The largest Queen of Turtles and the Princess of White Sand Island. The Ati tribe folklore

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                                        The Last Queen Turtle

                                         Ati tribe historical fiction

                                         Authored by Joseph C. Mangilaya

                                         Ibajay, Aklan

I am a princess. A long, long time ago the island of Boracayan was our kingdom. We belong to the Ati tribe who inhabited the island of Boracayan after our ancestors had sold the mainland Madya-as to the   brown datu of Malay. My grandfather, whom I called Papu told me this.  That was a very long time ago even Papu’s grandfather was not yet born.

Of course I knew all of these; Papu always told me this story before I sleep.  

As I have said, I am a princess, but not so fabulous. My skin is black and my hair is kinky.   I was born with misshapen legs. They were curved and small like that of sea turtle, that’s why I can’t walk.  Papu told me that my crippled legs were caused by the curse of the queen turtle.

Why I was cursed was not my fault. It just happened to me, otherwise, if I could only choose I don’t like this curse, but that’s that.

The curse of the queen turtle had happened to my grandfather. He’d spoken about it. He said it all started a long time ago. It started all while Papu was fishing for tuna with his long line. Its hook has a squid bait.

Turtles love to eat squids said Papu.

I love to eat squids too. They are soft and juicy when grilled.

That night, this turtle had eaten the bait   and the barb stuck on its throat and wounded it. Upon seeing what he caught, grandfather cut the string, and set free the turtle. But on the next day, he found the same turtle on the beach. It was not breathing anymore and its mouth has blood on it.

 That was the last time the   queen turtle was seen, said Papu. It was the last queen turtle that had set-foot on the wide white beach of the island long years ago, before things started to worsen, he added.

Papu said that was the queen of all the turtles and I believed in him.

Why? You haven’t seen the biggest turtle? That was it!

And Papu said, from then on their life started to become miserable. The shaman had told him that the supernatural being Tamawo, the guardian of the turtles, the custodian of Borabora waves that endlessly grind white sands under the sea, cursed our clan.

I wonder how this Tamawo look like, but say I have meet him I will beg him to forgive Papu and remove the curse from us. I wanted to be cured, as well as my mother too. Mother stayed alone in a hut at the sacred burial ground atop the Bolabog Hill. She was caged inside it. Father said I was still a baby then when the Tamawo erased her memory; that is why she doesn’t mind me. That’s how the curse afflicted us.

Few days had pass after the incident, Papu said, a golden ship arrived; bearing a woman     whom they called First Lady. Her armed guard had told Papu that she is the queen of the land for she is the wife of the president.

 Papu said First Lady wanted to buy   all the land along the beach facing Madya-as.  But Papu told her that it was not for sale. She offered gold and money but Papu turned down her offer. She became angry. She told Papu, that she has the power to put him into trouble if he won’t give her what she wanted.

Papu said he was so scared upon seeing the guns pointed to him then. And so he gave the shore land to the First Lady for free.

Then months later, visitors came to the island and stake their claims on other areas.  Papu said he had found out that First Lady had distributed the land among her friends and allies from the mainland. And when these outsiders started to enforce their claims, the whole tribe peacefully retreated to the hills.

Maybe the First Lady has the power of a witch. I told Papu then. He just smiled.

Well, that was the sad way how Papu lost our land.

 Don’t you know that I have a friend named Rema. I didn’t know that she was named after a breadfruit tree. I didn’t care. After all she’s the only one who can talk to me that can’t be affected by the curse; because her father is a shaman. You know shaman; it’s different for them.

Rema always told me about funny things she had seen.  One time she told me about visitors who lay on the white sands, looking at the sun the whole day till their skin got burn.

.”Maybe these people wanted to become like dried fish,” joked Rema

 And then we laugh at it until our eyes dropped tears.

 She also told me that she had seen mainlanders gathering boatload of coconuts. She said she had wondered if those men can really eat all those coconuts.

 Strange, isn’t it? As for me, I would ask only one young coconut and then savored its refreshing juice until I feel cool. I love also fish cooked in coconut milk but it made me sick if I eat a lot of it.

But Papu was sad upon hearing about it.

He told me that our tribe had planted all those coconut trees.  Now they claimed it all and left nothing to us.

Poor Papu, he couldn’t forget the past. I knew that it hurt him.

One thing I observe from Papu is that, he was sickly. Maybe that was the reason why he handed down to my father his throne. And with that, my father became the king of the Ati tribe of Boracayan.

Papu is now a very old man. He is weak too. Every time father gave him noodles for breakfast, he would always look blankly on it. He bowed his head while eating; sometimes he shook it while eating.

But I like noodles very much.

I asked him if something was wrong with the food. He told me that long time ago, different seafood were abundant around the island and he missed all those things.

 Poor Papu, he always compared things about the past. Maybe old men were like that. So that was all right.

At this time, as the visitors flocked to Boracayan endlessly; there were many scary stories I had heard from Rema. She always warned me not to walk alone at the beach. I had wondered why she said that.

 I laughed. How could I?

 “I can’t walk!” I insisted.

“No, Ecay! That’s not what I mean,” she blurted.

