Kalinga-Apayao Province

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Kalinga People

By: Patrizia Magpantay

The name Kalinga is derived from the Ibanag and Gaddang “Kalinga” which means “headhunters.” In the past, headhunting was considered noble and it symbolizes bravery. Tatoos, a position symbol which manpower respect and which fair sex admire, are given to warrior s as reward. Thus a “mingol” or warrior enjoys a high status in Kalinga society. This was developed to minimize traditional war and headhunting and serves as an mental home for refilling, upkeep and reinforcement of socialites. Recently, the “bodong” was expanded into a multi-lateral pass peace pact providing a means of strengthening unity in the Cordilleras. Kalinga-Apayao is one of the unique tribe in the Philippines because of the peace pact indigenous socio-political system, how they celebrated their fiesta and their inspired tattoo.

The sharp-crested interlinking mountain peaks, steep side , isolated flat lands, plateau’s and vale characterize the western side while the eastern section is generally rolling with gradually sloping foothills, interlocking wide trail of flat lands and flood plain along its main river. Among land and water forms which constitute potential tourism sights are its waterfalls, hot outpouring, rice terrace and subterranean rivers composed of seven municipalities and one constituent metropolis.

In the Philippines a fete is usually celebrated in barrio or barangays. It is the official vacation of the LGU, the barangay. Filipinos love fiestas. It is a sentence for joy and celebration. A fiesta is of Spanish origin and is usually commemorated in association with a Christian patron nonesuch. Most barangays whose universe have been clustered by Moslem (Moros) and their population is more than that of the Christians, the celebration of the fiesta have been cancelled and replaced with the Hari Raya or Eid al-Fitr. The city or municipality usually have yearly festival where all the barangays participate. The urban center or municipalities grasp contest for the best ice-cream float in parades.

Mambabatok mean value tattoo artist in Kalingan. Some placement of the conception on cleaning woman display their sociable position , such as in Lasoy’s typesetter’s case being the firstborn daughter, but generally speaking, singular female tattoos are not known to have important cultural context. However men’s tattoos are meant to have symbolic significance , as specific motif are saved only for men in rules of order to communicate their bravery, engagement won and how many people they have killed. The tattoo tool themselves are made from an instrument constructed in bamboo and razor sharp lemon sticker s. The aim is marked onto the hide using long strips of straight grass, dipped in simple a mixture of wood coal and body of water. Then thorn tip is submerged in the charcoal solution before rigorously hand tapping the piercing point into the design on the skin. World renowned Apo Rap-Od is the last practicing traditional Mambabatok in the whole region. At 92 years old, time is streamlet out for her to pass on the time honored hand tapping technique and tribal motifs to her 13 year old granddaughter and apprentice. Although locals rarely practice the tattoo tradition today, tourer are currently flocking to Buscalan village to have the last living legend of Philippino artistry scar their skin.

 

 

 

Bukidnon: The Matigsalug Tribe

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Matigsalug People

By: Arrianne Dominguez

Matigsalug is known as the highland paradise It is the area’s primary wellspring of agricultural items, specially particulaly rice, corn, espresso, pineapple, and sugar. Therefore, Bukidnon is known as the area of “food basket.” Its panoramic landscape of moving field levels and in addition its cool atmosphere makes it a perfect place for local people and tourist alike. The congenital people called Matigsalug Tribe are famous in terms of weaving, bead making and patchwork.

Matigsalug are the original inhabitants of the Salug River (now called the Davao River). Thus, their name comes from the words matig, meaning “from,” and salug, meaning “river.” Over the years, the tribe moved upstream of the Salug River due to constant raids and harassment. They were pushed further inland because of the influx of various groups, such as the Ilocanos, Batangueños, Ilonggos, and Cebuanos in the area. This place is not one of those that would be in your places to find in the Philippines: : to specify that you are going to bukidnon to different filipinos will most likely welcome some gaze of judgment and even contradiction in any case, how did I, on the other hand, see Bukidnon?

