Tuwali Ifugao communities of Hungduan keep traditional post-harvest celebration alive

Tuwali Ifugao communities of Hungduan keep traditional post-harvest celebration alive | Daily Tribune

The months of July and August fall within the wet season in the Philippines. In the northwestern part of the province of Ifugao, named after the predominant ethnic group in the area and located in interior northern Luzon Island in the Philippines, the days were drenched with frequent showers and the sky was often marbled with pregnant clouds often touching and erasing the peaks of mountains that dominate the town.

It is also time for the rice harvest in the town of Hungduan. The rice fields, carved out of mountain slopes and bristling green during the large part of the year, slowly turn into speckles of virid and brown shades. In the town’s barangay of Hapao, it is time to hold the Huwah, the traditional post-harvest celebration of the Tuwali people, the Ifugao subgroup residing in the western part of the province.

Huwah, which involves rituals, drinking, games, getting together and feasting, is a way of thanksgiving for the harvest of the year and to ensure a good one the following year. It marks the end of the rice agricultural cycle and the beginning of a new one. The celebration is increasingly becoming known for the culminating stage, the Punnuk, whose main highlight is the guyyudan or tug-of-war played in the river.

The Punnuk was inscribed in the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity together with other tugging rituals from Cambodia, Korea and Vietnam in 2015. The List comprises intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements around the world deemed important for safeguarding and more awareness.

The guyyod or tug-of-war played in the river during the UNESCO-inscribed Punnuk, the culmination of Huwah celebration in Hunguan.
Photographs courtesy by Roel Hoang Manipon for the Daily Tribune

Hungduan actually is distinguished to have the most UNESCO inscriptions with three —the Punnuk; the hudhud or narrative chants, inscribed in 2008 on the Representative List, although originally proclaimed in 2001; and the Hungduan rice terraces, one of the five clusters of Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras declared as a World Heritage Site.

The Huwah and Punnuk are only observed in Hapao by communities around the terraced rice fields of the barangay — Hapao, Baang and Nungulunan. It is still unknown if these were practiced in other areas outside of Hungduan. The Ifugao State University Hapao Campus said there is evidence that these were once practiced in the barangay of Bokiawan. Jeremiah Ipan, a town councilor, remembered his elders telling him that the celebration was also held in Bokiawan and Lubo-ong, but eventually vanished.

Believed to be a very old practice, the Huwah and Punnuk are said to have not been practiced for many years. Some reports say that they were revived in 1990s. A 2022 Baguio Midland Courier article mentioned “community elders Lopez Nauyac, Elena Uyammi, and Victor Melong” as “among those who inspired their village mates to sustain the tradition,” with the support of National Artist for Film, Kidlat Tahimik. But Monaliza Uyammi Bimuyag, a member of the dumupag, contended that the practice did not really vanish as her family has always hosted the baki and the inum and has always made declarations that the Punnuk can held the following day. But for several years, people did not go to the river for the Punnuk.

After the Punnuk, the kina-ag is thrown into the waters signifying the conclusion of the harvest celebration.

The bayah or rice wine, consumed during the baki and inum rituals as well as in gatherings and celebrations.

With the UNESCO inscription, interest and awareness on the celebration increased, bolstering recent practices.

When lockdowns and travel restrictions were imposed in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the communities continued to hold the Huwah although restricted among themselves and without visitors. Visitors returned in 2022 as restrictions relaxed. In 2023, the Huwah was postponed from 29 July to 2 August because of typhoon Egay (Doksuri).

This year, the Huwah was held on 19 and 20 July. This was preceded by the ritual dupag on 12 June, marking the start of the rice harvest in the area, and the harvesting itself on 13 June. The date of the Huwah is determined by the dumupag, a kadangyan or wealthy-class and landowning family who leads in the holding of Huwah and other agricultural activities, coincides with the appearance of the full moon. The Uyammi family of Hapao is the designated dumupag. Thus, the first rituals of the Huwah were held at their home, a modern stone house at edge of the Hapao Rice Terraces — the baki and the inum.

In the morning of 19 July, the Uyammi household was busy preparing for the ancestral and divination rite, which would be held in their backyard, under their granary, a small hut on stilts housing the mounds of harvested grains of the rice variety called tino-on, with bul-ul, images of guardian spirits, installed. The household and visitors waited for the arrival of the mumbaki, the ritual specialist.

Hapao residents making their kina-ag out of rice straws and vines.

