Viv Yumul

Rising to the surface of the primordial ocean, the single-celled ancestors of plant life climb towards the sky to feed off the sun's rays. These life forms were bare and soft at the outset, still, in order to rebel against gravity, continuously hardened, little by little over the course of nature's self work. (Udurawane, 2021a.) When the sun-seekers finally touched the surface, they diversified into moss, ferns and flowers, their new breath filling the air. Further on, new arrangements were set so as to no longer need to be always cradled by water. With that, mighty tapestries of grass adorned the tops of hills and mountains, thriving even in the cold brushing of wind. Through the new interplay on land, where scaley giants had once grazed, followed by furry beasts, down to dwarfed rodents, the age of grass drove the beginning of the human race. (Udurawane, 2021b.)

"Under the elements of heat the elements begin to restratify." (Barchusen, 1718 as cited in Roob, 1997) The fourfold man grew with the world as its fruits and seeds called to his belly. Arched and on all fours, his form showed the lineage of skillful climbers, but upright, he could walk longer distances, and with his hands free, he learned to shape the world with intention. Apart from careful selection and foraging, man sharpened sticks into spears to hunt down boars. When he was thirsty, he mirrored the bending form of leaves, and with his bare hands he scooped water from the springs. Faring forth with their surroundings, humans observed the alchemical magic of growth and began to assist it. When seeds fall to the earth, new life springs forth. With this observation, the human farmer was born, and the world was his teacher.

Bringing their mastery along with them, a tribe arrived in the land of Jambangan, on the southeast tip of Mindanao. They resided in the low-lying areas near the Suba (river), thus, they were named the Subanon. When invaders disturbed their peace, they moved their dwellings to the highlands, where water cannot be supplied for the usual lowland crops. It was here that many Subanon communities flourished in the company of the hardy flowering grasses of Adlai. The dark green grass grows erect in moisturized earth, even in peripheral areas, in the chilling breeze of sloping terrains, teeming with voluptuous bead shells that cuddle the fertile female blossom. Upon closer inspection, the female holds a syrupy tip out of the bead's small opening, where from the very same pore, the pollen-bearing male ascends out and up through a needle shoot. Winds bring about the mingling of the two, as well as the scattering of the beautiful little shells, flowers and grains. (Wayne's Word, 1999) The shell, used as beads for jewelry, adorned many of the aborigines' necks and wrists in the old world. For the Subanen of the Midsalip town, Adlai is just good food.

The incredible grain-producing grass is believed to have lengthened the lives of those who came before them up to more than a hundred years, until lowland rice was introduced. (Luci-Atienza, 2021) Adlai, a cousin of the mother of corn in the old world, is highly packed with nutrients that keep the Subanen full for a longer period of time. Other neighboring countries in Asia have purposed it as a traditional medicine, healing "a broad range of ailments including headache, fever, inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes, dysentery, diarrhea, infections, intestinal worms and menstrual disorders." It is also used as a treatment for cancer and tumors in Chinese traditional medicine. (Invasive Species Compendium, 2022) The Subanens have known of Adlai all their lives, and they cultivate it in the highlands in the same way their ancestors did. (Business Diary, 2022)

The Subanen keeps to the human tradition of picking seeds directly with their hands, as a selective and careful eye can insure a higher yield. It is grown with other crops like "ginger, gabi, squash, forest trees, and banana." Following the natural course, fallen leaves are used to supplement its growth. Farmers see it unnecessary to use any chemicals, for though there are pests that visit their crops, other insects can be helpful to the process of growth. Hence, Adlai remains as resilient as its rhizomic root system. (Business Diary, 2020)

With able hands, Adlai is threshed and pounded with mortar on a slab of wood. They leave it to the wind to carry away the lighter chaff as they toss the grains in the air. When the baylans, the shamans of the Subanen call forth the ritual of Buklog, this process is highlighted as the center piece. For many days, they conduct several stages of the ritual--the chiming of the agung, offerings to the spirits, both good and bad, sharing food with their ancestors, sipping the sacred Pangase (adlai or rice wine) from the same jar, metaphorical chanting and praying to the spirit of trees for permission to cut logs for the Buklog structure... Once the call is heard and allowed, a mortar is placed in the middle of a flexible platform, raised high on thirty-six beams. (Subanen Ako Inc., 2022)

Since the matting is woven out of thin bamboo strips, the Subanen spring their bodies to a great height where each time they land, the mortar pounds the slab below. On and on, the mountains and the spirits hear. On and on, thumping, squeaking and laughing to their delight, the grasses and children of the world have come a long way together.

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