A Forgotten People The Ati Community of Aklan

University of San Carlos Publications
A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: THE ATI COMMUNITY OF AKLAN

Author(s): Karabi Baruah
Source: Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 28, No. 3, SPECIAL ISSUE:
PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE (September 2000), pp. 301-316
Published by: University of San Carlos Publications
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Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society
28(2000): 301-316
A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: THE ATI COMMUNITY

OF AKLAN
Karabi Baruah
Introduction
Today we are witnessing uneveness in the historical progress of hu?
mankind both in time and through space. While for some, progress re?
mains virtually transfixed, others move on. In both cases, conditions are
largely determined by the nature of their surrounding sociopolitical envi?
ronments. The truth of this is readily apparent when we compare the Ati of
Aklan to the society at large. The Ati of Aklan are not only distinguished
as a "cultural minority" or a "cultural community" but are also different
from other Filipinos racially, like other Philippine Negritos. In the country
as a whole, about twelve million people correspond to about 110 indige?
nous cultural communities (ICCs).1 These are scattered in small commu?
nities, mostly in upland areas, in different locations around the
archipelago. The Negritos are known by names like Agta, Agt?, Alta, Ita,
Ati, Ata, and Aeta, all of which, to these people themselves, mean "man"
or "person." Of the cultural minorities living in Region VI of the Philip?
pines, the Ati, with 6,989 members, accounted for 11.18 percent of them
in December 1997.2
The Ati are acknowledged as the indigenous people of Pan ay Island,
which is made up of four provinces, Aklan and Capiz to the north, Antique
to the west, and Iloilo on the southeast. There are several views regarding
their origins. One theory has had it that the Ati belong to the Old Stone
Age Negrito stock, related to African pgymies, which migrated from
neighboring Asian countries by crossing land bridges exposed during the
last glacial period about 25,000 years ago. For example, some have traced
Karabi Baruah earned her Ph.D. degree in Geography with a specialization in Re?
gional Development Planning from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong Meghalaya,
India. She is now living in Kalibo, Aklan and is a freelance researcher. Her email address
is <thebbers@kalibo.i-next.net>.
302 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
the origin of the race to India, from where its members supposedly trav?
elled to the Andaman Islands and through the Malay Peninsula, Indonesia,
and Borneo before reaching the islands of the Philippines. Still others have
presumed the origin of the Negrito race to have been in New Guinea (see
Dickerson et al. 1928, Rahman and Maceda 1955, Tarling 1966, Regalado
and Franco 1973).3
The largest groups of Ati are settled in barangay Tina, Hamtic, An?
tique, and barangay Nagpana, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. There they number
about 512 and 500 individuals respectively. Other small pockets are in Bu
ruanga, Nabas, and Malay towns in the province of Aklan (Figure 1); Cu
luasi, Hamtic, San Jose, Sibalom, and Tobias towns in Antique; Dumarao
town in Capiz; and in Janiuay, Anilao, Cabatuan, Duenas, Dumangas,
Mina, New Lucena, Passi, San Miguel, San Joaquin, San Rafael, Santa
Barbara, and Tigbauan in Iloilo Province.
As of 1997, the Ati made up a very small percentage of the total
population of Aklan. They are located in barangay Sabang in the munici?
pality of Buruanga, comprising four households with fifteen members; ba?
rangay Jesuna in the municipality of Nabas amounting to three households
with twenty members; and in barangays Argao, Cubay Norte, Cubay Sur,
Cogon, and Boracay in the municipality of Malay, in sixty-three house?
holds with 321 members.
Life in the Past

It is widely believed that the Ati at one time had the entire island of
Panay to themselves. Their current residence in peripheral areas is ac?
counted for in a popular legend which recounts a transaction that took
place between the Ati "king" Marikudo, his wife Maniwang-Tiwang, and
Datu Puti, leader of the Maraynon. Datu Puti, along with his followers,
had escaped from the oppressive rule of Makatunaw, the Sultan of Brunei,
around 212 and landed on Panay. In exchange for a golden sarok,4 a gold
necklace, some bolts of cloth, and trinkets, he acquired the vast valleys
and lowlands of Panay, while the Ati retreated to the mountains (see
Province of Aklan 1996). It is believed that the annual festival of Ati
Atihan in Kalibo, Aklan owes its origin to this transaction; that after its
conclusion there was much merry-making and feasting, and that this has
been renewed in an annual commemoration down to the present times.
ATI: A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE 303
'* % AKLAN
Figure 1. Province of Aklan, Panay Island.

