The Batak and the Chokwe Cultures

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The Batak and the Chokwe Cultures
The Batak are among the nearly seventy indigenous peoples in the Philippines. Their location is the northeastern part of the Palawan, a fairly large island of the archipelago southwest. Their name “Batak” is derived from a Cuyunon word which means “The mountain people”. This is because their traditional habitat was around the mountains. There are only approximately 500 Batak remnants. The anthropologists consider the Batak to have a close relationship with another Negrito tribe, the Ayta. They appear to be small, dark skinned and have short “kinky” or curly hair. Sometimes, the Batak go for hunting trips in the forest, a practice that has, according to them, spiritual and economic value. Their system of belief is animism, a belief that no separation exists between the physical and spiritual world, spirits/souls exist in human and in various animals, mountains, plants or other elements of natural environment. Some spirits, known as “panyeon”, are collectively suspicious of human beings but tolerate them under the conditions that the people don’t waste or abuse the resources in the forests. Other spirits, known as “Diwata”, are collectively benevolent. All the spirits are capricious. Batak make offerings regularly to these spirits, while Shamans are taken through spiritual possession to enable them to communicate with these spirits and bring healing to the sick.
The Chokwe, who are believed to be the descendants of pygmies are situated in the southern part of the democratic republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire), northern part of Angola and western Zambia. The group had a very powerful kingdom which existed from the 17th century up to the 19th century. The kingdom was situated at the present day Angola. However, famine and disease struck in the late