Philippines-Hawaii-2010

David and I spent 3 weeks in Hawaii and the Philippines during December. We had long planned a one-week trip to Hawaii, staying at the time-share on the Big Island owned by my sister Cookie and her husband Don. (For photos from Hawaii, click here.) Then we found out that Peter Ortner, son of our long-time colleague Rick Ortner would be getting married in the Philippines in a traditional Ifugao ceremony on December 29. We decided we could not miss this special occasion for Peter, nor the chance to spend time with Rick, Peter, and Katie all together. Katie was born a few months after our son Jeremy; Peter is a few years older. The two families spent much time together over the years, but with Rick now in Louisiana (he moved to LSU in 2003) and the children grown up and on two coasts, it's not often we can all get together. As it turned out, the visit was much more than this--an immersion in Filipino and Ifugao culture, as we participated as "the party of the groom" in all aspects of the preparation and ceremony. We knew very little about what we would be experiencing. About a week before the event, we received a description and explanation of "Ifugao Marriage Patterns" that had been written up by Maya's grandfather, so this told us more. But still, much was a surprise. OK, I'll just start in with some background, and then show photos and describe various elements.

Peter is marrying Maya Getchell, whom he met when both were students at Yale. After Yale, they both got graduate degrees at Harvard, Peter in architecture and Maya in public health; they are both now working in these fields. Maya's mother, Jean, grew up in Kiangan, a village in Northern Luzon province, about 150 miles north of Manila (though an 8-hour car ride, as one travels through small towns and up into the mountains). Jean's father, Mark, went to this village as a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1970s, where he met Jean. Mark and Jean have five children, whom they have raised around the world, as Mark works for an international refugee group and Jean as a nurse; they currently live in Australia. They also maintain a house in Kiangan, which the family visits regularly. The photo above was taken from a tower at the edge of the village.

The Getchells' home in Kiangan:

Getchell house

It's a four bedroom house, one of the larger homes in the village. The house is usually unoccupied, as Jean and Mark have not lived here for many years, though there is a family there who rents out the area attached to the house on the right.

Here are some other, more typical, houses in the village:

Jean is part of a very prominent family in the village, and she is a significant landholder. The property extends up the mountain from the house, and down the mountain into rice fields, which are rented out. Inheritance in Ifugao culture goes to the eldest child, entirely. If that child wishes to distribute the inheritance or share it, that is possible, but not expected. Jean, as the fourth child of seven, ended up the inheritor, as the three daughters before her did not want the responsibility. It's not just an issue of keeping up the property, but of undertaking various communal responsibilities incumbent on the one who holds the property. Of the seven children, only one brother, Albert, lives in Kiangan, where he has served two terms as major. Others live in Manila, the U.S. and around the world.

On the 27th, we took a walk up the hill in front of the house, to the place of the family tombs, including that of Jean's mother, who died a few years ago. Jean explained that it was important that she visit her mother before she went to see her father, who has his own property in an adjacent village. Jean is in the photo on the left, leading us up the path; the photo at the right shows a bunch of us at the tombs. After a while, the family said prayers and lit candles at the tombs.

While the ritual we were there to attend is a traditional Ifugao ritual, the family--like most in the Philippines--is also deeply Catholic. There is no disjunction felt--it's all part of a unified life. This shrine is in back of the Getchell house.

Some other photos in the village--there are many stores like this in the village, selling food and other small daily items. There are no large commerical buildings. Kiangan has about 15,000 people, including not just the village itself but the surrounding area. A bigger city, Lagawe, which has a bus station, banks, a large commerical area, etc., is about 30 minutes away by car.

Small stores like this sell "Coke in a bag," keeping the bottles for themselves for recycling; here I'm with Katie Ortner.

A view of a main street in Kiangan. The vehicles in the left and right of the photo are "tricycles," which consist of a small motocycle with a covered side car. With a couple of people in back of the driver and a few in the side car, these take around a lot of people! They are the main means of motorized transport in the village and are also prevalent in bigger cities and on intercity roads as well.

rice terraces just outside the village

an example of the lush foliage

Kiangan has a special place in the history of World War II. The Philippines were occupied by the Japanese during WWII, and there was fierce fighting between Filipinos and Americans against the Japanese. Manila was flattened from air attacks by both sides, with huge human casualties and general devastation. The final surrender of the Japanese took place in the north, in Kiangan. This plaque is close by the tombs of Jean's family.

