- Arizona State University, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, AlumnusAsian Journal of Social Science, Book Reviews, Department Member, and 3 moreadd
- Southeast Asian Studies, Ethnohistory, Anthropology, History, Lumad, Ethnic Minorities in Southeast Asia, and 14 moreIndigenous Peoples, Philippines, Borneo, Heart Of Borneo project, Mindanao, The Moros Of Mindanao In Southern Philippines, Mindanao Peace Process, Indigenous Religions, History of Christianity, Islamic History, Minority language education, Indigenous Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and Anibal Quijanoedit
- I am a cultural anthropologist who dabbles in history, geography, and other disciplines. My research focuses on the i... moreI am a cultural anthropologist who dabbles in history, geography, and other disciplines. My research focuses on the indigenous ethnic minorities of Asia, with a special focus currently on the Lumad peoples of Mindanao (Philippines). In this manner I have covered (a.o.) ethnohistory, genealogy and kinship, local identity politics, religion and conversion, ecological issues, indigeneity, land rights, and political organization. I'm currently completing a study of indigenous governance, highlighting the challenges of maintaining 'traditional' political authority amongst the Higaunon.edit
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http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780877277613/a-mountain-of-difference/#bookTabs=1
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780877277613/a-mountain-of-difference/#bookTabs=1
What are the practical and cultural consequences of embracing the ‘Indigenous’ label? Despite universalising aspirations, the concept of indigeneity carries distinct political connotations in the Philippines, where the Indigenous Peoples’... more
What are the practical and cultural consequences of embracing the ‘Indigenous’ label? Despite universalising aspirations, the concept of indigeneity carries distinct political connotations in the Philippines, where the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act has created a bureaucracy that purportedly responds to the special needs of Indigenous Peoples, including the preservation of cultural traditions and securing title to ancestral lands. While laudatory on the surface, in practice the current legal and bureaucratic framework allows the state to impose its own definition of indigeneity, often compelling indigenous minorities to conform to stereotypes in order to acquire the fundamental rights and benefits that, by law, are supposed to be guaranteed. The Philippine states’ requirements for being recognised as ‘Indigenous’ are transforming how Indigenous Peoples maintain and perform their ancestral traditions, often leading to highly divisive internal debates about proper cultural and political representation. This article examines the case of Higaunon Lumads in northern Mindanao, who have been responding locally to over thirty years of national trends in participatory development that require increased engagement with government bureaucracy. I explore how ‘indigeneity’ has been defined and employed by Higaunons in the service of ‘preserving tradition’, the political and other consequences that have emerged in this context, and the perils of representing and commodifying indigeneity in modern Southeast Asia.
The anthropological study of Catholicism is difficult in a majority Catholic country like the Philippines because, unlike the case of a recent arrival like Protestantism, it is perhaps impossible, or even moot, to parse out what is either... more
The anthropological study of Catholicism is difficult in a majority Catholic country like the Philippines because, unlike the case of a recent arrival like Protestantism, it is perhaps impossible, or even moot, to parse out what is either Catholic or indigenous about a particular cultural phenomenon. Even in the case of cultural outliers like the so-called ‘unchristianised’ indigenous minorities in the country’s peripheral upland regions, the tremendous impact of the Catholic thought-world in shaping who they are and their place in society today is masked substantially by their apparent cultural distinctiveness. While this problem might be seen as the province of historiography, it does configure our understanding of the present, which in turn has a direct impact on how we undertake anthropology in the very same spaces. This article argues that, in cases like that of the Philippines, the diachronic component is necessary to make sense of how Catholicism has not only shaped the diversity of cultures but also how, through extensive missionisation in the Spanish colonial period, it has configured cultural and political spaces so completely that, as anthropologists, we reproduce this thought-world uncritically through our own ethnographies. A focus on the so-called unchristianised Lumad ethnic minority groups of Mindanao shows how looking beyond Catholics as obvious subjects is relevant, and perhaps even necessary, to undertaking an anthropology of Catholicism.
