Honoring Namalyari

For several years, I have been following the way in which groups of Ayta, one of the oldest indigenous peoples in the Philippines, live with and around their volcano, the Pinatubo. From June to September 1991, after 500 years of inactivity, the violent eruption of this stratovolcano shook the region to its core and considerably altered the environment and its ecosystems as a result of gigantic ash deposits, with the material emitted representing more than 10km3.  

The Ayta, a population of hunter-gatherers numbering between 30,000 and 50,000 at the time, were the first to anticipate the eruption, but they were not spared by the disaster. Some perished, refusing to leave the area or abandon their animals. Others suffered from the eruption, but even more so from the policies put in place to relocate them to the surrounding regions and towns. The eruption caused socio-political damage, with the fragmentation of these societies, as well as educational damage, with many children's schooling disrupted, and economic and lifestyle damage, with the creation of refugee camps. Fauna and flora, as well as the Ayta's cereal fields, have obviously also suffered major destruction. In all, almost 2 million people in 380 communities were affected by the eruption, with 8,000 homes destroyed and 73,000 damaged.  

During his missions in February 2023 and January 2024, I visited the volcano and the crater several times with groups of Ayta, whom he was able to interview and accompany in their territory. It appears that the Ayta have shown great resilience. Today, they have reinvested the valley, which they use as a nursery for the buffalo herds they raise. Since 1994, tourism activities have flourished, with the construction of wooden houses for the Ayta and the reorganization of the trails. Taxes are also levied to finance community projects. These changes have not always benefited the Ayta people, but they have nevertheless been able to take advantage of new jobs: jeep drivers, guides to bring tourists to the caldera, and so on. The region, which was nothing more than a landscape of ashes in 2012, has now regained much of its biodiversity, with an increase in forest space and mosses, the emergence of new plant species and the return of many animal species (insects, butterflies, frogs, snakes, rodents, bats and flying foxes). Our investigations show that the Ayta have resumed their hunting. A few meters from the crater, we finally observed the offerings that some Ayta continue to make to Apo Namalyari, the spirit with whom they still associate the volcano, and honor to avoid another eruption.