Abstract:
The indigenous Kankanaey people in the Philippines, like other indigenous groups elsewhere, have always existed with natural hazards as part of their everyday lives. Indigenous perspectives in the Philippines often situate a community's co-existence with nature, one of harmony that includes major natural hazards such as typhoons and earthquakes. However, it has become difficult to situate this harmonious relationship due to the indigenous communities' increasing vulnerability to hazards. The historical and contemporary practices of Western development and modernisation have changed this human-nature relationship by framing natural phenomena within a technocratic realm that 'scientifically' translates these events as disasters.This study presents the results of an insider critical ethnography with three indigenous Kankanaey villages in the Northern Philippines as to how they conceptualise and respond to disasters. The data were drawn from 10 months' intensive ethnographic fieldwork with 37 in-depth interviews, participant observation and three village and one municipal level consultations with approximately 1, 000 combined participants. In addition, I conducted four bonfire sessions that were focused on elders' chants and story-telling. Inherent in all these methods is building and fostering solidarity that facilitated further understanding of indigenous everyday lives in relation to disasters. These methods are consistent with the principles of critical ethnography and considered culturally meaningful and appropriate ways of engaging with the Kankanaey people. The overall study findings highlight that the indigenous Kankanaey people have varied perspectives about disasters. The traditional indigenous Kankanaey perspectives see natural phenomena as processes necessary in maintaining the human-nature relationship. Indigenous knowledge and sustaining practices leverage this relationship as manifested in their experiences and capacity to withstand these natural hazards. Furthermore, these perspectives consider the hazards of everyday lives, such as the effects of development aggression focused on mining, as forms of disaster. The contemporary indigenous perspectives also recognise and respect the significance of the traditional perspectives to their everyday lives. However, these perspectives have been largely framed by external influences that associate natural hazards with disasters. These perspectives have resulted in a general preference for technocratic responses and approaches over their own indigenous knowledge. Finally, this study shows that institutional responses to disasters are based on top-down mandates and frameworks that promote the dominant (scientific) disaster perspectives. Drawing on a social justice framework related to perspectives on disasters, this insider study deconstructs the often essentialised and reified binaries such as the Western/scientific and indigenous/traditional divide that make indigenous communities more vulnerable to natural hazards. This critical ethnography incorporates an awareness of colonial discourses, power and performativity that further informs social work and community development theory and practice among indigenous peoples in disaster contexts. The thesis concludes with approaches to engage beyond this binary approach to disasters to consider the implications of multiple perspectives and stakeholders related to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and its implications for socially just and empowering practices with indigenous communities.