Source: Lancion (1995: 23).
Whatever happened, the in-migration of the "Bruneians" had far

reaching consequences for Ati existence. First, it led to the permanent dis?
placement of generations of the Ati from the greater part of their home?
land. And second, the event marked the beginning of a great disruption in
their nomadic lifestyle based on foraging, fishing, and swiddening.
An abundance of resources, be they land, forest, or water, had sus?
tained their way of life since "time immemoral." Forests and rivers had
been the basis of their economic survival, looked upon everywhere as
common property. Ati camps and settlements had everywhere been lo?
cated near sources of fresh water, whether at the forest fringes or along the
sea coast. The rivers provided not only water for drinking but also a vari?
ety of protein-rich fish, eels, shrimp, crabs, and snails. Apart from being
the reserve of game, the forests also yielded edible roots, fruits, nuts,
honey and materials for bark cloth, for constructing the dwelling hut, and
as elements in herbal medicines. They lived in bands of around fifty peo
pie, with each individual linked to all others through kinship. Through
desultory shifting agriculture, together with their skills at fishing and for?
aging, they were able to meet their daily nutritional and energy require?
ments and successfully maintain healthy communities (Bennagen 1977,
Bolante 1986).
Current Status in Society

Today, the Ati of Aklan comprise what I call a "peripheral society,"
dominated by a "core society" of Malayan Aklan-speakers. The Aklanon
have increased their population over the centuries and in recent decades
have intensified their extraction of timber and minerals from the forests
and hills which the Ati were supposed to have seen as their territory ac?
cording to the old covenant. More recently, tourism has swamped one Ati
community. Aklanon activities have changed the nature of the regional
landscape. The resources, and spaces for maneuverability, of the Ati have
dwindled as the Ati have become increasingly vulnerable to impulses from
the core society. They have been compelled to retreat deeper into the
mountains and into ever more marginal habitats. Now they can be pushed
no further. Their common land for, shifting cultivation has been defined
out of existence by the government classification of lands. This communal
ownership of hunting and swiddening areas used to lie at the basis of Ati
society's continuity and stability.
The Ati have been driven to such a state of poverty that they are re?
duced to a mendicancy relationship to the core society. The fact that they
must live off the generosity of the core society has led to pejorative
stereotypes being formed of them by the Aklanon, the very people who
forced them into this position. For example, I found in one publication the
following diatribe:
They are filthy, they are lazy! They are disgusting! When one is called "Ati," it
is either because he is black or has that semi-nomadic behavior of transferring
from one place to another...or both....They are uneducated, they are an ugly
sight! They smell! They are the Atis of Panay to any average mind.. ..5
This ridicule is a reflex of the fact that the encroachment of the Aklanon
even into areas in which the Ati would have preferred to remain relatively
isolated has made interaction between them necessary. Unable any longer
to ignore the mendicants at its door, the core society must now acknowl?
edge their presence, however grudgingly. The peripheral society's con
tinuing existence in an extreme state of poverty gives the lie to any notion
of a "developing" economy as a whole.
The "development" of a modern society has failed to uplift its periph?
eral people. It has instead eroded the basis of their very sustenance and
simultaneously bereft them of any compensation for this. In spite of being
able to dominate, through one political system, the territory inhabited by
both core Aklan society and peripheral Ati society, and having as their re?
sponsibility the welfare of all, most core society leaders have preferred
instead to neglect the Ati, and to have had minimal interaction with these
"Others." The Ati themselves have avoided direct confrontation over what
has been happening to their landscape. Now it is beginning to be under?
stood that this state of affairs must change.
Major Issues and Concerns Faced by the Ati

