Eskaya
Encyclopedia
The Eskaya, less commonly known as the Visayan-Eskaya, is the collective name for the members of a cultural minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
found in Bohol
Bohol
Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of and a coastline long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. 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. Reports indicate that Eskaya linguistic and cultural education has been in steady decline since the mid-1980s. Legally, the Eskaya are classified as an indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
group under Republic Act or R.A. No. 8371 entitled "The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.
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 (GuindulmanGuindulman, Bohol
Guindulman is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 32,355 people.-Etymology:...
), was established in the early 20th century by Mariano Datahan who died in 1949. In 1951, the second township of Taytay (municipality of Duero
Duero, Bohol
Duero is a 5th class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 17,254 people.It was named after Rio Duero in the Iberian peninsula....
) was founded by Fabian Baja in accordance with Datahan's directions. 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.
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.
Language and script
The Eskaya speak CebuanoCebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...
in daily life. However, they are better known for an auxiliary language, known as Eskayan
Eskayan
Eskayan is the language of the Eskaya cultural minority of Bohol, an island province of the Philippines. Relatively little is known about this speech variety which has been the object of occasional media attention in the Philippines since the 1980s...
, or Ineskaya, which is used for prayers, songs, and formal speeches. Lexically, Eskayan shows no clear relationship with any known language although there is strong but inconsistent Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
influence. A striking feature of the language is its unusual phonotactics, such as its patterns of consonant and vowel clusters.
The Eskayan writing system takes the form of a syllabary
Syllabary
A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent syllables, which make up words. In a syllabary, there is no systematic similarity between the symbols which represent syllables with the same consonant or vowel...
of over 1,000 characters, all modeled on parts of the human body including internal organs. This unique script has been compared variously to Phoenician, Etruscan
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
, Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, and even the undeciphered script of the Butuan paleograph. While there are no mother-tongue speakers of Eskayan
Eskayan
Eskayan is the language of the Eskaya cultural minority of Bohol, an island province of the Philippines. Relatively little is known about this speech variety which has been the object of occasional media attention in the Philippines since the 1980s...
, it is taught to both adults and children in volunteer-run cultural schools. The Eskayan
Eskayan
Eskayan is the language of the Eskaya cultural minority of Bohol, an island province of the Philippines. Relatively little is known about this speech variety which has been the object of occasional media attention in the Philippines since the 1980s...
language and script has been the object of ongoing controversy.
Religion
Under the direction of Mariano Datahan, the group converted en masse to the nascent Philippine Independent ChurchPhilippine Independent Church
The Philippine Independent Church, The Philippine Independent Church, The Philippine Independent Church, (officially the or the IFI, also known as the Philippine Independent Catholic Church or in Ilocano: Siwawayawaya nga Simbaan ti Filipinas (in in Kinaray-a/Hiligaynon: Simbahan Hilway nga...
in about 1902. Community members revere the entity Suno which is conflated with the Santo Niño, and in addition to weekly church services they are served by appointed spiritual leaders known as biki and beriki. 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. The Eskaya also retain spiritual traditions once widespread in lowland Boholano
Boholano people
The Boholano people, also called Bol-anon, refers to the people who live in the island province of Bohol. They are part of the wider Visayans ethnolinguistic group, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group.-Language:...
rural communities.
Eskaya society
The teaching of EskayanEskayan
Eskayan is the language of the Eskaya cultural minority of Bohol, an island province of the Philippines. Relatively little is known about this speech variety which has been the object of occasional media attention in the Philippines since the 1980s...
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). 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.
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.
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. These texts are mostly written in EskayanEskayan
Eskayan is the language of the Eskaya cultural minority of Bohol, an island province of the Philippines. Relatively little is known about this speech variety which has been the object of occasional media attention in the Philippines since the 1980s...
, although a few are in Cebuano and one is reported to be in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. 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
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
. Their first leader, Dangko, had twelve children who settled near Antequera
Antequera
Antequera is a city and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" because of its central location among Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville...
before moving east. 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
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
of Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, Datu Sikatuna
Datu Sikatuna
Datu Sikatuna was the Datu in the island of Bohol in the Philippines. His real name was "Katuna" but "Si" was added to his name as this is a nominative marker for a Filipino...
, Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
, and Francisco "Dagohoy" Sendrijas
Francisco Dagohoy
Francisco Dagohoy, was a Boholano who holds the distinction of having led the longest revolt in Philippine history, the Dagohoy Rebellion. This rebellion against the Spanish colonial government took place in the island of Bohol from 1744 to 1829, roughly 85 years.-About Dagohoy:Little is known of...
