Updates
Over the past month I have made two separate trips to Mindanao in the hopes to document the ethnic sport of horse fighting that is still occasionally practiced by the areas Lumads (indigenous peoples). My first trip was during Davao’s Kadayawan Festival, which is an annual week long celebration featuring the different tribes from Davao. This festival is like most other festivals in the Philippines, complete with street dancing, beauty pageants and plenty of people walking around the streets. In […]
Things often do not turn out the way you might expect them to. Such was the case during my recent trip back to the Sierra Madres. I returned to a part of Isabela and Cagayan provinces to visit some old Agta friends from last year. Upon returning this time I had a plan to go on a hunt with some of the men, a hunt for wild pig, deer or monkey. These are game items that the Agta still hunt […]
Discovery Channel Magazine is running a 12 page photo story about Jacob’s trip to Isabela last year in this August 2012 issue. This trip is where the start of the Katutubong Filipino Project happened. The article also mentions the Katutubo Project which we are very excited about. If you are in Asia, New Zealand, or Australia you can pick up a copy at your local newsstand.
A year after our first visit to this Agta community in a remote part of the Sierra Madres, we returned with photos. The community was so excited to see their photos and it certainly was a highlight of this visit. It’s moments like this that make this project more fulfilling, seeing the different communities react positively to what we are doing. (Video taken with iPod). Agta Community Looking at their photos from Jacob Maentz on Vimeo.
The Tau’t Bato (Tao’t Bato, Taaw’t Bato) are really just a subgroup of the larger Pala’wan indigenous group. They speak the native Pala’wan language and practice many of the same beliefs of the Pala’wan. The only difference being this particular community, those living in the area of Singnapan valley, take shelter in the large nearby caves during the rainy season. Because of the heavy rains and flooding within the valley during the wet months taking shelter within the caves is […]
by: Nahoma Maentz I consider myself fortunate to have done a bit of traveling around the Philippines when I was younger. While others may have their sights set on going overseas, I was more hooked locally. I wanted to see my own. Get to know it first before “conquering the world”. I was always intrigued about the rice terraces of Banaue, the mummies in Kalinga, the reefs in Apo Island and Malapascua, the Philippine eagles in Davao, the lush forests […]
The Tagbanua people are descendents of some of the oldest people in the Philippines likely coming from Borneo and historically had strong relations with Brunei. Today there are various subgroups of the Tagbanua throughout the province of Palawan. In Coron, the Tagbanua are distinct from the Tagbanua on mainland Palawan, not only in their language spoken but also their general way of life. The Calamian Tagbanua (those living on Coron Island and on mainland Coron/Busuanga and surrounding islands) have adopted […]
The Bukidnon plateau is home to seven of the 18 different indigenous groups found in Mindanao. After doing some research I decided it would be a great place to visit for starting the Katutubong Filipino Project. Although our travel to Bukidnon was fairly short we learned a lot about the Lumad people (the Visayan word collectively used for all indigenous people in Mindanao). We spent most of the week with a Manobo community high in the mountains of San Fernando […]
He was 7 years old when he came to Davao with an uncle who was blind and needed assistance. It became his home for the next 8 years of his life. Shortly after arriving there, a couple took notice of him while sitting in front of the church beside his uncle who was playing an instrument, his means of livelihood. Perhaps feeling sorry for the innocent, young Jeffrey, they offered him to come and live with them. The uncle agreed […]
Thank you everyone!! Today we successfully reached and surpassed our goal on Kickstarter. We are extremely grateful for everyone’s support and can’t wait to get things started! Be sure to check back here throughout the course of the project as there should be many exciting and interesting updates. Thank you all again for believing in us and in the project. It’s now time for a mini celebration after two long months of campaigning.