By JASON VERZOLA
www.nordis.net
BAGUIO CITY—An Ibaloy from Baguio City was among the first recipients of the Indigenous Women Educators Award from the Indigenous-Led Education Network (ILED Network) to “honor and celebrate” their vital role in passing down knowledge and education.
On September 5, ILED Network honored Vicky Macay, an elder from Barangay Loakan, for her contributions to preserving Ibaloy culture, promoting ancestral land rights, and educating communities about indigenous knowledge. She shared the recognition with five other indigenous women leaders and educators worldwide, announced during the International Day of Indigenous Women.
The ILED Network launched the #IndigenousWomenEducators campaign to highlight the critical role of indigenous women as teachers of ancestral knowledge and defenders of the environment and their people’s rights.
Other awardees include Florina Lopez Miro from the Guna people of Panama, Bellu Amma from the Irula people of India, Janaki Amma from the Irula people of India, Margaret Kabahenda from Uganda, and Anestascia Garcia Garcie from the Bribri people of Costa Rica.
The ILED Network secretariat chose the recipients from various community organization nominees and underwent a careful screening process. Each awardee received a €1,000 prize and a commemorative token.
At nearly 70 years old, Macay has spent over three decades volunteering to teach Ibaloy traditional knowledge and values to schools and communities in the city, working closely with government institutions and non-government organizations.
“As a volunteer worker for more than 30 years, I am happy that our efforts are being recognized. This will serve as another inspiration to continue working with and for the community even though I am now turning 70. Thank you very much,” she said.
Macay is a member of the Council of Elders and collaborates with the Department of Education in the Cordillera Administrative Region to integrate indigenous knowledge and values into the public school curriculum. She is also a key leader of Onjon Di Ivadoy, an organization that advocates for the recognition of Ibaloy heritage in Baguio.
One of Macay’s ongoing campaigns focuses on securing ancestral land rights for the Ibaloys in Barangay Happy Hallow, which the government excluded from the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title issued in 2006. She also works to revitalize the traditional ba-eng (Ibaloy home garden) in her barangay and local schools like Loakan Elementary School.
In addition to her grassroots efforts, Macay serves as chairperson of the Baguio-based NGO Partners for Indigenous Knowledge Philippines (PIKP), which promotes and strengthens indigenous knowledge systems.
She has co-authored and authored several books, including Indigenous Earth Wisdom: A Documentation of the Cosmologies of Indigenous Peoples in the Cordillera, which won the 2016 Cardinal Sin Catholic Book Award, and Welcome to our Ba-eng: Ibaloy Home Garden, published in 2021 by PIKP. # nordis.net