Five major problems face the Ati of Aklan today: landlessness, lack of
political representation and participation, educational backwardness, pres?
ervation of cultural and linguistic identity, and health.
Landlessness. The Ati have no legal tenure to lands which they can
call their own. This is of devastating consequence since from ancient times
their subsistence has been rooted in land. Now they have to live in a per?
manent state of insecurity. They cannot even escape from a nomadic life?
style into a permanently-sited community. They must either continue a
shifting mode of existence or depend on the Aklanon landlords as their
source of livelihood.
Lack of Political Representation and Participation. When govern?
ment is comprised entirely of officials who come from the dominant core
society, a concern for the "Others" is overlooked in a "politics of exclu?
sion." The Ati people are treated as a non-entity in local governance. This
is evident from the fact that none of the published provincial or municipal
profiles for the areas in which Ati live contain a listing of the Ati popula?
tion, with the exception of Province of Aklan (1996), and there they are
mentioned only in an attempt to recount the origin of the Ati-Atihan festi?
val. Many of the worries of the Ati continue to be unmet as attempts by
politicians and decision-making governmental bodies to address them re?
main half-hearted.
From 1950 to 1997, a total of six high-level resolutions concerning the
Ati were passed (Lozano n.d.: 8). The first resolution, passed on 1 July
1950, requested Manila's Social Welfare Administration to give all possi
ble assistance in order to ease the deplorable conditions of the Negritos in

Malay. The second of 7 July 1989 requested funds to finance the con?
struction of a farm to market road from the Ati settlement in barangay Co
gon to the provincial road. Of the two resolutions passed in 1993, one
gave the Ati a privilege in the way of exemption from paying a fifty-peso
fine for late birth registration. The other enabled them to be married le?
gally for a minimal fee! The latest resolution merely recognized the exis?
tence of a tribal council among the Ati. None of the resolutions recognized
the community as an indigenous people "whose rights, cultural integrity
and welfare must be respected and promoted." Although living in a demo?
cratic country, they are not even able to vote for candidates of their choice,
for most of them, being tenants, are compelled to vote for the choices of
their landowners. Refusal would result in their eviction from land.
The landmark law on tribal rights, known as the Indigenous Peoples'
Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, also known as Republic Act No. 8371, sought
for the first time to
Recognize, protect, and promote the rights of indigenous cultural communi

ties/indigenous peoples, create a national commission for indigenous peoples,
establish implementing mechanisms, and appropriate funds therefore and for
other purposes (p. 1).
With this enactment, the issuance of certificates of Ancestral Domain,6

which had been done by the Department of Environment and Natural Re?
sources (DENR), was transferred to the National Commission on Indige?
nous Peoples (NCIP). The NCIP was created as the "primary government
agency responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies,
plans and programs to promote and protect the rights and well-being of the
ICCs/IPs and the recognition of their ancestral domains as well as their
rights thereto" (Indigenous Peoples9 Rights Act (IPRA) of1997, p. 14).
* Perhaps it is not generally known among concerned Filipinos that this
Act, which was supposed to bring an end to centuries of struggle and
strife, and put a stop to the dispossession and displacement of the ICP/IPs,
is currently facing a conservative backlash, coming especially from the
mining industry and still-ongoing logging firms that will be affected
should it be strictly implemented (see Malanes 2000). They receive sup?
port from others who question the constitutionality of the IPRA. These
parties are of the opinion that the Act violates the guaranteed rights of the
state to "control and supervise the exploration, development, utilization
and conservation of the country's natural resources."7 Such controversies,
as well as other internal disputes pertaining to appointments in the NOP,

