Culture is an idea arising from experience…

“There's no such thing as civilization. The word just means the art of living in cities.”
― Roger Zelazny, The Great Book of Amber

Couple of day before the trip, I have been wondering of how a busy-free, smoke-free vicinity would look like. Remorselessly, after an hour of our ride, treasure hidden from the mountains welcomed us in amazement; the sounds of fresh air carried by the green leaves of hope and the golden sunrise peeking behind those mountains of resources. For they cook gold in their pots, they eat plenty of gem thus progressing in terms of their lifestyle but sustaining their culture in the modern times. The journey was indeed indefatigable! The thing is, I am already acquainted with the Bago Culture: we practice most of what they do, their dances are quite similar to what we do in Igorot tribe. However, I was moderately stunned when the performers started to speak “kankanaey” which is our language too. My presumption was that because the tribe came from the amalgamation of the Ilocano and Igorot, their language will not follow. It was then that I realized that they, too, speak both Ilocano and Kankanaey. Thus another picture was added to my storage as regards the culture which I thought I am totally aware of, I got it all wrong. It was a priceless encounter and indeed knowledge-and-wisdom-craving activity. When one is living in a city, some of their ways may appear odd and unusual. Nonetheless, the people in the community is doing their culture in consonance to the norms of nowadays’ generation. When asked about what really caught my impression, I bow down to those children and youths who struggle to sustain their culture. Undeniably, they demonstrate a genuine love for what their ancestors have given them, looking into them as helping agents of what they have now and what they will be having in the future. Proudly, they presented sets of musical instrument originally made from bamboos and animal body parts which gives the view of creativity of the people behind the culture they have. Where it is laughable and odd to some, boys who study in the Special School for Culture and the Arts wore bahag defying the idea that it might slip while girls wore tapis as their skirt. Comparing it to our clothing, Igorot, the only difference that I saw was the color and design of stripes of their bahag and tapis. Embedded in their trainings, the sincerity of the performers is very evident even those kids who performed musical dramas showcasing what a Bago tribe is. The escapade was a real cure of ignorance and triviality circulating about these people. If I were to summarize my experience with the Bagos, I’d say “surrexit sopitus” a latin for the sleeper has awakened. The mini program was not the end of the immersion. We roamed around the place to satisfy our seems-like-unending-curiosity. Much to my delight, we found a bridge where almost all students who joined the trip have tried to experience crossing the hurtling bridge, it was again fun! Nevertheless, Bago tribe is one of the most wonderful tribe that I have seen and met which really makes the people of Suyo proud. They, maybe, are far from the so-called civilization but they constitute a definition of culture. As Edward Hall said, "We should never denigrate any other culture but rather help people to understand the relationship between their own culture and the dominant culture. When you understand another culture or language, it does not mean that you have to lose your own culture."

Matago-tago takos am-in!