Aeta, Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in
Luzon. Their common physical characteristics include dark skin tones; short statures; frizzy
to curly hair; and a higher frequency of naturally lighter hair colour (blondism) relative to
the general population. They are believed to be among the earliest inhabitants of the
Philippines.
Aeta communities were historically nomadic hunter-gatherers. Their groups occupy lands in
Zambales, Bataan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Quezon Province, Aurora, Camarines Sur, Camarines
Norte, Sorsogon, Cagayan Province, Isabela, Quirino, and Nueva Ecija.
Aetas have shown resistance to change as early as Spanish colonization period. Their
ancestors had little interaction with the Spaniards as they remained in the mountainous
areas during the Spanish colonization. Even the attempts of the Spaniards to settle them
in reducciones or reservations failed all throughout Spanish rule.
Ancestral lands
Aetas are found in Zambales, Tarlac, Pampanga, Panay, Bataan, and Nueva Ecija, but were
forced to move to resettlement areas in Pampanga and Tarlac caused by the Mount Pinatubo
eruption in June 1991.
Some Aeta communities have received government land titles recognizing their claims to
their ancestral lands, mostly in Pampanga, Zambales, Quezon and Sierra Madre range.
However, Aeta communities still struggle involving their ancestral domain titles. For
instance, Aetas in Tarlac failed to get titles for 18,000 hectares of land in Capas despite
applications already filed for CADT in 1999, 2014, and 2019, respectively.
Lifestyle
The Aetas are nomadic and some build only temporary shelters made of sticks driven to the
ground and covered with the palm of banana leaves. The more modernized Aetas have
moved to villages and areas of cleared mountains. They live in houses made of bamboo
and cogon grass. Some still follow a nomadic lifestyle, while others rely on agriculture.
Clothing
Their traditional clothing is very plain. The young women wear wrap around skirts. Elder
women wear bark cloth, while elder men wear loin cloths. The old women of the Agta wear
a bark cloth strip which passes between the legs, and is attached to a string around the waist.
Practices
The Aetas are skillful in weaving and plaiting. While women exclusively weave winnows and
mats, only men make armlets. Aeta women are known as experts of the herbal medicines.
This group heavily rely on their traditional medicines and herbolarios. This is because of less
accessibility of health care and geographical location.
Art
The Aetas’ traditional form of visual art is body scarification. They intentionally wound the
skin on their back, arms, breast, legs, hands, calves and abdomen, and irritate the wounds
with fire, lime and other means to form scars.
Other art practice includes decorative disfigurements include the chipping of the teeth. The
teeth are dyed black a few years afterwards.
References
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