have stood in the way of implementing the IPRA. An important result has
been temporary suspension of the issuance of Ancestral Domain Certifi?
cates. The aspirations of the Ati of Aklan have been relegated to an un?
certain future, as they had been hoping for the reclassification of their
ancestral area, which is now under a Community Forest Stewardship
Agreement (CFSA), to an Ancestral Domain (but now see POs 2001).
Educational Backwardness. Literacy constitutes an important tool of
community empowerment, allowing people to actively participate in their
own development, become aware of their own rights, and appreciate their
own cultural legacy. Although it is somewhat clear that the Ati of Aklan
realise the importance which education could have in increasing their wel?
fare, there are two basic reasons which they cite that prevent them from
taking advantage of the public schools in their vicinity.
The first is, they say, that their livelihood options are so limited that
they cannot meet the additional expenses incurred in schooling, in terms of
clothing, fees, contributions, student activities and projects, and so forth.
Secondly, there is the fact that Aklanon children share the prejudices of
their parents and subject Ati children to a great deal of ridicule, to the
point that they drive the Ati children out of school.
Preservation of Cultural and Linguistic Identity. One has not only
to be proud of one's culture and identity, but also true to one's culture's
spirit and ethos. Language is being increasingly viewed today as an indi?
cator of ethnic pride. Educators, government officials, and missionaries all
over the world more than ever attach considerable importance to the first
language or "mother tongue." Relegated as they are to a position of inferi?
ority and treated as outcasts, the Ati appear to lack cultural pride in them?
selves as a people as well as individuals, so much so that they are even
ashamed of their language and rarely use it beyond the home. This has led
to a general impression that their language no longer exists, and that their
daily language is one of the other Visayan languages. Such a belief has
impeded research on their language. Recently, the discovery of not only a
distinct (though Austronesian) Ati language, but also its two dialects, was
startling to those interested in the Ati (Pennoyer 1986-7).8
Ati and Bisayan speakers throughout Panay now commonly refer to
the Ati language as Inati. It is distinct from any other speech variety like
Aklanon, Hiligaynon, or Kinaray-a on Panay and is not a Visayan lan?
guage. Of the two dialects, the one in northern Panay is named Sogodnin.
It is believed by many that Sogodnin represents the original or "high"
Inati. Unfortunately, Sogodnin is no longer openly spoken. Its knowledge

is limited to a few speakers in barangay Cogon, Malay, and on Boracay
and Carabao Islands. It was found that there are only a few who can speak
isolated sentences, and one or two who can actually converse in the dia?
lect. There are also several people, ranging in age from seventy to over a
hundred, in Iloilo Province who know some Sogodnin. The other dialect
(Inete) is the household language for some nine-hundred to one-thousand
speakers in the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, and Capiz (Pennoyer 1986-7).
When a language dies, much of a culture dies, too. To regain self
confidence and to re-establish identity, the Ati and the society in general
are faced with a daunting linguistic challenge.
Health. The health and well-being of the Ati require urgent attention.
Compelling forces like natural resource depletion, incursion of members
of the core society, and their competition with the Ati for resources, have
forced the Ati to deviate from their traditional life-ways. The most obvious
impact is that among a once well-nourished people, malnourishment has
become the norm.
The Ati Community as an Organised Body

Studies of indigenous societies all over the world show that indigenous
leadership is vital to the development of a people. Indigenous leadership
of the Ati confronts tremendous challenges, the greatest of which is in the
organisation of a scattered and often semi-nomadic constituency. In the
leadership of the peripheral society lies a responsibility to articulate the
needs of its people, and to help them understand the need for assimilation
at least to the extent that the people can play some role in the mainstream
economy. It is also their duty to empower the peripheral society to actively
participate in their own development. It was interaction with the core soci?
ety that has contributed to a consciousness and a realisation that they must
first organise themselves in order to be heard by the core society. The
formation of the Malay Highlanders Foundation, Inc. or MAHIFO in
1981, a non-profit organisation, brought an air of optimism to the Ati of
Aklan.
The foundation was formed, among others, for the following pur?
poses:9
1. To establish a plan to promote the economic, environmental, cultural,
and educational development of the Ati.
2. To develop farms, orchards, and pastures and such marketing and

transportation facilities as shall be necessary.
3. To establish training centers, health clinics, warehouse facilities, etc.,
necessary to promote the welfare of the Ati.
The principle office of the Foundation is located at sitio Corong, ba

rangay Cogon, Malay, Aklan, with a provision that other branch offices
may be established and maintained elsewhere. The affairs of the founda?
tion are looked after by a board of trustees, comprised of eleven members,
chosen from among the leaders of the Ati residing in sitio Corong. The
board elect a chairman/chieftain, a secretary, and a treasurer. The latter
two do not necessarily need to be members of the board.10 Implementation
of any development plan, however, has to be in cooperation with the mu?
nicipality of Malay and other government agencies. Persons from adjacent
municipalities, Buruanga and Nab as, have been given permission to join
the organisation.
Ati Community Forest Stewardship

