Farming

The Cultivation of Uvi

Land Preparation

1
All weeds, vines, and shrubs growing between the trees in the farm lot selected for the year’s cultivation are uprooted. The workers start at the lower end of the farm (called sitnan) moving upwards to the upper border (called bahayan).
2
Trees on the cleared farm lot (chinamkaman) are cut, mostly by men. And when the smaller trees have been cut, the branches of the large trees are pruned (maytutu) in order to allow enough sunlight to nourish the uvi plants.
3
Removal of the cut trees and pruned branches from the farm itself. These are thrown piled up one on top of the other on the farm fringes, then burned.
4
Careful clearing of the ground by weeding up any remaining small weeds or other small growths. These additional debris from the soil are piled up with the rest of the already piled twigs and leaves and burned.
5
Excess stumps are uprooted by digging up and cutting of large roots. Stumps that are too large are not removed as it is impractical to do so. Saplings from these are later removed periodically in the process called kapanidahudturen. 

Planting

1
Kapanghuvang. Done a day before or during planting day, the men make rows upon rows of regularly spaced softened points on the ground (roughly 45 cm apart) where the uvi seedlings are to be planted. These softened spots are called huvang.
2
Kapaymuha is the planting of the uvi seedlings (tatayu). It is generally the women who do the planting; however, the practice is not exclusive. The uvi seedlings are generally cut up segments of the tuber. These are produced by cutting up each tuber (except small ones) leaving enough of the peel on which the sprouting takes place. The act of cutting the seedlings is called kapamaltak.

Maintenance

1
Kapauknod is trellising. It consists of laying defoliated tree branches in an orderly manner in up-down orientation and more or less parallel to one another. In other towns like Basco and Mahatao, viawu (reeds) are used instead. Reeds are grown in abundance on the farm lot fringes (iñisan) as windbreak; and during the kapauknod, these are cut for trellising.
2
Kapanlavuk. First weeding of the uvi farm after planting. It takes place about a month and half or so after planting, although the time it takes place depends largely on how fast the weeds grow.
3
Kapamirwa. Weeding of the uvi farm a second time. It takes place when the second set of weed growth is big enough for potential damage to the uvi.
4
Kapamitdu. The third time the uvi farm is weeded. However, if the uvi has grown lush so that there is no longer room for weeds to thrive, this third weeding becomes unnecessary.

Harvesting

1
Kapaniva. Ritual of the first new crop of tubers. This may have been the harvest ceremony in the past; but today it consists of the family’s going to the uvi farm, usually with invited friends and relatives, to dig up a few sample tubers, cook these, and serve as lunch, usually with a butchered animal to add festivity to the occasion.
2
Kapanghahap. Digging of the tubers at harvest time. This is usually done over a period of time. It is not usual to dig up all the tubers all at once. Only part of the farm is harvested at a time. The reason is that the harvesting is not distinct from the procurement of daily food supply for the family. Whatever is dug up is carefully inspected. The future seedlings are separated along with the tubers which appear to be in a healthy condition and won’t spoil for a long time. The tubers that are set aside for storage are called vaaken, and seedlings are muhamuha.

Storing

1
Kapaylaveng. The tubers set aside during Kapanghahap are re-buried in a common earth-covered pit called laveng. This is to allow the new harvest to be seasoned further.
2
Kapatwaw su nilaveng. The buried are dug. This usually takes place a month later when the tubers are thought to have been seasoned.
3
Kapaysarwap. All the nilaveng (vaaken and muhamuha) are gathered in one place, usually where a sarwap can be conveniently built. If, during harvest, it is estimated that the produce is bountiful, the sarwap-making is anticipated. When the nilaveng are all out, the experts separate those which are ideal for storage and those for immediate consumption. This done, the storable (vaaken and muhamuha) are placed in a sarwap.

