The Lang-ay
festival since its inception in 2004 emphasized that culture is a significant
facet on the life of people from Mountain Province. Themes through the festival years has
reaffirmed that culture shall be cherished, nurtured, sustained and continued as
a way of life among the people of this Province. We refer to the five major
ethnolinguistic tribes- Kankanaey and Applai from western Mt Province, Bontoc,
and the Balangao and the Baliwon from eastern Mt Province.
Diverse as
we are in costumes, norms and cultural practices, basic values of industry, respect
for elders, uprightness, ‘inayan’ and ‘lawa’,
are common among our indigenous tribes. It is something that we cherish and
serve as moral guidelines in our dealings with ourselves and with others as
well.
The very theme
of the 15th Lang-ay festival this year, “Nurturing our cultural traditions through indigenous
people’s education” aptly calls for the children, the youth and the community to re-affirm and practice our cultural values and practices.
Very much needed that the youth, the children, and the community are
exposed to social media, the internet and to all kinds of information we are exposed to. And to include tourists and the presence of other people with different cultures who
enter our communities. With varied and diverse information and outside culture that influence our
very indigenous beliefs and practices, comes a relevant necessity to reinforce
the very cultural, age old and time tested values and customary practises that we have.
With our
parents, teachers and leaders in our communities, indigenous people’s education
shall come a long way to reaffirm our being as cultural communities and shall
never leave us especially the young as they tread the path of their respective
careers and vocations conscious of their contributions to their very
communities and the whole Mountain Province as one as we celebrate our 15th Lang-ay Festival and festivals more to come.
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