Binukot at Nabukot: From Myth to Practice

Abstract

Age-old tales, epic chants, and even contemporary television soap operas tell about the binukot, the well-kept maiden of the Panay Bukidnon, the highland inhabitants of Panay, Philippines. This article examines the binukot through myths and practices found in the people’s expressive culture: from the sugidanon (epic chants/chanting), to the tigbabayi (solo woman’s dance) of the binanog (hawk-eagle music and dance tradition), to panubok (traditional embroidery), where the binukot is illustrated or exemplified. From various representations, the article moves to essay the binukot’s actual practice, including her present life living as a nabukot,1 a transformed status she gains when she gets married. I interlace my ethnographic observations regarding these states as part of a reconsideration of feminism from both Western and indigenous perspectives.

Keywords: Myth to practice, indigenous feminism, Binukot, gender, Panay epic