From Baswit to Tiyom to Cultural Master

When Baswit was in college in the eighties, he was active in the national minority youth and student movement in Baguio city. He so generously shared his knowledge and talent in Kalinga music with other youth who were searching for grounding in Cordillera indigenous culture. He told us stories of heirloom gongs, whose sounds invited neighboring villages to festivities, and which his father buried when his hometown was militarized because of their opposition to the Chico river dam project. He initiated us in the finer points of striking a gong, with a palm held flat or cupped, or with a stick, for various Kalinga rhythms. He taught us to distinguish the ullalim from the uggayam from the salidummay. He, along with Macoy, Rito, and Kennedy, patiently translated the protest songs, which originated from villages along the Chico river during their historic and heroic struggle to keep the river flowing.

When asked if he could teach us how to play the instruments, Baswit would start with scheduling a trip to the bamboo groves outside of Baguio city, and then identifying which type of bamboo is suitable for particular instruments. He told us of the right way to harvest bamboo, so they would last long. He taught us how to use our palms, elbows, and fingers to get the right measurements for a Kalinga flute. He introduced us to the ballingbing (zithers), tongatong (stomping tubes), paldong (mouth flute), kullitong (bamboo guitar),  kalaleng (nose flute), and the kulibao (jaws' harp). 

Nobody can play the kulibao like Baswit. His mastery of the kulibao certainly deserves recognition. Several times, I have witnessed people, upon hearing Baswit play the kulibao, look around for the hidden speakers, and laugh out loud in wonder, when they realize that the rhythmic sound they hear is produced with a tiny bamboo instrument.

Through the years, Baswit participated in recordings of the Salidummay, and is responsible for much of the instrumental music which you hear in the first to the sixth albums. It was also he who informed us that our gongs needed tuning, and then borrowed the set to perform the needed procedures.

Recently, we bumped into Baswit. He related how he survived a severe sickness which almost killed him. And he was given a new name, Tiyom, by his tribe in a ritual.

With a new lease on life, he presently conducts music lessons among the Kalinga youth based in Baguio city. He is passing on his knowledge and skill to others, ensuring that this musical heritage is kept alive.

If you wish to learn Kalinga music, try to find Baswit, also known as Tiyom, cultural master of Lin-awa Center for Culture and Arts, with office at Room C203 Lopez Building, Session Road, Baguio city. Ask him, too, to tell you stories of the Baguio market.

The Gift of Traditional Knowledge

Thanks to Borky for the artwork

Here are the lyrics of one of the songs in Chuwassi, Salidummay's 6th album, to be released in a launching concert on November 18, 2008, 6:30 pm, at the UP Baguio Auditorium. Don't miss it...

The Gift

The gift was nurtured through the times to be a guiding light

The gift was handed down the ages from the elders to the child

I learned to love my land of birth, the mountains and the trees

I learned the secrets of the earth, the sky, the wind, the seas

It taught me when to work the land, and when to watch and wait

When to sow and when to reap and when to celebrate

I learned to share my time, my skill, my harvest and my labor

I learned to give and to receive the caring of my neighbor

To give respect to nature, each creature has its ways

To celebrate all cultures, each people has their ways

Walk lightly on the planet, this message must be heard

The gift of simple living, we offer to the world

The gift was nurtured through the times to be a guiding light

And now it teaches me that I must carry on the fight

Watch for Chuwassi, Salidummay's sixth album

New generation of Salidummay

When we started out 21 years ago, our goal was simple: to record the protest songs which we heard, as we joined fact-finding missions, multilateral peace pacts, Macliing Memorials and early celebrations of Cordillera Day in the 1980s. The result was our first album released in 1987, which we named after the chorus line of the indigenous song form.

Since then, we released Dong dong ay in 1992, Elalay in 1995, Diway in 2000, and Ay ay in 2003. Presently, we are working on a sixth album Chuwassi, soon to be released on November at UP Baguio. It is produced by the Dap-ayan ti Kultura iti Kordilyera (DKK) with support from Tebtebba Foundation and EED Task Force on Indigenous Peoples (EEDTFIP). 

