poetry
Poetry of the Buid
The ancient poetry, called ambahan, of the two Mangyan societies living near the southern end of Mindoro Island effectively conveys their daily concerns and their idealized social relationships. The Philippine Daily Inquirer last week described the peaceful social conditions, as well as the poetry, of the Buid and their neighbors, the Hanunoo. Rita Ledesma, the […]
The Baybayin of the Buid
It is always heartening when the news media update really important issues, such as the ways people cherish their love poetry, rather than produce more dreary stories about wars and murders, diseases and disasters. Two different reports appeared in the Philippine press last week about the ancient baybayin script, used by the Buid and a […]
Songs and Poetry Celebrate Old Nubia
Last week, the program “The World,” from PRI, Public Radio International, focused on Nubians who were removed from their homes and are now living in the U.S. The mid-1960s closing of the huge Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in southern Egypt not only flooded Egyptian Nubian communities south of Aswan, it also displaced […]
Mangyans Unite for their Rights—with Poetry
Philippine soldiers are harassing the Buid and the other Mangyan villagers, according to a series of news reports last week, but the indigenous mountain peoples are reacting by reciting their peaceful poetry, called ambahan, to assert their unity and sense of determination. Out of the seven (or some sources say eight) Mangyan societies that survive […]
Buid Love Poetry: Ancient Script, Established Values
Thomas Gibson (1990) has written, “rather than compete in performing acts of courage, Buid youth are most likely to spend their time learning love poems with which to court young girls” (p.131). Although love poetry is not confined to peaceful societies, it may suggest for the Buid of Mindoro Island in the Philippines that they […]
