The Forgotten Ritual and the Mambabatok.

Описание: In honor of Filipino American History Month I am finally releasing my documentary about Batok or Filipino cultural tattooing (LINK IN BIO). This project took so long for me to release because it is a practice I hold very close to my heart. Our indigenous way of tattooing is a practice most modern Filipinos have forgotten as being part of our culture, but it has never been fully lost. Thanks to the elders that held on to the practice and the people like Manong @lanewilcken and his teachers who work so hard to re-educate our community about misconceptions and appropriate ways of wearing ancestral markings we may see a future where our children will be literate in understanding our markings again.

I’ve had the honor of being able to participate and learn from @lanewilcken for some time now and it has been healing in ways I had never thought possible when I started my journey of decolonizing my own mind, I never thought my path would lead here and I am nothing but grateful that it did. I no longer hide from my own identity. I embrace all aspects of being Filipino and wear my own markings proudly knowing that my ancestors look down on me with pride and will continue to guide me.

I hope you all can learn something from this documentary whether you are a part of the Filipino community or not.

Please DO NOT copy any of the markings you see in other people for yourself. Each persons markings are determined by the ethnolinguistic region their family originated from. The Philippines has hundreds of different cultures and languages each as beautiful and rich as the other. Just because someone else wears markings doesn’t mean they are appropriate for you to wear. Do not dishonor yourself or your ancestors by copying any.