Nas Academy's Whang-Od tattoo course ended in apology and a voided thumbprint contract

In early August 2021, online learning platform Nas Academy posted a purported course on traditional tattooing featuring Whang-Od, the acclaimed Kalinga artist. Whang-Od's grandniece, Grace Palicas, publicly called it a 'scam'. Nas Academy took the course down but doubled down: it insisted it had consent, publishing a video of Whang-Od affixing her thumbprint onto a contract.

The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Cordillera Administrative Region (NCIP-CAR) investigated and affirmed that Whang-Od had not consented to the course. It found Nas Academy did not 'explain or discuss' the contract's provisions with her, and that 'what was assured of her is external to the terms of the contract' — the deal she was promised was not the deal she signed. The commission also questioned the thumbmark itself, noting it differed from a thumbprint Whang-Od affixed onto a clean piece of paper.

On Oct 24, 2021, Nas Academy representatives traveled to Barangay Buscalan in Kalinga to make a formal apology to Whang-Od and the chiefs of the Butbut tribe, meeting with the aid of the NCIP-CAR and sharing a traditional meal to symbolize reconciliation. Kalinga Representative Allen Jesse Mangaoang conveyed the tribal elders' request that the erroneous contract be declared null and void — a request Nas Academy's legal team affirmed.

Nas Academy treated an affixed thumbprint as informed consent; the NCIP-CAR found the contract's provisions were never explained or discussed with Whang-Od.

The assurances made to Whang-Od sat outside the contract's actual terms, so even her own understanding of the deal did not match what was signed.

The thumbmark itself was dubious — different from the one Whang-Od made on a clean sheet — undermining the academy's core defense.

When the criticism broke, the academy publicly defended the contract with a video rather than pausing to verify the consent it claimed.

A thumbprint is not consent: if the other side cannot read or discuss the terms, the contract — and the course built on it — will not survive contact with the community.

The course stayed down. At the Oct 24, 2021 reconciliation meeting in Buscalan, Nas Academy formally apologized to Whang-Od and the Butbut tribe chiefs and confirmed through its legal team that the contract was null and void, closing the months-long dispute brokered by the NCIP-CAR.