LILACS’ Habi sa Habilin honors Indigenous voices and visions

 

To amplify Indigenous voices and foster academic dialogue, the Literature, Language, and Culture Society (LILACS) of the College of Arts and Social Sciences hosted Habi sa Habilin: IP Lectures and Debate Exhibition on Wednesday, September 5, at the PRISM Conference Room.


With the theme “Borders of Belonging: Indigenous Peoples Narratives Take Center Stage,” the event underscored the importance of academic spaces in promoting cultural awareness, respect, and inclusivity.


Aligned with LILACS’ goal of advocating for IP communities, it served as a forum for exploring Indigenous narratives, memory, and cultural conservation, emphasizing that culture should be actively lived, not merely archived.

The event commenced with an emphasis on the ethical and generative role of academic dialogue, and opened with thought-provoking discussions that highlighted how scholarship can serve as both advocacy and cultural preservation.

The first lecture featured Dr. Ivie Esteban who presented “Beyond the Colonial Lens: IP Readings/s of the Subanen Guingiman,” delving into the framework for engaging with Indigenous texts.

Her presentation advocated for a methodology grounded in Indigenous epistemologies, revisiting data from the early 1990s centered on Subanen texts from Zamboanga del Sur-Sibugay.

Her framework sought to bring Indigenous narratives, specifically the Subanen “epic” fragments such as guman, gumanan, guinguman, into the Ancestral Domain.


The lecture highlighted that an IP reading respects the oral traditions and ways of knowing unique Indigenous cultures.


Moreover, Dr. Esteban explained that Subanen epistemology embodies an interconnected worldview—one that weaves together humans, nature, spirituality, and the cosmos.


Storytelling, in this context, functions as a powerful method of knowledge transmission and a crucial means “to maintain relationships with land, ancestors, and the spiritual world,” reflecting a knowledge structure that is cyclical and non-linear.

The second lecture transitioned from cultural texts to environmental advocacy as Dr. Nimfa Bracamonte discussed “IP Narrative: Decolonizing Knowledge Towards Environmental Conservation and Management.”

She asserted that the environment is often framed through Western conservation models, highlighting the need for a fundamental reorganization of knowledge structures.

Re-centering Indigenous, local, and peripheral voices, she emphasized, is essential to making environmental efforts more relevant to contemporary social and ecological issues.

“IPs are the first conservationists, original caretakers,” Prof. Bracamonte affirmed, sharing that Indigenous narratives provide a crucial lens for understanding humanity’s relationship with nature.

The shift, she noted, must be from seeing nature as a mere “resource” to seeing it as “kin,” a perspective that fundamentally unlearns dominance and challenges extractive, colonial approaches to nature.

Concluding her presentation, Dr. Bracamonte issued a call to action—reminding scholars that stories are not just vessels of culture but instruments of reclamation and empowerment.


She urged participants to ground their research in community knowledge and resilience: “Start with what the people know; build on what the people have.”


Following the lectures, the forum transitioned into an interactive open session that offered practical insights for future research.


A representative from the MSU-IIT Historical Society (MIHS) posed a key question on research methodology: “What advice would the professors give to those who wish to study Indigenous Peoples (IP) as their corpus?”


In response, the invited speakers underscored the profound importance of direct engagement. They strongly advised aspiring scholars to conduct fieldwork if possible, stressing that having the capacity to do so is invaluable.


“Fieldwork allows you to experience and see what you’re studying in a new aspect,” they explained, emphasizing that such perspectives “cannot be found when you’re only searching on the internet.”


Meanwhile, in a special message during the afternoon program, Jhon Dave Manos, President of the MSU-IIT Indigenous People Student Advocates (MIPSA) and reigning Mx. IIT Influencer spoke of the essence of unity and shared humanity.


“We are all the same. At our core and roots, we are all human. No matter our differences—our roots, accents, skin, or stories—we share the same humanity, and we all grow from the same world,” he expressed.


Manos reminded everyone that the celebration of Indigenous Peoples Month and Habi sa Habilin is not solely about indigenous identity, but about nurturing a shared sense of community.

Building on this message of dialogue and inclusivity, the afternoon continued with a debate exhibition led by the MSU-IIT Debate Varsity (MIDV), which added a dynamic exchange of ideas to the day’s lineup, further highlighting the value of critical discourse in cultural understanding.

Through lectures, discussions, and debate, Habi sa Habilin stood as more than an academic forum—it became a space for dialogue, reflection, and solidarity that reaffirmed MSU-IIT’s commitment to ethical scholarship and cultural preservation, reminding the community that knowledge gains meaning when it honors the stories and struggles shaping our shared humanity.

Written by Raneshka Angela Gudes and Bea Faye Eumague
Proofread by Andrea Ross Sedero
Photos by Jahna Quinga