Towards a Philippine Genealogical Society

@ Vida, My mother’s side is the Head Hunter portion of the family. My uncle to this day will still practice traditions of the Madukayyong Tribe also known as the Natonin Head Hunter Tribe which is my grandfather Alex’s side and my grandmothers Luz Kalingas tribe. Outsiders have always tried to study these two tribes. The problem with the tribes is they don’t speak outside of tribe or blood. Weirdest thing is they knew right away I was one of them. Don’t know how they know but they know. My great grandfather was also the Chief of the Natonin tribe which was handed to my grandfather’s brother then to his son. I have film of ancient dances and ancient chants never heard outside the tribe with us Americans dancing and chanting away. I have great memories of my grandmother taking a bed sheey and wraping my brother on her back while she cleaned the floor with a coconut shell and her feet.

Awesome! What a wonderful heritage. I really get your pride.

Vidda Chan, shall we try to Skype again this week? Your time, Thu Nov 3 at 5pm? Agenda is PGS and curatorship. :)

Christian Manao Palma Headhunters -- awesome!!!

@ Mona, Yes, let's do it... my time (PST) Thu Nov 3 at 5pm. Just in case you don't hear from me, please skype me. I've been finding difficulties in calling to the Philippines for some reason.... but perhaps it only because I'm making the calls spontaneously and not by appointment (with my son). BTW, I'll be attending an Ancestry Day workshop this Saturday. I'm excited!

Aloha from Hawaii,

I do Philippine genealogy workshops here in Hawaii. As a FHC volunteer for over 12 years, I feel the time is ripe for the Pinoy community to finally create a Philippine Genealogical Society.

Currently, I am an active member in the:
Filipino-American Historical Society (FAHSOH);
Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS);
Honolulu County Genealogy Society (HCGS, but formerly known as SIGs);
Portuguese Historical and Genealogy Society;
Okinanwan Genealogy Society;
Hawaii Historical Society (on and off member);
and Bishop Museum (former volunteer staff member).

On 17 Nov 2011--I will be doing a general US-Hawaii genealogy workshop at Hickam Library.
On 23 Nov 2011--I will be a speaker and presenter at the BYU-H (Brigham Young University of Hawaii) during its international conference.

On Saturday, the 8th of Oct 2011, I presented a Pinoy Genealogy workshop at the main Hawaii State Library (HSL) for Philippine History Month. Due to some technical--read computer--difficulties, it became more of a Q & A session. There were a lot questions, and the audience was pleasantly surprised that I was able to show them how to find the answers.

Needless to say, I also research general and other ethnic family histories and genealogies. My main specialty is Hawaiian and Okinawan, but Pinoy research is quickly picking up.

Here's hoping that I will be an asset to the Philippine Genealogical Society, if or more WHEN it finally is established. Hope this helps.

Aloha from Hawaii;
Bryan.

I had coffee with Cindy de la Pena-Flynn and her sis, Mary Anne. We are planning a trip to the historic Cementerio del Norte or La Loma next week, Jan 10, Tuesday. We intend to take photographs using the Billion Graves app. Give me a holler if anyone else wants to join our little adventure. ;)

By the way, here are a few thoughts I've had about potential objectives of the PGS:

THE GENERAL GOAL OF THE PGS WOULD BE TO RAISE AWARENESS OF FAMILY HISTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES AND MAKE ALL INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLINE TO THE PUBLIC IN A DIGITAL FORMAT. This information could include:

1) CENTRALIZED ACCESS TO RECORDS:
*Court records--provide website address and instructions on how to find online cases.
*Educational/Business archives--find what types of records are available in Educational Institutions and Businesses and ways to make these records available to general public. Provide information on how to access these records.
*Cemetery records--establish a cemetery/graves database
*Land records--index/create database

2) DIGITAL FILIPIANA LIBRARY COLLECTION
*Identify where in the country and the world are there collections/books/information about the Philippines, its people, culture, etc.
*We can create a list of links for Information already available digitally online
*Digitize written material to be made available online

3) DEVELOP A PHOTO ARCHIVE by encouraging people to deposit old photos instead of destroying them. Background information for photos deposited would include: donor name, how they came to possess photos, potential family names and histories related to photos, length of possession, potential locations involved in its history. Photos would be digitized with the final goal of repatriating photos to the families they are connected with.

