Ema, child of the forest | SLICE | Full documentary

when they return to the world of the living the spirits of the dead are like those of children they become playful and naughty when one of us dies we burn his body on a bed of leaves in his house we never go back there again because his ash-colored spirit anito haunts the place fortunately animals have pure souls their spirits are not troubling like those of men the spirits bunog of the animals we hunt protect us and guide us during the night [Music] i belong to the dumagats tribe we live in the sierra madre mountains the forest there is thick and humid even during the dry season it rains every day we travel mainly along the water since it's impossible to penetrate the jungle we are nomads like our ancestors we know the forest its paths rivers and animals very well we are better than anyone else at picking up an animal's trail like our ancestors we are excellent hunters [Music] [Music] so ah [Music] we do not count the number of years my mother has eight children and now i'm the oldest my woman soul has come to live inside me soon i will be married we live in the jungle in small groups if there are too many of us on the same hunting ground we couldn't survive our ancestors never cultivated the land we have always hunted fished and gathered food our survival depends on what the forest can give us we respect it it's our life the men make the weapons hunting is difficult the women must lead their tribe in its search for food as children we learn to fish to gather fruit or edible roots but also to hunt like the men some of us however have begun a different way of life cultivating the earth growing rice and only hunting occasionally for them survival no longer depends on hunting tomorrow we will go and see the farmers i met a young dumagat named rubens i like him a lot living with him will mean a different life for me the journey will be long several days my mother and her sisters will show me for the last time before i'm married everything they know about the forest [Music] our stories talk about each person's hunting ability they talk about our tricks and those of the animals i want to know and learn all these secrets and techniques so that my children will one day become good hunters and come to love our forest table king is my grandfather he is very old elders are respected like chiefs they are the guardians of traditions rights and are the memory of our people [Music] at the end of the journey we will organize a ritual wedding ceremony i will give rubens the sign of love by exchanging a battle nut it's a very intimate gesture that's how we promise ourselves to each other i'm happy for we do my gets love plays a very important part in our choice of a mate [Music] oh when we leave we are each given an arrow so that the hunt will be successful it is also a symbol of group cohesion often members of the same family separate the men decorate their arms with leaves to chase away evil spirits and also so that their wives will always return [Music] [Music] the people who work the land live several days away on foot near the sea where the earth is flatter to move around in the jungle we go up or down the river there are trails through the woods but only for going from one river to another our fishing techniques have improved using pieces of plastic and glass we find on the beach we make glasses for seeing under the water thanks to a small harpoon and some rubber we catch eel smaller fish and shrimp saping is my aunt she is very patient and can fish for hours with her head in the cold water she turns over every rock to find her prey you have to be fast very fast because the fish really panic fishing in the river is precious because it's not as hard as hunting fish are an important part of our diet but the season doesn't last very long when the water gets too high it becomes muddy and dangerous [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the forest belongs to all members of the tribe they go through it freely and hunt whatever they like depending on the season we pick fruit and berries dig up roots and gather honey when we move around all we carry with us are our weapons a small knife and battle nuts everything we own is in a small bag which we wear around our waist the forest provides us with everything we need trees and plants sometimes have mystic powers they protect us from evil spirits or guide our loved ones to us nevertheless their main functions are to feed us to keep us healthy and to shelter us dumagat women can live totally independently from men very often they hunt just among themselves we're taught to be autonomous at a very young age during childhood we learn how to find animals fruit and edible roots by watching our parents we learn the practices and traditions of our people [Music] [Music] hello i like living freely and i love our forest we accept its limitations and its laws hunger fatigue sickness and death are all a part of these the forest gave birth to us it is our mother and our home we use mainly bows and arrows for hunting the arrow tips used to be made of bone or of a pig's tooth now we get a very sharp blade by hammering a nail between two stones this weapon makes the animal bleed a lot and if he's wounded his trail will be easy to follow the body of the arrow is made of rattan wood we heat it to stiffen it the arrow must be perfectly straight and balanced [Music] we make the bows out of hard and supple wood it's a very precious object because trees with that kind of wood are hard to find we don't usually shoot at a stationary animal to make the target real it's tied to a vine and pulled oh [Music] [Music] i'm clumsy and still not strong enough to bend and string a bow [Music] to get to the farmer's village it's easier to follow the coast we also fish in the sea and we're all very good swimmers the forest doesn't always provide enough food the sea gives us fish and shellfish [Music] [Music] [Applause] my [Music] [Music] knowing how to read animal tracks is important everything is written in them the animals race the amount of time elapsed since he passed through and even if he's young or old or male or female we mainly hunt wild boar deer some birds and monkeys our hunting techniques are different from those of the men we hunt in groups with dogs or by beating the brush to get the animals out [Music] you have to aim really well for the heart behind the front paw a wounded animal like a boar can be dangerous [Music] [Music] this is it we've arrived the trees have disappeared the landscape here is transformed the new rice paddies spread to the horizon our ancestors didn't know anything about agriculture but ever since my grandfather's generation other men beyond the mountains have come to live on our lands gradually taking over our territories along the sea they chop down trees and set up rice paddies where the forest once was today the dumagats buy buffalo and are beginning to imitate their agricultural techniques rubens is waiting for me from now on i will live here with him [Music] reuben's family has been growing rice for the last few years they decided to become sedentary they've abandoned our hunting tradition a lot of work is needed before you can cultivate a rice paddy first you have to cut down trees dig up the roots tear out the grass and finally till the soil and plant the rice [Music] hey [Music] [Music] hey our songs have a deep mystical significance they talk about the world of the spirits the soul comes to live inside us when we're children and stays with us until we die they also remind us that we can lose the threat of our lives and that our bodies can remain alive but go astray without a soul at death the spirits of men are evil contrary to those of animals the animal spirits protect the hunter we make a speech before the most important act trading the battle nut first between the two families and then between the husband and wife uh [Applause] foreign [Music] first the men congratulate us then the women [Music] a wild pig is offered by my family for the ceremony we gather around in a circle under a shelter of leaves symbolizing the union of two families under the same roof i'm going to be happy in my new family rubens has promised me that we'll go back to the forest to hunt after the harvest [Music] [Music] my nomadic past is over i won't live in the forest anymore like my mother she said that she would hunt for me so that the animal spirits protect me and guide me during the night [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: SLICE

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Rating: 4.8293414 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, shortdoc, shortdocs, slice, slicedocs, ema, child of the forest, dumagats, dumagat, Sierra madre mountains, philippines, women, fishing, fish, hunting, hunt, forest, tribe, traditional techniques

Id: slGl7hal2Ng

Length: 24min 27sec (1467 seconds)

Published: Sun May 16 2021