#whang od

[kengkastanyas]

muntik mamaga at di makalakad 😂

[arkipelagic]

Apo Whang-Od And The Indelible Marks Of Filipino Identity

The thousand-year-old practice of batok will live on, thanks to the descendants whom Apo Whang-Od has been training and inspiring.

Growing up in Tuguegarao, Jake would see the tattooed elders near his school and would often hear stories about Buscalan. It was not an easy trek to make, and at the time it was mostly foreigners who happened upon the village. Jake would spend three years completing his portrait series of the women elders of Kalinga. His iconic black-and white image of Whang-Od, which has been exhibited all over the world, can be found in various permutations all over Buscalan.

Whang-Od’s face is also plastered on all kinds of merch from t-shirts to coffee packaging, and that’s just in Buscalan. I don’t know if it’s because of her guilelessness and genuine desire to share her culture, but she has been at the center of several incidents that have been called out as exploitative, with a few requiring the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to step in as the gatekeepers of indigenous intellectual property rights.

At a webinar that discussed these issues, social anthropologist Dr. Analyn Salvador-Amores noted that what was once a place-based ritual has been transformed into a commercialized practice. “Culture is an increasingly prized commodity, aggressively appropriated by other entities,” she said. “Instead of asking who owns culture, we should ask how we can promote respectful treatment of native culture and indigenous forms of self-expression within mass societies.”

[allysonpoops]

Some commissions for an anthology of influential women of color

[princesstolentino]

http://bit.ly/2g7U4Y1

[mschuaaaa]

Apo Whang Od at Buscalan, Kalinga. Nakakamiss! 😒 I wanna go back! 😫

[cornersofamind]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57ozdNDqDKM)

[ellaorencillo-ordonez]

The Road To Apo Whang Od

Taking you back to my vacation back home in April 2016.

Before I traveled back home, I made sure to bug my bestfriend about going to Buscalan, Mountain Province to get tattooed by Apo Whang Od. She was kind enough to make all the necessary arrangements for our short trip a.k.a see you after a decade or so trip. We also included in our itinerary a quick visit to Sagada (I will tell you more about it in another post). 

How To Get There

From Victory Liner Legarda, Manila Terminal, we took a bus going to Tabuk, Kalinga. You can check the timings and prices here. I advised making a reservation or buying a ticket prior to your desired travel dates to secure a seat in the bus. We booked a first class trip because it was a 12 hour bus ride, and we wanted to be comfortable during the travel.

From Tabuk, we took a mini bus/jeepney bound to Tingalan, Kalinga. It took us about 2 hours to reach our destination where we met our guide, in a restaurant/hostel called “Sleeping Beauty”.

We had a quick lunch before taking the motorcycle that brought us to the foot of the mountain. The motorcycle ride was about 30 minutes (if I remember it correctly). From the jump-off it was an hour or two hike (depending on your preparation before the hike) to reach Buscalan.

Some photos to share on the way to our destination.

Reaching Buscalan

At a certain point during the climb, I thought I needed to call an ambulance (if there is one) for my asthmatic bestfriend. After a lot of rests, pit stops, take fives, we finally reached Buscalan and was welcomed by this heavenly view.

The climb was so worth it.

Meeting Apo

It was already late afternoon when we reached the tribe and Apo was tattoing a Filipino-Canadian guy at that time.

If you are someone like me who respects the art of tattooing, who loves art, who wants a tattoo from the legend, you will probably have an idea how I felt at that moment. I wanted to touch her. =)

Tribu But-But

I haven’t been to a lot of “Tribes” or rural places to have a definite comparison, apart from meeting people from my very little climbing experience in my early 20s. The people of But-But speaks their own dialect, that is somehow similar to Ilocano (I don’t speak or understand Ilocano but my bestfriend does). Some children speak basic English which they have probably picked-up from the foreign visitors.  The tour guides (Hello Jonathan!) speak Tagalog and English though, which makes life easier. 

Wild pigs can be seen everywhere.

And some more pigs.

As you marvel your way around the village, you will come across these cemented rectangular shape with cross underneath their houses. That is where they bury family members who passed away, since they do not have a cemetery like what we have in the city.

You guessed it right, this is Apo’s house. =)

Getting Tattooed by Apo

The following morning, we woke up early to see this. The sunrise of Buscalan.

And then I prepared to get tattooed by Apo. I was first in the queue from yesterday’s list (will tell you more about it later on).

I patiently and anxiously waited for her to arrive at her usual tattooing spot. And then I can hear it “Nandyan na si Apo.” (”Apo is here.”)

I sat still whilst I feel her sketching my tattoo using the stem of a plant and charcoal as her ink.

And then this...

She will poke your skin gently at first. And then the poking gets harder and heavier.

Basing upon the recorder video from my phone, it lasted 17minutes.  And I courteously ask her if I can take a picture with her after tattooing me. Which she gladly agree.

That was me right after I got tattooed by Apo.

The design that I choose meant “Scorpio” which is my zodiac sign.

Did it hurt? Yes. But not as painful as I expected it to be. I was emotionally and physically prepared. I enjoyed every prick she did on my skin. I treated the sound of each tapping as though they were a chant and it gets exciting as the tapping gets faster. I savoured every minute I was being tattooed by Apo. 

My tattoo after a month.

Things to Remember

PHP2,000 - Is the guide fee for up to 4 persons, per day. There is a desk where you can ask for a guide to take you to But-But, or I can recommend you Jonathan =)

PHP250 - Transient fee per pax, per night. Apo accommodates transients as well. You can ask the guides for her house’s availability.

They have a sari-sari store where you can buy basic necessities such as water, rice and canned goods. They even have an ice cold beer and softdrinks if you fancy one. Prices are more expensive than usual though, imagine the mountains those items have to climb before reaching the tribe. 

You MUST! MUST try their rice coffee and rice wine. The coffee is so good we drink it as if it’s water. They sell them too. The coffee is PHP50 per packet and the wine is PHP250 per bottle. (At least when we visited that time)

Bring CANDIES, lots of CANDIES. You will find out why when you reach the tribe.

Lastly, don’t forget to make friends. I am glad to meet DK, Cristal and Bi during our stay in Buscalan.

Let’s go back to BUSCALAN, shall we?!

[mythinclothesblog]

I Made Whang Od Cry then She Grabs My What?!

💖😁😁😁😍💖