Doing some research into my Bikolano ancestors and struck (once again) by all that colonialism destroyed. A brief thread:

(A preface to my thread, the earliest account of the Bicol region comes from a Spanish priest in 1870. Since the info is getting filtered through his worldview, I imagine there's a lot of nuance he missed.)

1. There was a class of men in society called "asog" who wore women's clothing and acted very effeminate. They were considered equal to the average member of society and closer to the spirits.

The Spanish thought this was obscene, calling such men "degrading," "ludicrous," & "uncouth"; they eventually succeeded in imposing their own patriarchal views re: gender on Philippine society, but imagine if they hadn't.

2. There was a class of women called "balyanas" who were basically bad-ass priestess leaders. They were the smartest women in the tribe. They were consulted on all important matters, they prayed to the anitos (ancestors) on the peoples' behalf, & they led ceremonies.

Again, eventually Spanish patriarchal views would relegate women to secondary roles in the Church and in society, but imagine if they hadn't.

3. The ways of life were sustainable. Everything they built or used came from the earth and was biodegradable. There were regular ceremonies to thank Gugurang (the god of goodness) for all the earth provided.

The colonizers regarded this all as horribly primitive and tragic and eventually taught them to produce (unsustainable/non-biodegradable) goods. Imagine if they hadn't.

4. The Spanish praised the bounty of natural resources in the regions. Lush vegetation, thick forests, abundant fruits, not to mention "inexhaustible" veins of mercury, platinum, marble, coal, etc.

Colonizers would eventually rob the region of a majority of these resources to enrich themselves (a practice continuing today, particular w/mining in the south). Imagine if they hadn't.

5. The people were extremely fond of poetry and verse. Travelling poets playing the kudyapi (a lute-like instrument) would spread, histories, news, etc. throughout the region.

Noticing this fondness for poetry/verse, Spanish priests taught them Catholic poetry/verse in order to convert them to Christianity. In the process, the bards disappeared. The peoples' stories/poems/songs were replaced. Imagine if we had not lost our history.

Bicol has one of the highest rates of Catholicism in the Philippines. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's also one of the regions with indigenous history that's most difficult to find.

There's probably some ass-hat out there thinking, "Oh, you should thank the Spanish. If not for them writing stuff down, you wouldn't even know any of this."

But if not for colonialism, imagine all that we would know. And it wouldn't be filtered through someone who automatically thought the darker the skin & the less Christian the people, the more idiotic and savage they were.

That's all for now. Not as brief a thread as I originally intended. Might add more later, though, because part of resisting colonialism is reclaiming history and detangling it from the colonizer's dehumanizing gaze.