I was the happiest that day.

We all have one reason or the other on why we love our family. I love mine because they are the best gift I could ever ask for and the fact that they have been there for me through the good, bad and funny times.

Importance of family is something that is greatly overlooked and underrated in the world we live in today. The definition that the family had about one hundred years before now was very clear. Back then, a family was believed to be a unit that consisted of the father that was in charge of the finances of the family, a mother whose primary duty was to look after the home and take care of the children and then there were the children. Largely based on the region you are from, a family can also include members of the extended family like aunts, uncles and grandparents. This type of family system is referred to as joint family.

Family Importance:

A family that is important is one that is very strong. If a family is going to be very strong, there is a need for the bond between them to be very strong. Bonds that help in keeping the members of a family with each other are relationships. If there are very strong relationships among all the members of a family, there is going to be stronger commitment between all of them and the family as a unit will be very important.

Better communication is also a result of family relationships that are very strong. If all the family members can take time out to talk and know each other well, the bond between them is bound to be very strong. Even if the conversations are about big things or small things, it does not really matter. The most important thing is that all family members stay connected to one another. It is very important that they all list to each other and understand every member.

How to make Family Bonds Very Strong:

We have various things that can help our family bond to improve.

A few of them include:

1. Love: love is the most important thing we need for our bonds as a family to improve. When we love the members in our family, we will also be able to know all about privacy, intimacy, caring, belonging and sharing. When there is love in a family, the family will prosper.

2. Loyalty: loyalty is something that comes as a result of love. Family members should stay devoted to each other. It is important that we are able to count on our family to have our back anytime we are facing problems.

The importance of family can never be overstated even though we live in a different time now and our attitudes to relationships, marriage and what a family should be has changed. The family is something that we need to help share our problems and be there for us anytime we have issues. A lot of the things that were not acceptable in the past and we now see as normal. Even with all the changes that the society has effected on our family system, the family still remains the major foundation of our society and this will remain the same.

My family is the best gift I have got. A family can be simply said to mean a social group of different people in our society that includes one or more parents and also their children. In a family, every member of the family commits to other members of the family in a mutual relationship. A family is a very important unit and the smallest unit in the society. A family whether a big one or a small one is of very great importance and use to all of its members and is believed to be the unit of our society that is strongest because the society is formed from the coming together and culmination of various families.

In many cultures, the family serves a child’s first school where the child learns all about their traditions and cultures more importantly learn about all the rudimentary values in life. A family is very essential in the teaching of healthy habits and good manners to all the members of the family. It gives the members of the family the opportunity to become people with better character in our society. I feel very lucky to be born into a small and lovely family; I learnt a lot of things from my family.

I am from a middle class and average family with six members (my father, my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather, my younger brother and me). My grandfather is the head of the family and we all respect and listen to him. He is really wise and tries to advise each and every one of us using his many life experiences. He has been involved in many interesting and adventurous activities that he tells me about all the time. Most of the time, he has the final say on all of our family issues and he does his best to make all his decisions impartial.

Any time we are eating today as a family, he sits at the top of the table; we all have designated seats at the dining table. When my brother and I are available, my grandfather teaches us about our traditions and cultures. My grandfather is very friendly and has a cool and great personality and tries to talk nicely and calmly to everyone passing across his message without being rude. He helps my brother and sometimes me with our assignments. He majorly teaches us about all of the tools we need to be successful in life including punctuality, discipline, moral, cleanliness, continuity, honesty, hard work and trustworthiness.

My lovely grandmother is one of the nicest people I know, she tells my brother and I lovely stories every night. My father is a civil engineer and he is very hardworking, sincere and punctual. He is the breadwinner of the family and does his best to provide for every member of the family even if that means he has to work extra hours. My mother is very sweet and takes care of every member of the family even though she works as an accountant at a firm. She wakes up very early in the morning to make preparations for the day. My brother is a funny and jovial person that enjoys sporting activities and I love him so much.

Sometimes I wish my cousins, uncles and aunts lived with us, I love having them around. There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages of having everyone around. I have highlighted some below.

