Kapampangan people

Kapampangans/Capampañgans
Total population

2.4 million
(3.3% of the Philippine population)
Regions with significant populations
Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines
(Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Metro Manila)
Flag of the United States.svg United States
Flag of Canada.svg Canada

elsewhere
Languages
Kapampangan, Tagalog, English
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic, some animism
Related ethnic groups
Guangdongren, Hoklo, Taiwanese aborigines, Melayu, Javanese, Sambal, Pangasinan,
other Filipino peoples,
other Austronesian peoples

The Kapampangans or Capampañgans (Spanish: Pampangos or Pampangueños) are the seventh largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group, numbering at about 2,890,000. The original Kapampangans may have descended from Austronesian-speaking immigrants to Luzon during the Iron Age.

The province of Pampanga is traditional homeland of the Kapampangan people. Once occupying a vast stretch of land that extends from Tondo[1] to the rest of Central Luzon, huge chunks of territories were carved out of Pampanga so as to create the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Aurora and Tarlac.[2] As a result, Kapampangans now populate a region that extends beyond the political boundaries of the small province of Pampanga. In the province of Tarlac, the indigenous population of the municipalities of Bamban, Capas and Concepcion are Kapampangans, while Tarlac City and the municipalities of Victoria, La Paz, Gerona and Paniqui have a considerable Kapampangan population. In Bataan, Kapampangans populate the municipilaties of Dinalupihan and Hermosa, and the barangays of Mabatang in Abucay and Calaguiman in Samal. Kapampangans can be found scattered all across the southern barrios of the province of Nueva Ecija and in the western section of the province of Bulacan. Kapampangan enclaves still exist in Tondo and other parts of the National Capital Region. Kapampangans have also migrated to Mindoro, Palawan and Mindanao and have formed strong Kapampangan organizations called aguman in Davao City and General Santos City. Agumans based in the US and Canada are currently active in the revival of the Kapampangan language and culture.

The Kapampangans have produced two Philippine presidents, three chief justices, a senate president, the first Filipino cardinal and many personalities in public service, education, diplomacy, journalism, the arts and sciences, entertainment and business.

Contents

History

The oldest artifact ever found in the Province of Pampanga is a 5000 year old stone adze found in Candaba. It is said to be a tool used in building boats. Earthenware and trade ware dating back to 1500 BC have also been found in Candaba and Porac.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards in the late 16th century, the Kapampangan people made up the bulk of the population of what the Ming Dynasty texts referred to as the Luzon Empire (traditional Chinese: 呂宋國; pinyin: Lǚsòng Guó) or "The Lesser Song Empire"[3]. Their rulers were recognized by Chinese historians as kings and not mere chieftains[3]. They penetrated the Chinese market at a time when the Ming Dynasty banned all foreign trade and so profited immensely from it. Although 16th century Kapampangan society reflected most of what was prevalent in Southeast Asia ~ small communities made up chiefly of the same clans ruled by a council of elders ~ certain communities rose up to become centers of trade and power. Noted among these are the ancient states of Tondo (traditional Chinese: 東都; pinyin: dōngdū) or the "Eastern Capital", Lubao and Betis.

Extensive farming and fishing were the main industries of the Kapampangan people. But at the height of the Luzon Empire's importance in the China trade in the 16th century, maritime trading, and perhaps even piracy, became the main source of profit. As one of the Luções (people of Luzon), many Kapampangans worked as mercenaries for the various states and kingdoms in Southeast Asia[4]. The Luzon Empire became such an important center in Chinese trade that the Kingdom of Brunei was forced to invade it in 1500[5]. The city of Manila was created by the Burneians to oversee the trade in Brunei's interest[6]. Japanese records show that important traders like Luzon Sukezaemon[7] and Shimai Soshitsu opened up shop in Luzon[8]. At a time when the Ming Dynasty banned its citizens from going out of China, the Kapampangan traders from Luzon who brought Chinese goods all across Southeast Asia were thought of as Chinese.[9] As late as the 17th centuries, the Sultanate of Sulu still commissioned Kapampangans to act as trade ambassadors to China.[10]

The Kapampangan people sense of self-importance must have risen in direct proportion to the Luzon Empire's growth and rise to prominence in the 16th century China trade. This development might have helped shape the Kapampangan people's attitude and the way that they were perceived historically by other ethnic groups.

