Eskaya

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Eskaya
Total population
3,000 (2000 census)
Regions with significant populations
Philippines: Bohol
Languages
Eskayan, Cebuano, Boholano
Religions
Philippine Independent Church
Related ethnic groups
Cebuano, other Visayan peoples, other Filipino peoples, other Austronesian peoples

Demographics of the Philippines
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The Eskaya, less commonly known as the Visayan-Eskaya, is the collective name for the members of a cultural minority found in Bohol, Philippines. The Eskaya community is distinguished by its cultural heritage, particularly its literature and language, although many of its earlier traditional practices are no longer strictly observed.^[1] Reports indicate that Eskaya linguistic and cultural education has been in steady decline since the mid-1980s.^[2][3][4]

Contents 1 Area 2 Language and script 3 Religion 4 Eskaya society 5 Literature and mythology 5.1 The Old Books 5.2 Oral stories 6 History 7 Theories and controversies 8 References 9 Additional reading

[edit] Area

Most members of the Eskaya community inhabit a mountainous area that intersects the municipalities of Duero, Guindulman, Pilar and Sierra Bullones in the once-forested region of Bohol's southeast interior. The original Eskaya settlement of Biabas (Guindulman), was established in the early 20th century by Mariano Datahan who died in 1949.^[5] In 1951, the second township of Taytay (municipality of Duero) was founded by Fabian Baja in accordance with Datahan's directions.^[6] Significant Eskaya populations are now also found in the nearby townships of Canta-ub, Lundag, Tambongan, Cadapdapan and Fatimah. In 1996, the Eskaya community was awarded a certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim by President Fidel Ramos.^[7] An official census of the Eskaya population has not yet been made. One report estimates that in 1991 there were 130 Eskaya families living in Bohol.^[8]

[edit] Language and script

Main Article: Eskayan

The speech variety of the Eskaya is known as Eskayan, or Ineskaya in the local Cebuano language. Lexically, Eskayan shows no clear relationship with any known language although there is strong but inconsistent Spanish influence.^[9] A striking feature of the language is its unusual phonotactics, i.e., its patterns of consonant and vowel clusters.^[10]
The Eskayan writing system takes the form of a syllabary of over 1000 characters, all modelled on parts of the human body including internal organs.^[11] This unique script has been compared variously to Phoenician,^[12] Etruscan,^[13][14] Hebrew, and even the undeciphered script of the Butuan paleograph.^[15]

While there are no mother-tongue speakers of Eskayan, it is taught to both adults and children in volunteer-run cultural schools.

The Eskayan language and script has been the object of ongoing controversy. See: Theories and Controversies

[edit] Religion

Under the direction of Mariano Datahan, the group converted en masse to the nascent Philippine Independent Church in about 1902.^[11] Community members revere the entity Suno which is conflated with the Santo Niño,^[16] and in addition to weekly church services they are served by appointed spiritual leaders known as biki and beriki^{[citation needed]}. The biki, or bishop, is responsible for performing harvest ceremonies and other rituals such as house blessing. Before a house can be constructed, a ritual is performed in which a spiritual leader asks the permission of the spirits. If permission is not granted, the builder must select a new site.^[16]The Eskaya also retain spiritual traditions once widespread in lowland Boholano rural communities^[17]

[edit] Eskaya society

The teaching of Eskayan in the volunteer schools is one of the few remaining cultural practices of the Eskaya community.
Formerly, Eskaya men would wear shirts made of piña raffia with a Chinese-style collar, black breeches and cotton berets. Women wore piña dresses with bulging sleeves similar to the Spanish-influenced Boholano style (mostly in Biabas) and covered their hair with cotton habits (mostly in Taytay).^[16] Traditionally, women were not permitted to cut their hair short nor wear trousers, and drinking and dancing were universally prohibited. For the most part these customs have been discontinued, however traditional dress is sometimes worn on Sundays and special occasions.

At weddings the parents of the bride offer the couple a glass of water and a comb. The comb is dipped in the water and run through the hair of both bride and groom. Rice is then showered on the couple, connoting plenty.^[16]
Until recently, the Eskaya practised a form of communal farming in which a portion of land was tilled for the benefit of the whole community.