Some advantages are:

1. It gives a better routine of living that can contribute to a proper growth.

2. Having a joint family helps in following the numerous principles of an equitable economy and helps teach discipline and respect. It also teaches us how to share the burden of other family members.

3. There is the understanding of having to adjust to the needs of other family members.

4. The children in a large family get to grow up in a happy environment because they have children of their age around that they can play with.

5. All the members of a joint family are usually very disciplined and responsible as everyone has to follow the instructions of the family head.

Some of the disadvantages include:

1. There is always the chance of a rift or fight between the family members because of the possible imbalance of feelings of oneness, brotherly love and feeling of generosity.

2. There is a chance of the members of the family that earn very high looking down on members of the family that do not.

The concept of family is important in India for every individual. Family defines an individual background in terms of social relations and growth. Families influence the lives of individuals from childhood to adulthood especially in decisions concerning life milestones like marriage and career paths. Indian families live together for up to four generations under one roof and they manage to maintain lose family relations compared to other families across the globe. Indian families tend to stick to their cultural practices as a family and they maintain religious practices that cut across the family. Elders in Indian families are respected by the members of the family and their opinions are considered during decision making.

What Family Really Means :

Basic knowledge defines a family as a group of people who share genetic and legal bonds. However, the concept of family means a lot more for other people than just the bond and it incorporates the concepts of culture and religion. In India, the concept of family differs from what the rest of the world perceives as family.

Families in India go beyond nuclear and extend to wider circles, whereby the extended family lives together and are closely related. The relationships in the family are strong such that cousins are considered siblings and aunts and uncles are considered parents. Family also means the unconditional love among the members of the family whereby there is support in terms of finances and emotions.

Why the Family is so important:

The family plays a central role in lives of individuals in teaching of moral values. Parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents have been known to teach the children on morality and disciplinary issue s in most cultures. Both spiritual and moral values are instilled through family. Family give a sense of belonging to individuals because they are over by the family and supported at all times.

A family will always support its members with needs including financial and emotional needs. In a family, there has been established levels of satisfaction and happiness from the joy of being together. Families also helping community development through contributions and participating in activities in the community. The family is important in the society in maintaining order, discipline and peace.

I come from a big family. My family has not moved to an urban area and so we still live as a wider circle together with the extended family. In my nuclear family, I am the first born of four children. I have one sister and two brothers who are still at school. I have three aunts and two uncles. My cousins are twelve in number and most of them are at school except for the youngest ones.

My grandparents are very old and they do not get out of the house much and are being taken care by my parents and aunts. Most of the children are always at school and the house gets quiet but during holiday, we all unite together as a full house. My family is of the middle class in terms of wealth. Our religion is Hindu and we all practice the Indian cultures and traditions. What I love about my family is that everyone is a good cook and the food is always amazing. Members of my family are kind and respectful and that is why we rarely have disputes. The family support is strong and we all love each other.

Why I love My Family:

Having a big family is interesting because the house always feels warm. As I had earlier mentioned, my family is made of good cooks, which makes me love them. There is always teamwork within the family and good relationships are maintained. I like the adventurous nature of my family because we always have fun whenever we go for holiday vacations or have a family event.

Moral cultural and spiritual values are highly cared for in the society. My family is oriented in good moral values and believe we make a good role model for the society. Despite the influence of education, the family has been able to maintain the culture and traditions of Indian people. The love that exists in my family is precious and that is the most important value of all times because what family without love?

Our Weekend Outings and House Parties:

We do not have many of these in our family because of the different schedules among the members. We only have weekend outings and house parties during holidays. Birthday parties are and weddings are the parties that we frequently have as a family. I love parties at home because the food is usually exceptionally good. Also, the dancing and happy faces. Weekend outings are usually in form of picnics and they are usually full of games.

Cousins Visit during Summer:

My family is young and only three of my cousins are in college. The rest are in high school or elementary schools. Whenever my cousins come home from school, it is a happy moment for the whole family and we host parties to welcome them home. Whenever my older cousins are at home, I enjoy their company and I love to hear stories about college because that is where I will be in a few years’ time.