Bukidnon is proof to differing degrees of cultural assimilation of its people. Bukidnons live close to the edges of the timberlands and straightforwardly inside the limits of the lowlanders. Bukidnons have completely acclimatized the methods for urban living and scarcely recognize the old methods for their experience. According to Ms. Ludevina R. Opeña,1982. Bukidnon is traditional people is generally monotheistic. They believe in one God “Magbabaya” (the ruler of all) who has minor gods and goddesses under his command (i.e. Ibabasok – who watches over growth of crops; Dagingon – who watches over planting and harvest season; Bulalakaw – who is the god of the rivers and lakes, Tumpas Nanapiyaw or Itumbangol – who watches over the base of the earth night and day). Marriage is almost always through parental arrangements. A kaula-an (bride price) is to be paid by the groom to the bride’s family. The Kaliga-an rituals are divided into genre: the political and religious ones performed by the datus and those agricultural rituals for the farmers.

Matigsalug is also called Matigsalug” is a term, which means “people along the Salug River (now called the Davao River).” Matigsalug is engaged in various weave, they identified the 3 different kinds of – Tinilogas (one over one), Tigdaruwa (two over two) and Tigtatulo (two over one). They are also experimental in their application of mat edgings like Sinapay or Insapay, and Binaling or Igbaling. Usually, traditional Bukidnon clothings are decorated with geometric shapes like Binitu-on, binabangon, and kinabuka. These traditional Bukidnon garments are widely ornate with shapes and the strong colors of red, blue, white and black. This is also seen in the making of the traditional “panika” (headdress). The Bukidnon traditional emboridery process is called panulam and the embroidered cloth is called pinamulaan.

Matigsalug is a tourist spot because of its unique indigenous culture of each tribe that originally inhabited the region. During the months of February and March in Malaybalay City, the Bukidnon, Higaonon, Manobo, Talaandig, Matigsalug, Umayamnon, and Tigwahanon tribes show off their colorful attires and showcase their authentic rituals that have endured through the years.

Bukidnon is proof to differing degrees of cultural assimilation of its people. The Datu is one who settles disputes and gives judgment whenever their unwritten laws called Batasan are violated. The Bukidnon Datu holds a great influence and is somebody to reckon with where peace and order conditions are concerned in the hinterlands even today. The primary degree Bukidnons are those driving the most customary way of life and those whose guardians are full-blooded locals. They are the individuals who lived remote from any entrance of lowlander impact, somewhere down in the backwoods and along the watershed territories and the primary streams. The second-degree Bukidnons live close to the edges of the timberlands and straightforwardly inside the limits of the lowlanders. An exhaustive cross-examination. Bukidnons are very acclimatized locals and are by and large ready to send their youngsters off to class. The fourth-degree Bukidnons have completely acclimatized the methods for urban living and scarcely recognize the old methods for their experience. The fifth-degree Bukidnons are to a great extent late outsiders from different parts of the Philippine archipelago and have made Bukidnon as their lasting home.

Bukidnon known as one of the traditionalistic congenital gathering in the Southern Philippines. They settle the Northeastern as the piece of Mindanao, the second biggest island of the archipelago. The congenital province called Bukidnon Tribe is terms of agricultural production of corn lands, pineapple and irrigated rice.

Bukidnon is a landlocked region in the Philippines located in the Northern Mindanao province. Its capital is the city of Malaybalay. The province borders, clockwise beginning from the north, Misamis Oriental, Agusan Del Sur, Davao del Norte, Cotabato, Lanao Del Sur, and Lanao Del Norte. This place is not one of those that would be in your places to find in the Philippines: to specify that you are going to bukidnon to different filipinos will most likely welcome some gaze of judgment and even contradiction. in any case, how did I, on the other hand, see bukidnon?

Bukidnon is proof to differing degrees of cultural assimilation of its people. The primary degree Bukidnons are those driving the most customary way of life and those whose guardians are full-blooded locals. They are the individuals who lived remote from any entrance of lowlander impact, somewhere down in the backwoods and along the watershed territories and the primary streams. The second-degree Bukidnons live close to the edges of the timberlands and straightforwardly inside the limits of the lowlanders. An exhaustive cross-examination. Bukidnons are very acclimatized locals and are by and large ready to send their youngsters off to class. The fourth-degree Bukidnons have completely acclimatized the methods for urban living and scarcely recognize the old methods for their experience. The fifth-degree Bukidnons are to great extent late outsiders from different parts of the Philippine archipelago and have made Bukidnon as their lasting home.