References:
Hornedo, FH. Taming the Wind, UST Publishing House. 2000. Pp. 139-149

Fishing

20 Methods of Traditional Fishing

1
Managap means “to catch with a net”. The eight methods of catching fish with a net as listed below vary in kind of net used and the fish intended to be caught.

a. Manyuyuyunu or manmumunamun go out to the deep sea in a boat. And by means of a very fine net called masen they shove from the water the diminutive fish known as yuyunu or munamun.
b. Mantatakak, also uses masen in the shallow waters to catch tatak, another kind of very small fish.
c. Mañikdi uses a net called pañikdi in a shallow water type.
Listed below are also shallow water type of fishing:
d. Manirid
e. Namaklid
f. Manala
g. Mamateng
h. Managap nu maybulsa

2
Manakdit is fishing with the net called sakdit. It is one-man method, the fisherman moves from place to place on the coastal shelf (kalawangan) at low tide in search of fish which happen to hide under stones or in holes in the rocks. He sets the sakdit around the stoned or rocks, then drives the fish out and into his net. To ferret out the fish inside the holes in the holes in the rocks, he uses the sachad or wooden handle of the net.
3
Mangna means angling. It is done over the deep pools of the kalawangan or the edge of the tidal shelf (peptan) during low tide. And at high tide, angling can be done along the shore where the chidat come to feed.
4
Manauy is fishing with the flying net called nanauy.
5
Mamuket is trapping fish and other edible marine creatures such as lobsters and crabs by means of a loosely standing small net heavily weighted at the bottom edge. Spiny marine animals are especially easy to trap in this method.
6
Maychasunben literally means diving in the deep water whether the deep water be in the atan or in the mandichud. His fishing equipment are goggles and arrow gun. There being no oxygen tanks, the maychasunben come up frequently for air, and they normally cannot dive very deeply.

The maychasunben can fish both day and night now because of the introduction of the underwater flashlight which the fishermen call “rublight”. They call fishing underwater at night as “mayrablayt,” and also sometimes called maychasunben an mahep.
7
Mapa uses iyapa hooks that are meant for large fish. The fisherman baits his hook, lays his fishing line over the width of the coastal shelf so that his baited hook reaches the edge of the deep, and ties the other end of the line to a strong peg or tree on the beach. He stays on land and waits till there is a catch, and then he pulls it ashore. This method is done either day or night at high tide.
8
Manayrin is for a deep see hook-and-line fishing but no rod is used. The fisherman goes out in the deep sea on a boat and aim to catch small deep sea fish generally called saysayriñan.
9
Mayvavang is a form of manayrin with the difference that mayvavang is at night.
10
Mataw takes place only in the summer months from March to May. The object of this type of fishing is the non-mammalian dolphin called arayu (dorado among Tagalogs), a migratory fish. The season is called paypatawen. The mataw go out into the deep sea on their tataya. This method is in two steps which are (a) the catching of the flying fish for bait, and (b) the catching of the arayu. The arayu does not eat dead bait, so the flying fish for bait has to be caught alive and kept alive even when already fastened to the hook.

The paypatawen period is anticipated with eagerness by the fisher men. As the season approaches, the fishermen watch the sea daily for signs of the arrival of arayu. And by mid-March, rituals for the opening of the paypatawen are performed.
11
Sumuhu is a deep sea night fishing on board a boat. Its main objective is to catch dibang. The sumuhu (as the fishermen who fish in this manner are called) board their tataya equipped with gas lamp and the susuhu, and sometimes with a salapang. As the light attracts the fish to the surface of the water, the fishermen scoop up the fish into the boat with their susuhu. This method is seasonal due to the seasonality of dibang, and it starts in January and may last till May.
12
Maynununuy is similar to the method of the mataw and the mayvavang; but it differs in that the boat is always moving and drags the baited hooks and lines aimed at catching fish which prey on moving baits close to the surface.
13
Manguyta is to catch kuyta (octopus). Octopuses burry themselves deep in the sand or in small deep holes in submarine rocks. The manguyta (octopus catcher) removes the pebbles piled by the octopus at the mouth of his hiding place. Then he plunges his hand-held hook called sajit into the hole; and pulls it out when he feels that the octopus is safely caught in the hook.