The mumbaki or ritual specialist announcing the Punnuk tomorrow.

The mumbaki was a new one — Daniel Bimuyag or Gano — who started to perform the baki for Hapao in 2022. The old mumbaki, Bandao Atolba, is now too fragile to make the trek to the Uyammi house, which involves walking on uneven dikes and narrow stairs.

A jar of bayah, the rice wine, which usually numbers to three, was prepared as well as a wooden box containing ritual paraphernalia and mementoes from past rituals. This box is only opened once a year, during the baki.

Reading from a list, the mumbaki started by reciting the names of the departed of the family to acknowledge them and ask for blessings. The baki is also a declaration of the conclusion of harvest. He, as well as those present, started partaking of the wine and chanted to seek the approval of the spirits for the offerings and for holding the Punnuk the following day. The most important part of the baki is the slaughter of the chicken, which is then dressed and sliced open. Gano inspected the gallbladder and deemed that it augured well.

After approval was seen in the gallbladder, the mumbaki went to an elevated area to announce the end of the baki and the spirits’ approval of holding the Punnuk tomorrow. Those who heard the announcement would echo the message.

The terraced rice fields of Hapao, Hungduan.

The baki, a divination ritual, at the Uyammi residence in Hapao.

The baki was followed by the inum or the drinking of bayah. The mumbaki moved to another house upon the invitation of the family, where they held another baki and then inum, a way of getting together, unwinding and disseminating the news.

This day, the communities also prepared the paraphernalia for the guyyudan or tug-of-war — the pakkid and kina-ag.

The pakid is made from the thin trunk of a tree, usually the attoba (Callicarpa formosana), cut and trimmed to form a hook at one end, to be used in the tug-of-war. The other end is usually decorated with leaves of the dong-a (Cordyline fructicosa) or palm lily.

Residents also made their kina-ag, an anthropomorphic figure which seems to act like a mascot. What exactly it is remains a mystery, but it may be a ka-ag, monkey. It is made of dagami or dried rice straws tied into form with vines of itlig and a-e.

The following morning, the teams of the three barangays converged at the fork of Hapao River, called nunhipukana, for the Punnuk — Hapao from the east, Nungulunan from the north and Baang from the west — bringing their pakids and kina-ags, all in their predominantly red traditional attire. Spectators had also gathered by the banks.

Before the guyyudan, they hectored or teased each other. The guyyod or tug-of-war happened on the river itself with its rushing waters. In a round-robin manner, teams competed against each other. After the men, groups of women, girls and young boys also competed. Guests and visitors were also invited to compete. Other games were also played such as bultong or traditional Ifugao wresting, and uppuhan hi yahyan, an underwater breath-holding contest. Nungulunan emerged as the year’s overall winner. The winner is believed to be blessed with abundance in the next harvest season, while the losing teams will have their harvests easily consumed.

After the Punnuk, the kina-ag, vines and leaves were thrown to the river to let people who live downstream know that the Punnuk has concluded. The kina-ag would reach to “where the water ends” and Binongbong, the rice deity. It would let him know that the Punnuk has ended and he would bless the land.

The pakid of Hapao, which would be used in the tug-of-war.

Participants and spectators gathered at the nunhipukana of Hapao River.

Attendees were encouraged to bathe in the river to wash away bad fortune, and partake of a lunch feast.

While Huwah and Punnuk are continually practiced, the local government of Hungduan said that the cultural heritage still faces some risks including climate change that affects the conduct of the celebration; the fact that farmers and practitioners are aging; the dwindling number of mumbakis; and influences of other religions.

But the local government said that they are taking steps in safeguarding the practice including the passing of Municipal Ordinance No. 80 in 2018 institutionalizing the holding of Punnuk in July or August annually, and Executive Order No. 5, organizing the Municipal Task Force for the safeguarding of Punnuk. From the national government, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts continually provides assistance in safeguarding efforts and documentations. Being inscribed in the UNESCO list entails responsibilities in keeping the practice viable.

Huwah and Punnuk have experienced increasing participation and visitors in the last few years. The local government of Hungduan recorded 772 community participants and visitors last year. This year, the number increased — 261 community participants (105 from Baang, 73 from Hapao and 83 from Nungulunan) and 871 visitors and guests — indicating a robust desire to sustain the tradition, which aside from ensuring good harvest, reinforces social cohesion among the communities, and promotes cultural identity in the spirit of fun, play and friendly competition.