 

Bukidnon visual art is traditionally expressed in weaving, crafts, earth painting, beadwork, patchwork and embroidery. For example, the Bukidnons are identified for their three different kinds of weave – Tinilogas (one over one), Tigdaruwa (two over two) and Tigtatulo (two over one). They are also experimental in their application of mat edgings like Sinapay or Insapay, and Binaling or Igbaling. Usually, traditional Bukidnon clothings are decorated with geometric shapes like Binitu-on, binabangon, and kinabuka. These traditional Bukidnon garments are widely ornate with shapes and the strong colors of red, blue, white and black. This is also seen in the making of the traditional “panika” (headdress). The Bukidnon traditional emboridery process is called panulam and the embroidered cloth is called pinamulaan.

“Bukidnon” (mountain dweller) was gotten from the Cebuano dialect yet these days, it is acknowledged by most individuals from the ethnic gathering alluded to. The congenital province called Bukidnon Tribe is Matigsalugs, Tigwahanuns and Higa-onon.

Mindoro: The Mangyan Tribe

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Mangyan people

By: Faye Villafania

The indigenous people of Mindoro called Mangyan. In the Philippines the Mangyan have a hundred thousand of population and majority grown roots in Mindoro. There are some different mangyan groups called Iraya, Bangon, and Hanunoo. They are all well organized and it makes them unique. They have a strict and active tribal council that visitors can enter easily their community.

Iraya is one of the mangyan group, they lived in the municipalities of San Teodoro, Baco and Prueto Galera but most of them are livin in Occidental Mindoro. In a small community most of them are well educated some are police officers, teachers and government employees. Iraya described as having dark skin but not dark as the negritos, curly hair. The traditional attire of the Iraya Mangyans was made of dry tree bark, it was pounded to make it soft and flat. Women wore blouse and skirt and men usually wore g-strings made of cloth during the Ancient times but now they dressed just like the lowland people.

One of the Mangyan group livin along Bongabon River, the surrounding mountains in the municipalities of Bansud, Gloria and Bongabong called Bangon Mangyans in Oriental Mindodo. Having their own culture, language and writing system, asserted and different from the other tribes in Oriental Mindoro. Bangon Mangyans are considered as the seventh major tribe not a sub tribe of the Tau-bid. In Ogom Liguma, Buhid Mangyans accepted the word Bangon for their tribe in the twenty eight of March 1996.

Hanunoo Mangyan is known for their Hanunoo script where they carved into a bamboo because there is no paper before unlike now, this is one of the way to communicate with others occasionally. They live in the towns of San Pedro and Mansalay their language known as Hanunoo-Mangyan.

Abra: The Tingguian Tribe

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Tinnguian Mothers

By: Aaliyah Hermione Iglesias

   Abra is commonly known because of its notorious records of election-related violence more than any other thing. But on the other hand, you may discover Abra’s uniqueness and creativity. The indigenous highland people called Tingguian Tribe or Itneg are famous in terms of natural dye making, production of bamboo crafts, and colorful textiles.

Abra is a province in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) that is notorious for its records of election-related violence more than any other thing. Development is slow in this province and not much is really happening inside. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that this place is not one of those that would be in your priority of places to see in the Philippines: to mention that you are going to Abra to other Filipinos will surely invite some stare of judgment and even dissent. But how did I, on the other hand, see Abra?

Like most indigenous peoples, the Tingguian live in a web of indigenous systems and lifestyles which makes it impossible to practice a ritual and isolate it from the other aspects of community life. Neither is it advisable to study or see the rituals as responding only to material significance as the people put spiritual and material relevance for the present and the future of the individual or the tribe or ili.

