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The famous lighthouse in Basco, Batanes
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The wonderful view above a mountain
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Last year, I spent my summer together with some of my
batchmates for the Anthropology Field School 2013, which was held in Sabtang
Island, Batanes from April 16-May 21. It was a very memorable and rare
experience, since only few people can have a chance to go there because of the
very expensive airfare as well as the distance of the said province to the
center.
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| Near the sea of Baranggay Chavayan |
We stayed on our field site (which is Baranggay Chavayan,
the last barangay located at the other end of the island) for 3 weeks and we
were able to immerse ourselves very well with the Ivatans (the Indigenous
Peoples of Batanes) and got to know them up close on their day-to-day
activities. People from the outside (which includes me and my batchmates) were
known as the Ipula. Because of the
province’s small population, it’s not that hard to distinguish which one is an
Ivatan or not. Also, almost everyone in a particular community knows each other,
either in terms of kinship-related knowledge or whether they were classmates
during high school.
During our one month stay, we crossed the Batan Island
(where Basco, the province’s capital is located) and Sabtang Island
occasionally to buy our food and other supplies (which is usually good for 2
weeks). In order to reach the other Island, we need to ride a boat. During the
boat ride, I was really stunned and amazed by the endless blue ocean
surrounding the Islands. Just imagine seeing and sailing in the Pacific Ocean
and the other large bodies of water surrounding the Islands. I really felt
“being one with the nature” because of that experience. We also attended
different local feasts and learned many Ivatan words which helped us survived
and conduct our research in the said place.
As for our Social Anthropology Research Paper (which is
considered as our undergraduate thesis), me and my partner worked on Tataya, which is known as the Batanes
Traditional boat used by fishermen in catching fishes. Our curiosity for boat
and technology started while we’re still here in Manila, trying to research on
some possible topics we can work on. Me and my partner honestly don’t know
anything about boats, but we really like to gain some information about how
Indigenous boats are made that’s why we pursued the topic and tried our best to
know the different parts of the boat and its functions.
From our research, we discovered that 4 types of Boats exist
in Batanes Island namely:
- The Tataya
which is known as the traditional boat of the Ivatans and the smallest boat
among the 4 types.
- The Chinarem which is the second smallest boat
next to the tataya. It can accommodate four to six passengers. Chinarem does
not exist anymore in the Sabtang Islands since 1970’s.
- The Falua
the largest type of boat used in transporting trade products and tourists from
one island to the other.
- The Kasco or motor boat which is made of fiber
glass and is now commonly used by the fishermen in catching fishes.
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Tataya
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| Falua |
During the days of our data gathering, we encountered some
problems like the difficulty of finding a traditional boat maker. Because in
our field site, the only existing boats were motor boats made of fiber glasses.
That’s why we still need to go to the other end of the island (which is Baranggay
Nakanmuan) and stay there for a night to immerse ourselves and look for
boatmakers (called as a maestro). It
was said to us that the best boatmakers in Batanes resisdes in Baranggay
Nakanmuan. We were not failed by these rumors because we met some of the best
boatmakers in the province (who also created the boats we ride to cross to
Batan Island) which helped us understand how the traditional boats are made and
some of the social functions included in making it. We were even lucky enough
to see the raw parts of the traditional boat and how it was made and where
amazed by how boatmakers themselves calculates and measures every part of the
said boat. What we learned from the boatmakers themselves is that whenever they
cut trees to make a boat, they always replace it by planting trees greater than
the number they had cut so that balance in the forest will be maintained.
Several wood varieties were used in making the traditional boat. The most
common is the Palomaria or Vutalaw in
Ivatan Language. They also use specific wood varieties in making the nails in
order to connect and assemble the different parts of the boat.
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| Seaside of Baranggay Nakanmuan |
Another interesting thing we discovered in our research is
why does Batanes boats don’t have outrigger unlike in other parts of the country?
The answer given to us by boatmakers is because the waves in Batanes were
generally classified as strong, that’s why having outriggers will only cause
problems when it comes to balance. We also discovered that the condition of
waves varies from one barangay to the other. The boats of Baranggay Chavayan
have a generally flat base because the waves there were very strong compared to
Nakanmuan were the boats usually have a very thin body and almost flat base
because the wave there were considered calm. We also saw these matching with the seashores
of the said barangays. In Chavayan, the seashore was very wide and settlements
were elevated unlike in Nakanmuan were the seashore is very short and you can’t
almost see it from afar.
Based on the outcome of our research last year, what we see
is that many Ivatans now switch to using motorboats made of fiberglass because
it is more practical and durable compared to the traditional ones. But they recognized
how expensive it is to buy a fiber glass boat and also to deliver those boats
in the area. Despite the impact of modern boat technology, many Ivatans still
create Indigenous boats (especially for newly-weds) and share their knowledge
to their kins (such as their sons) for it to survive. With the changing conditions
of the waves and tides, the practice of making the traditional boat among the
Ivatans still sails in times of today’s modernity.
*This was a brief summary from the unpublished paper that me
and my partner, Monica Anical wrote as a partial fulfillment of our Requirement
in Anthropology 196-Field Methods in Social Anthropology during the
Anthropology Field School 2013-Sabtang, Batanes. The revised version of our
paper was submitted also as a partial fulfillment for Anthropology
119-Introduction to Museology. I would like to acknowledge our Fieldschool
director, Mr. Edwin Valientes for guiding us in writing this unpublished paper.
Blogpost and Photos By:
Hiedi Martinez
Reference:
Anical, Monica and Martinez, Hiedi. 2013. Kapitataya. Unpublished paper from the
Anthropology Field School 2013-Sabtang Batanes.
