We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 February 2024
They are our customs: they are the customs of our parents … they are the customs of many Filipinos and if you deprive us of that … sir! For the love of God! Do not offend us.
— Francisco de Paula Entrala, Sin título (1881)Abstract: This chapter concerns the dual articulation of colonial racism and native custom in the period of the mission's decadence. Beginning with a famous letter written by Fr. Gaspar de San Agustín about the nature and character of the Indian, I argue that San Agustín's pessimism foregrounds the insurmountable obstacles to the successful resettlement, conversion, and acculturation of the subject population. Juxtaposed to colonial racism is the emergence of another, phantom discourse, referred to as native custom [ugalí]. For native principales who witnessed the erosion of their privileges as well as the dissolution of their communities, native custom names a form of legitimacy that, under certain circumstances, may occupy the (absent) place of law more effectively than religious authority.
Keywords: racism, secularization, native customs [ugalí], fiestas, moromoro, jester [pusong].
In 1720, former Augustinian attorney general [Procurador general] and chronicler of the Augustinian mission in the Philippines Fr. Gaspar de San Agustín (OSA) wrote what many Philippine scholars would recognize as the most infamous work in the history of Philippine letters. The original title reads: “Letter by Fr. Gaspar de San Agustín to His Friend in Spain Who Inquires After the Nature, Genius / Temperament of the Native Indians of These Philippine Islands [“Carta de Fr. Gafpar de San Agustín a un Amigo fuyo en España que le pregunta el natural i genio de los Indios naturales de eftas Islas Philipinas,” which I will henceforth cite as “Letter”]. The addressee remains somewhat of a mystery: an addendum to the letter by Jesuit priest Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde (SJ), dated 1738, has led at least one scholar to believe that the letter was destined to him. Its publication did not take place until 1756, where it appeared in slightly abbreviated from in the Jesuit historian Fr. Juan José Delgado's Sacred-Profane General Political and Natural History of the Philippines [Historia general sacro-profana, política y natural de las islas del poniente llamadas Filipinas].
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
