ONE day in January 1954, the Lishom received a new American missionary-teacher. He would be teaching English, History, and Music. One of his early pronouncements is still recalled by former students to this day: “I crossed the Pacific Ocean to teach and not just watch bums sitting on a log.” Or a variation of that: “I did not cross the Pacific Ocean to teach wrong English.”
Of course, after teaching and living among his Igorot students, Mr. William Henry Scott would become less austere. The teacher, years later during Martial Law, would find himself reflecting: “I had failed, and I had failed because I had lived in such a way that grammar seemed more important than love.”
One of the first recorded attempts of writing creatively in Kankanaëy was made in the Lishom, that is, the “Lyceum” in St. Mary’s School of Sagada, the Boys’ Dorm with the Aristotelian nickname. Its current degradation is inversely proportional to the influence it continues to have.
What happened in the Lishom during those early days? The westernization of the iSagada? The indigenization of Scotty? One day Scotty remembered “Ei du schöne Schnitzelbank” and challenged his senior students to rewrite its lyrics. So the students did away with the original verses of the German folk song and proceeded to write new verses…in Kankanaëy. Not a translation of the German, but new lyrics with new meanings drawn from their own native experience. The resulting song became the Toma Song. The tune has remained but it ceased to be German, and it became a Sagada song about an edible bed-bug that could be boiled or fried or paired with rice, delicious and rich in protein. An excerpt:
Ay tët-ëwa’y ma-oto?
Tët-ëwa ay ma-oto.
Ay tët-ëwa’y misibo?
Tët-ëwa ay misibo.
Misibo, ma-oto, ma-isda, ma-isnga, banga sa, toma sa ay kadakëlan!
Dakë-dakë’y toma sa ya kadakëlan ay toma.
Mountain Nights were evenings dedicated to the rehearsal of Kankanaëy songs adapted and transformed from their Western provenance through native imagination. In 1955, one of the Lishom students, Daniel Biteng, was called upon to lead the Toma Song, and in every Mountain Night since then the culinary value of toma has been sung about again and again. In 2020, Tayrell Gewan, wearing a facemask, led the song during a socially-distanced small gathering during the school’s foundation day. That made almost seventy years of singing praises to a bed bug.
What happened in the Lishom in the decade that was the 1950s? The beginnings of a project later to be called The Discovery of the Igorots. The construction of another indigenous identity: katutubo and cosmopolitan, fluent in both liwliwa and liturgy; Scotty scatters his students throughout the ili and across the globe; Sagada Studies is reclaimed by the native scholar; ethnography is the business of remembering; John Agayo, class of 1957, writes in a poem the vicious image of a dripping moon:
Bowan, bowan angyoan
Omekdagkas kamowan
Ta enak ibaybayoan.
Is menbalon amayo.
Ay mentoping id Nagawa.
Sat baken kayos kokwa
Kwan inan Bandowa
Kega pet-ang di daya.
How does one articulate the hunger that the propertied do not understand? Through a simile: “Kega.” One likens rice to a piece of sky.
A Kankanaey personal essay writing contest from the Baguio Writers’ Group and the Ubbog Cordillera Writers Group is called the Scotty’s Prize.
Dixie Busacay, class of 2022, writes a prose poem for the Asian Youth Forum:
“Dengem nan agan nan ungung-a ay adi kumanëg isnan agew ya labin di agan di daya ay inted da isken Noah. Nan boses da ay kaneg nan libo-o ay mang salin isnan bilbilig. Nan nemnem da ay kaneg nan daya ay makilumba id ngato…nan mëndagsen ay inririkna et awnit sia tu nan ikido da is labi…”
How do you articulate mental health? Through simile: “Kaneg” At least in the language of poetry, folks are less dismissive. One likens the inner turbulence to a piece of sky.
As a teacher, Scotty was often remembered for being a stickler for English grammar. His “I did not cross the Pacific Ocean” tirade really did make a lasting impression on his students in the mission school. Whenever I hear or read a tribute by his former students, there’s often an allusion to how well he had taught them American English.
Scott opened up about this when he spoke in the commencement address of St. Andrew’s Theological Seminary in 1976: “Had I been true to that calling [of missionary and schoolteacher] by producing students who prided themselves with a command of foreign grammar which set them apart from their fellow Filipinos but could not even notice what was happening to their fellow men? And if I had not, how had I failed? The answer was all too obvious. I had failed, and I had failed because I had lived in such a way that grammar seemed more important than love.”
