Clan reunions replace

'cañao' tradition in Benguet

by Maurice Malanes, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 May 2000

TIME was when the mountains of Kibungan town in Benguet

would echo the beats and rhythm of gongs and solibaos (native

drums) and the cries of pigs and carabaos being slaughtered

and offered to the gods and spirits during traditional feasts

called cañao or pedit.

Abundant farm harvest and good swine and cattle production

would be enough reasons to hold the cañao.

In these feasts, members of the community would gather in the

home of the host family to dine and wine, to dance the sadong

(usually performed by girls and women) and the tayaw (usually

done by men), and to sing the day-eng (an extemporaneous

chanted poetry).

For the host family, the cañao was a way of sharing with the

rest of the community blessings the gods and spirits bestowed

or what may be considered the family's surplus. The cañao or

pedit is thus a thanksgiving feast.

In thanking the heavens, a traditional priest would pray: ''O

gods and spirits of the heavens, bless members of this family

(referring to the cañao's host family). Let their cattle and

livestock become more productive. Let their rice, peas, grains,

camote (sweet potato) and other crops bear good harvest. Spare

this family from ailments and bless the family members with

long, healthy lives. O gods and spirits, we are asking all these

so that tomorrow or one of these days, we can again celebrate

your blessings for this family and have the chance again to

honor you and pay our respects.''

As a community affair, the cañao or pedit had also served a

social purpose. Through this affair, each member of the

community, in the spirit of bin-nadang or cooperation, would

help out in all activities.

The whole community would gather firewood, pound rice, fetch

water, slaughter animals and cook, and would participate in

religious rituals, such as dancing the sadong and the tayaw,

playing the gongs and drums, and joining in the religious

chants. In the early days, the cañao had thus helped strengthen

community spirit and unity.

Also through the cañao, families and clans were able to trace

their blood lineage and family tree.

Vanishing tradition

But in Benguet towns, such as in Kibungan, which used to hold

traditional feasts at least twice or thrice a month until three to

four decades ago, the cañao is now slowly vanishing.

The reasons are both economic and cultural. In Kibungan now,

there just are not enough animals to butcher, unlike in the early

days when, as Lakay (old man) Paguli recalls, there were more

animals than people.

The mountain town, which is 67 kilometers northeast of Baguio

City, also used to be self-sufficient in staples such as rice and

camote.

These days, however, Kibungan folk have to buy their rice from

Baguio because of a growing population and the lack of

government support services, such as small irrigation systems,

to improve farm production.

Populated by about 16,000 Kankana-ey folk, Kibungan has also

been saturated by various Christian sects, some of which

preach that the cañao tradition is ''unchristian,'' if not ''the work

of the devil.''

But as more and more Kibungan folk are turning their backs on

the cañao tradition, more and more are also looking for ways to

restrengthen community spirit and family and clan ties. Clan

reunions have thus emerged in recent years.

Tracing ancestry

Like the cañao, clan reunions enable members to get to know

one another better by tracing common ancestors.

Unlike the cañao, however, each family head of the clan

contributes to the cost of holding a reunion.

In the recent grand reunion of the Gelwan-Dangsuyan clan, one

of the biggest in Kibungan, for example, each family head

chipped in P150 mainly to cover the cost of lunch and dinner.

Each one of the over 500 clan members gathered was excited

and happy about the grand reunion held in the home of Ganaya

Bay-an Bolislis, the only surviving elder of the Tamang

sub-clan.

But the grand affair apparently lacks the festive mood of the

cañao of yore. The affair was rather formal, complete with a

program of activities, during which all sub-clans were presented

on a stage installed with a sound system.

There was a spice, however, to all the formalities: each sub-clan

presented ice breakers, such as country and folk songs and

children's dances, which integrated traditional dance steps.

 Folk singing

And the singers, mostly young men and women, were good at

aping the late John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Joan Baez and other

American country and folk singers.

Some elders did not want to be outdone. Gaerlan Wance and

Celino Cayad-an, both World War II veterans, sang songs they

learned from their American senior officers in the last war.

That American country and folk songs are tops in Kibungan

and other Benguet towns is an interesting subject for

sociocultural research. But that's another story.

What is clear is that cultural practices accompanying the cañao

tradition are now on the way out.

The mambunong (a traditional priest), who leads the religious

rituals in a cañao, no longer has a place in a clan reunion. In the

recent Gelwan-Dangsuyan grand reunion, for example, a young

Pentecostal pastor, who married a woman of the clan, led

members in a praise and worship rite.

Guitars and sound systems have replaced the beats of gongs

and drums. Hawaiian dances performed to the tune of ''Pearly

Shells'' and ''Tiny Bubbles'' and other dances, such as one

played to some weird beat called ''Dayang-Dayang'' have

replaced the traditional sadong and tayaw.

Hardly heard now is the day-eng, an extemporaneous poetry

that is sung by elders as they pass around a common cup of

tapuy or rice wine.

This poetry is also a form of discourse because one leads and

opens up a topic, and another responds by agreeing or

disagreeing through metaphors and lots of folk wisdom-laden

philosophical thoughts.

Cultural artifacts, such as traditional dresses and heirlooms, can

be preserved in museums. Not so with a cultural heritage such

as the day-eng, which has to be continually practiced for it to

continue to breathe life.