LAST year, the word “Igorot” became undesirable or at least irritating when an official of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples used the word “Igorot” in defense of red-tagging.
Some Netizens then posted a scanned essay of William Henry Scott’s “The Word Igorot” which came out in Philippine Studies in 1962.
Scott was only in the Cordillera for less than a decade when the essay came out.
So last year, someone posted Scotty’s scanned essay from Philippine Studies and it was only the front page that they forwarded.
Scotty’s essay is 16 years old and the front page was misleading because it was only talking about how the word “Igorot” was regarded as a badge of shame.
But if you would have read the essay to the end, you would be proud to become an Igorot.
In fact, Scotty read that essay during the 1st Cordillera Congress for National Liberation in December 1971.
That essay became the fuse that lit Cordillera consciousness. He was the one who helped the Cordillera youths in Manila and Baguio to participate in the Anti-Marcos rallies before Martial Law.
As the eminent anthropologist Stuart Schlegel said: “Scotty soon became one of the leading critics of US imperialism, colonial rule, and continuing involvement in Philippine politics after independence, especially its support of Marcos. He argued that the Igorot people had preserved more pre-colonial cultural elements over a wider area than any other region of the Philippines, and he refused to accept the common view that Igorots were fundamentally different from other Filipinos and should be protected in an ethnic preserve. Since all these views resonated with anti-Marcos activists everywhere, Scotty believed Igorot resistance to Marcos government projects in the Mountain Province should be a model for the entire country.”
Scotty was briefly detained because of helping the Cordilleran youths find their voice but his incarceration did not deter him. He persevered and continued his radical ways.
Before the idea of Cordillera autonomy was enshrined in the 1987 Constitution, Scotty remained steadfast in helping the Cordilleras.
He wrote two more essays entitled “Of Igorots and Independence” which was compiled into a book by the Cordillera Resource Center. Here, Scotty sowed the seed for genuine Cordillera autonomy.
He described the Cordillerans as a people who relish their independence.
“They were never slaves to the Spaniards nor did they play the role of slaves. Quite the contrary, Spanish records make it clear that they fought for their independence with every means at their disposal for three centuries, and that this resistance to invasion was deliberate, self-conscious, and continuous. That it was largely successful is indicated by the fact that at the end of the Spanish Regime, when the Cordillera Central had been carved up into a dozen military districts, the last Spanish census listed one-third of the estimated mountain population as completely independent,” Scotty said.
Cordillerans fought to be independent and they deserve autonomy, Scott said.
For two plebiscites, the law enshrining Cordillera autonomy has been defeated. But this does not mean that the dream would end.
Scotty had been adamant in saying that the Igorots are a proud people and they deserve this pride.
On his 100th birthday, we should return the favor. If Rizal was the first Filipino, just maybe then, Scotty was the first Cordilleran.
