Punla: Indigenous Children of the Land

This exhibit revolves and focuses upon the lives of the indigenous youth and children in contemporary times. One can see images from the mundane things that young people do such as playing, helping their parents in agricultural work, making crafts and other daily activities. Some of these photographs show children and youth while in school either located in their communities or far away where they have to walk or use different types of transportation just to get to school. It also features children and youth who were displaced from their communities and suffer disruption of their simple lives and schooling. This can be seen in pictures of evacuation areas where the lives of young people are the primary consideration why families and communities are forced to seek refuge as their communities are attacked by the military and paramilitary groups because of their staunch opposition against destructive projects (e.g. mining) and their alleged support for the New People’s Army (NPA).

With this exhibit, the Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (TFIP) and the SIKLAB Philippine Indigenous Youth Network, aim to show the real situation of indigenous youth. While their communities and environment are conducive for them to enjoy their youth, their caprices, and their learning of life and culture as indigenous peoples, they are deprived of basic needs and rights that must be accorded to them by the state and Filipino society as a whole. Indigenous children and youth bear the brunt of the historical neglect in the provision of social services, especially education and health.