Impressions By Caridad B. Fiar-od
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4th Igorot Cordillera BIMAAK-Europe (ICBE) Consultation
Dublin, Ireland
17-20 May 2007
Impressions
By Caridad B. Fiar-od
Greetings to All:
To take the Igorot saying "Ipeyas nan Gawis" in its actual sense, I am ccying BIBAKNETS about the memories of the brief yet significantly meaningful 4th ICBE held in Dublin, Ireland.
To the organizers, roses/orchids for them. The venue, scheduling, communication flow, activities were all excellently planned and coordinated just like the 3rd ICBE in Switzerland that I attended too.
What was very impressive of course aside from the usual features of any conference were the participation of the Igorot migrants in Ireland and Belgium of which they attended by families (Father, Mother, Child/Children) like the Cuyob family and Agnaonao family from Belgium, the Aragones, the Umayats, the Calawens, kdp. Also there was the camping at Tipperary where the miners live. The 7 miners are located in a vast cattle grassland with neighbors miles away. They raise chicken, ducks and pigs (but I did not see the pig.) Hence, during the camping with tents, you select your own activity, as a cook of pinikpikan, do dancing like the ducks, square dancing like the cows, gong players, karaoke singer as loud as you can, snoring old folk seem playing an accordion, etc. Adda amin dita. Fely Bongalos and Kathleen Tadawan with another young gentleman from Ireland (forgot his name) topped the sing-along score. Ruth Licay acted as entertainers/advisers of the wives of the miners. Aaaaay apo, how hapi talaga.
Having the conference heavily Igorot accented were the performance of Igorot rituals not perhaps in its entirety but rituals that carried the real message. Such rituals were the opening ritual with the wisdom of Igorot chanting by Henry Foken and Dave Aragones, the means of appreciation in Igorot introduced by the Bounggicks, the watwat ritual, the boka ritual to close that included the German pronouncement of wish by Claus. The procedural instruction of how to play the gongs by Frederick Baldo, the Igorot songs played with guitar by Rick Kilongan, the sharing of life in the barrios by Yvonne Belen and Conchita Pooten.
Of course, it was not all play but the most significant of them all was in the participants’ inputs during the plenary and group sessions on the main and sub-topics relevant to resolving issues towards the promotion and preservation of Igorot culture among migrants. The cooperation and unity of the Igorots in Europe makes their proposals doable though it entails time to be in Cordillera for the research.
Likewise, the presence of others not from Europe like Rose and Claus Nabert, Anna Liza Anton and the undersigned added color to the conference. Their inputs, especially that of Claus was something to ponder on.
Aguray sakto ituloy tay ni agsangit awir ko ta dida ket mang lay-off. See you later. Watch out tay itutuloy maawawni.
Layad,
Caridad