FADING BAGOBO CULTURE
Bagobo Klata leaders urged the city government of Davao to help them preserve their diminishing culture
A young Bagobo Klata tribe leader said that their culture is slowly diminishing in Davao City and that it is already alarming.
During the City Council session yesterday, the Bagobo Klata leaders urged the city government of Davao to help them preserve their diminishing culture through the El’lom project.
El’lom is the project of the Bagobo Klata clan to preserve, promote and sustain the cultural heritage of the Bagobos, also to provide sustainable livelihood to the tribe.
“Kani man gud na project maka-help gyud sa preservation. Kami man gud mga Bagobo Klata, diminishing na. Hinay-hinay na nawala ang kultura (This project will help us with the preservation of our culture because it is indeed a diminishing culture),” El’lom project head Kessia Carol Tar, 22, said in an interview with SunStar Davao yesterday.
“Untana tabangan mi nila sa establishment man lang kahit pila lang ka kubo. Kahit tulo lang ka kubo for weaving basta maka-start lang mi (We hope that the City Council] will help us build an establishment for weaving for us to start. Actually, three huts will do),” she added.
The project will also prioritize the tourism attraction including weaving houses, social houses, museum, ritual ground, souvenir shop, kubos for overnight stay, classroom and kubo for accessory-making.
Tar presented the project during the City Council session, saying that the city government could take part on this through supporting the establishment of weaving houses since their tribe’s livelihood is weaving.
She also said that there are at least 40,000 Bagobos in the city and that some of them are slowly forgetting their own dialect and culture.
“Kung mawala man gud ang language, mawala pud ang identity (If we lose our language, we will also lose our identity),” she said.
Kani man gud na project maka-help gyud sa preservation. Kami man gud mga Bagobo Klata, diminishing na. Hinay-hinay na nawala ang kultura (This project will help us with the preservation of our culture because it is indeed a diminishing culture
KESSIA CAROL TAR El’lom project head