Point of view Refusal, invisibility and the indigenous question

Every now and then, we come across news that challenges our stereotypical views of indigenous communities, especially when indigenous people engage in actions that seem unimaginable within the dominant assumptions that society holds about indigeneity.

- By MACARIO LACBAWAN

In the Philippines, being indigenous is often reduced to a hyper-performative identity, limited to dancing and ritual displays meant for tourist consumption.

In a country that relies heavily on tourism for economic growth, the recently invented annual festivals for every town and city provides a platform to recreate these performances as symbols of indigenous life. This constant conflation has become so normalized that indigenous communities are often seen as worthy of attention, and therefore visible, only when they conform to these expected images of indigeneity as a communal life steeped in authentic cultural practices and traditions.

The events of the past few days, however, force us to reflect on the stereotypical image of the quintessentially performing indigenous body. In a now-viral post on a social media platform, a local tourist describes how members of the Aeta community in Capas, Tarlac refused to allow their group to proceed with a tour to Mt. Pinatubo on Good Friday, despite having paid all the necessary fees to the tour operator. The post goes on to describe how members of this indigenous community erected a temporary barrier blocking access to the famous volcano and explained their refusal.

According to the post, the decision to deny entry stemmed from the community’s claim of an unequal distribution of financial benefits derived from the use of their ancestral land. The post further explains that this unequal distribution has been a recurring issue, and that by refusing entry to tourists, the Aeta community seeks to draw attention to this ongoing unequal arrangement with the tour company.

The subsequent reactions to the event have been mixed, ranging from messages of sympathy to disparaging comments accusing the community of selfishness for prioritizing monetary benefits from their ancestral land by refusing entry to tourists.