Organised with the assistance of the Philippine Association for
Intercultural Development, Inc. (PAFID), the Ati community of Aklan,
identified with 112 families, was granted a Community Forest Steward?
ship Agreement (CFSA)11 on November 23, 1987. It enables the Ati to use
and develop forest land and resources within a designated area for a dura?
tion of twenty-five years, that is until 23 November 2012, renewable for
an additional twenty-five years. This was the first CFSA grant in the
Visayas. With it, the community has made significant gains in the demar?
cation of land only for its own use. What the community is now striving
for is the recognition of the area as an Ancestral Domain. Their intention -
once this objective is achieved - is to be able to more securely address
matters pertaining to the development of the area. One major obstacle to?
day is an internal one: the community is beset with factionalism and ri?
valry, when it comes to leadership issues, and this has prevented the
foundation from being truly effective. At present, the Ati of Aklan are be?
set with the belief that they are worse off than other ICCs in the country
who can perhaps perform more effectively as pressure groups.
Spread over an area of 79.07 hectares, the CFSA area lies in sitios Co?
rong and Bakwit of barangay Cogon, bordering barangay Naba-oy on the
west and southern sides, and barangay Napa-an to the east. The Ati have
the sole and exclusive right to possess, cultivate, and enjoy the produce of
the land. The land may be allocated among the Ati in accordance with na?
tive custom and culturally accepted practices. They cannot, however, sub?
lease or in any way convey rights to the land or any portion thereof to a
third party. After the sixth year following the approval of the agreement,
the community has to pay an annual fee for the use of the land actually
cultivated, which consists of a minimum sum of ten pesos per hectare. The
onus of preserving survey markers and other landmarks within the area
lies with the Ati. It is also the responsibility of the Ati to:
1. Develop and improve the local ecosystem by planting a combination

of a) agricultural crops, b) tree crops, and c) forest plants, in conjunc?
tion with d) the raising of animals;
2. Protect and conserve the wild forest trees and products naturally
growing on the land. In this they are to cooperate with the Bureau of
Forest Development. Violations of the provisions of forest laws, rules
and regulations are to be reported to the nearest forest officer. They
may approach the DENR for technical assistance, extension services,
and other available support, as may be required from time to time;
3. Not cut saplings from a strip of twenty meters from either bank of
creeks, rivers, or streams bordering on or passing across the area. Also,
they are not to cut, gather or harvest for commercial use naturally
growing forest products from the area or any adjacent area except by
first obtaining a license or permit from the concerned authority.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), on the
other hand, reserves the following rights:
1. Free access to the area for supervision and monitoring purposes;
2. Should public interest so require, the opening of portions of the area
for road and road right-of-ways, in exchange for due compensation for
any damage to permanent improvements or to growing crops; and
3. Regulation over the cutting or harvesting of timber crops, to ensure a
normal balance of forest cover on the land.
The CFSA area, prior to the award of stewardship, fell within "tim
berland" and was covered with cogon and talahib grasses. Trees of lesser
known species were widely scattered. Portions had already been planted to
agoho (Casuarina equisetifolia) by the Malay Regular Reforestation Proj?
ect, and to coconuts provided by the Philippine Coconut Authority. The
land is drained by two creeks, one of which comes from a spring yielding
a source of potable water at the rate of sixty-four liters per minute the year
around.
Infrastructure that has since been introduced and constructed by the
DENR includes a three and one-half kilometer trail linking the scattered
Ati dwellings to the barangay center; soil-and-water conservation meas?
ures over one-thousand linear meters; a small water-impounding reservoir
of eight cubic meters; and an office, equipped with two radio handsets and
kitchen utensils, to serve as a site for trainings, meetings, and project ad?
ministration.
To help the Ati move toward independent self-reliance, the Magkaisa
Development Foundation (an NGO in Kalibo, Aklan) and the Local Gov?
ernment Unit have joined hands to establish a fruit-tree orchard; to dis?
perse two heads of cattle and one goat to each household; establish
vegetable gardens; and provide trainings on capability-building, leader?
ship, and project management.
The Baptist Missionary Church originally started a day-care center
which is now managed by the MAHIFO secretary and his family, with
contributions from Ati parents, under the supervision of both the Depart?
ment of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health.
The center continues to provide some support to grade school scholars and
high school students, and through it the relevant agencies provide daily
supplemental feeding, nutritional education, training on environmental
sanitation, and pharmaceutical products. Four Ati students have availed of
a scholarship program, provided by a local congressman through the Mag?
kaisa Development Foundation, to pursue a college education.
Still, the overall situation is far from satisfactory. Income-generating
projects and infrastructural development have been insufficient in attract?
ing many other Ati to settle in the CFSA area. It remains remote from
markets and government services and reachable only by trail. The flow of
funds from benefactors is intermittent and uncertain. Therefore, many Ati
have preferred to remain as tenants or unskilled farm laborers wherever
they are. This has led recently to fears that the CFSA grant may be re?
voked, bringing a few more to voluntarily settle in the area.
Discussion
The Philippines is not the only country in the world where indigenous
people have been severely treated by a neo-colonial core society. But the
core society is no longer complacent about the impoverished status of less
powerful peripheral societies. We are now witnessing a gradual upsurge in