. Due to these intersections with recorded history, some commentators consider them to be historical texts while others argue that they function solely as mythologies
Mythologies
Mythologies is a book by Roland Barthes, published in 1957. It is a collection of essays taken from Les Lettres nouvelles, examining the tendency of contemporary social value systems to create modern myths...
.
As part of their cultural education, students must transcribe five stories from the Old Books into lined textbooks at the Eskaya schools.
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. Brenda Abregana, a former curator of the Bohol Museum, has mentioned a folded book of esoteric knowledge written in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
but its existence has not been established.
Oral stories
The Eskaya oral stories are often oriented towards the future as millenarian prophecies. Other tales concern relatively recent occurrences such as the JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
occupation of Bohol in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
History
Green Revolution
Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s....
policies. 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.
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
Loon
The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...
on Bohol’s western coast; 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
Philippine Independent Church
The Philippine Independent Church, The Philippine Independent Church, The Philippine Independent Church, (officially the or the IFI, also known as the Philippine Independent Catholic Church or in Ilocano: Siwawayawaya nga Simbaan ti Filipinas (in in Kinaray-a/Hiligaynon: Simbahan Hilway nga...
in Biabas was established in 1902; Datahan wrote a letter to President Manuel Quezon in 1937; and the resistance hero Col. Esteban Bernido records a meeting with Datahan in Biabas in 1944. A project to document the history of the Eskaya community via the Eskayan language is presently being undertaken at The Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
.
Theories and controversies
The Eskaya community has been the object of ongoing controversy, particularly with regards to its status as an indigenousIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
group and the classification of the Eskayan language. 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.
It has been argued variously that the Eskaya are a remnant of the original indigenous settlers on Bohol; that they migrated to Bohol from Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
in the seventh century A.D.; that they are descendants of the resistance groups that fought under Francisco Dagohoy
Francisco Dagohoy
Francisco Dagohoy, was a Boholano who holds the distinction of having led the longest revolt in Philippine history, the Dagohoy Rebellion. This rebellion against the Spanish colonial government took place in the island of Bohol from 1744 to 1829, roughly 85 years.-About Dagohoy:Little is known of...
; that they are a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
or secret society; or that they are a conscious reconstruction of an imagined pre-colonial society.
Some of the more unusual proposals are that the Eskaya people are a Semitic proto-Christian tribe; that they possess the lost book of Enoch; that they are descended from the builders of King Solomon’s temple; that their existence proves the imminence of a second Messiah in Bohol; or that they guard esoteric secrets.
Likewise, the Eskayan speech variety has been associated with languages as disparate as Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and Etruscan
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
. Recent studies have revealed that the syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
of Eskayan is virtually identical to that of Boholano-Visayan
Cebuano language
Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...
, lending weight to the theory that Eskayan is actually an auxiliary variety of this language.
Film project
In an article written by Nickie WangNickie Wang
Nickie Wang is a Filipino journalist for the Manila Standard Today. He also maintains a website called WITHOUT WANG², which was awarded Best Entertainment Blog in the Philippines for 2010....
for the Manila Standard Today on 25 March 2009, Boholano actor Cesar Montano
César Montano
Cesar Manhilot, known by his screen name Cesar Montano, is a multi-awarded Filipino actor and film director.He started in show business as a stuntman. He played roles in numerous B movies...
mentioned that he was interested in producing a feature film on the Eskaya. The following month, Montano announced a working title for the his project, Eskaya: The Quick Brown Fox, and discussed his casting preferences which included the possibility of A-list Hollywood actors like Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, with Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...
in the lead role. The story concerns a wealthy, influential American who is wrongfully implicated in a crime. To prove his innocence he tracks the only witness to the crime into the forests of Bohol where he encounters the Eskaya tribe.
Additional reading
- Eskaya Resource Folder
- Estorba, Regina. Scribbling the Voice of a Tende: An Ethnography of the Women of Escaya. Kinaadman.
- Kelly, Piers. The Classification of the Eskaya language of Bohol A research report submitted to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Bohol, The Philippines. July 2006.
- Kelly, Piers. Visayan-Eskaya Secondary Source Materials: Survey and Review Part One: 1980–1993. Produced for the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Bohol, Philippines. 2006
- 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 zero The Bohol Chronicle October 15, 2006.
- Torralba, Milan Ted. 2003. Bohol: Language. In Tubod: The heart of Bohol, edited by R. N. Villegas. Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
- Promoting Sustainable Development EU News June 2006.