There is however, an octopus called patan that sprawls out to feed at night on the shallow waters at low tide. It is caught by locating them with the help of a torch of lighted bundle of sticks or gas lamp, and grabbed by hand. Fishermen who go out purposely for the patan are called machipatan.
14
Mamnet is the use of a large net to catch fish retreating into the deep sea from the coastal shelf as low tide approaches. As the water starts flowing back into the deep sea, fishermen place nets in the marine trenches which provides exit for the retreating water. These places are called yavanwaan if they are large, and ayuy if small. Here, the fish who follow the retreating water are swept into the waiting nets. To assure big number of catch, the fishermen drive the fish from the distance leading them toward the location of the nets.
15
Mapasupu is similar to the mamnet method, but is it is procedurally the reverse. The equipment and location of the nets are about the same; but while mamnet is before low tide, mapaspu is after low tide, at the beginning of high tide when the tidal water returns pouring back from the deep sea into the shallow coastal shelves. Fish from the deep follow the returning water passing though the coral trenches, and the mapaspu fishermen drive the fish into the nets in the trenches.
16
Manraw is catching fish with poison. Extracts from a shrub called tuva and the fruit of a kind of eggplant called kamalutajit are poured into the hiding places of fish which suffocate and come out and are then caught by net.
17
Manduk means catching with a trap (asduk). This method refers to two different ways of catching fish: one is the use of a basket-like trap; the other is catching the arawa (parrot fish) with a sahakeb by frightening the fish in its sleeping hole so that it rushes out into the waiting net.
18
Manivuy is locating spots on the sand in the shallow waters for signs of fish which bury themselves in the sand. A small net is cast around the chose spot, and then the sand is stirred with the feet to scare the fish into the net.
19
Manuhu is night fishing with the help of a torch which may be a lighted bundle of dried vyawu (reeds) or gas lamps. Fishermen roam the shallow coastal waters during nocturnal low tide to gather a variety of edible marine creatures such as crabs and octopuses which crawl out to feed at low tide; and if there is a fish in the shallow water, they catch them with small nets.
20
Mamaltug is fishing with explosives such as dynamite it stuns and kills fishes and other marine life indiscriminately, and is illegal.

References:
Hornedo, FH. Taming the Wind, UST Publishing House. 2000. Pp. 97-104

Ivatan Cuisine

Through the years, the Ivatan cuisine has since evolved, adapted, and adopted foreign tastes. But its traditional simple cuisine, despite the influence of modernization, has remained unique and has wowed tourists and locals over the years. Ivatans boasts of simple but healthy cuisine that will surely lead you back to Batanes!

Enjoy the cuisine original to Batanes:

1. Bagun a yuyunu – Salted small fish (local anchovies)
2. Vunes – Dried young gabi stalk chopped in fish, beef, pork, or fowl.
3. Lataven – Raw fish mixed with minced ginger and onions, calamansi juice,
hot pepper, and blanched with boiling fish broth.
4. Lunyis – Salted pork fried in its own lard.
5. Chinavules – Steamed young gabi leaves mixed with diced ginger, garlic, onions and salt.
6. Uved (called Tabtab in Sabtang island) – Grated banana corm mixed with minced fish or ground pork or beef.
7. Yellow rice – Sticky rice cooked in yellow ginger (turmeric) extract and pork. 

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Uved
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Venes kan kuyta
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Lataven a Dibang
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Rituals and Practices

Buying the right to use the seaport

The community of fishermen assemble on the beach, and in their midst is a shaman, an elderly man who is acknowledged by the community as the true possessor of the proper knowledge of the ritual prayers as well as the ancient ceremonial steps and procedures believed acceptable to the gods.

The ritual proper begins when the sacrificial pig is stabbed in the neck and a small amount of blood is drawn for the libation of the sea. This is done by bringing the pig, well tied up to prevent its escape, close to the part of the shore where the water meets the stones or sand.

(The belief is that if the pig is killed far from the water and blood of the sacrificial animal falls to the ground on the part of the beach, the sea would rise and become turbulent until its waves reach the place where the blood spilled. And the turbulence would not stop until the blood has been cleansed.)
Once the blood is drawn and placed in a coconut shell dipper, the shaman holds it along with a piece of makanyas (copper) and pours the blood and drops the copper into the sea at the same time pronouncing softly the ritual prayers which invoke the god’s favor to give the fishermen abundant catch during the season and to keep safe for sailing so that there would be no sea accidents. This done, the pig, which by now has already died, is singed to remove the hair.