Tingguian village of Namarabar in Penarubia, a town an hour away from the capital Bangued, may found the production of natural dyes from plants. Norma Agaid, a Tingguian elder and the sister of the ‘Father of Philippine Natural Dyes’ Luis Agaid, explained which plants yield what kind of colours: mahogany for red, ginger and jackfruit for yellow, the malatayum plant for indigo, the narra tree for brown, among others. As what I have read in an article, Norma Agaid proudly said, “Of all the mountain tribe in the Philippines, we have the most number of colours. We only get these colours from sources present around us.”

The Tingguian, also called Isneg, are engaged in various crafts. The most important of which is bamboo crafts production. They’re commonly called “The Bamboo Split Weavers.” It is for this reason that Abra is aggressively positioning itself as the “Bamboo Capital of the Philippines.” In additional, in terms of language, their tongue has a big similarity with the prevailing lingua franca of the other tribes who dwell in Muntanyusa, in Apayao, and in Kalinga. The native Itneg language is a South-Central Cordilleran dialect. The term “Tingguian” might have been derived from the ancient Malay word “tunggi” meaning “mountain.” The term “Tingguians” was originally used to refer to all mountain dwellers in the Philippines. The term was earlier used by the Spaniards to refer to all mountain or hill dwellers, such as in Zambales, Bohol, Basilan and Mindanao.

Lastly, Tingguian designs are largely linear and simple, but are assigned with many meanings. Some textiles are reserved for use only during special occasions such as birth-giving, nuptials and harvesting. The vividness of colours in the shroud only suggests the level of mastery they have in controlling the strength of the dyes they make from readily available sources around them. Tingguian Tribe is not popular and common at todays time. Their creativity, talents and skills were not very appreciated, but after reading this essay, did you learn something?

The Negritos Tribe

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Negritos

By:Jad Oliver Domingo

The Negritos are a dark-skinned people that are ethnically different from other people in the Philippines that are mostly Malay in origins. The Negritos live in the mountains of Luzon and on the Philippine islands of Palawan, Panay, Negros, Cebu and Mindanao. Also known as the Aeta, Atta, Baluga, Batak, Dumagat, Mamanwa, Pugut. Negritos have dark skin, kinky “peppercorn” hair and little body hair and are small in size. Although they are linked more closely genetically to Asians than Africans, their appearance and traditional lifestyles are similar to that of the Pygmies of Africa. Negritos get almost all they need from the rain forest and never evolved agriculture. Negrito girls and boys of Northern Camarines and part of Quezon blacken their teeth to look attractive. The Negritos of the Philippines are believed to survivors of the original hunter because of their culture and religion.

Negritos are mostly animists but some have been converted to Christianity. Those that are animists have incorporated into their beliefs. All Negrito groups speak Austronesian languages. All the native languages of the Philippines are Austronesian languages. The languages the Negritos speak are usually more closely related to the languages of people that live around them than they are to the languages of other Negrito groups. Most are bilingual, speaking their own language and the language of their non-Negrito neighbors.

Negritos have traditionally lived on of hunting, gathering, fishing, marginal cultivation and symbiotic relationships with neighboring non-Negrito people. Some live in the forest lean-tos made from sticks and grasses and make clothes from the inner bark of trees. Most live in villages.

The traditional religion of all Philippine Negritos is animism Negrito religion is its noticeable lack of systematization. Consequently, it has a secondary place in Negrito ideology. Because the animistic beliefs and practices of Philippine Negritos are individualistic and sporadic, they exert less control over the people’s daily lives than do the religious systems of other, non-Negrito animistic societies in the Philippines. The Agta believe in a single high god and in a large number of supernatural spirit beings that inhabit their surrounding natural environment. Depending on the class of spirit, these various beings live in trees, underground, on rocky headlands, or in caves. two general classes of spirit beings in the Agta hayup creature and anito ghost.

