LEARNING FROM THE AETAS OF KANAWAN

The kulot and unat children of Kanawan

We started from the Bataan Technology Park which used to be the sanctuary for the Vietnamese boat people decades ago. We took a ten minute ride to the hanging bridge and a 15 minute walk up the mountain to Sitio Kanawan, Morong Bataan, home to the Aeta community. 

We were there for a third in the series of  cross visits or Lakbay Aral of the Traditional Knowledge Network. 

This time, we wanted to hear the voices of the Aetas, and learn from them. And lessons were plenty: on sustainable hunting and foraging, on respecting the sacred sites, on understanding the signs of the seasons. The Aetas over generations built their expertise on surviving on the fruits of the forest, while conserving the biodiversity it contains. We were told that the US troops in Subic and Clark used to invite them to share their knowledge and skill in jungle survival.

Ka Rudy and Joseph told us of the livelihood seasons which the Aeta follow. They gather honey from December to May, after which they do not disturb the bees, and allow them to reproduce and produce more honey. May is the time to plant the upland rice, just enough to feed their families for the season. June starts the season for hunting the wild boar, which ends in September. In September, the wild boar are mating; in October and November, they are pregnant; in February, they give birth; and by June, they are big enough to be hunted.

The Aeta possess rich and precise knowledge about the creatures in the forest, which forms the basis for their sustainable management of the forests they live in. They can teach us simple living, being content with what is available, and knowing the meaning of enough.

Our lunch was a concrete lesson in traditional knowledge.  Our rice was cooked in bamboo tubes. Our lunch was served in giant leaves from the forest. Everyone enjoyed the simple shared meal with gusto.

sharing lunch, the Aeta way

The Traditional Knowledge Network is a loose network of indigenous peoples from different corners of the Philippines. It was born from conversations among indigenous leaders who meet each other during occasional conferences on IP concerns. It is a learning network, where the experts are the traditional knowledge holders, and the students are those who recognize the value of such knowledge in caring for the planet, and biodiversity conservation.

The cross visitors to Aeta land

Sitio Kanawan, Morong, Bataan

April 17, 2009