What happened in the Lishom in those early days when Scott was a high school teacher? Kankanaëy songs adapted and transformed from their Western provenance through native imagination. “The Material Culture of Sagada” by the junior class of St. Mary’s School. Eugenio Bayang’s Demang Notes. Clippings from the Sagada Postboy which are now important documents in local history. Scotty writes “Vocabulary of the Sagada Igorot Dialect.” “Conversation Course in Sagada Igorot,” a sort of Sagada Kankanaey 101, with Bartolome Daoas. The beginnings of what was to be “The Igorot Struggle for Independence.”
We started a personal essay writing contest in Kankanaey and named it the Scotty’s Prize because it makes sense to do it in honor of someone who has dedicated a life to ennobling not only the Kankanaey Igorot but to a people he considered his own. We received submissions from La Trinidad, Mankayan, Tadian, Bauko, Besao, Sagada, and Bontoc. All of them were personal stories that go from the sidewalk vendors of Baguio to the wanes-wearing elders in Demang. The use of Kankanaey was varied as well. I joked that perhaps the Kankanaey language has no need for a standard orthography, because the spelling and choice of vowels can help reflect the writer’s age or which ili he/she comes from. Do you use kaiman or kayman? Do you use ubpay, obpay, or ugkay or udpay? One house says adi and its neighbor says achi.
It is common to see cno instead of sino, or cnan” instead of sinan. The text-message spellings always have to be corrected, but opinions differ as to what is more correct: sino or sinu, kano or kanu, eman or iman. With lexicon, it’s a field day. There’s id kasin and id sang-adom.
Some Kankanaey writings are more literary. Some are written as if a day-eng. Some are written as if spoken. Some are written with a parent or an elder, to help in digging up those “deep words.”
Many essays submitted to the Prize were written about a general abstract idea: the nature of love, a treatise on culture, the importance of the environment. But a special few focused on specific experiences, specific images, specific stories . That is why they stood out and they are now the six finalists of the Scotty’s Prize. In “Ayuweng Di Kultura: Napigsa, Men Agasaas, Tumalna,” Ciara Bumatang writes about the begnas ceremonies she remembers while growing up in Demang. In “Batawa,” Miral Catubing writes on the personal significance of the natural world in Tadian. In “Si Alapo ay Baak,” Khenn Ambucay reminisces about a grandfather of his who never married. In “Baken am-in ay tago et nakaanap si gameng,” Aldwin Quitasol remembers a late brother and pays tribute to a hardworking mother. In “Kalol,” Carol Bangniwan uses a hybrid Kankanaey to reflect on her childhood and a grandfather’s love for wordplay. And in “Kasiyana Sa,” Joshua Lalwet writes about taking driving lessons from his father.
All essays are in Kankanaey. No attempts were made to impose a standard orthography on any of them. Here are some excerpts from the six essays, in no particular order:
“Ayuweng Di Kultura: Napigsa, Men Agasaas, Tumalna” by Ciara Bumatang
Pilmi nan tedek di dagem sin tan-o, mayat dadlu nan men pupukuwak sin det-a. “Ayeee mabalin maligakan ay bumangon tay adi kami lumukso id Mangitong tay obaya kanu.” Ngem nan mayat ay mamaekak et dinistulbon di men dalalagsen ay sekad. Begbeg-beg-beg! “Dan pay es daan makag-aw dapay binmangun et da amak ay Cadiogan yas inuy-ak ay Duwagan ta enda men sekseksekad dapay adi kami met lumukso idwani.. “Ah ay wen gayam idwani san toling.”
Nasapa gedan si ina mi ay Dangonay ay binmangun ta isagana na nan wanes da ama yas inuy-ak. Matematedek nan batawa dapay ta men lalabus da ama ay bumala. Kedeng san wanes is nipuputipot sin siket da ay mangsasalin sin obet da. Kumaan da pay dat es ikamun ina ay mangippey sin tupig ya tapey isnan bitutu ta wada mitambo id dap-ay.
Waaaweeeee! Men tebag nan bugaw di aamam-a ya bababallo ay dumap-ay isnan bilbilig id Sagada. Ikakamu mi am-in ay uungung-an di Demang ay asi tatagtag ay umey men patong isan dakkel ay bato id Toking ta demangen mi nan deyda nalubwat ay men wawe. Men payapay nan wanes da sin dagem dapay men sisleng nan pinalid da ay balbeg ay gegenan da. Menkakadwa nan inin-a, bababasang, ya ungung-a ay nin gagateng ay men seseed sin dumatngan nan nayda nin wawe. Wasdin da aagtoen nan nabibitutu ay tupig ya tapey ay enda itambo id dap-ay.
Maid mabay-an sin baey tay bumala am-in nan ipugaw ta makipartisipar da isnan Begnas. Men gangsa dapay men sala nan umili enggana mapat-a nn kawakgatana. Siyana nan manemnem ko ay ikakan mi isnan Begnas idi bote-landok nan sinilas ko ya mutegan ak paylang.