 

T’boli

 

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T’boli

By: Julius Kent Sta. Ana

The T’Bolis are human beings of medium build. They’re mild in complexion. A number of them are rectangular-jawed. Their hair may be curly or straight. T’Boli ladies dress in a long sleeved, tight-fitting, waist length, collarless blouse which is in simple black, darkish or military blue. Their tubular skirt is ankle period. For special events, the T’Boli girl is wearing a pin-striped linen skirt. T’Boli men, no longer wear traditional attire. These days, they typically move about in regular pants and skirts, with the standard T’Boli sword which they constantly convey at their side.T’Boli are unique because of their houses, society, and culture.

Their houses are spread in moderation over the complete T’Boli vicinity. They come in isolated clusters of 3 or 4, for the reason that there’s a close interplay amongst household. The residence is raised about 6 ft or extra above the floor with the facet constantly barely more than 3 ft high. The roof is fabricated from cogon or other dried grass that’s strung and sewn all the way down to the bamboo rafters with strips of uncooked abaca or rattan. The posts are of bamboo except for the three stump still rooted to the ground which can be sometimes applied as posts for the inner part of the floor. The partitions of the residence are of bamboo cut up from the inner and flattened out or of woven bamboo strips known as lahak.

The society is dominated by using a datu who assumes several roles. He has social, monetary, non-secular and political functions. There are a number of datus within the T’Boli society with various stages of electricity, repute and standing carried out or ascribed via the datus to themselves and recognized by way of their followers. The placement of datu isn’t hereditary. No datu enjoys primacy over the others, nor does he workout precise jurisdictional manage over precise areas or agencies. Other datu may accord deferential remedy to one of their contributors, however this isn’t always a signal of his superiority over them.

The T’boli culture is richly connected with and stimulated via nature, their dances are a mimick from the movement of animals inclusive of monkeys and birds. The T’boli have a rich musical tradition with a diffusion of musical gadgets, however the T’boli tune and songs are not meant for entertainment simplest. The Tribal songs are a residing touch with their ancestors and a supply of historical awareness. The T’boli believe that the whole thing has a spirit which should be respected for suitable fortune. Bad spirits can cause illness and misfortune.

 

 

Nueva Ecija: The Ilongot Tribe

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Ilongot People

 

 

By: Paola Mikhaela O. Odono

Nueva Ecija is the largest province and the biggest rice producer of Central Luzon, also referred to as the “Rice Bowl of the Philippines. Nueva Ecija has many main attractions but they have a tribe called Ilongot or Ibilao tribe. This tribe are known as headhunters, presently there are about 87,000 Ilongots. Ilongots tend to inhabit areas close to rivers, as they provide a food source and a means for transportation. Their native language is the Ilongot Language, currently spoken by about 50,000 people. They can also speak the Ilocano Language.

Nueva Ecija is well known for their intense aggressiveness and cultural conservatism. The people tend to live near tributaries and practice slash-and-burn cultivation. The pattern of housing is dispersed and fortified, for the Ilongot are externally aggressive, traditionally and conservative, and resistant to external cultural pressures. Socially, the families in a locality are loosely grouped into bands called alipan. Like all other Philippines groups, kinship is bilateral and there are no descent groups.

The Ilongot’s Society, informal leadership lies with sons and brothers who have oratorical skills and have acquired knowledge of myths, ceremonies and genealogies. The oratorical skills are known as purun, which women reportedly cannot understand. Disputes are sometimes settled by giving offenders ordeals to establish their innocence. More often than not they evolve into feuds settled through head hunting raids. A death in a household requires a young man in that house avenge it. A pig is sacrificed when headhunters return. Some feuds are settled with negotiations and exchanges.

Ilongot’s Life, they traditionally lived a semi-nomadic life in groups wih around 180 or so members. Each groups is made up of several settlement. Ilongot’s wear plain or dark blue or black loincloths with a colored band around the hips. A long red or blackband is tied around the hands and no shoes are worn. Their handmade guitars are made with human hair for strings. Maybe the Ilongot’s don’t hunt heads anymore? Maybe they do itbacause there is no catgut or steel around to make string for their guitars? Don’t you think so?

