How True Was the "How Dupax Got its Name" Story?

IF THE two-hundred-forty-five-year-old St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church is the edifice or spot in Dupax, then perhaps also the most photographed figures in Dupax del Sur today are these two sculptures in front of the municipal hall. On the left of the photo is a tablet outlining who they are and what they are doing.

Even as they are said to be depicting hunters who went into such reclining position due to extra heavy meal of roasted venison, I have this notion that they were in fact looking at a strange celestial sight in the eastern horizon.

It could have been a fully formed and multiple colored rainbow. They may not have a name for it in Isinay back then and so the two guys had to invent a noun that pretty soon stuck to their mind. It was “tavungeyon.”

Of course, of course, concerned Irupajs may cry "Ni'bot! Ni'bot!" when they get to read this conjecture. O, iiva, inesep u lohom niyen beyun sutsur. (Yes, brethren, that new story is just figment of my imagination.)

There is however a question about the authenticity of the story attached to these so-called reclining hunters. It came out in the exchanges in the Isinay Friends social media group in Facebook in 2014, particularly from my fellow born-in-August Isinay friend Jimmy Salirungan Guzman who died last year.

Here's what Jimmy said on Facebook:

Mu saon ya marin maserot an atna ri innunar nai-depict ri ni'busan di ngaron di beveyoy tau war. Alatlan mae-as ri impression dar iritaun Isinay siriyen poto. I agree that the name Dupax was used during the Spanish times but the story on how Dupax got its name was probably (started) during the American time when an English class teacher propably gave an assignment to the students to write a tale and this was the most acceptable story.

May I ask: Does "mandopaj" mean to lie flat with your back on the ground or lie flat with your belly on the ground? Whether it means either of the two, then there must be something that lies flat.

Based on that popular story, it's the person that lies flat. But I would propose if not prove what lies flat. If you are on top of the church belfry, you will notice that the topography of Barangay Dupaj is an elevated flat ground or what you call plateau. The ground then was, in Isinay word, "nadopaj." It is here where hunting for wild animals is done, followed by eating and resting under the big trees. Domang is on the other side or across the Abanatan river. In Gaddang, "dammang" means on the other side.

By the way, the word "sinay" in Gaddang means "out there" -- so we isinays from the Gaddang point of view means "from out there."

Jimmy ended his sharing with this line: "What do you think, my fellow Isinai Tribe?"

Almost immediately, his post was answered by another concerned Isinay, Dr. Ella Bedoya Tumaneng:

"Uwa Jim, this is a very good issue that could be raised during the summit. It's really embarrassing... some might be thinking that Isinays are lazy. Mayve we could note it and let researchers pursue it. Pavayvayin iman. Negative di impressions syempre ti areeyanar an marin managm-amta irita-u. Mae-as toy doddot nandopaj, contyento on napsuh. Nandopaj is lie flat and nanlu'buv is lie on belly. We will also tackle this. We hope to have the time. We will surely bring this out."

Unfortunately, Ella, who was the first Isinay from Dupax to earn a PhD, also nanpatanir (bade goodbye) last year. I belatedly found exchanges between them and me one time I was browsing over my old posts in Facebook.