This is the inside of Jean and Mark's house, showing the large living room filled with some of the many people who had travelled great distances to be with Peter and Maya on this occasion. A dozen friends of Peter and Maya from high school, college, grad school and work came from Germany, Singapore, Boston, California and other places. Maya's four siblings plus Katie Ortner were other young people there. A Peace Corps friend of Mark's came from Wyoming, and Jean's family gathered from both sides of the Pacific Ocean as well. Also joining in were friends and relatives from Kiangan, some of whom were hosting some of us in their homes. (The beautiful wood floor is from local mahogany.)

This is a lower level of the house--more mahogany in the panelling. David is talking to Jean's brother Albert, who gave us lots of advice in the preparation for the ceremony.

Jean and Mark's generosity to us throughout the trip put me in awe. For example, they gave one bedroom in their house to the 3 Ortners, one to David and me, and a third to the driver of the van. This left one bedroom (with mattresses spread from one side of the room to the other) for the 7 members of the Getchell family. They fed 20 guests for a week, arranged all our transportation, figured out in advance anything we might need. Such deep hospitality--it made me think of how valued "hospitality" was in so many premodern societies.

The ceremony we were there for is the "imbango," the key ceremony that unites a couple and their families. It is a "betrothal" rather than marriage itself. ( Peter and Maya will have a Catholic wedding in Boston in July. There is a further Ifugao wedding ceremony, the "uya-uy," which may or may not be done later.) The imbango is a much more serious commitment than a modern "engagement," involving significant involvement and expense by the families, not just by the couple. This ceremony, at least done on the scale that we saw, is done only by the elite within the village, perhaps by 10% of the population.

At the heart of the ritual is a procession from the house of the groom to the house of the bride, with the groom's party bringing various gifts and offerings to the party of the bride. In this case, we used the house of Jean's father, Maya's grandfather, for the house of the bride, and a cousin's house close by for the house of the groom. It's good they were close, since the central element in the procession is the carrying of three very large pigs--live, trussed, and tied to bamboo poles--between the two houses. David and I and all of Peter's friends, it turns out, had an active role to play as the "party of the groom"--not something we had anticipated! For David, this meant being one of the males to carry the pigs. I had an easier role--carrying the marriage gifts for the bride (some of her ceremonial garb, two bottles of whiskey for the family, and a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label for the shaman). Jean had generously given all of us traditional Ifugao dress, worn by all the ceremonial participants (but by none of the other guests--everyone wears Western dress these days). Now for the photos with more detail in the commentary.

A couple of days before the ceremony, we went to Grandpa's house for lunch. Workers were putting up a covered pavilion for the party--all the posts are local bamboo, with a big tarpolin recycled from commercial use for the roof. A lot more work than renting a tent!

Early on the morning of the ceremony, we drove over to the "groom's house" and put on traditional dress. The skirts are a rectangle of Ifugao weaving--red, black, and a little white are the standard, with sometimes also some yellow. The blouses are hand-embroidered.

The men's garb was more dramatic--a one-piece loincloth. Peter is the one wearing a drape over his shoulder. The others are Peter and Maya's friends from high school and college as well as Maya's two brothers.

The rest of us taking photos couldn't resist this shot. Yes, Rick and David wore the same garb, but photos of them here will be more discreet.

Well before we got to the house, food preparations had begun--very large pots set out in a cook tent set up for the occasion.

Here are the three pigs, still alive, trussed and tied to the poles, just before the procession started. The middle pig weighed 200 kilos (440 lbs.). Each pole was lifted by two people, but then other friends/family stepped up to help carry them. It was also good that one house was only about 20 yards from the other. If a pig is dropped it's a very bad omen!

Tim and Georg, with a little help, carry the largest pig.

This is Alvin riding the carabao (water buffalo).

The carabao is slaughtered. Both the carabao and pigs are cooked and served to the guests, with the extra meat distributed to family at the end of the day.

Other elements of the procession: Katie carried the "hukup," a basket filled with sticky rice; buried in the rice were wrapped-up coins. As we processed, children and others could come up and grab a handful of rice, looking for a coin. I carried the gifts from the groom to the bride (described above). Rick carried the "toknul," a piece of wood split on both ends and bound with rattan, symbolizing the uniting of the contracting parties (four families--2 from the bride's side and 2 from the groom's) into one. After the procession, we all had breakfast together at the bride's house.

Then the bride, groom and immediate family were gathered close by the shaman/priest ("mumbaki"). You can put these two photos together for the setting (note blue barrel in both). The shaman is standing at the left, holding two chickens, which he moved around as he offered the carabao and pigs to the dieties for divine favor. Seated next to him is a young priest in training, who explained much of the ritual, and next to him, in the red jacket, is Grandpa, who also explained parts of the ritual. In the bottom right corner: a haunch of the carabao. Prayers were said for the two families, and for the the animals that were being sacrificed on the occasion of the union of these families.

