Hatang Kayê and Inatá, two endangered languages spoken by indigenous communities in Rizal, Quezon, and Negros Occidental are the protagonists in this year’s “Eksibit sa Nanganganib na Wika,” an initiative that aims to spotlight the dying languages in the regions.

The exhibit opened on April 29, 2024 at the Senate building in Pasay, City, attended by Indigenous Peoples who hail from the Agta tribe in Cadiz, Negros Occidental, and tribespeople from the Remontádos, an indigenous group mainly inhabiting Rizal and Quezon Province. 

Organizer Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) and advocate Senator Loren Legarda also graced the exhibit. 

Hatang Kayê is a language spoken by the Remonádos, an indigenous tribe that lives in General Nacar, Quezon Province, as well as in a number of cities in Rizal (Tanay, Rodriguez, Antipolo). 

Based on numbers provided by the KWF on its official website, Hatang Kayê is a severely endangered indigenous language, getting a “Malubhang Nanganganib” classification from its experts with an estimated total of only 325 speakers within the Remontádos community. 

An increasing number of tribal members, particularly the younger ones, opt to use Tagalog as their conversational language, leaving fewer and older individuals who can speak Hatang Kayê.

Inatá, meanwhile, is a language native to the Atá tribe who lives in the mountains of Cadiz, Negros Occidental. As per KWF’s data, only an estimated total of 30 tribesmen from around 110 families can speak the language fluently, mostly coming from its aged sugroup. 

Inatá is slowly dying due to the adoption of Hiligaynon as the Atá tribe’s prevailing primary language. 

The exhibit also featured a presentation of cultural arts that hold deep significance in the tribes’ tangible heritage, such as a ceremonial rant performed by IP representatives Melinda de Jesus and Herminio Mendoza from the Remontados, an indigenous group thriving in the mountains of Rizal and General Nacar, Quezon Province.

The Atá tribe of Negros Occidental also showcased a folk song entitled “Tumandok,” which according to Garry Consing, the tribe’s incumbent chieftain, is a song that proclaims their fervent passion for homeland, and the existential ties to the community’s established abodes, “ito’y tungkol sa kinatatayuan naming bahay, dito na kami tumanda, dito na kami nagpakatao.” 

“Masaya kaming dinadala itong eksibit na ito at sana ay magdulot ng ibayong kapatiran sa lahat, dahil marami tayong kultural na pamayanan na hindi pa natin batid ang kanilang kinaroroonan at ang kultura na mayroon sila,” said KWF Commissioner Arthur Casanova.

The event also highlighted the need for greater and more genuine efforts when putting the spotlight on these indigenous communities’ lived realities, particularly through the preservation of their songs, rituals, and other tangible proof of culture, a sentiment that was echoed by Legarda.

 “Ang pagtatampok sa inyong mga awit, ritwal, likhang kamay, sa eksibit na ito ay patunay na nariyan pa ang inyong wika at mayaman na kultura kaya huwag ninyong hayaan itong maglaho,” she said.

This is already the second  “Eksibit ng mga Nanganganib na Wika,” five months after its official launch in November 2023.