M.Sc. C.S. Proposal Defense: Herbert Gerard T. Villafranca (Preserving a Heritage: Weaving Together an Ontology-based Information System for Northern Luzon Indigenous Textiles)

Abstract

Indigenous cultural communities in the Philippine face sociopolitical and environmental threats to their existence, resulting in unwanted and constant displacement from their respective ancestral lands. As a consequence, their ways of life, identity, knowledge, and culture are at risk of being lost since these are taught to younger generations mainly through oral traditions only.

This research aims to aid in the documentation and preservation of Cordilleran indigenous knowledge, particularly in the community practice of textile weaving, by developing the infrastructure of a knowledge base spanning different weaving concepts using an ontology. The knowledge base will be deployed through a web-based information system accessible to the members of indigenous communities in Cordillera, scholars, domain experts, and advocates who work together to protect indigenous people and their heritage.