“Batawa” by Miral Catubing
“Inayan nan manpu-o si bilig.” Siyam nan tawen ko idi naminduwa ak ay nakapoo si bilig. Baken man gagara di ngem baken metlang aksidenti. Nan makapuo si bilig et mamulta si dakkel isunga siya nang adalak ay inayan ay mangpupuo si bilig tan baken lang amam-a nan lumiget, pati nan Kabunyan. Dampay nu lumiget nan Kabunyan, mamaid nan danom et maid mainum, matey nan batang et maid makaiw ya maid manbaeyan di titit.
“Inayan, adi putuwan nan bebe”. Napadasak metlang ay manputo si gete ay batang gapu lang ta laydek abe ay wada dakdake ay kaiw ko. Ngem adi met udpay kanu iiyat sidi tan maymayat ay masiken umuna nan batang sipay putuan nu talaga ay layden nan dakdake. Simpo ay batang nan kasukat kanu di esa ay bebe. Ngem baken lang nan madadaelan di mula nan gapu si maiadi ana, adi metlang maitongo di tan adi kanu kaango ay kanan manung ko. Sidik abe ay naadal ay nu layden di dakdake, manseed tas usto ay tiyempo.
“Inayan, adi kamkampulan nan ginawang.” Idi nabibiyag si alapok kanayon na ay ibaga ken dakami ay nagasat kanu nan Igorot tan wada nan lames di ginawang ay. Nu maid makan, mangamin tan adu maidawat di ginawang. Ngem inbaga na abe ay adi kamkampulan tan nu matey nan banan-eg ay gaki wenu wading, maid maamin si mawakas. Naadal kosna ay suron di Inayan ay adi dadaelen nan kalpuan di makan ta wada tagtagen si sumaruno ay uwat.
Si kaadun di inayan, adik malinglingan nan esa ay adik maawatan ed kasin- inayan nan mangpalsiit si tala. Nan tala et napintas ay titit, mayat ay kaay-ayam ngem inayan ay peslen. Masikenak sak maawatan nan rason ay inayan ay palsiitan dana. Gapu ngata ta bumadang ay mang-abo si biding? Wenu gapu san kinaagyod na?
“Si Alapo ay Baak” by Khenn Ambucay
Nagisbet dapay palalo ay sumekaw nan batawa. Ngan-ngani ay men-alas otso dapay wada ak ya nan duwa ay innudik ay men-ay-ayam isnan kalsa ya mangbabantay sinan lumala-os ay lugan. Sumaldeng pay nan naudi ay byahen di GL Trans dakamit tumagtag ay sumabat sin bumaba-an nan alapo mi ay baak nagapo ad Baguio. Dakes na, baken sisya nan sesed-en mi nudiket nan ginegen-ana ay karton di donut. Sunga nu apagbaba na et dakamit kasikmat sin karton dat tumagtag ay suma-a et mataynan sisya ay mang-awit iman sin mausar na.
Shana nan esa sinan man-mano ay malagip ko panggep ken alapo mi isnan nintete-ana kendakami id sang-adom. Kagagasing ay mangnemnemnem tay maid unay enkami kinasapol tapnu maka-ayayam tay wada sisya ay makigaggag-ay kendakami.
Aye et pay kayman nan kawawad-an nan alapo mi ay dey. Adi malukudan nan anos na tay ulay nu palalo nan sukil mi ad kasin et egay pulos iman ninsung-sungad wenu ninlillili. Nu menpa-Baguio sisya et dakamit menpalako as donut et adi na iman lipatan ay umala uray nu maid sip-siping na. Nu wada sisya et menpapa-awit kami ay kinanayon dapay iman kedeng ay nalakay. Menpasakwang si innudik ay esang, daet menpa-aba nan esang dapay mentayun ak abes iman sin ima na et menyasyas sisya ngem dat mendadawes ladta isnan umeyan mi maki-misaan sin dinuminggo.
“Baken am-in ay tago et nakaanap si gameng” by Aldwin Quitasol
Si inak et menkodkodong weno san kanan da isnan kali ay English et “person with disability” ono PWD. Nasapa ay natey si ama mi idi mid pay lang sintew-en ko, ay adi ak pay lang makakali ya makadan ya si iyun-ak et duay tew-en nan diperensiya na ken sak-en. Et ulay siya di ay adi makatakdeg si ina mi nu maid sukod na, inpapati na ay menbalin ay ama ya ina tapno matago kami ken iyun-ak.