[edit] Literature and mythology

[edit] The Old Books

The Eskaya literary canon is recorded in a series of texts comprising the karaang mga libro or "old books" and several secular writings.^[11] These texts are mostly written in Eskayan, although a few are in Cebuano and one is reported to be in Spanish.^[13] The Eskaya stories are fundamental to the community’s understanding of itself, particularly its origins, belief systems and practices. One legend tells of how the group first arrived in Bohol from Sumatra. Their first leader, Dangko, had twelve children who settled near Antequera before moving east.^[3] Various other Eskayan legends recount the stories of Boholano kings and heroes; a few of these stories even make reference to actual historical figures such as Jesus of Nazareth, Datu Sikatuna, Ferdinand Magellan and Francisco "Dagohoy" Sendrijas. Due to these intersections with recorded history, some commentators consider them to be historical texts while others argue that they function solely as mythologies^[18] See: Theories and Controversies

As part of their cultural education, students must transcribe five stories from the Old Books into lined textbooks at the Eskaya schools.^[3]

The Eskaya writings mentioned by researchers are as follows: Abedeja, Ang Alpabeto sa Katsila, Ang Damgo ni Hurayhaber, Ang Lingganay na Ugís, Ang mga hiyas ug Caague ni Mariano Datahan, Ang pagtulun-an sa Bisayas, Aritmetica, Askormos Meneme, Atekeses, Bisayan Declarado, Daylinda, Grinada, Kwadra, Pamatasan, Pinay, Pinulungan, Rangnan, Simplet, Suno, Tumao and Unang Tao sa Bisaya sa Bohol. Identical texts sometimes go by different names and larger texts may subsume smaller ones.^[18] Brenda Abregana, a former curator of the Bohol Museum, has mentioned a folded book of esoteric knowledge written in Spanish but its existence has not been established.^[13]

[edit] Oral stories

The Eskaya oral stories are often oriented towards the future as millenarian prophecies.^[2] Other tales concern relatively recent occurrences such as the Japanese occupation of Bohol in World War II.

[edit] History

Although the Eskaya had been known to people living in the vicinity of Bohol’s southeast highlands prior to World War II, it was only in the early 1980s that they came to wider public attention when government agricultural advisers toured the province to introduce Green Revolution policies.^[19] Local journalists and researchers have since suggested various theories on the origins of the Eskaya but there is still no broad consensus on the subject.^[18]

As far as documented evidence is concerned, genealogies attest that many of the predecessors of those living in the communities today originally came from the town of Loon on Bohol’s western coast;^[20] Mariano Datahan is reported to have arrived at the site of present-day Biabas at the turn of the nineteenth century; The Philippine Independent Church in Biabas was established in 1902;^[13] Datahan wrote a letter to President Manuel Quezon in 1937;^[11] and the resistance hero Col. Esteban Bernido records a meeting with Datahan in Biabas in 1944.^[21][22]

[edit] Theories and controversies

The Eskaya community has been the object of ongoing controversy, particularly with regards to its status as an indigenous group and the classification of the Eskayan language.^[9] Intense speculation in the 1980s and 1990s on the part of journalists and lay historians generated a number of theories that continue to be elaborated without resolution.^[18]

It has been argued variously that the Eskaya are a remnant of the original indigenous settlers on Bohol;^[1] that they migrated to Bohol from Sumatra in the seventh century A.D.;^[23] that they are descendants of the resistance groups that fought under Francisco Dagohoy;^[24] that they are a cult^[25] or secret society;^[10] or that they are a conscious reconstruction of an imagined pre-colonial society.^[11]

Some of the more unusual proposals are that the Eskaya people are a Semitic proto-Christian tribe;^[26] that they possess the lost book of Enoch;^[27] that they are descended from the builders of King Solomon’s temple;^[12] that their existence proves the imminence of a second Messiah in Bohol; or that they guard esoteric secrets.^[13]

Likewise, the Eskayan speech variety has been associated with languages as disparate as Hebrew, Greek, and Etruscan. Recent studies have revealed that the syntax of Eskayan is identical to that of Cebuano,^[11][4][9] lending weight to the theory that Eskayan is actually an elaborate form of Cebuano coding.^[6][11][9]

Legally, the Eskaya are classified as an indigenous group under Republic Act or R.A. No. 8371 entitled "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.^[7][28]

[edit] References

[edit] Additional reading

• Estorba, Regina. Scribbling the Voice of a Tende: An Ethnography of the Women of Escaya. Kinaadman.
• Santos, Hector. "The Eskaya Script" in A Philippine Leaf. US, January 25, 1997.
• Santos, Hector. "Butuan Silver Strip Deciphered?" in A Philippine Leaf. US, October 28, 1996.
• Tirol, Jes.The strange value of zeroThe Bohol Chronicle October 15, 2006.
• Tirol, J.B. Eskaya of Bohol: Its Writing System, The Bohol Chronicle XL, Number 9, July 4, 1993
• PEF List of Projects 2001 - 2005
• Aumentado vows support to Eskaya road network The Bohol Times May 18, 2003.
• Cultural Heritage positions in the Philippines
• Promoting Sustainable Development EU News June 2006.
• Strengthening Integrated Natural Resource Management and Income Generation in Eskaya Communities of Bohol, Philippines
• Syllabary
• Community-based dialogue on Natural Resource Management with Local Government Candijay Municipality, Bohol, Philippines

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