Batak Tribe of the Philippines

Introduction

Effects of Urbanization and Globalization

• Effects of exploration
• Effects of globalization and urbanization
• How you can help
• Land
• Language
• Culture

• The arrival of Filipino farmers forced the Batak people out of their ancestral land
• Slash and burn farming methods outlawed on most of their land causing malnourishment
• The internet has allowed people to gain information about the Batak
• Some of their ancestral land is now protected
• Decrease in population causes Batak people to marry outside the tribe

Language

• speak a variety of closely related languages
• have their own script called Surat Batak
• Some speak the official language of the Philippines: Filipino
• Along with the Batak, their language will soon be extinct

Video: Slash and Burn Farming

General Knowledge

Culture

Land

• Left Africa 70,000 years ago and settled in the Philippines 50,000 years ago
• Batak is a word that means "mountain people"
• Generally found in the Philippines and surrounding islands (specifically Palawan Islands)
• Approximately 500 Batak people world-wide
• Semi-nomadic hunter gatherers
• Several closely related languages
• Previously practiced ritual cannibalism

• Live in Northern Palawan Islands in Western Philippines for the past 25,000 years
• Oldest inhabitants of the Philippines
• Farming, logging and deforestation is causing their land to be endangered
• Farmers and loggers are introducing fatal diseases to their land
• The Filipino government only protects some of their land

• Still preform ancestral marriages
• Practice ancient rituals called Lambay and Sagkat
• Believe spirits have the power to cure sickness
• Have traditional costume
• Use to perform Cannibalistic rituals
• Traditional burial and reburial ceremonies

Effects of Exploration

• No reliable historical documents from before 12th century
• Believed to have traded with other peoples/kingdoms since the 10th century
• In 1824 British Missionaries arrived
• During the 1870's Farmers arrived to Palawan Island
• During the 1900's many explored their land (causing assimilation)

How People are Trying to Help

• Survival International fight for their rights to:

a) freely practice slash-and-burn farming

b) use their ancestral land how they wish

c) proper education

• There are organizations that help prevent the extinction of the Batak People
• Send medicine, vitamins, picture books, and clothes
• Write letters to the Philippine's government

Conclusion

• Effects of exploration
• Effects of globalization and urbanization
• How you can help
• Land
• Language
• Culture

Batak Tribe of the Philippines

By: Robbie Kloosterman, Aleisha Bain, and Jacey Upton