This presentation uses a critical psychology lens for minority population analysis. Specifically, the presentation characterizes indigenous peoples and their vulnerability; researches the treatment of the Aeta, an indigenous people living in the mountainous areas of Luzon in the Philippines; and reflects on their experience of domination, marginalization, and exploitation.

1. Minority Population Analysis:
The Aeta of the Philippines
Olivier Serrat
2020

2. Introduction
Minority Populations
• When researching minority populations, critical psychologists examine identity categories
(e.g., class, gender, race) and their mutually constitutive nature. They look into how
minorities have been affected by power structures; what organizations (if any) support
them; and what opportunities and limitations exist for them, especially in the educational,
political, professional, and social realms (Crenshaw, 1989; Fox et al., 2009).
The Aeta of the Philippines
• Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups whose identities, cultures, livelihoods, and physical
and spiritual well-being are interlinked with the land and natural resources of their
territory and distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live (United
Nations, n.d.; World Bank, 2019). This presentation characterizes indigenous peoples and
their vulnerability and reflects on the experience of the Aeta of the Philippines (Serrat,
2020).

3. The Vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples
Population
• There are 476 million indigenous peoples and 5,000 different groups
speaking 4,000 languages across 90 countries. Two thirds are in Asia.
(Transparency International, n.d., para. 1; World Bank, 2019, para.
2).
Vulnerability
• Because of colonization, war, natural disasters, development projects,
and logging, indigenous peoples can become refugees in their own
lands. They are alienated from public decision making and their
access to basic services, the formal economy, and justice is
constrained. They represent over 6% of the global population but
about 15% of its extreme poor. Inequality and exclusion threaten
their self-identity, knowledge systems, cultural survival, and
biodiversity custodianship (World Bank, 2019, para. 2).

4. The Aeta of the Philippines: Territory & Characteristics
The Aeta live in the mountainous areas of
Luzon in the Philippines and are probably
the country's first—inhabitants (The People
of the World Foundation, 2020).
The Aeta have the small stature and frame
of the Australo-Melanesian ethnic group of
Southeast Asia. The Spaniards who
colonized the Philippines from 1565 called
them "negritos".
* The digital images are from Google Maps (2020).

5. The Aeta of the Philippines: Population & Lifestyle
In 2015, the Aeta numbered 57,707 and
lived mostly near Mount Pinatubo in
Zambales Province. The population of the
Philippines was 100 million, mostly of the
Malay race; 92.0% were of Christian
denomination (Philippines Statistics Authority,
2015).
By tradition, the Aeta are hunter-gatherers
who move in small groups of 1–5 families
and build temporary shelters: therefore,
adaptation plays an important role in their
lives, which entails gaining knowledge of the
tropical forest they live in and seasonal
weather changes that affect its fauna and
flora (Dahlberg, 1975)
* The digital images are from Kwekudee (2012).

6. The Aeta of the Philippines: Marginalization & Disaster
Over the years, deforestation, illegal logging, mining, and slash-and-
burn farming by intensifying economic and other interests placed
extreme strain on the Aeta. Disliking violence, the Aeta never fought
back and took refuge further up the mountains. Then, rapid
urbanization and private developers turned their diminishing forest
settlements into virtual islands, impacting the deer, wild boar, and
jungle fowl the Aeta depend on (Morella, 2015).
On June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo erupted: this was the second-
largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century (Gajanan, 2018). The
eruption coincided with Typhoon Yunya (June 11–17, 1991), resulting
in a lethal mix of ash and rain. The Aeta moved to shelters in the
surrounding towns, with their families begging on roadsides; some were
evacuated to distant resettlement camps (Morella, 2015). Soon, they
were afflicted by measles and chicken pox (Fuller, 2001).
* The digital images are from Kwekudee (2012).

7. The Aeta of the Philippines: Acculturation?
The Aeta lack the job skills of lowlanders and do not know how to compete.
After the eruption, the government and nongovernment organizations set up workshops
for the Aeta, teaching them handicrafts. But, "How can you go into the jungle to get
materials for baskets when you have nothing to eat?" (Fuller (2001).
With government funds and donations, some Aeta have built concrete houses but
huddle in native rest areas annexed to them. Talking with L. Arboleda (personal
communication, September 27, 2020), they feel they cannot "breathe" in houses.
Schools—sheds, really—have sprung up. Aeta children are taught in Tagalog—the
most widely spoken language in the country—with features of community education.
Merely on account of training and newly-acquired literacy, will the Aeta become more
involved in economic and political life, fight for their communities, better protect their
land, and realize their interests?

