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Territories of Fire : Indigenous Communities, Land, and Anarchy Among a Highland People in Mindoro.

Authors :
Rosales, Christian A.
Source :
Journal of Ethnology & Folkloristics; Dec2022, Vol. 16 Issue 2, p239-272, 34p
Publication Year :
2022

Abstract

The article challenges the assumption that land tenure is contingent on acquiring a land title. It argues that for Indigenous peoples a land may be delineated, occupied, utilised, and collectively owned through the concept of territoriality. Through a combined 'anarchist anthropology' and political ecology the article provides ethnographic evidence from among the Tau-Buhid as a case in point to show that through their everyday relationship with fire and ignition practices territoriality is reinforced among their communities as a basis of land tenure. Thus, despite efforts of the Philippine state to phase out all kinds of fire practice on their land, a portion of which is a declared protected area, ignition continues as a way of orchestrating territorial autonomy against state sovereignty in the highlands. Ultimately, through such practices Indigenous lands have metaphorically transformed into 'territories of fire', a frontier where the state is irrelevant to Indigenous life and where state-control apparatuses are inoperable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
17366518
Volume :
16
Issue :
2
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Journal of Ethnology & Folkloristics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
160847809
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.2478/jef-2022-0021