By Susan Russell
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021911815001527
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021911815001527
By Anthony C. Medrano
By Ruth de Llobet
doi:10.1017/S0022463415000211
doi:10.1017/S0022463415000211
By Antonio J. Guerreiro
Research Interests:
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In the Philippines, there is a stark disconnect between the static notion of indigeneity legalized by the state, and an emic concept employed by Indigenous peoples themselves. This paper explores indigeneity as operationalized by the... more
In the Philippines, there is a stark disconnect between the static notion of indigeneity legalized by the state, and an emic concept employed by Indigenous peoples themselves. This paper explores indigeneity as operationalized by the Higaunon of Mindanao, one of the island’s many Lumad or “indigenous” groups. Higaunons conceptualize ‘indigeneity’ as determined by ancestral pedigrees tied strongly to place and geography, and according the precedence of founding ancestors. As such, specific descent groups are recognized universally as being “more indigenous” than others. In the Higaunon case, ‘indigeneity’ is both a modern legal concept with global pretensions, and a deeply held, highly localized concept that overrides all other concerns. While efforts at poverty alleviation have seen Higaunons emphasize community unity, a profound internal stratification based on ancestral precedence continues to create serious problems in situations where the indigenous/emic notion of indigeneity is at risk of being superseded by romantic etic notions of indigeneity that presume an egalitarian ethic and cultural inclination towards democratization. In Mindanao, at least, the future of ‘indigeneity’ will depend heavily on how such disconnects are negotiated and reconciled with respect to codes of national and customary law.
This article explores the phenomenon of extensive social media use among indigenous minorities in the Philippines and the impact of digital media on the active construction of identity at both the individual and community levels.... more
This article explores the phenomenon of extensive social media use among indigenous minorities in the Philippines and the impact of digital media on the active construction of identity at both the individual and community levels. Specifically, I analyse the public online activities of members of an extended Higaunon Lumad community in north Mindanao, Philippines, to understand the creative ways in which they utilise both information and communications technology and social media to promote particular images of themselves, either as individuals or as members of an indigenous minority group. Despite having rather limited access to ICT – specifically mobile phones, mobile networks, computers, and the internet – due to material poverty and living outside coverage areas – this has not stopped Higaunons from establishing a strong presence on social media – specifically Facebook -- through which they cultivate not only modern aspirations and self-images, but also wider political assertions of land rights, cultural heritage, indigeneity. These activities, in turn, are shaping notions of pugkahigaunon, or Higaunon-ness, both online and off.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
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This article explores the relevance of water in the cultural traditions of indigenous Lumad peoples of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines. Historically, Lumad identities and networks (whether political, social, or economic) were... more
This article explores the relevance of water in the cultural traditions of indigenous Lumad peoples of Mindanao island in the southern Philippines. Historically, Lumad identities and networks (whether political, social, or economic) were conceptualised according to the rivers on which people dwelt. Important ties stretched from the coast to the interior (i.e., between upriver and downriver communities), with water providing the path of least resistance in rough terrain. This stands in contrast to the present-day cultural and political divide between the uplands and lowlands, which are now dominated by mainstream ‘Filipino’ settlers, referred to locally as dumagat or ‘sea-people’. Given that Lumad ties to the land are profoundly visualised according to rivers, the salt-water origins of dumagats locate these interlopers at, or more often, beyond the moral boundaries of the Lumad universe. Meanwhile, in Lumad oral traditions, the movements of people across one generation to the next ar...
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This is the full text of my submission for the Shell/Economist Writing Prize, 2002. The theme was "How much freedom should we trade for our security?" This essay was one of (I believe) 5 Bronze Award winners.
This special section considers key works in the study of Southeast Asian religions from the last decade and discusses ways the field should develop over the next decade. It features scholarship from a diverse range of disciplines,... more
This special section considers key works in the study of Southeast Asian religions from the last decade and discusses ways the field should develop over the next decade. It features scholarship from a diverse range of disciplines, including history, anthropology, gender studies, literary studies, media studies and ritual studies. It encompasses multiple Southeast Asian locations, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Southwest China, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. To harmonize our multi-vocal collaboration, each of our eight contributors first highlights a monograph or journal article from the last decade that they find important in advancing the field and then relates how a particular research project of theirs seeks to further that advancement.