Fieldnote_ 0415_Naluwan_Annabelle

This Saturday was truly an unforgettable experience – I felt like the past few times that I've gone to the tribe were on a more superficial level since we only got to chat with the Ahmas for very short periods of time. But when we got to interact with their family members and the children in the tribe, it made me realise why these people are so proud to call themselves the "Amis".

I rarely ever cook for myself or for my family back in Singapore, and I've never ever had to peel and harvest fresh vegetables from the soil. Guess some might call me privileged, which I frankly cannot deny. But this experience of getting to peel bamboo shoots and wash multiple vegetables was very exciting, albeit exhausting. While sitting there, I got to chat with a few locals and see how they interact with one another. The way that they spoke to each other in their dialects sounded very aggressive, as though they were scolding someone. However, I came to find out that they were just talking normally and it was just the intonation of their voices. In fact, they were laughing and talking to each other the entire time. They sat in a circle, peel vegetables together and chit-chat about their lives, children and everything under the sun (literally). That's definitely not a common sight outside of tribes and villages, which is why they are probably so tight-knitted.

When I got the chance to talk to the Ahma I'm grouped with, she told me all about her son and his 3 children, aged 6, 8 and 10. Her son's wife is also an Amis, but since both of them are working, the Ahma and Ahgong are the ones looking after her grandchildren. She loves her family very dearly, and it's so obvious to tell from how affectionately she speaks of them. She told me about the dangers of fishing, and how she learned how to work on wood by watching her husband. Recalling all these memories brought a smile to her face, and she laughed as she reminisced about those days.

However, just as I was talking to the Ahma, I heard the two ladies peeling the vegetables shouting angrily. So I looked up to find out that they were shouting at this cleaner (who works for the government) as she was recording videos of them cooking and singing Karaoke. They then proceeded to demand the cleaner to call the higher management, as they were angry that she was recording them doing their own thing. Furthermore, the cleaner did not ask for permission before doing so, which is clearly an intrusion on privacy. I think what made matters worse was that she was wearing a vest that stated she is from a government agency. They told her off, saying that she was being disrespectful for recording, and they could not understand why she was being recorded even though they even asked for permission to use the activity center. 

This incident clearly shows me that they were on the lookout and vigilant about how the government may be trying to pick on them by holding certain actions against them. Apparently, this isn't even the first time someone has done it, and that's why the members were so angry.

Later in the evening, I got the chance to talk to another Ahma who has 4 children, and over 12 grandchildren. She's only 72 years old, and even has great-grandchildren! She then proceeded to rant about having to pay 300ntd to an organisation, which made me laugh. 

This really got me thinking – most, if not all the Ahmas at the tribe have their whole family at Naluwan. They've spent most of their lives in Naluwan, and even call this place their home. Yet, they still feel super restricted and they feel an intrusion of privacy from not just the officials, but tourists constantly looking into their houses and taking pictures.

We had dinner with everyone and ate the delicious meal that we aided in preparing for. Apparently, culling a pig is a sacred ritual that they carry out before meetings and they use it as an incentive for other members to join the meeting that was going to occur after. When everyone was done eating, we joined their meeting which actually only consisted of Ivan making announcements. I thought that there would be more hostility and disagreements, but to my surprise, everyone was so amiable and did not dispute anything brought up during the meeting. Towards the end of the night, they sang karaoke together and drank beer, having conversations with one another while the children from different families ran around and played baseball together. Every family knew one another, and it was lovely to see how well everybody got along with each other.

After that day, I began to ponder: What exactly is the definition of a "home"? Does a home come in the form of a house? Memories? Families and friends? Or does it consist of everything and anything? If strangers keep intruding on your home, saying that you're different and forcing you to abide by so many rules even though it's not what you're used to, how would you feel? If you call it a "home", but you don't feel at ease and you don't feel the freedom, is it really a "home"?