In the spirit of holidays, we have a vacation or two in a year. During these vacations, plans begin early and when the time comes, it is enjoyable and relaxing. Vacations for us as children tend to be more enjoyable because we have an environment away from home and with minimal parental supervision and we tend to explore and talk among ourselves. Team building during vacations strengthens the bond in families.

Family is a blessing to individuals because that is where they belong and it is what defines them. A good family is built through moral values and team effort. Having family events and parties or vacations re important is strengthening the relationships within a family. A happy individual is definitely from a happy family.

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  • How to write a descriptive essay | Example & tips

How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips

Published on July 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something—generally a place or object, but possibly something more abstract like an emotion. This type of essay , like the narrative essay , is more creative than most academic writing .

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Table of contents

Descriptive essay topics, tips for writing descriptively, descriptive essay example, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about descriptive essays.

When you are assigned a descriptive essay, you’ll normally be given a specific prompt or choice of prompts. They will often ask you to describe something from your own experience.

  • Describe a place you love to spend time in.
  • Describe an object that has sentimental value for you.

You might also be asked to describe something outside your own experience, in which case you’ll have to use your imagination.

  • Describe the experience of a soldier in the trenches of World War I.
  • Describe what it might be like to live on another planet.

Sometimes you’ll be asked to describe something more abstract, like an emotion.

If you’re not given a specific prompt, try to think of something you feel confident describing in detail. Think of objects and places you know well, that provoke specific feelings or sensations, and that you can describe in an interesting way.

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The key to writing an effective descriptive essay is to find ways of bringing your subject to life for the reader. You’re not limited to providing a literal description as you would be in more formal essay types.

Make use of figurative language, sensory details, and strong word choices to create a memorable description.

Use figurative language

Figurative language consists of devices like metaphor and simile that use words in non-literal ways to create a memorable effect. This is essential in a descriptive essay; it’s what gives your writing its creative edge and makes your description unique.

Take the following description of a park.

This tells us something about the place, but it’s a bit too literal and not likely to be memorable.

If we want to make the description more likely to stick in the reader’s mind, we can use some figurative language.

Here we have used a simile to compare the park to a face and the trees to facial hair. This is memorable because it’s not what the reader expects; it makes them look at the park from a different angle.

You don’t have to fill every sentence with figurative language, but using these devices in an original way at various points throughout your essay will keep the reader engaged and convey your unique perspective on your subject.

Use your senses

Another key aspect of descriptive writing is the use of sensory details. This means referring not only to what something looks like, but also to smell, sound, touch, and taste.

Obviously not all senses will apply to every subject, but it’s always a good idea to explore what’s interesting about your subject beyond just what it looks like.

Even when your subject is more abstract, you might find a way to incorporate the senses more metaphorically, as in this descriptive essay about fear.

Choose the right words

Writing descriptively involves choosing your words carefully. The use of effective adjectives is important, but so is your choice of adverbs , verbs , and even nouns.

It’s easy to end up using clichéd phrases—“cold as ice,” “free as a bird”—but try to reflect further and make more precise, original word choices. Clichés provide conventional ways of describing things, but they don’t tell the reader anything about your unique perspective on what you’re describing.

Try looking over your sentences to find places where a different word would convey your impression more precisely or vividly. Using a thesaurus can help you find alternative word choices.

  • My cat runs across the garden quickly and jumps onto the fence to watch it from above.
  • My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above.

However, exercise care in your choices; don’t just look for the most impressive-looking synonym you can find for every word. Overuse of a thesaurus can result in ridiculous sentences like this one:

  • My feline perambulates the allotment proficiently and capers atop the palisade to regard it from aloft.

An example of a short descriptive essay, written in response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” is shown below.

Hover over different parts of the text to see how a descriptive essay works.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

If you’re not given a specific prompt for your descriptive essay , think about places and objects you know well, that you can think of interesting ways to describe, or that have strong personal significance for you.

