Joanne R.

Ala
070079
Development in the Eyes of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous People in the Philippines
The term indigenous usually is commonly denotes coming from the original origin.
Therefore to be indigenous people refers to being the original inhabitants of a certain territory.
Nowadays the term refers to ethnic groups that is tied historically and existed in a certain
territory before colonization of the formation of a nation state, and which normally preserves a
degree of cultural and political separation from the mainstream culture and political system of
the nation state.
1

In the Philippines there are still a large number of ethnic and indigenous communities
which inhabit the different parts of our country. Most of the indigenous peoples in the Philippines
still depend heavily on nature and agriculture. The Ifugaos for example, are a famous
indigenous community because of their rice terraces. They inhabit the extensive Cordillera
Mountain ranges in Central Northern Luzon. For decades until recently, the Ifugaos have been
able to resist outside influences. Until their isolation was ended during the modern times, the
only world they knew was their environment of mountain ranges, rolling hills, swift rivers, dense
forests and rice paddies. Studies show that the Ifugaos are the descendants of the first wave of
Malay immigrants to the country. They are of medium build, brawny and brown with black eyes,
straight hair and thin lips. They are industrious people who depend mostly on growing rice for
their livelihood supplemented by livestock and raising poultry.
2

Because of their traditional and backward ways of thinking they are easily exploited.
Ever since the start of the colonial era the indigenous people of the Philippines have been
abused and driven off their lands by the Spanish, American, and Japanese occupant and even
after that, by the Philippine government, society and local and multinational corporations.
Without their lands the indigenous communities lose not only their homes and source of
livelihoods but also their identities as they have to struggle in an environment which they are not
accustomed to. The western conception of development, progress and modernity are core of
their struggle for survival, identities, basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.

1
(Douglas 1999)
2
(Rex Book Store, Inc. 2000)
Western Conception of Development
The western conception of development revolves around three Cs: capitalism, competition
and consumption. The starting point of this whole cycle is the mentality of having more- more
wealth, more material possessions, and more luxurious lives. With this mentality it is
unavoidable that people start living capitalist lives where capital and wealth becomes the most
important thing. Because of this, relationships between persons become less personal and
sometimes people are reduced to mere objects where their worth is based on how much capital
they can earn.
In an environment where capitalism is practiced it is not surprising to find on-going
competitions, not only within the nation where individuals and corporations compete but also
between countries. They compete for who is better off, who can produce more and who has the
higher growth. But how do corporations and countries measure growth? In most situations, it is
measured through consumption. They convince people through persuasion and advertisements
that they should have possess more than what they already have or need and it is this high
consumption which supports this capitalist and competitive society.
It is in countries such as the United States and the industrial west that this is most
exemplified and because of the powerful positions they hold due to their political, technological
and economic advancements they have set this type of environment as the norm and that all
other countries, in order to be considered developed, have to reach a certain competitive
standard in this environment.
Effect of the Western Conception on Indigenous Communities
Many indigenous peoples have strongly criticized this dominant concept of development
promoted by western countries because it discriminates against their traditions, cultures, world-
views and political systems. Their ways are seen as an obstacle to development and
modernization and thus are being destroyed and obliterated.
Indigenous peoples have rich and diverse cultures based on a profound relationship with
their land and natural resources. Indigenous peoples do not see themselves as outside the
realm of nature, but as part of nature, and they have their own specific attachment to their land
and territory and own specific modes of production based on a unique knowledge of their
environment.
3

In order to further progress and develop corporations and the government destroy nature
in various ways, such as deforesting hectares of forests, creating air, land and water pollution,
and over-exploitation of resources, in order to make the land more productive. However what
they fail to take account of is how greatly this affects the hundreds of people whose lives
depend on nature. If you take away their homes and livelihood you destroy their old ways of life
and force them to adjust to the new modern society where they have to struggle in because
they have never acquired the necessary skills to succeed in this kind of environment. Most
Indigenous people end up settling in shanties or begging on the streets.
The remaining indigenous people who still possess their lands have to struggle with the
ongoing changes in nature. They suffer the effects caused by the deforestation of more than
3/4
ths
of the Philippine forests gone and the recent rapid climate change. A perfect example
would be the Dumagats of Nueva Ecija. They can be found living in tiny huts on the banks of the
Dupinga Watershed River. They possess a long history of hunting and gathering and they would
always trust nature to provide them with their needs. Nowadays they struggle to hunt for food, it
seems as if nature can no longer provide for them and after several landslides and floods
caused by the overflowing of the river it seems that nature has chosen to go against them.
Currently they live on a day by day basis on making and selling charcoal and the profits they
earn from it are meagre. On most days they barely have anything to eat and most of the
children are sickly and malnourished.
Alternative Concepts for Indigenous Communities
The current system and concept of development is destructive and unsustainable as it
allows men to simply keep taking and taking from nature without allowing time for it to replenish
itself. Nature can only give as much as we need however we just keep on consuming more and
wasting whatever we have as if nature will never run out. This not only greatly affects the
indigenous peoples but also everybody else. We need a radical change in our perspective of
development. We need a system which is more sustainable, which takes the environment into
account and which diverts from capitalism and consumerism and places importance in every
human person and his or her growth and development.