4) ARCHIVE PHILIPPINE RELATED BLOGS/WEBSITES--create digital backups since web content with valuable information appear and disappear unpredictably with information being lost forever.

5) BEST PRACTICES PROTOCOL: develop or identify and publish best practices for topics such as taking care of old papers, protocols for scanning, preserving memorabilia, etc.

6) SHARING FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH by production and publication of a society journal to include:
*personal genealogical research,
*feature histories of homes, towns, provinces, organizations, educational institutions, museums, libraries, archives, monuments, etc.
*listing of current scholarly publications of interest (related to such fields as historical/cultural/ethnographic)
*advertising family reunions

7) NETWORKING with existing groups/socities that may provide information/understanding or context leading to new avenues of family research (for example, the PNHS, or archeological, ethnographic and cultural societies if they exist). The relationships would be in the form of talks/seminars/discussions on special topics, periods in history or migration patterns, etc. We could also make arrangements to utilize their existing resources, such as publications.

8) FRIENDS OF PGS: Create a network of supporters who would be willing to assist PGS in attaining its goals by using their influence/connections to open doors for PGS (such as with the National Archives). They are not necessarily members of the PGS.

Some questions in general:
*Are there any photo dating experts in the Philippines?
*Would we be interested in tracking down old photo studios to get information, photos, negatives that may exist?
*Do we want to include historical home preservation as a project?

Thanks, Cindy! Love the diligence you put into the list. Hope to get to discuss this with the rest on the 23rd. :D

And we are taking off!

The nucleus of the Philippine Genealogical Society is meeting for the first time on 23 January 2012, 9am at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Ayala Triangle, Makati, Philippines.

The first meeting is meant for a handful, keen on promoting genealogy, enabling family history research and preservation of documents/photographs in the Philippines. The informal gathering is really a getting to know you session and action planning on how we can take our fledging organization forward. For those we have not yet met or exchanged emails with, don't be shy. You are welcome to walk in the join us for coffee!

https://www.facebook.com/events/283951731663410/

We are holding a web meeting soon after, for our friends overseas. Cindy Flynn and I have been working on finding a solution that will be feasible for the long-term.

So excited!

We are also opening our home on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/pgs-fb. Please LIKE, LIKE, LIKE!

Cindy Flynn has a great outline. I think a great idea would be to look at how to overcome roadblocks that one encounters. Thanks to war, natrual disasters, fires, etc., many vital records have been lost.

BTW, how did the first meeting go on 23 January?

Most of my ancestors are from Texas, Mexico and Spain. However, I have some ancestors that emigrated from Mexico to Manila, Philippines about 1840's. I want to find them and help others to research in Mexico, Spain and USA.

My Hernandez ancestors also can from Mexico to the Philippines because of the galleon trade. They settled in Lipa , Batangas in the late 1800s. My current challenge is to find documentation. My ancestor name was Juan Hernandez -- which is painfully common and I am finding it hard to find the right one. :)

Your Hernandez Ancestor coming from Mexico to Philippines, Did you have more info? dates? other names? I can look in the AGN (Mexico's national archives) and try to help....

Unfortunately, I only have her married name -- Macaria Hernandez, born approximately 1860s.

There is no interest in the promotion of genealogy and family history in our schools. I graduated with a history degree but never had such specialization offered in our curriculum.

Hi Mona my name is Leslie Anne Soriano-Karbassi and I am interested in my family's genealogy I have relatives still in the Philippines, I am currently in California, I will follow and anyway I can help?