Lumad Indigenous Values and Voices in Citizen and Alternative Media Narratives
Belinda Espiritu
Abstract
This chapter explores Lumad Indigenous values and their struggle for their ancestral domains and cultural integrity as depicted in selected citizens’ and alternative media narratives. The concept of cultural integrity encompasses various fundamental human rights, including the rights to culture, subsistence, livelihood, religion, and heritage. This study scrutinizes the representation of Lumad voices in relation to their Indigenous values, juxtaposed against the capitalist and corporate values prevalent in contemporary Philippine society. These contrasting values include the commodification of nature, individualism, material accumulation, and the consumerist culture fostered by economic globalization. In alternative media narratives, Lumads, alongside cultural researchers, articulate specific Indigenous values that include reverential and spiritual perspectives on nature, the interconnectedness of the land with Lumad life, culture, and religion, communal land ownership, labor for the betterment of the community’s needs, education aimed at understanding and cherishing cultural identity and heritage, as well as the pursuit of inner peace and the defense of ancestral domains. This chapter also highlights the pressing need to reassess capitalist and consumerist values while embracing select Lumad Indigenous values, particularly those featuring a more respectful, if not spiritual, outlook on nature. This study advocates for cultivating empathy toward the Lumads and the environment, thereby fostering the restoration of peace within Lumad communities and the preservation of Philippine cultural heritage.
Keywords
Link to the Article