Sacred Texts and Symbols: An Indigenous Filipino Perspective on Reading

Reading in the Philippines is a process whereby the body, mind and spirit are engaged. Even though Filipinos are predominantly Catholic, many believe that creative energy, in the form of spirits, dwells in nature. These spirits must be respected or else they can unleash their wrath through sickness and natural calamities. As a contribution to preserving Filipino indigenous knowledge, this paper will explore whatok, the tattooing tradition of the Butbut people of Kalinga and t’nalak, the weaving tradition of the T’boli people of Mindanao. The aim of this paper is to preserve the unique culture of the Philippines’ indigenous peoples’ while sharing a decolonized perspective on reading. The term “decolonized” is used to mean peeling away the layers of nearly 400 years of Spanish and American colonial influence on Filipino culture. I will do this by studying the ways in which indigenous Filipino people record memory. The Philippines has an ancient syllabary system, but I will focus on older forms of transmitting ancestral knowledge, tattooing and textile making. Hopefully, this method will challenge readers to see tattoos and textiles as a valid means of documentation beyond printed text.