 

 

 

The Tausug Tribe

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Tausug People

By: Ma. Eugenie F. Lim

Tausug, also spelled as Tau Sug or Tausog, also called Joloano, Sulu, or Suluk. One of the largest ethnic group in the southwestern Philippines. They live primarily in the Sulu Archipelago, it is located in the southwest island of Mindanao. Their land was traditionally owned by the clan and controlled by local leaders known as datus. Tausug economy is based largely on agriculture, with rice as the principal food crop, supplemented by cassava (manioc), yams, corn (maize), and various grains. Coconuts and hemp are important in cash crops. Fishing, trading by sea, and various handicrafts, notably metallurgy, are also pursued.

 

The Tausogs still practice age-old marriage customs. Marriages were arranged by the parents so the young couple would be married even if they did not know each other. A dowry will go to the bride’s family from the groom’s family. This dowry may be in the form of crops, work animals, land, monkey or pieces of jewelry.

Loyalty is very important trait among the Tausugs. They practice the ritual blood compact to signify the depth of their loyalty to one another.

The Tausug men wear tight fitting pants and shirt, a sash around the waist and a matching turban. Their clothes are made of cotton which they weave locally. Sometimes, men shave their hair or cut it to signify their social status. The women wear matching sarong of the Malay type. They wear brass accessories to their blouses or they uses necklace and bracelets.

The ancient dwellings of the Tausugs are built mostly with indigenous materials. Joti is a plant they use for posts while sent leaves ate utilized for walls. Digpi, the bark of a specific tree, used to fasten walls and posts.

Most of the Tausug homes have spacious rooms. There is a verandah or balcony in front of the house. The kitchen is built separately from the rest of the house to prevent smoke from entering the main room. Most of the Tausugs build their stairways facing the rising sun. They believe that fortune will come early in the morning if one’s stairway faces the east.

 

 

Tribe of Manobo

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Manobo People

By: Crisdel U. Ceria 

There is a simple meaning of Manobo “people” or “person”; alternate names for Manuvu and Minuvu. The term may have originated from “Mansuba,” a combination of man (people) and suba (river). They speak one of the languages belonging to the Manobo language family. Their origins can be traced back to the early Malay people who came from the surrounding islands of Southeast Asia. Today, their common cultural language and Malay heritage help to keep them connected. The Manobo is the most numerous ethnic groups here in the Philippines because of their lives like, their beliefs, and their needs.

Most of their houses consist of only 4-12 in their community and some usually build near in the small bodies of water or forest, although they also opt for hillsides, rivers, valleys, and plateaus. Agriculture is the most common life style; their farming methods are very original from others. The political structures of the Manobo groups are all relatively similar. The head of their group is called sultan. Under him are the royal and non-royal classes. Those people belonging to the royal classes can aspire to the throne and those belonging to the non-royal classes are under the power and authority of the royal classes. There are many social events for them, such as weddings, require political leaders. Each time there is a negotiation for marriage, both the bride and the groom must use the local Datu (headman) to make all of the activities are wise.

Their religious beliefs of the Manobo revolve around many unseen spirits interfering in the lives of humans. They believe these spirits can intrude on human activities to accomplish their desires. The spirits are also believed to have human characteristics. They are both good and evil in nature and can be evoked to both anger and pleasure. While the religious practices of the Manobo vary slightly, there seems to be at least one common thread linking them together. Each culture believes in one Great Spirit in which is usually viewed as the creator figure. As the various Manobo groups have been separated, the religious beliefs of other people have influenced them somewhat. However, the Manobo have often incorporated these new practices into their belief system, rather than abandoning their practices and being converted to new religions.

Used by many of the Manobo groups farming techniques are primitive. Agricultural enlargement projects are greatly needed to educate them on such things as crop rotation and use of chemical fertilizers. Such training would not only enhance their efforts, but also provide open doors through which missionaries may enter. Another need of the Manobo lies within the area of their culture.in these groups speak many different languages and dialects. This has made learning to speak and write their languages very difficult for outsiders. The smaller cultures are being pressed upon by larger groups that surround them. Because of this, they fear losing their original languages and cultural characteristics. Their God make them us the part of their family which spiritually the Manobo need a savior. The “great creator spirit” is really their Father who will care for them. Mediators are required to regularly stand in the hole and pray for the redemption of these precious people.

