PHILIPPINES: Tribe performs ancient ritual wherein a dead loved one's bones are wrapped into human form

Record ID: 798916

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: Tribe performs ancient ritual wherein a dead loved one's bones are wrapped into human form
  • Date: 1st February 2010
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Filipino) IGSAY, HANUNUO MANGYAN AND HULYONG ANTONIO'S SON, SAYING: "We will keep him in the house. And after a year or so, he will be transferred to a cave." VARIOUS OF REMAINS ON FLOOR OF HUT
  • Embargoed: 16th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAEMJ0AHQLJSAZX4T9K53VXI7FT
  • Story Text: The Mangyans in the central Philippine island of Mindoro have struggled to keep their tribal culture alive amidst massive modernisation.
    With a growing number of Hanunuo Mangyans migrating to cities and adopting modern ways, ancient traditions are fast disappearing - like their ritual for the dead, called "kutkot."
    "Kutkot" is a Filipino word for "scratch" or "unearth." The ritual entails digging up a loved one's remains and dressing it up like a human being, to bring him back to the land of the living.
    It is an obligation that tribe members must perform, in keeping with a family's practice or following a dead relative's request.
    A year after Hulyong Antonio was buried, six of his children and other relatives from the Hanunuo Mangyan tribe traveled to his grave and retrieved his coffin.
    "This man told his children, 'Whatever happens to me, you have to do the kutkot ritual, in the same way that you did for your mother.' This is why the ritual was performed," said Baryos Gawid, Hulyong Antonio's nephew.
    The remains were dried from soil and remaining flesh, then carefully assembled in chunks.
    The ritual involves an elaborate process of wrapping the remains in a large loin cloth, draped in such a way that it resembles a half human form, called "sinakot."
    Wrapping the carcass is a special skill that only a few Hanunuo Mangyans have mastered. The cloth must be tied taut with a string and bulked in certain areas to create a human shape, much like a mummy, in this case wrapped after the corpse is exhumed.
    "To this day, we have not forgotten our culture. It has remained alive," said Bapa Amando, one of Hulyong Antonio's children.
    Then the "sinakot" has steadied like a half mannequin, the relatives adorn the remains with their clothes and jewelry. Each son or daughter makes a contribution.
    The Mangyans are known for their traditional hand woven fabrics, and beaded accessories.
    "Kutkot" is rarely practiced among the 25,000 remaining Hanunuo Mangyans in Oriental Mindoro, falling victim to modern intrusions, much like their traditional clothes, instruments and social practices.
    "The younger members of the tribe are not interested in performing this ancient ritual of ours. They don't know how to do it," Gawid said.
    All wrapped up and ornamented, the remains are carried back to the village. Custom requires that the tribal members return home in reverse order of their positions travelling to the grave.
    A year after his death, Hulyong Antonio was welcomed back in his village with the sound of gongs and a dance called "taruk," performed by his nephew.
    "We will keep him in the house. And after a year or so, he will be transferred to a cave," said Igsay one of Hulyong Antonio's nephews.
    The Mangyans believe that when the weight of the bones begins to feel light, it is time to move their loved ones' remains from the small hut where it will be temporarily housed.
    The Mangyan tribe is one of around 100 indigenous people's groups in the Philippines. Several ethnic communities' ancestral lands are threatened by industrial developments such as mining, logging and commercial plantations.
    A party advocating for ethnic groups' rights is running for a congressional seat in the May elections.
    ENDS.
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