Aeta people
Aeta, Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon islands in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of South and Southeast Asia, with whom they share superficial common physical characteristics such as: dark skin tones; short statures; frizzy to curly hair; and a higher frequency of naturally lighter hair colour relative to the general population. They are thought to be among the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines—preceding the Austronesian migrations. Regardless, the modern Aeta populations have significant Austronesian admixture, and speak Austronesian languages.
Aeta communities were historically nomadic hunter-gatherers, typically consisting of approximately one to five families per mobile group. Groups under the "Aeta" umbrella term are normally referred to after their geographic locations or their common languages.
Etymology
The endonyms of most of the various Aeta peoples are derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ʔata meaning " person." This is in contrast to the other terms for "person" in other Philippine groups derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tau, which refers to lighter-skinned groups with majority Austronesian descent. Lawrence A. Reid wrote that *ʔata may have originally been the Negrito word for "person" in Northern Luzon, but was adopted into Austronesian languages with the meaning of "dark-skinned person", after the arrival of Austronesian migrants to the Philippines from Taiwan. A common folk etymology is that the name "Aeta" is derived from itom or itim meaning, "black", but this is incorrect.The term "Dumagat" or "Dumaget" is an exonym meaning " from Magat River." The Luzon Dumagats are not to be confused with the etymology of the Visayan Dumagat who dwell in the coastal areas of Mindanao, contrasting them from inland Lumad.
Other exonyms of the Aeta are more derogatory. These include baluga and pugot. The Aeta themselves call non-Negrito groups with various names that reflect their ancient relationships with Austronesians. These include names like ugsin, ugdin, ogden, or uldin ; putî or pute ; unat ; or agani.
Definition
Aeta is a collective term. Although commonly thought of as a single group, it is in reality composed of several ethnic groups that share similar hunter-gatherer lifestyles and physical features. They are usually divided into three main groups: the Aeta from Central Luzon; the Agta of Southeastern Luzon; and the Dumagat of Eastern Luzon. These divisions, however, are arbitrary, and the three names can be used interchangeably. They are also commonly confused with the Ati people of the Visayas Islands.The following is a list of ethnolinguistic groups usually considered to be Aeta, and the provinces they are from.
- Aeta – Central Luzon
- Agta – Southeastern Luzon
- Dumagat – Eastern Luzon
History
Origins
The Aeta people in the Philippines are generally grouped together with the wider Negrito population cluster of Southeast Asia, such as the Semang on the Malay Peninsula, or the Andamanese people. The Philippine Negritos display relatively closer genetic affinity towards different Eastern Asian populations, prehistoric Hoabinhian samples, as well as to the Indigenous people of New Guinea and Aboriginal Australians, from which they diverged around c. 40,000 years ago. They also display an internal genetic substructure along a North to South cline, suggesting their ancestral population diverged into two subgroups after the initial peopling of the Philippines. Furthermore, they display high percentages of Denisovan gene flow.File:A LUZON NEGRITO WITH SPEAR.jpg|thumb|180px|An Aeta man with scarified tattoos
The Aeta are the descendants of the same early "East-Eurasian" meta-population, which also gave rise to modern East Asians and Australasians, among other populations of the Asia-Pacific region. The earliest modern human migrations into the Philippine islands were during the Paleolithic, around 40,000 years ago, followed by two other migration waves between 25,000 and 12,000 years ago, through the Sundaland land bridges that linked the islands with the Asian mainland. The latest migration wave is associated with the Austronesian peoples from Taiwan. Philippine Negritos furthermore display craniometric and dental affinities with various southern East Asian and Japanese populations, suggesting deep ancestral ties.
Many modern Aeta display significant Austronesian admixture due to population contact and mixing after the arrival of Austronesians. The modern Aeta speak Austronesian languages, although with a high number of non-Austronesian vocabulary, and follow a syncretic cultural practices, incorporating many Austronesian elements into their traditional culture. Conversely, other Austronesian Filipino ethnic groups, not traditionally considered Negritos, also have Negrito admixture, highlighting mutual contact and influence. Aetas are most closely related to the Batak people of Palawan.
A recent study in 2021 analyzing archaic ancestry in 118 Philippine ethnic groups discovered an independent admixture event into Philippine Negritos from Denisovans. The Ayta Magbukon in particular were found to possess the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world, which is about ~30%–40% higher than the amount observed among Australo-Papuans, suggesting that distinct Islander Denisovan populations existed in the Philippines, which admixed with modern humans after their arrival. At the same time, Central Luzon Negritos such as the Ayta Magbukon and Ayta Ambala were also found to have the least amount of Austronesian-derived ancestry of all sampled Philippine ethnic groups, at ~10%–20%.