8. The Aeta of the Philippines: Domination, Marginalization,
& Exploitation (1)
After the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the Aeta have found it ever more difficult to sustain
traditional livelihoods and now barter non-timber forest products to sustain themselves.
The attempts of the Aeta to secure tenure came to naught in the face of the wealthier and
more politically astute lowland Filipinos. Retreating from economic and political domination,
especially land alienation, the Aeta moved upland and lost self-determination.
In 1898, the United States secured the cession of the Philippines from Spain and moved in.
Invoking "benevolent assimilation", the United States introduced the concept of property titles.
From the late 16th century, the Aeta were progressively elbowed out. All forest lands were
made to legally belong to the state even though they had long inhabited them.

9. The Aeta of the Philippines: Domination, Marginalization,
& Exploitation (2)
It would be easy to say that the eruption of Mount Pinatubo concretized the inevitable. But,
racism explains more.
"'Race' is a term for the classification of human beings into physically, biologically, and
genetically distinct groups" and "[r]ace thinking and colonialism are imbued with the same
impetus to draw a binary distinction between 'civilized' and 'primitive'" (Ashcroft et al.,
2013, p. 218). From a critical psychology perspective, which locates individuals and groups
in historical and social relations, there is no doubt that the background, distributed mind,
foreground, habitus, and interpretive repertoires of the Aeta set them apart from the
lowland Filipinos (Durrheim et al., 2009). Racism impelled their domination, marginalization,
and exploitation with callous disregard for social justice, human rights, and well-being.

10. The Aeta of the Philippines: Domination, Marginalization,
& Exploitation (3)
With the government offering no protection, land grabbing became the
primary agent of domination, marginalization, and exploitation in the
Aeta's experience. Eder (1994) noted that access to land is central to
any discourse about indigenous peoples but that the Ancestral Domain
Bill of 1987 failed to be enacted into law. Belatedly, in 1997, the
Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act passed key provisions on rights to
ancestral domain, right to self-governance and empowerment, social
justice and human rights, and cultural integrity and established a
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (Government of the
Philippines, 1997). The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 was
good news at last: that said, privileged elites and their political allies
have for long found ways to circumvent the intent of legislation.
* The digital image is from Kwekudee (2012).

11. Annex: References (1)
Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2013). Postcolonial studies: The key concepts (3rd ed.).
Routledge.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique
of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of
Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8).
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
Dahlberg, F. (Ed.). (1975). Woman the gatherer. Yale University Press.
Durrheim, K., Hook, D., & Riggs, D. (2009). Race and racism. In D. Fox, I. Prilleltensky, & S. Austin
(Eds.). Critical psychology: An introduction (2nd ed., pp. 197–214). Sage Publications.
Eder, J. (1994). Indigenous peoples, ancestral lands, and human rights in the Philippines. Cultural
Survival Quarterly, 18(2).

12. Annex: References (2)
Fox, D., Prilleltensky, I., & Austin, S. (Eds.). (2009). Critical psychology: An introduction (2nd ed.).
Sage Publications.
Fuller, T. (2001, May 9). Philippine eruption snuffed out tribe's way of life: Pinatubo: 10 years
later. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/09/news/philippine-
eruption-snuffed-out-tribes-way-of-life-pinatubo10-years.html
Gajanan, M. (2018, June 6). 8 of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, according to experts.
Time. https://time.com/5300683/volcanoes-most-dangerous-active/
Government of the Philippines. (1997). Republic act no. 8371.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1997/10/29/republic-act-no-8371/
Google. (2020). Google maps. https://www.google.com/maps

13. Annex: References (3)
Kwekudee. (2012, October 15). Aeta people: One of the first African natives of Asia and the
original inhabitants of Philippines. Trip Down Memory Lane. https://kwekudee-
tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2012/10/aeta-people-one-of-first-natives-
of.html
Morella, C. (2015, August 7). Philippines' Aeta people "beggars" in their own land. Business
Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/afp-philippines-aeta-people-beggars-in-
their-own-land-2015-8
The People of the World Foundation. (2020). The indigenous Aeta people.
http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/text?people=Aeta
Philippines Statistics Authority. (2015). 2015 census of population.
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/census/2015-census-of-population

14. Annex: References (4)
Serrat, O. (2020). Minority Population Analysis: The Aeta of the Philippines. Unpublished
manuscript, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Transparency International. (n.d.) Indigenous peoples. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-
do/indigenous-peoples/
United Nations. (n.d.). Indigenous peoples at the United Nations.
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/about-us.html
World Bank. (2019). Indigenous peoples.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples

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