Aeta in Botolan
Presently, the Aeta community are also known by names such as “Ayta”, “Agta”, “Atta”, “Ati” and “Ita”. All of which are based on their history, their location or their relationship with other people (David, 2011). According to Tevez (2004) they belong to one of Philippines’ major ethnographic groups, the Negrito group.
The typical Aetas may be characterized are semi-nomadic. Their mobility is only subject to their village and the sites that they work at. They do not extend to the cities and the lowlands, unless needed. Shimizu (1989) and Brosius (1990) explains that the Aetas’ institutional structure has three levels. First is the nuclear family. Second is the family grouping or camp and third is the village.
According to our interviewees, there are six of them in the family. Rosa Abraham, 52 year-old, the mother, Danilo Abraham, 66 year-old, and their children, Frankie, 36 year-old, Rosabel, 20 year-old, Erwin, 15 year-old and Maricel, 12 year-old comprise their family and all of them are “kulot”.
The nuclear family shares in household and socio-economic activities, primarily in clearing and working. Mang Danilo and Ate Rosa both get their livelihood from fishing and acting as tourist guides. They are also hunter-gatherers. They sell the fish and other produce to the whole neighbourhood. They dig for buloy (kamote) during the morning with their children and this will be their food for the whole day. In Fox’s research on Aetas’ diet in the 1950s, it revealed that 70% of it was consisted of New World crops and 53% was even derived from a single New World crop, which is sweet potato. On the other hand, Shimizu (1989) observes that contemporary Aetas now consider root crops as their major source of food. Although Ate Rosa’s family has a means of living, Ate Rosa said that the Php 150 they get from their work as tourist guides and their food produces are not enough to sustain their needs as a family. Second among the levels of institutional structures is the
The typical Aetas may be characterized are semi-nomadic. Their mobility is only subject to their village and the sites that they work at. They do not extend to the cities and the lowlands, unless needed. Shimizu (1989) and Brosius (1990) explains that the Aetas’ institutional structure has three levels. First is the nuclear family. Second is the family grouping or camp and third is the village.
According to our interviewees, there are six of them in the family. Rosa Abraham, 52 year-old, the mother, Danilo Abraham, 66 year-old, and their children, Frankie, 36 year-old, Rosabel, 20 year-old, Erwin, 15 year-old and Maricel, 12 year-old comprise their family and all of them are “kulot”.
The nuclear family shares in household and socio-economic activities, primarily in clearing and working. Mang Danilo and Ate Rosa both get their livelihood from fishing and acting as tourist guides. They are also hunter-gatherers. They sell the fish and other produce to the whole neighbourhood. They dig for buloy (kamote) during the morning with their children and this will be their food for the whole day. In Fox’s research on Aetas’ diet in the 1950s, it revealed that 70% of it was consisted of New World crops and 53% was even derived from a single New World crop, which is sweet potato. On the other hand, Shimizu (1989) observes that contemporary Aetas now consider root crops as their major source of food. Although Ate Rosa’s family has a means of living, Ate Rosa said that the Php 150 they get from their work as tourist guides and their food produces are not enough to sustain their needs as a family. Second among the levels of institutional structures is the