(The shaman refers to the copper as vuhawan nu anitu (gold of the anitu or sea spirits) an aqua colored bead called mutin is also offered along with the copper and blood.)
The shaman leaves the singeing and eventual roasting of the whole pig is left to the assisting fishermen.
When the roasting is over, the entire sacrificial animal is carried to a higher ground where it is laid down and then carefully opened. When the internal organs have been removed, they are laid on large leaves to keep them from getting dirtied.
Then the shaman inspects the liver and the lungs and to read the signs or omens in them. 

If the whitish spots of the lungs are scattered thinly over the entire lungs, the arayu (dorado) would come early and stay all summer. But they would be plenty and the fishermen ought to expect a lean catch.
If the spots are many and all over, the arayu would come early and stay all summer. And they would be plenty and the fishermen ought to expect plenty of catch.
If the spots are many up to the middle of the lungs only, the arayu would be early in coming and plenty, but the fishing season would be brief.
If the bile embedded in the liver is symmetrically balanced, there would be calm seas and sailing would be smooth and without danger to life.
If the bile is tilted to one side, and very wet, it is an omen presaging rough seas and the possibility of fishermen capsizing during the season.

When the rituals are all over, and the fisherfolk have eaten their lunch, they assemble and hold an election to appoint a leading fisherman from among them to become the mandinaw nu vanua (literally, “the one who launches the port” but actually means “the fisherman who is given the privilege of being the first to formally go out to sea and inaugurate the fishing season.”). The assembly also sets the date the mandinaw nu vanuwa is supposed to go out to fish for the first time. The appointed fisherman is given the option to decide. Once this date is decided, the date for the holding of the second ceremony, the kapangdeng is set. This is ordinarily within the week of the kapayvanuvanua unless bad weather and unfavorable omens necessitate a much later date.

References:
Hornedo, FH., Taming the Wind, UST Publishing House 2000, pp 110 – 111

Typology of Traditional Ivatan Culture and Architecture

Pinasakung

Pinasakung comes from the root word sakung which means a shelter against the sun or rain. It is a simple structure of posts and roof. The pinasakung has morphed in recent time into a shelter of more varied functions from bicycle shed to travelers’ roadside rest.

Rahaung

Rahaung is a shed that is also called kamadid – the difference being largely in language of origin rather than structure. Kamadid is an Ivatan corruption of the Spanish word camarin (cottage). The two types of rahaung are distinguished by the structure of their woodwork, and consequently by the appearance of their roofs. The simpler structure is called maykulchib. It has rectangular floor space defined by the location where the four main pseudo-posts which support the roof rest on the ground. The second is the ordinary rahaung whose roof rests on at least four posts whose location defines a rectangular floor space, whose height determines the eaves of the roof and where it starts rising toward the roof ridge.

OR

This is a shed usually without side walling constructed of wood, reeds and cogon thatch roof. It is also colloquially called kamadid. It is an all-purpose shelter for farming tools and equipment, for drying produce such as onion and garlic, newly harvested corn, and sometimes root crops. It also houses chicken nests for egg layers. Stone mills (ururan) for grinding corn, and sometimes stable where goats are housed in it, too. 

Nijinjinan

Variants of the common rahaung keep the same structure, but differ only because of the addition of jinjin (a wall made of sewn cogon) to varied sections of the structure. To lessen the amount of rain coming from the open ends of the gable roof, a jinjin closes the gable’s opening halfway down, or sometimes all the way down to the horizontal cross beam or tukah. A rahaung intended for safekeeping harvested root crops and agricultural equipment needs some enclosure. To keep safe from stray animals and rain, all or some sides are walled with jinjin – in which case the rahaung is also called nijinjinan.

Vahay a jinjin

Vahay in Ivatan, although generic, also has the underlying meaning of a human dwelling place so that vahay a jinjin suggests a human habitation enclosed with jinjin (a wall made of sewn cogon) walling thatched with cogon. Today, the vahay a jinjin has attained various levels of sophistication and aesthetic aspects.

Pañisanan

A rahaung structure built in the farm intended as rest house for farm workers, or as sleeping shelter for farmers who wish to save on travel time from village to farm on hectic days called panisanan (which means a farm house where one can stay overnight or for several nights while urgent farm work lasts).

Kusina

A sheltered cooking place. From Spanish cocina. A kitchen house. As life became more urbanized after the forced settlement down from the hills, the kitchen house also became a store room for harvested produce such as yams, camote, corn, garlic, and onions. In many kitchens, pigs were also kept.

