Songs of ancestors

Abstract

A landmark documentation of Indigenous oral literature from the 1950s, the Hinilawod Epic Chant Recordings of the Panay-Bukidnon people were inscribed in the Asia-Pacific Regional Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

During the 10th Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) General Meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the Hinilawod Epic Chant Recordings were one of two outstanding examples of Philippine documentary heritage inscribed in the Asia-Pacific Register of the Memory of the World Programme on May 8. This UNESCO list recognizes significant documentary heritage from across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Hinilawod recordings collection features 15 epic chants of the indigenous Panay-Bukidnon (also known as Suludnon or Pan-ayanon) people of Western Visayas, performed by babaylan (animist shamans), namely, Rodrigo “Ulang Udig” Lebuna from Lambunao, Iloilo and Narcisa “Hugan-an” Lingaya of Tapaz, Capiz. Recorded from 1956 to 1957 in audio format using a magnetic tape recorder by Filipino anthropologist Dr. Felipe Landa Jocano (1930–2013), they were narrated in archaic Kinaray-a, one of the native languages on Panay island.