She had told me that   there was an unkempt man roaming at the beach with a very big sack on his back, picking aluminum cans and plastic bottles. While telling this, she’d thrust her face toward mine and whispered to me.

“That man snatched children and sold them to the builders; to be thrown into the foundation, to be cemented alive!”

She had said that as she shook a bit.

“They say that it makes the building stronger,” she added

Of course I’m scared too. How terrible it would be. I will not think of it. Really, I don’t want to be caught by this man. I still wanted to live, maybe up to a hundred years.

Papu just smiled if I told him this. But he said he was sad because buildings now were crowding near the beach and spoiled the natural beauty of the island

Poor Papu, he can do nothing.

I missed Rema now. She didn’t live on the island anymore. Her family was transferred to the mainland, on the rocky hill of Sambiray, as told by my father. The last story she had told me was a sad one.

 She said that one day a horrible thing had happened.

 She told me that she was alone in their hut when big men came and destroyed it. She said that, she ran toward the house of her uncle near the smelly dumpsite, but had found out that they were also there, destroying huts!  She admitted that she was terribly scared at that time. So she ran toward the hill, toward our house. But sadly she stumbled upon the rock. She said she fell hard on it and skinned his knees.

 I can’t forget that day too.  In our hut then, she showed to me the white flesh cut open. It was an awful sight and I could not look on it for long.

 That was her last story. Of course I always wanted to talk to her.

Sometimes I think of my mother too. I didn’t know that I had thought her. It just happened. The last time I saw her, she was sad. In her hut, she sang as she removed the lice on her hair, looking afar. How I wish that mother could be cured from the curse of the queen turtle so that I can talk to her.

 She is not insane I swear. She knew me, all of us. As I have said, it’s the curse.

Then this summer, Papu surprised me. He said the president had answered. He repeated those words many times while smiling up to his ears.

 I don’t know what it is.

That was the first time I saw Papu very happy, even if he doesn’t dance. I knew it.

 He said a man from the palace had talked to him.

 Well, I believed in him even though I have no idea how a palace look like.

 He told me that a palace is a very big and beautiful house where the king and queen of the land live.

 Now I knew what a palace is.

 Then I suspected that it might not be the truth, because father is also a king but we have no palace. But Papu explained to me that as the former king, he never thought of building a palace. He has no money. Aside from that, Boracayan was already a beautiful island. It was a paradise for them. They don’t need a palace anymore.

Perhaps Papu was right.

Papu told me that the man will be back on the other day. He will bring a camera to record our sad story.   He had said to Papu that the new president who happened to be a mother would like to hear our story.

So Papu told me to be ready to answer, if asked. He said, the man would ask me what would be my wishes.

“Can she grant my wishes, Papu?” I asked.

“She has a lot of power, she can do it, Ecay,” assured Papu

Maybe the new president is like a fairy godmother, I said to Papu. He only answered me with a smile, but I noticed that he hugged me tight and put his nose on my kinky hair as he swayed me.

Well I don’t mind. I’m busy thinking what I will wish from a fairy godmother.

Then I suddenly thought that if she got a power, perhaps I can ask her to remove the curse on me and my mother.  Of course I’m sure that she won’t decline that, after all she is a mother too.

Then just by thinking about it I feel like dancing.

 “Are you a fool Ecay? Look at yourself. Can you really dance?” I murmured.

I could not sleep that night. The mere thought of a fairy godmother made me happy.  Don’t get excited as I did.  Because I’m thinking if I would ask from my fairy godmother a beautiful palace

I thought that it was not right. Well, I’m going to change that.

I will ask her if she could bring back Rema’s family to the island.

Can this be possible?

Papu was sure that she will grant our wishes. He said the president would have pity on us; after all we’re the real inheritor of the island.

Then I feel like dancing again.

Then something beautiful happened in my sleep that night. You know what is it?

The queen turtle arrived at the beach. I was there together with Rema waiting for her. Then she carried us on her back. We swam around the island. She showed us a palace atop the hill. It was beautiful and was sparkling with lights. She said it belongs to our race. She told me that she had forgiven our failing.  She also told us that Rema and I will never be separated again.

Then I woke up.

Of course that was just a dream. But wouldn’t you be happy if somebody had forgiven you?  And never be separated again with your friend. So I am. Thank you.

Then that morning, the words of the queen turtle came true.

 I didn’t know that Rema had arrived. She came up behind me silently and struck my back as she called out my name.

I almost jump!

Well, for a while I was startled. But after seeing her laughing at me, I was convinced that it was indeed Rema I’m facing now.

When Rema held my hands I pinched it hard and she shouted as it hurt her. Then we both laughed at each other.

Rema said, they returned to Boracayan because the president had granted the Ati tribe their wish. The president will be building a village for the relocated Ati tribe within the island, as said to her by her father.

That was beautiful.

And from the moment I had heard those words from Rema, I could feel that all my dreams will soon come true.

 I could feel that it was just a matter of time before I would be able to walk. Same to my mother; I knew, she would be cured.

 Then we will be living together in one house as one happy family. And we will live happily ever after.

Oh, I forgot one thing. There shall be a palace; remember I’m a princess.