This documentary is an account regarding three of Bontoc’s age old indigenous arts that contribute in defining our community’s cultural identity.

We have already entered the Information Age but ironically, some information about our past is getting lost little by little. If we don’t act now and try to preserve information from our old folks before they pass away, we will be left in the dark to put the pieces of the puzzle together. We researched on how they used indigenous materials to adorn their bodies with figures of the things around them and crafted useful materials to aid them in their daily chores. We also tried to find out reasons for the gradual death of Fatek , the near extinction of the art of pottery-making and tokno.

Fatek, the native art of tattooing has already vanished for no one in town is still known to practice it. Pottery making which used to be popular in Samoki is on the verge of extinction due to modernization.  Tokno, the art of rattan weaving to embellish wine bottles and the handle/casing of bolos, is more practiced than the other two.

They say that history repeats itself. If we just sit and not do anything as one by one our native crafts gets abandoned, like the case of fatek, it would not be surprising if other arts such as native instruments, songs and even woven materials fade away as modernization further advances. If the youth learn more about their ancestors’ arts and way of life, they would learn to cherish the few existing remnants of the past.

We hope that by making a short documentary about these native , we will not only help preserve them but also let the world know that even with the onset of the modern age, we still value these indigenous crafts which our ancestors have practiced during their time.