The best kind of object for a descriptive essay is one specific enough that you can describe its particular features in detail—don’t choose something too vague or general.

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Caulfield, J. (2023, August 14). How to Write a Descriptive Essay | Example & Tips. Scribbr. Retrieved March 8, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/descriptive-essay/

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Describing a Person/Family Member - Essay Example

Describing a Person/Family Member - Essay Example

I have a little family with just five individuals, and every one of us is so close to one another, and we cherish one another. However, I love my mother more than another person in the world. I adore her for her kindness, caring heart and adorable characters. I can comfortably share anything with her regardless of the circumstances that we are facing.

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In fact, she is the first human being I laid my eyes on in this world. The relationship that I have with my mother is divine, and most of my childhood memories are related to my mom and school. She supported me in everything I did in my life and supported me morally and financially despite the failure I had. She always gave me encouragements and mentored me with strategies that will help me achieve my goals in life. My mother's support has helped me to prosper in my academics right from the kindergarten school. I am lucky to have my mom, who laid a firm foundation in my life leading to a proper upbringing.

I am passionate about the lifestyle of my mom, his social status as a counselor, she has won the trust of many people, many individuals approach her with different kinds of problems that need assistance. In the case of a conflict between two groups, my mother will intervene as a mediator and ensure that there is the amicable solution for both groups. I believe that I have also inherited such traits from her, all through my upbringing my mother used to tell me always to have a loving heart and that I have no power to judge anyone and instead I should always be a peacemaker. I love the advice she instilled me with because it has helped me in decision making while in school and also acting as a mediator in case of any conflict. With this character, I have been able to become the leader in the various aspect of life.

Additionally, my mother is also defensive, just like other animals who defend their off-springs from the predators and other harms, my mother always ensured that no one messes up with me. I can remember a scenario in the neighborhood whereby a group of bullying boys attacked me, I was terrified and having no one defend me, but I thank my mother for being there for me because she was able to face the bully boys. She approached them and warned them of the consequences that they will face if they mess up with me again, I felt proud of having someone who can stand for me in such a moment.

As I conclude, the reason why my admiration for her are endless, she has been able to rise other three of my siblings. She ensured that we are all educated and possess moral values. She has made a lot of sacrifices in her entire life as another, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no any instance she ever complained. What she always reminds me of, is the power of caring love; I celebrating having an angel who is the mother. What I can say, everyone has to embrace their mothers and appreciate the roles that they have played in their lives; and remember God had reason to make mothers give bath to their off-springs, and this is because of how compassionate and generous they are

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  1. Indigenous peoples of the world

    The Indigenous Aeta People. Ethnonyms: Ayta, Agta, Atta, Ata, Ati, Ita Countries inhabited: The Philippines Language family: Austronesian Language branch: Malayo-Polynesian. The Aeta are featured in our documentary, Indigenous Peoples of Southeast Asia . Watch our short documentary film First Filipinos: The Aetas on YouTube.

  2. The Aeta: The First Philippine People

    Writer. 26 December 2023. The Aetas, pronounced as "e ye-tas ," are among the earliest known migrants or inhabitants of the Philippines. Over the years, the majority of their population managed to keep their cultural practices and traditions. But sadly, as one of the indigenous groups thriving in the country, they also face challenges such ...

  3. Aeta people

    Aeta (Ayta / ˈ aɪ t ə / EYE-tə), Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous Filipinos who live in various parts of Luzon island in the Philippines.They are also known as the "Philippines Negrito"; and they are included in the wider Negrito grouping of Southeast Asia, with whom they share superficial common physical characteristics such as: dark skin tones; short statures ...

  4. The Aeta People of the Philippines: Culture, Customs and Tradition

    Aeta Tribe Social Organization, Customs, and Tradition. With an average size of 10 families or 50 people descended from a common ancestor, the Aeta live in tiny groups. A lack of social stratification or classes is also evident. In Aeta society, the nuclear family is the main social unit, however widows and widowers receive special attention.