3
(Tebtebba Foundation 2010)
Human Rights and Capabilities
The rights of indigenous people are easily neglected and ignored and violated. A good
example of this would be a case of the Igorot peoples of the Cordillera region where they
advanced the concept of development aggression to refer to the way their human rights were
violated by the State in the development process. In the 1970s, the Igorots were able to
successfully resist the Chico River Hydroelectric Dam Project, which was funded by the World
Bank and imposed on us by the Marcos dictatorship in the guise of development. Comprised of
four big dams to be built along the Chico River, the project would have displaced 300,000
Kalinga and Bontoc peoples from their ancestral territories.
This struggle heightened their awareness about human rights instruments, and the
indigenous peoples movement in the region grew phenomenally. They claim that they fought
and stopped this project not merely for environmental reasons but to oppose the threatened loss
of their ancestral territories and burial grounds and the arrogance of the Marcos dictatorship and
the World Bank to define what development should be for them. They could not allow for their
territories to be destroyed, and their traditional livelihoods, cultures and socio-political system to
disappear by the power of those who regarded them backward and primitive.
4

Coined by Martha Nussbaum, this theory of Human Rights and Capabilities is based on
the idea of all citizens as free and dignified human beings who are of equal dignity and worth,
no matter where they are situated in society, and the primary source of this worth is a power of
moral choice within them. This means respecting the dignity and rights of indigenous people
and acknowledging that we are all equal and this is what the Marcos administration and the
World Bank failed to do in the mentioned case.
At the heart of this theory is the concept of substantial freedoms or capabilities. This
capability approach considers people one by one, taking into consideration what a person can
do and be. It also concerns itself with distribution of resources which can further promote human
functioning. Nussbaum identifies activities which are essential for a life which is truly human.
Her list includes aspects such as life (being able to live to the end of a human life of normal life),
bodily health, bodily integrity, senses, imagination and thought, emotions, practical reason,
affiliation, other species, play and control over ones environment.

4
(Tebtebba Foundation 2010)
Linking human rights and human capabilities the idea of human rights implies the follow
moral principle: the capabilities of human beings should not be permitted to fall beneath a
certain floor, so far as nation-states and the international community are able to produce that
minimum threshold for everyone. In short, a fair level of capabilities for everyone must be
promoted and human rights are everyones business.
5
However this does not mean that we
should force the indigenous peoples to learn from the outside world in order to survive and to
adjust to the modern world but rather respecting the necessities they need for developing the
capabilities.
Ecosystem Approach
The strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that
promote conservation and sustainability is known as the Ecosystem Approach to development.
It involves natural capital- the taking account of the function of the ecosystem and giving value
to the ecological goods and services it provides. For indigenous peoples, this can be done by
simply obeying the laws of nature, and respecting and keeping solidarity with Mother Earth.
Wellbeing and a living well can easily be achieved is this is done. If we continue to treat and
degrade nature as objects, we and the generations to come will suffer the consequences.
When it comes to development and wellbeing, the indigenous peoples have their own
views and these must be taken into consideration when determining development models and
approaches. The language of development, created by the dominant societies, does not have
any equivalent in indigenous languages. Thus, other terms are used to describe and advance
indigenous concepts of wellbeing and living well instead of the term development.
An example of this can be seen in the Kankana-ey Igorot. To describe the good life they
say gawis ay biyag, this term implies many rules and taboos. These taboos are embedded in
the concept of innayan which generally means do not do it. Thus if you commit an offence
against the customary laws on the forest or water management you will have to face certain
sanctions. Because of their respect of these laws they still have tropical forests in their territories
unlike the vast majority of communities of the dominant populations of the Philippines.
Just as it is important to be in solidarity with Mother Earth it is equally important to be in
solidarity with fellow human beings. The Kankana-ey Igorots practice a mutual labor exchange
called ug-ugbo where they plant, harvest, build houses, care for the sica and aged, and during

5
(Garrett 2008)
weddings and death rituals. Caring for the earth or natural capital or natural assets and the
strong social capital are what this community considers their wealth. Material possessions do
not matter to them however they are wealthy in terms of values and the ecological integrity of
their territories.
6

Conclusion
The fundamental conditions for wellbeing and happiness are sufficient food, decent
shelter and clothing, strong family and community values of caring, reciprocity and solidarity,
good health, security, meaningful livelihoods, freedom to express his or her identity, freedom of
speech and religion and freedom to practice ones culture with a safe and non-polluted
environment. These resonate with indigenous peoples concept of living well.
7

Indigenous communities definitely cannot strive in a society driven by the accumulation
of wealth and commodities, increasing competition for power and excessive consumerism. And
even though they try to close themselves off from outside influences it is inevitable that this
Western sense of development will affect them one way or another. We are all interconnected to
one another and our misdeeds can strongly affect the lives of others. Therefore it is important
that not only the indigenous peoples continue to practice these traditions of harmony with both
nature and others but we let ourselves become part of this harmony. We can learn a lot from
the way indigenous people live their lives- from how they value nature and their fellow persons
to how contented they are living in simplicity.








6
(Tebtebba Foundation 2010)
7
Ibid.
Works Cited

Douglas, Sanders. "Indigenous Peoples: Issues of definition." International Journal of Cultural
Property , 1999: 4-13.
Garrett, Jan. Martha Nussbaum on Capabilities and Human Rights . April 29, 2008.
http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/ethics/nussbaum.htm#nussint (accessed February 20, 2012).
Rex Book Store, Inc. . The Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines. Quezon: Rex Printing
Company, Inc. , 2000.
Tebtebba Foundation. "Towadrs an Alternative Development Paradigm: Indigenous People's
Self-Determined Development." In Human Develoment Framework and Indigenous People's
Delf-Determined Development, by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, 117-161. Baguio: Tebtebba
Foundation, 2010.