Rakuh

The traditional Ivatan living room house. Its complete name is rakuh a vahay – the big house (that is “bigger than the kitchen house”). It is where the Ivatan family live away from the low, and usually smoky kitchen.

Sinadumparan

This type of house is the common two-sloped roof of either the rakuh or the kusina. It is made of lime – and – stone with thick thatched cogon roof. The house in picture A is typical in the Batan and Sabtang Islands where cut stones are used. Like most Ivatan houses, a blank wall faces the direction where strong winds originate during typhoon. The absence of regular-shaped stones in the island (Itbayat) is evident as houses are made with extremely irregular and rough pieces of rocks (lagat and pilñit). As in other types, the cogon roof usually lasts up to 25-30 years with minimal repair.

Maytuab

This type of house under rakuh or kusina has stone and lime walls with a distinct four-sloped roof. Lime plaster on the exterior surface of the walls has been noted in some houses. This type of house is mainly used for dwelling and is considered to be the most labor-intensive among all the Ivatan vernacular houses. It also requires huge volume of cogon. The thick roof (about a yard when new) provides it excellent thermal characteristics: cool during the summer months (April – June) and warm during the winter (December – February).

Like the sinadumparan, the typical maytuab house has narrow doors and windows with wooden shutters and often secured by a wooden bars (usually a meter and a half long) during typhoons or windy days. Both types often have two floors, the upper for human dwelling and the lower floor that houses domesticated animals during inclement weather. A roof net (called panpet) made of large ropes is thrown over the entire roof and fastened to strong pegs, large stones or sturdy trees to secure the roof during strong typhoons. Both types may still be found in all the municipalities in Batanes although less of these types may be found in the capital town of Basco.

References:
Hornedo, F.H. 2013, “Typology of Traditional Ivatan Shelter and Architecture, part One”, Ivatan Studies Journal Volumes XI-XII, Saint Dominic College Inc.,
Hornedo, F.H. 2015, “Typology of Traditional Ivatan Shelter and Architecture, Part Two”, Ivatan Studies Journal Volumes XIII-XIV, Saint Dominic College Inc., 
Hornedo, F.H., Taming the Wind, UST Publishing House. Pages 73-79

Traditional Handicrafts

Yuvuk

Yuvuk is a farming container for women used for keeping, handling or transporting farm products. The artistic cone-shaped basket is carried with a strap suspended and hanged at the back. The strap is adjustable according to the height of the user. Upper part weave of the strap is flat to make it comfortable for the carrier.

Kanayi

Kanayi is an all-weather sleeveless “jacket” gear worn by man while working in the farm. There are two (2) types of kanayi, the Dinung made from stripped vuyavuy leaves and the Tadidi made of banana leaves. It cools the body on hot working days and keeps warm on rainy and cold days.

Vakul

The Vacul or Suut is a woman’s headgear which is used as a protective gear from rains and the sun’s heat while working in their farms. It is an all-weather protective gear. It is cool on hot season and warm on rainy and winter season.

Vuvud

Vuvud is a basket made of nito purposely for keeping jewelries and other valuables. Its shape is oblong or round with cover.

References:
Ibardo, T. 2013, “Selected Traditional Handicraft: Their Economic and Educational Potential”, Ivatan Studies Journal Volumes XI-XII, Saint Dominic College Inc.

Traditional Games

  • Behad / Gavu
    arm wrestling
  • Vavaad
    pivoting a couch shell not with a string but with the thumb and forefinger.
  • Maychatalestesen
    gliding downhill using coconut frond as vehicle
  • Maychahangdemen
    staying under water for as long as one can
  • Lumba nu tataya
    tataya (wooden banca) race
  • Kalasagen
    a race in which participants use half coconut shells as footrest controlled by a string attached to the hands.
  • Tursi
    finger twisting using the forefinger
  • Mapasuyuy
    water skiing
  • Ulung
    bull fight
  • Kadenden
    spinning top
  • Katayuhen
    hide and seek
  • Maychavadag
    kite-flying
  • Palang
    tug-of-war
  • Tanching
    a billiard-like game using shells instead of balls and breaking the pile not by a cuestick but by a heavier shell which is thrown soft-ball style on the ground inside a big circle. Whoever strikes out of the circle the most number of shells, wins.
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