Abstract
Through a qualitative, decolonial lens, this study investigates the history, transmission, and current significance of Meranaw Indigenous knowledge systems in Lanao del Sur. The research focuses on how weaving, okir carving, kulintang music, genealogy (tarsila), Islamic scholarship, and communal rituals comprise live epistemologies that shape Meranaw identity. It is guided by Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), Cultural Transmission Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. Meranaw knowledge is preserved through vertical, horizontal, and oblique modes of transmission (Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981), but it is still vulnerable because of modernization, displacement from the 2017 Marawi Siege, and a decline in apprentices, according to research using in-depth interviews, oral history, and participant observation. Community resilience, adaptation practices, and new cultural projects demonstrate a tremendous possibility for cultural continuity despite these stresses. The study concludes that purposeful transmission and institutional acknowledgment are essential to the sustainability of Meranaw Indigenous knowledge, which is still essential to identity development, moral values, and sociocultural cohesiveness.
Keywords: Meranaw knowledge systems; Islamic-Meranaw legacy; okir; weaving; Indigenous knowledge; cultural identity; cultural resilience; decolonial research; symbolic interactionism; tarsila; Indigenous epistemology.
https://doi.org/10.65494/pinagpalapublishing.16