  5. The Indigenous Aeta People

    The Indigenous Aeta People. Ethnonyms: Ayta, Agta, Atta, Ata, Ati, Ita Countries inhabited: The Philippines Language family: Austronesian Language branch: Malayo-Polynesian. Our indigenous Aeta people photo-ethnographic essay has moved. Please click here to view it. If you enjoyed reading this photo-ethnographic essay, please consider buying us ...

  6. Aeta Community in Pampanga: Coloring the Lives of Indigenous Children

    The Aetas, being one of the biggest, in terms of number, member of ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, are indigenous people living in different mountainous places in Luzon. They can be found in the provinces of Pampanga, Zambales, and Tarlac, to name a few. In Pampanga alone, Aetas are scattered in the municipalities of Floridablanca ...

  7. The Agta & Dumagat of Isabela

    The Agta and Dumagat are a subgroup of the Aeta people, who are more commonly called Negritos here in the Philippines. This is because of their very dark skin and kinky hair. The Aeta are thought to be among the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, preceding the Austronesian migrations. As was explained to us the Agta people mostly live in ...

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    An Aeta looks at a construction site that was once cultivated land in Sitio Alli, Capas, Tarlac. Aeta communities fear their natural cultural markers are being demolished with the construction of the New Clark City project. This story is one of the twelve photo essays produced under the Capturing Human Rights fellowship program, a seminar and ...

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    The average size of an Aeta Magbukún nuclear family is five family members, including the mother and father. In the period from 1990 to 2008, there was an average of three live births per annum. ... ("Pinatubo Aeta" is the common name given by Aeta Magbukún to describe displaced Aetas from the Mount Pinatubo locale of Zambales, Tarlac, or ...

  10. (PDF) The Economic Life of Aetas of Northern Philippines

    This study was conducted to determine the different economic activities, and seasonal activities for survival of the Aetas. The participants of the study were the 25 Aeta families of a rural ...

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    The moment Norman King claimed his diploma wearing the traditional Aeta bahag (loincloth), he made history. Norman is the very first Aeta to graduate from the University of the Philippines Manila ...

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    Essay, Pages 3 (501 words) Views. 4038. The Aeta people are a fascinating group of indigenous individuals who have lived in the remote and mountainous regions of Luzon for centuries. Their ancestors were nomadic, constructing temporary shelters as they moved from place to place. However, as time passed, some Aeta communities have settled in ...

  13. The Aeta People: Indigenous Tribe of the Philippines

    The Aeta (pronounced as "eye-ta,"), Agta or Ayta are an indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of Luzon, Philippines. They are considered to be Negritos, who are dark to very dark brown-skinned and tend to have features such as a small stature, small frame, curly to kinky afro-like textured hair with a higher frequency of naturally lighter hair color (blondism ...

  14. Reflection on the Aeta Community Free Essay Example 802 words

    Culture. When one thinks of the Aeta, they might imagine a primitive, uneducated group of people living in the mountains. However, upon further reflection, one would be surprised to find a community that is not only content with their way of life, but also has a rich culture and history.

  15. (Pdf) the Livelihood Resources, Practices and Values of Aetas in Mid

    The Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication theory provides a basis in giving importance to an extension worker's awareness of the values and practices of clients in community development (Communication Theory.org.2010).This study intended to describe the Aeta way of life and draw a basis for a sustainable and indigenous development program ...

  16. two paragraph essay describing the aeta family

    The Aeta: The First Philippine People. The Aetas, pronounced as "e ye-tas ," are among the earliest known migrants or inhabitants of the Philippines. Over the years, the major

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    Do your homework. Depending on your topic, you might need to hit the books, browse articles, or even chat with family members for info. Organize your thoughts. Sketch out an outline or a plan to give your essay some structure. Start with an intro that sets the stage, drops your thesis, and gets the ball rolling.

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    A family serves as the first school to the child where one learns about various things. The basic knowledge about one's culture and identity comes from their family only. In other words, you are a reflection of your family. All the good habits and manners one has incorporated are from their family only. I feel very lucky to be born in a ...

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