government policies as well as in the work plans of non-governmental or?
ganizations to focus on unravelling issues for analysis and understanding
and bringing about change. This has been very much a response to stimuli
from international humanitarian groups such as the International Labour
Organisation. It is meant to reverse historical injustice, and to do this, the
core society must first come to terms with its past treatment of peripheral
groups as a reference point for the future, and accept such injustices as
having been done and in need of rectification. But the awareness of the Ati
mendicancy situation, and the attempt to find the bases for a more self
reliant Ati society, have not automatically led to either Ati independence
or Ati prosperity, as the Ati still remain in an inherently unequal situation,
struggling with internal disagreements, and continuing to be in need of the
help of outsiders.
Sooner or later, the problem that both core society and peripheral soci?
ety will have to face is the formulation of a plan to balance the need of the
Ati to preserve a sense of tradition that provides identity with adaptation to
and use of a global culture without which there is no future and which is
unavoidable. An important strategy in this will be the simultaneous pres?
ervation and revitalization of the Inati language with the development of
communication skills in both an important regional Philippine language
(Aklanon especially) and in a global language. While Western-style edu?
cation of the Ati can be seen to be making some progress in Malay we see
no progress at all being made in the conscious resuscitation of the Inati
language.12
ENDNOTES
'indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) are defined as "...homogeneous societies,

identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived in a
community or communally-bounded and defined territory sharing common bonds of lan?
guage, customs, traditions, and other distinctive cultural traits. By resisting the political,
social and cultural inroads of colonization, these ICCs have historically differentiated
themselves from the majority of Filipinos...." (Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997,
p. 4).
2 All statistical information contained here is computed from the "Masterlist of Cul?
tural Minorities in Region VI," as of December 1997, found in the office of the National
Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Iloilo City.
3These old theories have been thoroughly discredited by recent studies in physical
anthropology. Omoto (1981), a population geneticist, took 600 blood samples from vari?
ous Negrito groups and constructed a dendogram comparing the genetic distances be?
tween Philippine Negritos and other populations on the basis of gene frequencies for
seventeen polymorphic loci. He found, among others, that (1) they are more closely re?
lated to peoples of Asia and the Pacific than to either African or Indian peoples, and (2)
there is a high level of genetic variability among Negrito populations and they have some
unusual, even unique genetic variants (alleles) with high frequencies.
Bulbeck (1999) has looked at hair form (woolly), skin color (dark), stature and body
size (small), and the craniometric and dental data available today. He concludes that
Philippine Negritos specifically are simply Southeast Asians racially that have, in the last
ten thousand years, evolved to adapt to a hunting and gathering way of life in the tropical
rainforests which have expanded with increasingly wet climatic conditions over that time.
For example, smaller body sizes enable easier movement in pursuing game in the forest,
and so were naturally selected for. He sees these as long-term adaptations that were
"quite independent of human migrations."
4The sarok (Aklanon) is a pointed and broad-rimmed hat that provides shade and
protection from sun and rain while farmers are working in the fields. It can still be seen
today.
5From a newsletter entitled Candle Light dated 17-23 October, 1993, found in the Ati
file in the NCIP office.
6Ancestral Domain "refers to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising

lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources therein, held under a claim of
ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs, by themselves or through their ancestors,
communally or individually since time immemorial, continuously to the present except
when interrupted by war, force majeure or displacement by force, deceit, stealth or as a
consequence of government projects or any other voluntary dealings entered into by gov?
ernment and private individuals/corporations, and which are necessary to ensure their
economic, social and cultural welfare. It shall include ancestral lands, forests, pasture,
residential, agricultural and other lands individually owned whether alienable and dispos?
able or otherwise, hunting grounds, burial grounds, worship areas, bodies of water, min?
eral and other natural resources, and lands which may no longer be exclusively occupied
by ICCs/IPs but from which they traditionally had access to their subsistence and tradi?
tional activities, particularly the home ranges of ICCs/IPs who are still nomadic and/or
shifting cultivators" (Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of1997, p. 3).
7As if the state's Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 was not already an exer?
cising of those rights! - ed.
8It had previously been thought that Negritos had no languages of their own, but al?
ways spoke the language of a neighboring lowland Christian group. But remnant groups
of speakers of at least two other Negrito languages have been found (Reid 1989a, 1989b).
It is interesting to note that Inati and these two languages also belong to the Austronesian
language family along with all other Philippine languages.
For other purposes and further details, see the Articles of Incorporation and By
Laws of the Malay Highlanders Foundation, Inc. (MAHIFO), barangay Cogon, Malay,
Aklan.
10The secretary and treasurer also do not necessarily have to be Ati, according to the
current secretary of MAHIFO, though this is not stated in the By-Laws of the foundation.
nThe Community Forest Stewardship Agreement (CFSA) is the policy of the Philip?
pine government which looks to democratize the disposition of public forest lands and
promote equitable distribution of forest benefits among less privileged sectors of society,
forest associations, cultural communities, and other occupants of forest lands. The grantor
of the CFSA is given the jurisdiction and authority over the demarcation, protection,
management, disposition, reforestation, occupancy and/or use of public forests and forest
reserves. Forest associations/cultural communities are allowed to enter into a stewardship
agreement on a communal basis over areas they presently occupy and utilize for non?
commercial purposes.
12The resuscitation of Inati could well take advantage of the "language and culture
approach" to language preservation (Palmer 1988). Palmer defines this as "the systematic
presentation of vocabulary from cultural topics or domains of meaning, such as proper
names and geography, as opposed to the presentation of language primarily through pho?
netic exercises, syntactic paradigms or phrase grammars. Since vocabulary is the starting
point for lesson development, lexical analysis provides the framework for the presenta?
tion.... Cultural domains are lexical domains" (Palmer 1988: 307).
And "language fluency is secondary to understanding and in any case, almost impos?
sible to achieve in the absence of an active community of speakers. I proceed on the as?
sumption that aspects of Coeur d'Alene culture which interest me will also interest Coeur
d'Alene children." Some accessible domains or lexicons he taught were proper names
(for example, of places and natural features in Coeur d'Alene territory), mythology, kin?
ship terms, human anatomy, farming, and emotion metaphors. "One has to analyze, de?
fine, and present the terms themselves in the context of appropriate illustrations and
comparisons" (Palmer 1988: 317).
REFERENCES CITED
Bennagen, Ponciano
1977 "The Negrito: A Rallying Call to Save a Filipino Group from Cultural
Extinction," in Roces, Alfredo R. (ed.), Filipino Heritage: The Making
of a Nation (Volume 1), pp. 184-191. Manila: Felta Booksales Inc.
Bolante, Jose B.
1986 The Atis of Panay: A Glimpse into their Indigenous World. Manila: Of?
fice of Muslim Affairs and Cultural Communities.
Bulbeck, David
1999 "Current Biological Anthropological Research on Southeast Asian
Negritos," SPAFA Journal 9(2): 15-22.
Dickerson, Roy E. et al
1928 Distribution of Life in the Philippines. Manila: Bureau of Printing.
Lancion, Conrado M., Jr.

