Aeta Forest Food Festival

Photo from: traveling-up.com

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself again in a community in Capas, Tarlac to witness an Aeta Youth Festival. Last year, I went there for the First Aeta Forest Food Festival, an event which highlighted the traditional food.

This time, the event dubbed “Pamilalamu” (the Aeta word for “pakikisama” or solidarity), organized by Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran ng mga Ayta, Inc. (KAKAI), focused on celebrating the culture of the Aetas and empowering the youth. The festival aimed to remind the younger generation of Aetas about their cultural practices and traditions, including rituals, crafts, songs, dances and folk games

The festival was held in Sitio Alunan, a community in the middle of the mountains of Capas, Tarlac. To get there, a handful of photographers and volunteers traveled by bus from Manila to Tarlac, transferred to a tricycle, then hitched on the back of a trailer pulled by a 4×4 jeep up to the mountains. traveling-up.com

AETA FOREST FOOD FESTIVAL

Photo from: https://travelingup.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/first-aeta-forest-food-festival/

“1st Aeta Forest Food Festival. Capas Tarlac near Mt. Pinatubo. Aetas will show how to hunt bayawak, snakes, wild boar & cook food using traditional methods of the forest through customs, dances & rituals. Will also share traditional food customs with Agta, Dumagat tribes from Zambales, Quezon, Rizal.” Read More: https://www.traveling-up.com/first-aeta-forest-food-festival/

Photo from: https://www.traveling-up.com/first-aeta-forest-food-festival/

The Aeta of Capas, Tarlac Province are among 12 to 15 million indigenous peoples in the Philippines. Referred to in the literature as “Negritos” and locally as kulot (curly-haired), they are known as the “people of the mountains.”

As hunter-gatherers in transition, the Aeta are often discriminated against because of their dark skin, curly hair, small stature, and because of their strong emphasis on foraging. Read More: http://pkfeyerabend.org/en/2013/05/10/construire-la-solidarite-entre-les-communautes-aeta-a-capas-tarlac-philippines/

Photo from: http://peopleandplants.squarespace.com/cultural-landscapes-food-the/