Dela Cruz, Charisse Bernadette F.

BSAR-4A

Integrated Market Complex for Vanishing Indigenous Tribal Products

Keywords: ethnicity, cultural identity, indigenous people

Research Topics: Modern Vernacular Architecture

The Philippines is a culturally-diverse country and is home to many Filipinos of different ethnicity.
Tribes, up until today, exists in different parts of the country. These are indigenous people who refused to
be absorbed by centuries of colonization brought about by the Spaniards, Americans and the Japanese.
During the 1990s, there are 110 recorded tribal groups in the Philippines, which comprises 3% of the
countrys population. According to UNDP, an estimated number 14-17 million people belongs to the
Indigenous People (Ips). They are mainly concentrated in Northern Luzon (Cordillera Administrative
Region) and Mindanao (61 %).

As a means of preserving their way of living, they are encouraged to speak their native dialect,
dress in their traditional tribal clothing, live through their vernacular home and preserve their ethnic
structure. Yet, these IPs, have struggled over the years to maintain the ethnic cultural identity of their
ancestry. Cultural identity is described as the underlying character of ones heritage, with regards to
tradition and beliefs. Most IPs suffer from poverty brought about by modernization. They are in the verge
of losing their ancestral domain because of the dwindling recognition giver to their culture, especially
their products.

For the indigenous peoples of the Philippines, their carvings, accessories, delicacies, clothes and
fabrics are more than just items for sale. They are also tangible expressions of their rich culture and
traditions preserved though the years, amid the technology and fast-paced life we all have today. Some
women leaders from indigenous groups, however, admit that these traditional arts and crafts are slowly
dying because of their dwindling economic value. They have the skill and the unique product line, but they
seriously lack a market for them, thus discouraging the new generation of tribal men and women from
learning these crafts from their elders. According to Conchita Bigong, an Alangan Mangyan from Mindoro,
there is a great need for them to have a joint-market place where the target consumers are the modern-day
Filipinos.

The proposed Integrated Market Complex for Vanishing Indigenous Tribal Products commemorates
the ancestry of the countrys tribes. The market complex shall allow opportunities for the Ips to showcase
their products, through vernacular modernist approach in architecture. Vernacular Architecture, which
pertains to the architecture prevalent in the early Filipino times, will be fused by modern approach to
make the complex appeal more to the public eye. This will provide indigenous people a steady market
that will represent their cultural identity. Not will only be lives improved but more Filipinos will be
knowledgeable with the pride of the Philippines heritage.