1995 Fast Facts about Philippine Provinces. Manila: Tahanan Books.
Lozano, Joey R. B.
1998 The Impact of the Tourism Project in Boracay Island on the Ati Tribe
of Malay. A Community-based Impact Assessment Project for the In?
ternational Labour Organization. Hie Philippine Association for Inter?
national Development, Inc.
Malanes, Maurice
2000 "The Saga of Happy Hollow," Philippine Daily Inquirer, Sunday, No?
vember 5, p. A-8.
Omoto, Keiichi
1981 "The Genetic Origins of the Philippine Negritos," Current Anthropol?
ogy 22(4): 421-422.
Palmer, Gary B.
1988 "The Language and Culture Approach in the Coeur d'Alene Language
Preservation Project," Human Organization 47(4): 307-317.
Pennoyer, F. Douglas
1986-7 "Inati: The Hidden Negrito Language of Panay, Philippines," Philip?
pine Journal of Linguistics 17-18: 1-36.
POs (Peoples Organizations and Support Groups)

2001 "Peace with Justice: A Statement of Thanksgiving of the Indigenous
Peoples of the Philippines," Philippine Daily Inquirer, 17 February, p.
A14.
Province of Aklan
1996 "Historical Background," in Socio-Economic Survey Profile of Aklan
(1996-2001). Kalibo: Provincial Plarining and Development Office.
Rahman, Rudolf and Marcelino N. Maceda

1955 "Notes on the Negritos of Northern Negros," Anthropos 50: 810-833.
Regalado, Felix B. and Quintin B. Franco

1973 History of Panay. Iloilo City: Central Philippine University.
Reid, Lawrence A.
1989a "The Alta Language of the Philippines," in Harlow, Ray (ed.), Pro?
ceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Austronesian Lin?
guistics. Auckland.
1989b "Arta, Another Philippine Negrito Language," Oceanic Linguistics

28(1): 47-74.
Tarling, Nicholas
1966 A Concise History of Southeast Asia. New York: Frederick A. Praeger.

A Forgotten People The Ati Community of Aklan

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University of San Carlos Publications

A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: THE ATI COMMUNITY OF AKLAN

A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: THE ATI COMMUNITY

Life in the Past

Figure 1. Province of Aklan, Panay Island.

Whatever happened, the in-migration of the "Bruneians" had far

Current Status in Society

Major Issues and Concerns Faced by the Ati

ble assistance in order to ease the deplorable conditions of the Negritos in

Recognize, protect, and promote the rights of indigenous cultural communi

With this enactment, the issuance of certificates of Ancestral Domain,6

as well as other internal disputes pertaining to appointments in the NOP,

Inati. Unfortunately, Sogodnin is no longer openly spoken. Its knowledge

The Ati Community as an Organised Body

2. To develop farms, orchards, and pastures and such marketing and

The principle office of the Foundation is located at sitio Corong, ba

Ati Community Forest Stewardship

1. Develop and improve the local ecosystem by planting a combination

powerful peripheral societies. We are now witnessing a gradual upsurge in

'indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) are defined as "...homogeneous societies,

6Ancestral Domain "refers to all areas generally belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising

Lancion, Conrado M., Jr.

POs (Peoples Organizations and Support Groups)

Rahman, Rudolf and Marcelino N. Maceda

Regalado, Felix B. and Quintin B. Franco

1989b "Arta, Another Philippine Negrito Language," Oceanic Linguistics

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