Poster #168 - Development of Ethnic Consciousness among Indigenous Youth in the Philippines

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Integrative Statement

The Aytas is a group of indigenous people mostly residing in the northern part of the Philippines whose ancestors are considered the first inhabitants of the archipelago. This research aimed to explore the development of ethnic consciousness among the Ayta youth using observation and semi-structured interviews. The Ayta youth (n=27), with ages ranging from 13 to 25 years old and their parents (n=15) were interviewed to understand the development of the youth’s ethnic consciousness and the qualities given importance in the family, community, and the culture. The researcher regularly visited the Ayta communities situated in Clarkfield, Pampanga for about a year after free and prior informed consent was secured from relevant agencies and from the participants themselves. Data gathered were content analyzed and subjected to community validation. Results show that ethnic consciousness among the Ayta youth develop as they interact with their environment, both with the ingroup and the outgroup, as well as with the physical spaces in their communities. In terms of ingroup interaction, part of ethnic consciousness development comes with the elders’ initiative in engaging the youth in community activities, conversations, direct instructions and advice, teaching, and child discipline. Parents emphasize obedience and respect towards parents and elders, love and respect towards siblings and other members of the community, sharing of resources, patience, and faith in God. The qualities that are highly regarded in the community include being simple, peaceful, helpful, polite, generous, and disciplined. For the Ayta youth, they highly regard the following qualities: diligence in one’s work, generosity, respectfulness, having talent or being intelligent, and maintaining good relationship with others. However, interaction with the outgroup pose challenges, as they experience bullying in schools and in interacting with other groups in their community, which need to be addressed. This study shows how the indigenous youth develop in their ethnic consciousness as they internalize the traditional values of their communities vis-à-vis their need to address the demands in the changing society and how interventions and policies may be put in place in order to serve their current needs and secure their future.

Author

• Eden Hulipas Terol, University of the Philippines
  Presenting Author