Punnuk: Assessment tool for climate crisis and resiliency

THE IFUGAOS’ concept of culture is a result of its people’s long time interaction with nature, hence, the construction of the Ifugao Rice Terraces alongside with beliefs and traditions.

Thus, natural and cultural heritage can never be separated or delineated in Ifugao society. Amid the stewardship of the Ifugao ecosystem services directed by indigenous knowledge, climate crisis is disturbing the system that has long been practiced by its people.

On August 21- 22, 2020, the I-Hapo subethnolinguistic community of Hungduan, Ifugao completed the agricultural rice cycle through the Huwah and Punnuk, the postharvest thanksgiving festival of the villages of Hapao, Baang and Nunggulunan.

This year, the Nunhipukana River where the Punnuk is annually held is uncrowded making it more earnest. The participation is strictly limited among the villagers in observance of health and safety protocols due to the pandemic.

Usually, it is jampacked with neighboring villagers, tourists, and media.

Endemic to the IHapo, Huwah and Punnuk is performed to mark the end of harvest season and commence a new agricultural rice cycle. Huwah is a ritual done in the

abode or rice granary of the Dumupag who is the “traditional elite” owning the widest rice paddies in the village.

It is performed by the Mumbaki ( native priest) through the Paad where he invokes the spirits of the ancestors of the Dumupag to share the celebration of rice produce abundance with their living descendants. The ritual requires two chick

ens and rice wine that are sacrificed.

The Mumbaki reads the bile of the sacrificial livestock and when deemed as good omen, he declares a celebration where the villagers drinks rice wine for merriment and on the next day, perform the Punnuk.

During the Punnuk, all the villagers wearing their traditional attire gather at the Nun

hipukana River for a friendly tug- of- war and other traditional games. Before the onset of the games, the Mumbaki will beseech a prayer called the Gopah to ask for blessings of safety and harvest abundance in the next agricultural cycle.

When attending the Punnuk, participants must plunge into the river as it is believed to wash away misfortunes and diseases. It concludes when all the dongla (Cordyline fruticosa) plants and other symbolic materials used are thrown into the river. This is to let the neighboring villages recognize that harvest season has concluded and a signal that all cultural restrictions such as eating of aquatic resources

(fish, clams, mollusks, and etc.), proceed in other agricultural activities, and among others are lifted.

Punnuk has been inscribed by UNESCO in the representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on December 2, 2015.

The indigenous peoples are said to be the most resilient yet most affected in climate crisis. The Ifugaos use their indigenous knowledge in adapting to changes such as change in climate affecting the agricultural systems.

During the recent years, it is observed that there is an alteration in the rice production calendar as rice maturation depends through and

with the aid of climate and other environmental factors. On this background, Punnuk is used in assessing the climate crisis affecting the villages in Hungduan as it is an indicator of the conclusion and commencement of the agricultural cycle.

In the researchproject entitled “Documentation of Huwah and Punnuk: An Agricultural Ritual Endemic in Hapao, Hungduan, Ifugao” by Jimmy Bumanghat, alumnus of the Ifugao Satoyama Meister Training Program, it recorded the rice production calendar of I-Hapo villages.

Paralleling it presently, presented below are the alteration in rice production calendar in the past 5 years:

Photo by Redjie Melvic Cawis/file CALLING OUT. An ifugao elder from Hapao, Hungduan presents a "kina'ag," a human figure made of rice stalks, and a sacred plant called "dongla" during the punnuk ritual along the Hapao River. The punnuk ritual is a tradition in Ifugao performed in celebration of a bountiful harvest. Punnuk which is held along the Hapao River, marks the completion of the rice harvest and the beginning of a new agricultural cycle. The ritual highlights the communities’ continuing respect for their ancestral culture, tradition, and beliefs.

Photo by Redjie Melvic Cawis/file TRIBAL PROCESSION. Ifugao elders with members of the community particularly from the barangays of Hapao, Baang and Nunggulungan carrying the "kina'ag," a human figured made of rice stalks, and a sacred plant called "dongla" walks along the rice paddies towards the Hapao River where the water tugging and other water games will be held to highlight the punnuk ritual which marks the completion of the rice harvest and the beginning of a new agricultural cycle.