Homelands: A Fight for Life Itself
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Jacob Maentz’s Homelands
The idea of putting a book together was something I contemplated many times throughout the weeks and months I spent with communities. A book always seemed like a good medium, a place where these photos could live, not as individual images, but as part of a cohesive narrative and in physical form. I wanted to create something that would allow for both discovery and reflection, and a space where deeper conversations about the Indigenous struggle for land and self-determination can begin.
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Making up only five percent of the Earth’s human population, Indigenous peoples are the global minority. Yet, they take care of up to a quarter of the world’s land, and 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. The knowledge and practices that enable them to sustainably manage the Earth’s resources are ingrained in their traditions and infused in their everyday life, a nuanced system refined over centuries.
In the Philippines, Indigenous peoples make up more than 160 diverse ethnolinguistic groups and are said to belong to the environmental frontline: holding the line against irreversible ecological devastation. When the Indigenous say that “Land is life,” they mean it as a rallying cry. To fight for the land is to fight for life—not just Indigenous lives, but all the lives that depend on their ecological resources. When Indigenous communities resist the exploitation of their homelands, they are protecting their very existence. They are insisting that their way of life matters; that the land matters, in and of itself. Our Indigenous communities are our leaders. They are at the frontline of the struggle against extinction, and also of change.
Travelling by baroto (outrigger-less hand-carved wooden canoes) is the primary form of transportation for the Agusan Manobo (Agusan del Sur) (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)
Sama-Bajau women apply a natural paste on their faces which they call burak. The paste is made from pounded rice, turmeric and other ingredients to beautify their faces and act as a natural sunblock. Burak is applied to the face as a wet paste. It eventually dries creating a white or yellowish coating. Generally, within Sama-Bajau communities, it is only women who apply this to their skin. (Tawi-Tawi, Philippines) (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)
Considered as one of the 18 indigenous ethnolinguistic Lumad groups in Mindanao, the native Mansaka continued their way of life during the hundreds of years of migrations and inter-marriages of the Malays, Indonesians and the Chinese. Although the Mansaka people evolved over time, they were never heavily influenced by the Spanish during their colonization (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)
Many of the images contained in this book are not the outcome of a single encounter, but rather what one sees when one keeps looking, returning again and again to deepen one’s perspective, and sometimes deconstructing it entirely to perceive anew. Over the years, my way of living and looking at the world has grown increasingly entangled with the Indigenous communities I have dedicated myself to.
Aside from the 218 photographs, in a symposium of 18 essays, Homelands further reflects on Indigeneity as cultural identity, as rallying banner, and as multitudinous question. The text explores even as it introduces the diverse concerns of Indigenous communities: the importance of solidarity in the clash between self-interest and shared interests; the submerged history of political resistance; alternative education and Traditional Knowledge systems; food sovereignty; and the successes and challenges of reclaiming land recognition after centuries of colonization and modern development aggression.
“As the world ground to a halt from COVID 19, buckling and heaving under the weight of having to confront issues and injustices that had for too long been ignored and swept under the rug, we decided to listen. To hold space. To ask the Indigenous communities themselves to guide and shape the text, which would be filled primarily with their voices and stories. Their words and experiences shaped the writing, in its content and form, both,” said principal writer Nicola Sebastian. “We spent nearly 100 hours in conversation with Indigenous leaders, youth, academics, and allies, asking them questions, but mostly just listening to experiences wholly different from ours, even if they were occurring in our own country, our islands, our home.”
A tattooed Kalinga woman from the village of Buscalan. Tattoos in this region are used as a form of beautification and identity. Tattooing in the Cordilleras is a thousand-year-old ancient art once commonly practiced among the major warrior groups in the region. (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)
Two Aeta men cross a flooding river in Zambales with their carabao (water buffalo) carts. Carabao carts are the primary way goods are transported between indigenous Aeta villages and lowland communities in Zambales. During the rainy season, river levels can rise very fast leaving Aeta villagers stranded for days due to the dangerous water levels. (Zambales, Philippines) (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)
Traditional Agta homes on the rocky banks of the Blos River. (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)
The book brought together a talented and creative team including writers and editors Nicola Sebastian, Gabriel Malvar, Neen Sapalo & Anna Canlas, artists Kristine Caguiat, Cian Dayrit, Raxanne Maniquiz & Jo Tanierla, researcher manager Saree Gloria, photo editor Mike Davis, lithographer Sebastiaan Hanekrootbook and book designer Sybren Kuiper (SYB).
All proceeds from this publication will go to Indigenous youth scholarships and Project Katutubong Filipino. Homelands is available on its official site, homelands.ph.
Jacob Maentz is an American documentary photographer whose work explores the interplay of the natural world, culture, and identity. He studied conservation biology at Colorado State University and came to the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2003. He now resides in Cebu City with his family and is a project photographer with Blue Earth Alliance, a community of professionals that supports visual storytelling on critical environmental and social issues.
