Pawid, Patricia Kamille I.

KAE-1
Hagabi: A Luxurious Cultural Cordilleran Art

Artistic achievements can be culturally - manifested. Culture is the art and manifestation of the achievements of
the past. Cultural works showcase the artistic nature of our ancestors in parallel to their status and accomplishments.
The varieties of regions of Cordillera boast grand cultures and cultural works such as the beautiful architectural design of
the Banaue Rice Terraces, the cultural cloths woven in the mountains of Kalinga and the specialized cultural dances.

I was born and raised in Ifugao, one of the Cordilleran provinces with rich cultural prides, rich culture and
artworks. When I was 16 years old, I've attended a campus journalism seminar wherein our mentors have obliged us to
feature a unique, never-before-featured place which epitomized the treasurable culture and the hospitable citizens of
our province. Impeded by my cultural innocence, I found myself enveloped by difficulty in materializing a topic except on
the ideas on "bullul", the Rice Terraces, bettle nut chewing and the native houses. The pressures which have enveloped
me diminished when I went home and inquired from my grandfather about the several cultural symbols of Ifugao. To say
I was shocked is an understatement when he mentioned about the priceless Hagabi or the cultural bench of the wealthy
Ifugaos.

Hagabi is a wood carved bench which resembles a form of bungalow house. However, for the Ifugaos, hagabi is a
form of a monstrous animal with two heads on each ends. It is carved using a big sturdy tree preferrably narra or ipil.
The process of making a hagabi includes a big feast called "himagabi", which is the finest , topmost and the final rite as a
display of the Ifugao wealth. It is a ceremony performed by the Ifugao couple or the individuals who had attained the
highest rank in the society in both wealth and social prestige. The "himmagabi" ceremony, however, requires the couple
or the individuals to perform "uya-uy" or the "ballihong" dances which are also rites displaying Ifugao wealth.

Ceremonial initialization starts with the sound of gongs accompanying the male villagers setting out to the forest
to search for the perfect big tree to be carved. The search for the tree may be unmanageable since the tree must be big
and sturdy enough as the hagabi couch must be carved out from a single trunk without any joints to connect the parts.
When the men have already selected the tree, they soon begin to work. They take turns in sawing and in carving the
tree trunk into the hagabi's rough form, while others look for strong vines which are to be used in binding the hagabi to
the poles to be carried to the town. During these processes, a pig is butchered and rice wines are given to the workers to
feast on. The food and wine must be abundant for the workers to consume. The process of carving lasts for a maximum
of eight days wherein the men feast and drink as they work.

On the last day of the men in the forest, they tie the hagabi to the firm and sturdy poles using strong vines. After
that, they line up in the opposite sides pole and with the help of the small poles which are tied to the main pole, they
carry the hagabi on their shoulders and begin to go back to the house of the owner. On the day of the arrival of the
hagabi to the house of the celebrants, the people from the village even from the neighboring village gather and visually
witness the carved hagabi. This is called the "ang-ang". As soon as the hagabi makes its appearance at the yard of the
house of the celebrant, the owner jumps on it and stands majestically while instructing the people to keep quiet and
listen to his message (munggopa). It is a sort of speech. The men at that instance still carry the hagabi on their shoulders.
Through his actions, he manifests and shows to everyone that he is a real "kadangyan" (wealthy man). As soon as his
speech has been culminated, the people respond to him with a loud cheer "Hahagiyo". The hagabi will then be set down
in the yard as the people attending the ceremony feast and drink before dispersing. After the day of the appearance of
the hagabi, the gongs are sounded for approximately six nights wherein the villagers enjoy the festivities by dancing for
a few hours.
 The occasional climax culminates with "holyat" which is the last day of the ritual. A "hidug" (big carabao) is
butchered to be sacrificed to the gods for them to bless the hagabi couch. On this day, the people from the village and
neighboring villages feast, drink and dance to the beat of the gongs in the yard where the hagabi was placed. The couple
performing the hagabi rites are dressed in full native attire just like in the wedding feast. The individual performing the
rite must be dressed and adorned with the traditional attire and lavish bodily adornments. The festivities culminate at
about sunset.

Upon the transpiration of the festivities, the "hummagabi" (owner of hagabi) fixes and furnishes the roughly-
made hagabi in his leisure to be able to present its polished and sophisticated look. "Hagabi" is one of the most
expensive and beautiful cultural arts of the Cordillerans. Saddening but realistic, it has been on the verge of being
forgotten because of globalization and modernization of the world. As our cultures converge with foreign cultures, our
great cultural ancestry and identity waned, and we begin to embrace foreign cultures while letting ours be forgotten and
the credits to our great cultural arts are being stolen by foreigners.

Cordillera has been showered and gifted with great arts hidden in the unique and forgotten cultures of
yesterday. If we take time to look back at what our ancestors have conceptualized and materialized, we would be
amazed to discover the majestic artworks of our forefathers. Culture holds a great part not only to our identity as the
individuals of the region but also as a majestic archive of classic art of the region.