Colonial era contacts and responses
Unlike many other Filipino ethnic groups, the Aetas have shown resistance to change. Aetas had little interaction with the Spaniards as they remained in the mountains during the Spanish rule. Even the attempts of the Spaniards to settle them in reducciones or reservations failed all throughout Spanish rule.According to Spanish observers like Miguel López de Legazpi, Negritos possessed iron tools and weapons. Their speed and accuracy with a bow and arrow were proverbial and they were fearsome warriors. Unwary travelers or field workers were often easy targets. Despite their martial prowess, however, the Aeta's small numbers, primitive economy and lack of organization often made them easy prey for better-organized groups. Zambals seeking people to enslave would often take advantage of their internal feuding. They were often enslaved and sold to Borneo and China, and, unlike the serf feudal system imposed on other Filipinos, there was little chance of manumission.
Demographics
In 2010, there were 50,236 Aeta people in the Philippines.Ancestral lands
Aetas are found in Zambales, Tarlac, Pampanga, Panay, Bataan, and Nueva Ecija, but were forced to move to resettlement areas in Pampanga and Tarlac following the devastating Mount Pinatubo eruption in June 1991.Some Aeta communities have received government land titles recognizing their claims to their ancestral lands.
A total of 454 Aeta families in Floridablanca, Pampanga, received their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title on May 27, 2009. The title covers about 7,440 hectares in San Marcelino and Brgy. Batiawan in Zambales and barangays Mawakat and Nabuklod in Floridablanca. It was the first time clean ancestral domain titles were distributed by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.
A CADT was awarded to 1,501 Aeta families in Botolan, Zambales, on January 14, 2010. The area covers 15,860 hectares that include the four barangays of Villar, Burgos, Moraza and Belbel in Botolan, Zambales.
The Aeta Abellen community of Sitio Maporac, Barangay New San Juan, Cabangan, Zambales, received the first Philippine's first Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim on March 8, 1996. The CADT was acquired 16 years later in December 2010.
On May 31, 2022, 848 Aeta families belonging to the Ayta Mag-indi and Ayta Mag-antsi groups were issued their CADT by the NCIP, after the title was approved in 2009. The CADT covers the Pampanga towns of Camias, Diaz, Inararo, Villa Maria and Sapang Uwak in Porac; Sapang Bato in Angeles City; and parts of Floridablanca. The CADT also includes San Marcelino town in Zambales.
Dumagat-Remontado communities inhabit the Sierra Madre mountain range in Rizal and Quezon. Their ancestral domain claims cover parts of the Sierra Madre mountain range. A CADT was issued to Dumagat families in Gabaldon town, Nueva Ecija, in December 2021.
Nevertheless, Aeta communities face difficulties in getting ancestral domain titles. Aetas of Tarlac, for example, have failed to get titles for 18,000 hectares of land in Capas despite applications for CADT filed in 1999, 2014, and 2019.
Lifestyle
The Aeta are nomadic and build only temporary shelters made of sticks driven to the ground and covered with the palm of banana leaves. The more modernized Aetas have moved to villages and areas of cleared mountains. They live in houses made of bamboo and cogon grass.Mining, deforestation, illegal logging, and slash-and-burn farming have caused the indigenous population in the country to steadily decrease to the point where they number only in the thousands today. The Philippine government affords them little or no protection, and the Aeta have become extremely nomadic due to social and economic strain on their culture and way of life that had previously remained unchanged for thousands of years.
As hunter-gatherers, adaptation plays an important role in Aeta communities to survive. This often includes gaining knowledge about the tropical forest that they live in, the typhoon cycles that travel through their area, and other seasonal weather changes that affect the behavior of the flora and fauna in their location. Another important survival skill is storytelling. Like many other hunter-gatherer societies, the Aeta promote social values, such as cooperation, through stories. Thus, they highly value skilled storytellers.
Dry season for many Aeta communities means intense work. They not only hunt and fish more, the start of the dry season also means swiddening the land for future harvest. While the clearing of land is done by both men and women, Aeta women tend to do most of the harvesting. During this period, they also do business transactions with non-Aeta communities living around the vicinity they temporarily settled in either to sell the food they gathered, or to work as temporary farmers or field laborers. Aeta women play more active roles in business transactions with non-Aeta communities, mostly as traders and agricultural workers for lowland farmers. While dry season typically means bountiful food for Aetas, rainy season often provides the opposite experience, considering the difficulties of traversing flooded and wet forests for hunting and gathering.
Aeta communities use different tools in their hunting and gathering activities. Traditional tools include traps, knives, and bow and arrow, with different types of arrow points for specialized purposes. Most Aetas are trained for hunting and gathering at age 15, including Aeta women. While men and some women typically use the standard bow and arrow, most Aeta women prefer knives and often hunt with their dogs and in groups to increase efficiency and for social reasons. Fishing and food gathering are also done by both males and females. In terms of gender, then, Aeta communities are more egalitarian in structure and in practice.