Seated with his back to the camera is Maya's dad Mark, then from the right corner to the center: Jean, Maya, Peter, Rick, Katie.

This tray holds various ritual elements, including a large sheaf of rice stalks. (Grandpa is wearing the white Crocs.)

We present the bottle of scotch to the shaman (it's here held by the young shaman-in-training). Mark had joked that this is given to put the shaman in the right mood for a good reading, and he did take a drink before proceeding. The omen consists of reading the bile of the two chickens. If the bile doesn't look good, the ceremony can be called off. We heard of one case where such a poor reading was given (there was no bile visible). But the family apparently went ahead with the ceremony in any case--there's so much effort already expended--though it reportedly was a bit gloomy.

Here the shaman holds the chicken while another man cuts the throat of the chicken, collecting the blood into a small bowl. This is also done with the second chicken.

The chicken was then plucked and singed, and brought back to the shaman.

He splits open the animal to reveal the bile.

It's OK! Same thing repeated for 2nd chicken; it was also OK. Peter was very relieved--he mentioned later that he'd been worried about this part.

With the blood of the chicken, the shaman paints a traditional design onto 3 pieces of wood that are bound together with some greenery. This is meant to be taken into the bride and groom's home.

Here you can see the finished design on the wood.

Next step--the pounding of rice. This is done with a local variety of rice that has a hull so hard that it cannot be mechanically milled. Rather than a simple pounding, this was to be done in a rhythmical way that made music of the task--hitting the sides of the trough as well as the rice itself. The gringos did this for a little while, and then the villagers took over to get the job done.

Then the rice was winnowed. Katie and other women get instruction. It was difficult!

Then another pounding, this time in a large stone mortar.

And then--beautiful, hand-milled rice! This was then cooked for the meal.

Now it's time to kill the pig. This was done very effectively with one stab with a sharpened stick.

These are the remains of two pigs who had been killed the previous day, to help with the provision of food for the feast.

Grandpa, and the Getchell family: Jean, Mark, Maya, Cara, Leah, Sean, Connor. At this point in the day there was time for some "formal" photo taking.

Peter and Maya are wearing jewelry special to the occasion. The gold necklaces are family heirlooms--to be worn on such occasions, but not given to them.

Then the party! First the family of the groom was introduced (all us friends included) and then the family of the bride. Then the music began with a traditional gong orchestra--here you can just see one of the round gongs.

During the gong music, the bridal parties did a traditional dance, which we had learned the night before. As you can see from the previous photo and this one, only the participants from the families were wearing traditional dress; everyone else was wearing modern western clothing.

Maya's dad explained to us later that the gesture of the left hand signifies holding out an enemy head, brought back after headhunting.

Drinking locally made rice wine is also a key part of the ritual!

After the gong music, on to the karaoke machine! Karaoke is very big in the Philippines. We sang and danced for a long while. While we partied, the cooks were cooking. Then we all had a big meal.

Earlier in the afternoon, much of the meat was divided up and distribute to relatives.

OK, that's it on photos of the ceremony. Before going on to other "scenic" photos of the area, I wanted to mention something about language. English is the language of school instruction in the Philippines, so we had no trouble getting around with just English. But in Kiangan, people speak four languages: Ifugao is the mother tongue. Children learn English from the time they go to school. The third language is Ilucano (not sure I have this correct), a language common to the northern region generally and used for commerce between the smaller areas. Finally, there's Tagalog (accent on the middle syllable), the language of another region that was made the national language of the Philippines in the 1930s. This is used in Kiangan for interacting with people outside the region.

The rest of the photos are in a Flickr group: rice fields in Kiangan and Banaue. The first group of photos is from a long walk taken the day after the imbango. Mark led us through the village and the rice fields to a small lake. We had earlier gone to Banaue to see the spectacular array of rice fields that is a World Heritage site (photos of that follow). I had thought the trip to Banaue was one of the highlights of the trip, but I was even more taken with this very close up view of the terraced rice cultivation.

And here's a photo I haven't found another spot for. A couple of days before the wedding, we went over to Grandpas for lunch, where a huge buffet of assorted meat and vegetable dishes was served. One dish however, they left by the stove, rather than putting it out on the table. It was pointed out to us and explained that it was a tasty dish. But they knew it was unlikely we would eat it, so it was left to the side.

roasted fruit bats

But I can't have that be the last photo! Here's one of my favorites from the rice fields close by Kiangan:

And if you missed the link in the first paragraph to photos from the trip to Hawaii, you can find those here.