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4th Igorot
International Consultation in London: ‘Roots to the Future’
 The
final sessions of the 4th IIC were held at the new auditorium of the
British Museum. In photo are (l-r) Dr. Brian Durrans, Keeper of the BM’s
Ethnography Department; Dr. Alfredo Bacdayan, Jane Bugnosen, conference
chairperson Conchita Pooten, Geoff Nettleton, Rufino Bomasang, President and CEO
of PNOC Exploration Corporation; and Edmund Bugnosen of Igorot-UK.
The Igorot Global Organization (IGO), composed of more than a
thousand members around the world who trace their ethnic roots to the Cordillera
provinces of Northern Luzon, successfully held the 4th Igorot
International Consultation in London from June 28 to July 2 this year.
The event was organized by the Igorot-UK and Igorot Youth-UK
in collaboration with the IGO, Cordillera Links and IGO-Philippines, with the
assistance of the Philippine Embassy in London and the Department of Ethnography
of the British Museum.
With "Igorot Roots to the Future: Perspectives on Igorot
Responses to Globalization" as conference theme, the biennial consultation
drew more than 500 delegates, the majority of whom came from the United States
and the Philippines. Other delegates represented Canada, Australia, Switzerland,
Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, and the United Kingdom.
 Some
of the participants to the 4IIC, led by organizer Conchita Pooten (2nd,
right) of Igorot-UK,
pose with Ambassador & Mrs. Cesar B. Bautista (5th & 6th,
right) at the British Museum
Initiated by Igorots living in the United States, the IIC was
primarily organized to unite the Igorots all over the world, and bring them
together in identifying issues and concerns to come up with a paradigm of
adaptation, involvement and ethnic renewal that can strengthen the Igorots
towards becoming globally competitive in different aspects of development.
The first IIC was held in Los Angeles, California in 1996,
the second in Maryland, Virginia in 1998, and the third in Baguio City, the
capital of the Cordillera region in northern Philippines, in 2000. It was during
the third IIC in Baguio that the Igorot UK and the Igorot Youth UK took up the
challenge of hosting the fourth IIC in London, where there is an active
community of several thousand Igorots from all the Cordillera provinces.
The three-day meeting focused on development issues and
changes that affect Igorots in the 21st century. The first two days of
discussions and workshops took place at the Conway Hall in Holborn, with the
plenary session and various exhibits held at the British Museum on the final
day. The topics included the following: ancestral land issues, loss of land and
culture; political mobilization and advocacy for the full review and proper
implementation of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) in the Cordillera,
particularly on the interpretation of customary law and national law;
empowerment of Igorots through education and the active exercise of their rights
as indigenous people; the challenge of preserving Igorot identity in overseas
communities, especially among the second and third generations, and other
problems related to migration such as racial stereotyping and discrimination;
and Igorot values and beliefs in the modern world, taking into consideration
concepts such as family values, tribalism and spiritualism.
Among the speakers during the culminating session were
Ambassador Cesar B. Bautista, Dr. Brian Durrans of the museum’s Ethnography
Department, Congressman Lawrence Wacnang of Kalinga, Congressman Roy Pilando of
Bontoc, IGO president Dr. Rex Botengan, and Joji Cariño of Cordillera Links.
 Dr.
Caridad Fiar-od, Vice-President of the Mountain Province State Polytechnic
College in Bontoc, demonstrates the art of
Igorot ricewine-making.
In his remarks, Ambassador Bautista said that the holding of
the 4th IIC was highly significant because of the leading role played
by the Igorot UK in the Filipino community in terms of promoting ethnic pride
and identity, and also because the Filipino community enjoyed a good working
relationship with the British Museum, through Dr. Brian Durrans, citing an
earlier Cordillera exhibit, "Stairway to the Sky", which prominently
featured the rice culture and the rice terraces of the Ifugao people, whose
achievement is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. He also said that "Global
Filipinos -- like the people of the Cordillera who are here today -- are keenly
aware of their responsibilities towards the motherland, and desire to maintain
their precious connection to their native roots...(and) it is for this reason
that the Igorot associations around the world who have decided to meet every two
years to discuss matters of great relevance to their cultural legacy deserve our
praise and congratulations."
Delegates actively participated in the workshops and
discussions during the three-day, inspired by the inputs of articulate resource
persons such as anthropologist and university professor Dr. Alfredo Bacdayan,
IGO president Rex Botengan, London-based Joji Cariño, Geoff Nettleton and Daisy
Camiwet, US-based Edwin and Mia Abeya, medical practitioner Dr. Alfred Andaya Jr.
and Jay Sapaen Watan of IGO-USA, Yvonne Belen from Amsterdam, Victoria Tauli
Corpuz of the National Commission for Women, Dr. Caridad Fiar-od of Bontoc,
Congressmen Wacnang and Pilando, and Undersecretary Bomasang. There were also
parallel activities such as demonstrations and lectures on ricewine-making,
backstrap weaving, and woodcarving, and a film showing.
The gala night on June 30 at the Conway Hall epitomized the
community spirit of the Cordillera transplanted on foreign soil: the beating of
gangsas and drums, the rhythmic, mesmerizing dance of the tadek, with men and
women – joined in by young Igorots from all over world – taking to the floor
in a joyful re-enactment of the stomping, circling steps and graceful hand
movements that proclaim a people’s affinity to the earth which gave life and
sustenance to their ancestors, and which will nurture the next generations of
Cordillerans.
 Igorot
elders and the new generation celebrate a successful consultation with the tadek,
to the beat of gongs and drums
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