Kapampangans have played a dynamic yet conflicting role in Philippine history. It was the Kapampangans of Macabebe who were the first to defend the Luzon Empire from Spanish domination in 1571.[11] Yet it was the Kapampangans that the Spaniards relied on to defend their new colony from Dutch. It was at this time that "one Castillan plus three Kapampangans" were considered as "four Castillans" as long they gallantly served in the colonial armed forces.[12] After their successful battle against the Dutch in 1640, only Kapampangans were allowed to study side by side with the Spaniards in exclusive Spanish academies and universities in Manila, by order of Spanish Governor General Hurtado de Corcuera.[13] In 1896, Kapampangans were one of the principal ethnic groups to spearhead the Philippine revolution against Spain. Yet it was also the Kapampangans of Macabebe that fiercely defended the last Spanish garrisson against the revolutionaries.

Culture & Cuisine

Though many Kapampangans remain devout Roman Catholics, their religious festivals display an indigenous flavour unique only to the Kapampangan people. Consider the Curaldal or "street dancing" that accompany the Feast of Santa Lucia in Sasmuan or the Aguman Sanduk were men cross-dress as women to welcome the New Year in Minalin. The Fiestang Danum of the barrios of Pansinao, Mandasig, Lanang and Pasig in Candaba ~ where food is served on floating banana rafts on the waters of the Pampanga River ~ was a originally a non-Christian holiday that is now made to coincide with the baptism of Christ. The Kapampangan New Year or Bayung Danum that welcomes the coming of the monsoons and the start of the planting season is made to coincide with the feast of John the Baptist. The colourful Apung Iru fluvial procession of Apalit, once a thanksgiving celebration in honour of the river, has become the feast of Saint Peter, the apostle of Christ.

The most dramatic festivals can be witnessed during the Maleldo, which is the Kapampangan expression of the Holy Week. These include the erection of a temporary shrine known as the puni where the pasion or the story of Christ's sufferening is chanted in archaic Kapampangan. The melody of the Kapampangan pasion was said to have been taken from their traditional epic, whose original words were lost and replaced by the story of Christ. The highlight of the maleldo celebration is the procession of the magdarame or sasalibatbat ~ penitents covered in blood due to self flagellation. Some of them go the distance of having themselves crucified every Good Friday at the dried up swamp of barrio Cutud in San Fernando.

Another expression of the Kapampangan's ethnic identity can be experienced in their unique cuisine. Lutung Kapampangan has gained a favourable reputation among other Philippines ethnic groups. Some popular Kapampangan dishes that have won the palate from Filipinos across the country include its famous sisig, the "tocino" or pindang and their native version of the longaniza.

Kapampangan dishes that remain a challenge to other cultures include buru (fish fermented in rice), betute tugak (stuffed frogs), adobung kamaru (mole crickets sauted in vinegar and garlic), estofadong barag (spicy stewed monitor lizard) and calderetang asu (spicy dog stew).

Demographics

Aside from their obvious Chinese ancestry and Japanese ancestry, many also have Indian ancestry, Arab, American, and Spanish descent. There are also trace evidence of intermarriages with other Philippine ethnic groups, especially from the neighboring Ayta, Sambal, Aburlin, Ilongot and Tagalog.

Kapampangans are mostly Christians, a majority of which are Roman Catholics, Methodists, Iglesia ni Cristo and members of various Protestant denominations. However, traces of Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam can still be found among their folk practices and traditions.

Prominent Kapampangans

For a list of prominent or noteworthy Kapampangans, see Category:Kapampangan people.

History, Politics and Religion

Arts and Culture

Pop Culture, Sports & Entertainment

Prominent People of Kapampangan Descent

Pop Culture, Sports & Entertainment

See also

References

  1. ↑ Loarca, Miguel de
  2. ↑ Henson
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 東西洋考
  4. ↑ Barros, João de, Decada terçiera de Asia de Ioãno de Barros dos feitos que os Portugueses fezarão no descubrimiento dos mares e terras de Oriente [1628], Lisbon, 1777, courtesy of William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 194.
  5. ↑ sha`er awang semaun
  6. ↑ Scott:Barangay
  7. ↑ Miyamoto
  8. ↑ 吉川英治の新書太閣記
  9. ↑ Gaspar de San Agustin
  10. ↑ Wang Teh-Ming
  11. ↑ Gaspar de San Agustin
  12. ↑ ibidem
  13. ↑ Henson
  14. ↑ Santiago

External links

Ethnic groups in the Philippines
Filipinos · Overseas Filipinos
Indigenous
Bicolano · Ibanag · Ilocano · Ivatan · Kapampangan · Moro · Pangasinan · Sambal · Tagalog · Visayan · Tribal groups
 Flag of the Philippines
Non-indigenous
American · Arab · British · Chinese · Desi · French · German · Indonesian · Indian · Irish · Japanese · Jewish · Korean · Mexican · Spanish · Vietnamese