More Indigenous than Others: The Paradox of Indigeneity among the Higaunon Lumad

Abstract:In the Philippines there is a stark disconnect between the static notion of indigeneity legalized by the state and an emic concept employed by Indigenous peoples themselves. This paper explores indigeneity as operationalized by the Higaunon of Mindanao, one of the island's many Lumad or indigenous groups. Higaunons conceptualize 'indigeneity' as determined by ancestral pedigrees tied strongly to place and geography, and according to the precedence of founding ancestors, whose direct descendants are recognized universally as being 'more indigenous' than others. In the Higaunon case, indigeneity is a modern legal concept with both national and global pretensions, as well as a deeply embedded, pre-existing, highly localized cultural concept that overrides all other considerations. While efforts at poverty alleviation have seen Higaunons emphasize community unity, this indigenous/emic notion of indigeneity continues to intervene where ancestral precedence is at risk of being superseded by 'universal'/etic notions of indigeneity that romanticize an egalitarian ethic and cultural inclination towards democratization. In Mindanao, at least, indigeneity as a working concept depends heavily on how such disconnects are negotiated and reconciled with respect to codes of national and customary law.