Here in the Philippines have different tribes but not all tribes are the same, they have their own uniqueness. They kept their self apart to their lives like, beliefs, and needs. We must not compare all the tribes here in the Philippines they have their own style. Respect all the things that you’ll encounter.

Inhabitants of the known Earth

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Ifugao People

By: Gianne Beatriz M. Bolario

“I” means “people of” and “pugaw” means “the cosmic earth”. Beyond differences, distinguished by lifestyle but oneness in culture and tradition. The Ifugao tribe is a group of people living in Ifugao province located in the central Cordillera Mountains of northern Luzon. The word “Ifugao” have been derived from the word “Ipugo” which means “from the hill”. According to the Ifugao mythology, “Ipugo” is a type of rice grain given to the people by the God of Grains, Matungulan. Empathically, Ifugaos are known to be the Inhabitants of the known Earth because of their source of livelihood, religious beliefs and practices and visual arts and crafts.

To the ifugao people, Rice Terraces is one of their important landscapes as a source of nourishment for their lives. It is an enduring symbol of a people’s resilience against nature’s disturbances. The rice culture of the ifugao people requires tremendous skill that was passed down from generation to generation. Ifugao culture revolves around rice, considered a prestige crop. That diversification in agriculture, of rice-growing while cultivating indigenous edible shells, fruit trees, and root crops, has been exhibited among Ifugaos for generations, reflecting their awareness in diversified but sustainable farming.The Ifugao people value the foremost reason for maintaining this relic of the ancient past. The Ifugao Rice Terraces serves as their daily livelihood so the people maintained this not merely as production areas but also for the sentimental reasons that these landscapes have been passed down from their ancestors.

The Ifugao religious beliefs and practices are conveyed in various rituals performed by the Ifugaos for any occasions. One important practice is the agba rite. The agba rite is practiced for the sick, comes in two forms: the crossing of the stick, and the balancing of the egg, bean and spheroidal object on a knife blade. In crossing the stick, the name of the deity is mentioned, in which the stick is believed to grow longer. On the other hand, the buyun, the egg stands on the knife’s edge. Accordingly, it is important to determine which class of deity caused the illness. Since, invoking cost much. Lastly, the death and burial practices of the Ifugao. The death and burial rite involve several steps: the wake over the corpse, which is tied to a chair; the cutting of the string tied to the finger of the widow and the finger of the corpse; the procession to the place of the burial; the walling up of the corpse in the burial-place; and the ceremonies to get rid of the dead person’s soul. Prayers to the Gods and telling of myths accompany most of these steps.

Weaving is the main task of Ifugao women. Traditionally, weaving is done for the family’s needs, but it is also done for commercial purposes. Girls have learned how to weave by means of helping their mom or their older sister, and by actual training under an elder woman. Weaving instruments are made by menfolk. Weaving is a long process and should be done with a lot of patience beginning with the preparation of the materials; spinning; winding or known as iwalangan; dyeing; warping the cotton threads; and finally, the actual weaving itself, which involves two women or girls who will operate the weaving loop. The Ifugao are known to have a hanging cloth in front and at their back. The traditional Ifugao wear for men is called the wanno or G-string. The part that encircles the body is worn high and tight. The ends hang loose in front and at the back. These are rarely tucked in the G-string when the men work in the fields. The wanno is made of dark blue cloth with a red stripe overseeing lengthwise in the middle between two yellow lines. Weaving is not just the main craft represented by the Ifugao, but rather, the Ifugao practices bantok or tattoing. They usually tattoo all the parts of their body except their back and feet, tattoos on their body represent strength.

Ifugaos are known to be the inhabitants of the known Earth because of their daily livelihood, architecture and community planning, and visual arts and crafts. Ifugao: People of the Earth, gives positive contribution in the abode we live in. Ifugao people introduces their culture to the greater Filipino community in a new and positive light by means of their traditional Ifugao culture, through rituals and the preservation of the Rice Terraces. If the Ifugao people can survive and grow their own heritage, why not other people of modern Filipino society?