Chuwassi focuses on the contributions of indigenous peoples in caring for the environment. The album has 12 original compositions, with each highlighting various angles of the Cordillera people's efforts to conserve their mountain ecosystem.

Kullilipan ni Kaigorotan traces back in history the roots of the discplacement of Kaigorotan from his homeland. It translates into song the mime and verse "Ako si Kaigorotan", originally written by Nonilon Queano and directed by Lulu Gimenez in the 1980s, for a cultural production against the government-sponsored Grand Canao. The song blends the traditional melody kullilipan with a nose flute and acoustic guitar.

Bakir tackles the indigenous knowledge and practices involved in caring for forests. It brings forward traditional values such as generosity, reciprocity and concern for community, which play a key role in preserving forests and present a stark contrast to the profit-orientation of modern society. 

Chumma, written in Ifontoc language, highlights the importance of saving our heirloom seeds and genetic resources, which do not require buying chemical inputs, but make use of naturally organic fertilizers and pesticides. The song expounds on the negative impact of high-yielding varieties and genetically modified seeds threatening the food security of the mountain folk.

Lubong Ko tells the story of the indigenous peasants and mineworkers of Mankayan, as they deal with the devastation brought about by the large scale mining operations of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company. Welga recounts the victorious strike of the Lepanto Workers Union in 2005, which asserted workers rights to higher wages and better working conditions, and also resulted in a stronger and consolidated union.

Datayo nga Agrigrigat, composed by the ladies of ORNUS (Organisasyon dagiti Nakurapay nga Umili ti Syudad), relates the hardships of indigenous migrants in Baguio city, as they seek greener pastures, resulting from their displacement and marginalization in the Cordillera countryside.

Women of Asia was first sung in 1993, in the first Asian Indigenous Women's Conference. It highlights the role of indigenous women in society, and signaled the birth of the indigenous women's movement in Asia. Remember Your Children is a reprise of the song first recordedin 1993 by then nine-year old twins Karlo and Maria Cleto. It reminds so-called "development" planners to consider future generations when planning dams, mines, and logging operations. It also calls on the Cordillera people to safeguard their heritage.

Hustisya calls for justice for all victims of political killings in the Philippines, and pays tribute to the martyrs and victims of extrajudicial killings, who gave their lives as the highest sacrifice in the movement for national liberation.

Underground relates the growth of a mass movement starting with a few seeds transforming into a powerful force unleashed towards a change in social structure. Entayo shares the experience of joining Cordillera Day, which celebrates the solidarity among peoples fighting for freedom.

Finally, The Gift pays tribute to the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, nurtured through generations, and passed on from elders to child. Traditional knowledge teaches sustainable and equitable ways of living, supportive and respective of the environment. It contains practical guides for living off the earth, while teaching values for community, simple living, hard work and generosity. Valuable lessons can be learned from traditional knowledge, which is gaining recognition around the world, as a stock of viable ways of living and caring for the planet in these days of global warming and climate change.

All 12 songs are inspired by and grounded on the musical tradition of the Cordillera. They use traditional melodies and rhythms, bamboo flutes, tuned percussion instruments and gongs. But because Salidummay is a contemporary music group, it also employs modern instruments and musical instruments, such as guitar, harmonization, and instrumental accompaniment which are innovations on the traditional and the fruit of creative effort of the group. Like earlier albums, Chuwassi showcases contemporary Cordillera music which expresses the issues that face the Cordillera people today, advocates and asserts cultural integrity and self-determination, in a package that focuses the spotlight on a rich and colorful musical heritage.

The Salidummay has gone far beyond our initial modest goal of recording the indigenous protest songs for posterity. Instead, it has proven to be larger than us individual musicians. It has grown into a musical crusade and battlecry, which involves the youth, children, women, elders, community folk, as we assert our cultural identity and pursue our self-determination.#