Ton’ak Ifugao Rice Harvest Ritual (Philippines) 

Ton’ak Ifugao Rice Harvest Ritual
Performed by: Ifugao Performing Arts Group, Ifugao, Philippines
Background
The ton’ak is a ritual feast of the Ifugao sponsored by the kadangyan, families of noble descent. It is performed in the rice granary of the sponsoring families during the harvesting season. This is one of two phases of the traditional rice cycle during which the hudhud is chanted (the other, which has totally disappeared, used to be performed during the planting stage). During this occasion, workers from all over the agricultural district converge on the ton’ak rice field to help with the harvesting and to participate in the feast that follows. The mumbaki, traditional priests and priestesses, chant and sing prayers to the ancestors and the myriad of gods of agriculture, exhorting them to join in the festivities and to take part in the feast through animal sacrifices and rice wine drinking.
This particular rice ritual is now rarely performed due mainly to the changing of the traditional rice varieties in favour of the newly developed high-yielding varieties introduced by the government and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The cultivation of traditional rice is central to the continued practice of the old religion, a vital component of Ifugao culture in general and the very foundation of the Outstanding Universal Value of the Ifugao Rice Terraces as a heritage of humanity.
Synopsis / Description
The performance portrays the harvest ritual of the Ifugao as traditionally performed in the heritage municipality of Kiangan, thought to be the birthplace of Ifugao culture. Emphasis is given to the chanting of the Hudhud di Ani, one of few surviving hudhud epic chants of the Ifugao inscribed by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The presentation includes recitations of the baki (prayers of the old religion), traditional dances and hudhud chanting. The performers are all Ifugao from the municipality of Kiangan, Ifugao Province, who organized themselves into a school of living traditions to conserve what remains of the intangible heritage of the their people.
CREDITS:
Performers
Epic Chanters / Dancers
▪ Prof. Mary Lydia De Castro (Choreogprapher)
▪ Ms Lucia Martin (Lead Epic Chanter)
▪ Ms Charmagne Agadang
▪ Ms Clarissa Aruejo
▪ Ms Isabel Codamon
▪ Ms Flordeliza Cortez
▪ Ms Geronima Allaga
▪ Ms Paulette Evarista Crespillo
▪ Ms Eulali Dulnuan
▪ Ms Marivic Bulahao
▪ Ms Remedios Allaga
▪ Ms Joesphine Tam
▪ Ms Florence Bulayungan Tomas
Dancers
▪ Mr Arjan Ross Puguon
▪ Mr Erwin Martin
▪ Mr Rey Balajo
*This performance was showcased on Day 4 of SEAMEO SPAFA's 'Spiritual Dimensions of Rice Culture in Southeast Asia - Performances and Seminar' held from 11-14 May 2015 at Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. www.seameo-spafa.org/spiritual...