By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
Last week, we started the discussion on indigenous peoples’ health. We continue the discussion this week. It is such a rich topic that I could write a book on it.
We, Igorots, look at life holistically. Health is not a distinct component. I mean, the indigenous Igorot won’t jog to the farm morning and afternoon so that he would be healthy. Rather he walks to the farm to tend it and walks back home because the day is done. He does not look at it as exercise but as something that has to be done or else he won’t eat. He didn’t have much choice. But then he has exercised the muscles of his feet and hands and his whole body actually and at the same time, he has produced food for himself, his family and most of the time, there’s more than enough so he can share or sell to his neighbors.
For the modern Igorot it’s different. Like this young professional who works in an office. He drives a car going to the office and coming back home. He discovered that he had high blood cholesterol so he decided he needed more physical activity and started jogging up and down the ricefields near his home. He felt like he was “na-tuge” (out of his mind) and he felt that people seeing him doing that would also think he is “na-tuge.”
To the indigenous person, being healthy is a given. If you are alive, you are expected to be healthy, you are well. It’s amazing because it’s true and that’s what people in the past observed. Let’s take a look (again) at the past. Then all people in the world lived in a natural environment – meaning what the Creator gave is what you got. Thus Filipinos got the Philippines (no such name then), the Chinese had China and the Africans had Africa. Of course, there were people like Columbus and Magellan who were adventurous enough to venture out from their place but generally, people stayed within the radius of how far their feet can take them or for the American Indians, how far their horses can take them. Food was purely from Mother Earth, naturally grown, in season and locally grown. Of course, there was also food from the seas, rivers and lakes. For some reason, God didn’t give us the apple tree or the pears. But gees, look what we’ve got in the Philippines- bananas, mangoes, papayas, guyabano, aratiles, makopa, langka, etc, etc! My friend in America wants to trade fruits and so do many others, even Filipinos. My Dad and some adventurous Igorot farmers tried growing apples in Besao and Sagada and Bauko and they were successful (for a time) so we tasted locally-grown apples when we were kids. Soon, however, the apples succumbed to pink disease, whatever that is. The apple tree is really not for the Philippines.
God gave dairy cows and vast lands for the cows to roam in winter countries. So these countries have a tradition of milking the cow and churning to make butter. What do we have in the Philippines? Coconuts. So we have a tradition of grating the coconut and milking it. We then cook this milk, stirring it until it becomes oil – coconut oil. That is in the lowlands. Up here in the highlands of Cordillera, what do we have? We don’t have the dairy cow nor the coconut. We have the rainforests, peanuts, tengba, safeng and it is easy to get coconut oil from the lowlands.
Variety, diversity is a law of nature. Not only for fruits but also for vegetables and grains and animals and yes, people, too. We, peoples of the world, are so diverse in color, in size, in looks. Seldom are there identical twins. Even stones are diverse. Even the soil is diverse. I hope you have seen the awesome blue soil of Alab (although more accessible from Sagada). Climates around the world are diverse so is the weather. How is diversity related to our wellness? Diversity in plants and animals mean diversity of food intake. In a natural environment, we are ensured of a variety of plants because fruits and vegetables are seasonal. In a natural environment, we eat in harmony with the seasons thus our bodies are nourished well and invigorated. What the Supreme Being gave in season is what we need for that season. Do you have any doubts or questions about that? Ask Him. So even if you crave and cried for mango, if it’s not yet the season for mangoes, sorry. There are whole foods like rice and beans that can be stored naturally so these are available whole year round and thus have become our staple food. And we, Igorots, eating those foods of our soil and waters, have been well and sturdy.
Comes now our colonizer from the winter country and tells us that our ways are no good and that theirs is good and better. That our food is deficient and their food is superior. They teach us cooking and of course, what they know is how to cook their food, wheat, not rice. So see how bakeries and bakery bread abound even in the remotest barrio. Our colonizer fed our greed and convinced us that more is better. More produce, more money, more food in your plate, more properties. We now have mangoes out of season, watermelons out of season, etc. Our colonizer convinced us that bigger is better – thus we have contests like Pinaka – pinakamalaking kumbasa, pinakamalaking gabi, etc. Our farmers are convinced to use artificial fertilizers, feeds, pesticides, fungicides so they will produce these “pinaka” and earn more. And, aber, who will eat those so many pigs, chickens, cabbages, oranges, mangoes, that are being produced? People, of course. Mahal naman kung ipakain mo kay Bantay. Industry has perfected the art of sales. It hires the best people to convince the public to eat more food. Not any food, take note. Advertisements of food are for food produced by the colonizer. Have you ever heard of Vilma Santos saying you eat more rice so that you will be strong? Rice that the Filipino farmer produces? Nope. I would be happy if somebody will tell me I am wrong here. In fact, many are saying that we eat less rice and more bread. What???
A lot of us have largely gone out of the natural order of things. We don’t rely on nature anymore to control us, especially our food intake and our activities and our environment. We have become so arrogant to think that we know better than the Supreme Being. We even want to control nature but when a typhoon comes, we realize we are helpless. We repent for a time but easily forget when the weather gets fine. We think we can do anything that takes our fancy because we have the money to buy and do what we like. Thus nowadays we are eating too much of everything – too much fruits, too much meat, eggs. Nowadays we are eating what is not in nature – MSG, refined sugar, refined flour, hotdogs, chemicalized meat/ eggs/ milk, chemical-laden vegetables, artificial flavorings and colorings, soft drinks, all those highly-processed foods. We have the refrigerator, the washing machine and all those gadgets. We dig deep into the bowels of the earth to extract what was hidden there by nature to make all these gadgets we crave. We dive deep into the oceans. For what? We are experimenting on behaviors that are taboo in our culture- infidelity, violence against women and children to name a few. Certainly, we have changed our environment and our way of life. A wise saying goes this way “In nature, there is no punishment, only consequences.”***
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“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying. – 1 Corinthians 10:23
