The Royal Aeta Tribe of the North in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan, Philippines
The indigenous Aeta people of Sanchez Mira, Cagayan (particularly the group I met), call themselves “Pugut” which literally means forest spirits in Ilocano. But in a casual sense, the term connotatively means dark-skinned people. They use this term to separate themselves from the lowlanders. They insist calling themselves “Pugut” because they believe they are different. I just think they have no idea how beautiful they are. In a country that only promotes being light-skinned as beautiful and looks down on being dark-skinned, of course, they will feel the impact of internalized racism. It’s not just in the Philippines, but this is true in many other countries in Asia. (x)
