Boracay Ata’s Songs, Ancestral land, and Environmental Reflections

by Maria Christine Muyco, PhD

In the objective of understanding the culture of the Ata in Boracay Island, Aklan, Philippines, I will present the content and context of their songs. Part of my immersion in their community and participating in their process of recalling old songs and creating new ones is the production of song recordings. These recordings that I will share during my talk document their cultural memory and transmit their local knowledge to their young. I will give a workshop of these songs to let the participants experience their music while internalizing the lyrics of their songs.

The Ata songs are significant intangibles as well as practical evidences that become: 1) proofs on their ancestral homeland as examined by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP); 2) materials (material histoire) for analyses of their lifeways and reflections on changes and modernity; and 3) ways to develop sensitivity on their plight, living in a small space in a highly touristic island.   

Please register at:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/boracay-atiata-songs-ancestral-land-environment-tickets-674240239707