Squinting in the light while living in the dark, trying to raise their unheard voices, weighing the discrimination and stereotypes stemmed of ignorance, Lumads continue the fight for their rights. Through their fashion and beadworks honed by culture, they continue to go against all odds as they assemble beads and weave accessories that mark their identity as a tribe of pride, bright and out of bound.
For every input of beads leave pain in their hands as the routine repeats for hours, yet they never get tired to make jewelries that financially support and mirror the state of Lumads in Mindanao.
Using colors to beautify, while symbolizing each shades of Lumads’ lives, “Yung puti ay kalayaan, yung itim kadiliman kasi yung iba sa mga lumad ay hindi nakapag-aral kaya hindi pa marunong magbasa at magsulat, yung pula naman ay kaguluhan tapos yellow pag-asa, sa gitna ng kadiliman merong pag-asa, may kalayaan, tapos yung blue, yung kapaypaan at yung green kalikasan,” Sylvia Mandacawan explained, one of the many Lumads who ventured to Manila to stretched hope for her tribe.
The flow of the bracelet braiding process is just like any others; two of the same color of every four beads will be slipped through a nylon, knotted into a cross and repeat until desired size is achieved.
For good measure, they get their ‘Bali-og’ materials from Mindanao, explaining further that it actually originated from their ancestors when in that time is made from trees, but now they are being cultivated and are available in Quiapo.
“Kapag eto po naibenta, malaki po yung naitutulong sa Bakwit school dun sa Mindanao at sa Cebu, parang ito po yung nagbibigay serbisyo sa aming mga katutubo, kami yung nagpapadala kung ano man yung kinita namin dito ipapadala sa Mindanao pati sa Cebu, lalo na sa bakwit school,” Sylvia said.
Aside from jewelries, these tribes also make their tribal clothes, with intricate details symbolizing the diversity of their fashion, as well as bags and wallets weaved by ethnic designs and patterns which were already used from their ancestry.
However, extending hands to each other through the hardship, still they can’t fully reach the success that they are aiming for, “Parang hindi naman siya sapat kasi madaming nangangailangan sa amin tapos kailangan talaga naming pagkasyahin, kahit mapagod or walang mabenta kakayanin namin para naman sa aming lahat hindi lang para sa aming sarili,” her hopes are still high as she shared.
Bonded by the aim to finally stop the attacks to their community, Lumads convey their message and flaunt their culture through their tribal fashion. Their jewelries, clothes, and other accessories prove that Lumads are no ordinary people, for they’ll continue to fight for their rights for ancestral land, to stop the attacks against them and to access free and ‘just’ education, no matter how hard and how long it will be. Top of Form
THE ECHOES 