Ngem ulay maliligatan ay menkiwi et nenlaklako si “swipsteks” ya “newspaper” et namin-ano ay inap-apayao di pupulis ya tanod tay makasali kano sisiya isnan danan di ipugao, nan kanan da et “obstruction” kano si inak. Et nailak nu sino nan inikkan di pupulis ay nengowad isnan lako na ulay adi menpakpakaasi si inak et maid dengngen da. Idi inpey nan pupulis nan newspaper ay lakon inak isnan lugan da et talaga et ay kimmapet si inak isnan likudan ay idi et umandar nan lugan et aye pay tay naigadugad nan sikin inak.
Pirmi nan inikkak ay nen-aga isdi ay tiyempo. Ulay nu ungaak sidi et kanega naimalkat isnan nemnem ko ay kagtuna nan ikkan di biyag di kodokodo. Kanega mid karbengan na ay basta lang maigati-gatin.
Ngem adik pulos pabasulen si inak nu aped pay manipud isnan kaungak inggana edwani ay naam-amaak et kodokodo ak. Tay nasiken kami ken iyun-ak gapu ken sisya ulay sino nan kasasaad di awak na.
“Kalol” by Carol Bangniwan
“Ayta ay ama! Ay ammum san kayat nay sauwen din ibagbagam ay sana?” kanan auntie ay Josie idi nalpas ay maseyek si peteg. “Killer iman sa ay..mabalin pay no Kurul, uno Kolol, ya Kalol et! Sada pay naseyek ngam-in. Watak pay man muk mukeyeng duan ko iilan daida ay mases-eyek. Kina-tet-ewa na, isnan muyang ay nemnem ko et kaman ko layden ay disnugin amin daida ay mases-eyek.
Kanak isnan nemnem ko en, aped yu pay sis-eyekan si apok? Siya udpay iman di san gapu na. Adi kabato ay kanan da nu aped mu pangadanan si “Killer” san anak mu uno apom. Way say kanan da di si English en “done with a good intention” ngem teken nan resulta na. Siya di nu mamingsan san “no read, no write” ay kanan da. “No read, no write” si allapok ngem aped ammu na met ay mankali si English?
Keg burburtiya sa isnan nemnem ko ed kasin, edwani ay nasikenak, naawatak ay, wada udpay nan “different kinds of learning” ay kanan da. Si lolok et maiyarig ay auditory learner si kali ay English. Wat na dengge ngem naadal na. Except lang siguru idi inbaga na nan dapat kuma ay nagan ko. Edwani et maawatak ai kega sur-surun nabaw kanu di et anggey, tan anggey pete-peteg ay nagiginek kami, ta waday matut-uya kanu ay rason di man-kikinnalian. Makwani en “ice breaker” lolo laeng baw di ed kasin.
Amin ay auntie, ankel, ya apokos da lolo ken lola et naummung isnan agew ay dey. San matunedan et san pangpanganan. Medyo nalawa nan payew ay matundan isunga ad adu kami ay inummey. Sya din san kanayun da ay iyat ay malagip ko. Nu san pangpanganan ay payew san matrabaho et amey am-in ay sinpangabong.
“Kasiyana Sa” by Joshua Lalwet
“Ay ngannan ikakkam ay manggegeen sinan manubela?” malalagip ko ay kanan amak idi. “Kanayun ay duwa ay ima nan usarem adi. Sinan panang-ilam et siga nan itsura nan esesang ay ima, ngem ibabagak ken sika; makadisgrasiya laeng nan sana ikikkam. Nu esesang ay ima nan nakageen, adim makontrol ay usto. Awnit maaksidente ka.” Ngem, ama, uray sinuy ikkak et egay ak met kayet naakaksidente. Igatin ko amamed nan accelerator daket menkambyo. Tercera.
(Naykami kasin, nakatambay sinan bilig. Magsipabala nan kakadwak sinan dudupla da, dadat magsipasged. Iiiilak nan gabbang di dudupla da ya nan asok ay bumalbala sinan tutupek da. Sinu ngen rikna na, anya? Kanayun tako ay mailila ngem egay tako pinadpadas. Adu met nan mang-ikikkan, isunga waay mayat. Baken baw gayam si mayat, ngem waay naganas manet. Iyaammak umasag-en issan kadwak daket kumdaw. Mang-isem sisha, danat kawaen san inbubulsa na ay kaha.)
“Yaw, anana. Sana ka es kasin, papaspasem. Wen, ammuk ay men-gaganat ka. Nagan-ganas nu napaspas. Ngem ibabagak, egay mo kayet na-master sa. Iyam-ammam una. Baken sa karera.” Ngem baken ko met kadwa sika idwani, ama. Uray sinu et nan ikkak, maiwed tu metlang mang-iila. Isunga ngarud padasen tako ya. Ay kayak na? Kabaelak met. Kayak na. Cuarta.
This article is part of a series on the Scotty Prize. Find the rest here:
https://thebaguiochronicle.com/top-news/scotty-prize/
