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A precolonial enthusiast's conundrum
Jul. 13th, 2023 09:18 pmI think what's really tricky about being interested in precolonial Philippine culture is that I feel like many people, especially in the online community, idolize it too much. Don't get me wrong, I think there's so much about our precolonial heritage that deserves pride, so much about it that we would consider "progressive" today, and so much about it that doesn't deserve all the shame we've been taught to harbour towards it.
However, I also think that many of these practices go against what we would consider human rights now. It doesn't make precolonial Filipinos abhorrent or shameful or evil. Even with these practices in mind, I don't think ancient Filipinos were any better or worse than any other civilization that had existed. (And from a more spiritual angle, these people were still created by God, and they tried to eke out a living and develop a culture in an environment that was also created by God.)
What makes me uncomfortable is when other people act as if every aspect of our old tradition was good and was only slandered by colonizers. They treat our ancestors' culture like something frozen in time, paralyzed, believing that if we strip away all foreign influences, we'll be able to go back to this perfect unsullied pearl. And like, I understand that disposition, I understand that longing to hold something and say, "This is mine. It is mine, and I don't owe anybody for putting it in my hands." I get that. But I also think that to respect a culture means to acknowledge that it grows and changes and develops. And yes, I wish we had gotten the opportunity to do that, the opportunity to grow with autonomy and self-ownership, without half-a-dozen countries inserting themselves in our history, trying to make it about them. But even without colonization, I honestly think that we just won't be living the same culture as our ancestors did. I honestly think there will be practices we'd have viewed and said, "Oh huh, maybe this isn't nice after all. Maybe we would be better off without it." In fact, I think it's actually insulting to believe we weren't capable of change or growth without outside influence.
However, I also think that many of these practices go against what we would consider human rights now. It doesn't make precolonial Filipinos abhorrent or shameful or evil. Even with these practices in mind, I don't think ancient Filipinos were any better or worse than any other civilization that had existed. (And from a more spiritual angle, these people were still created by God, and they tried to eke out a living and develop a culture in an environment that was also created by God.)
What makes me uncomfortable is when other people act as if every aspect of our old tradition was good and was only slandered by colonizers. They treat our ancestors' culture like something frozen in time, paralyzed, believing that if we strip away all foreign influences, we'll be able to go back to this perfect unsullied pearl. And like, I understand that disposition, I understand that longing to hold something and say, "This is mine. It is mine, and I don't owe anybody for putting it in my hands." I get that. But I also think that to respect a culture means to acknowledge that it grows and changes and develops. And yes, I wish we had gotten the opportunity to do that, the opportunity to grow with autonomy and self-ownership, without half-a-dozen countries inserting themselves in our history, trying to make it about them. But even without colonization, I honestly think that we just won't be living the same culture as our ancestors did. I honestly think there will be practices we'd have viewed and said, "Oh huh, maybe this isn't nice after all. Maybe we would be better off without it." In fact, I think it's actually insulting to believe we weren't capable of change or growth without outside influence.
