Report: On Forthcoming ICBE Consultations and Planning the 8th ICBE Consultation

Written by Yvonne Belen on .

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Saturday afternoon, 11 May 2013

Plenary Session

I. On Forthcoming ICBE Consultations

The assumption is we will continue with the ICBE consultations. Based on this, we plan for the theme, years, date and hosting.

1. Theme

I would like to pursue a sentence that Ric Cuyob wrote in a letter: “…if ICBE continues, the next themes will be dealing on the particular ethnic or tribe untill all the tribes are covered.”  

Ric says, “if ICBE continues…” and I say, “when ICBE continues…” the theme of the next conferences will be specific to an ethnolinguistic  group.

I think this is good because we will have an in-depth discussion on each ethnic group. 

When we have a theme like: “Appreciating the Bontok” or “Appreciating the Ibaloy” and we focus on a Cordillera ethnolinguistic group in each conference, we will already have themes for the next eight consultations. And that will be for the next 16 years.

The groups will be: (1) Bontok; (2) Ibaloy (southern Benguet); (3) Ifugao (Ifugao); (4) Isneg (Apayao); (5) Kankanaey (northern Benguet); (6) Kankanaey (western Bontoc); (7) Kalinga (Kalinga) and (8) Tingguian (Abra).

If we still want to learn about others, we could always add it as a theme for a conference after we have finished the above-mentioned eight. For example, we could have a conference on the Kalanguya, Majukayong, Balangao, Baliwon and others.

2. Years

These are the years we will be having our conferences: 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029 and every odd year.

3. Date

For the past seven consultations, we held the conference on an Easter or Ascension weekend. A feedback: it’s too short a stay in the country; we would like to stay for some more days however, our children or grandchildren have to return to their classes.

So, one suggestion is to hold the conference during the summer vacation, preferably in July.

4. Hosting

Hosting is a subject that takes time to discuss.

The best scenario is for an organization (or group of individuals in a country) to volunteer as host. 

If there’s no volunteer though, another scenario could be: the conference will be held in Vienna because the accommodation is cheap in the city. However, the host organization (or individuals) will be from another country like: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and others. While the conference will be held in Vienna, the host organization (or individuals) will take care of the program and other aspects of the conference

For the second scenario, we still have to hear from our kailian in Vienna.

I didn’t hear a positive nor negative reply. I only heard murmurs from the audience.

Later, I asked about the possibility of Italy hosting the 9th ICBE Consultation in 2015. Francis Kiwang, president of “ULNOS di Mountain Province,” came forward and said that his organizations can’t commit anything yet because he has to consult the members. Afterwards, Marilyn Aro of “Cordillerans in Italy of Bologna and Modena, Italy” stood up and said that if Rome will not take on the hosting, then Bologna will. The audience clapped.  

II. Planning for the 8th ICBE Consultation   

The host, Igorot Austria-Cordillera, has been informed of the proposed theme and I think they have chosen “Ifugao” as the ethnolinguistic group they will focus on for the conference in 2015.

It might be helpful to propose a schedule and it could be something like so:

1st day, Thursday 

Afternoon: arrival (participants may also like to arrive a day earlier), 

Evening: Introductions and socialization

2nd day, Friday

Daytime: speeches and workshops on the theme; workshops on other topics.

Evening: video showing

3rd day, Saturday

Daytime: Lectures on songs, dances and chants; corresponding workshops 

Evening: Cultural Night

4th day, Sunday 

Morning: Attend mass or service.

Afternoon: Planning for the next consultation; Closing session.

5th day, Monday

City tour of Vienna

6th day, Tuesday

Visit to the Ethnology Museum in Vienna.

7th – 9th day, Wednesday through Friday

To Salzburg and Salzkammergut.  

For the above schedule, the first- and second-generation will learn from different parts of the conference---from the theoretical to practical. This means, from the “talking sessions” to the “dancing, singing or chanting sessions.” As it has been in our past programs, it’s usually the second-generation who are learning the dances.  

The above-schedule is a proposal and can still be refined (or shortened if need be). With this schedule though, we will have more time to discuss the theme and everyone can participate in the cultural workshops.


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