Fashion of The Igorots

Going through pictures of my travels through Asia, I paused on this one. It dawned
on me that not only was I experiencing something very rare and special (sitting
above the secluded terraces of Ifugao with some Igorot ladies in a tiny mountain
province) but I was also able to observe, in person, their fashion sense...
So this is definitely not the most flattering picture of me (aaaahhhh!), let's just say
my Tiny Closet was thousands of miles away okay? And let's also say that white
rice does NOT suit me... Jeeez. Regardless, I am so glad Theo was able to take a
picture of these women. At the time, I was conscious not to stare even though their
outfits were amazing - so now with this photo, I can stare as long as I want, studying
each article and accessory and facial expression. And guess what? So can you!

Who are the igorots??

The Igorot are an ethnic people of the Philippines, clustered in the Cordillera region of
Luzon. They are famous for rice-terrace farming and some of them have been
known to be cannibals in the past.
Igorot, or Igolot, literally means people from the mountains. As one can infer, they
are a highland race, and are well-adapted to life in raised altitudes. To assure
themselves a steady supply of crop, they have even devised a way to carve terraces
at the sides of mountain, which they plant with various grain. The Igorot people are

categorized into six different ethno-linguistic groups: Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Isneg (or
Apayao), Kalinga, and Kankana-ey.
The Bontoc thrive on the bank of the Chico River. Famous as headhunters in the
past, they have since turned their backs on their cannibalistic ways. At present, a
huge majority of the Bontoc have embraced Christianity. They have seamlessly
transitioned into a peaceful, agricultural people.
The Ibaloi too are an agrarian society. Mostly found in Southern Benguet, there are
about 93,000 of them all over the Philippines. Their language is from the
Austronesian family of languages.
The Ifugao, on the other hand, are known for their epics and their stories, such as
the hudhud and the alim. Ifugao people have a total of four different dialects, and
are sometimes called Amganad, Kiangan, or Mayoyao. The word Ifugao means "from
the hill."

Data Source - NCIP, Benguet

Historical accounts on the earliest periods of community building in areas presently

known as Itogon show a constituency which progressed into a conglomerate of
ethno linguistic groups who migrated into the current administrative territories more
for economic reasons.
Based on the tabulated accounts of immigration by the researchers of the
Development Plans of the nine Barangays that constitute the current political
territory of Itogon, the earliest known settlers were ibalois.
The early settlers are also known to have predated the arrival of the Spanish
colonial missions into the Cordillera and have already established indigenous
systems that govern their use of natural resources, various social cycles and
structures that make up these communities economic, political and cultural
landscape.
The ibalois were soon followed by the kankaneys (who are known to hail from
Northern Benguet) and the kalanguyas of Buguias and Tinoc.
One ethnic group who earned recognition by the National Commission on
Indigenous Communities (NCIP) as an ancestral domain owner have established
settlements in the southern territories of Itogon bordering Pangasinan and Nueva
Vizcaya. This group is known as the Iowaks or Iwoks who occupy a part Barangay
Tinongdan.
The migration of the kankanaey into Itogon can be attributed to the significant
economic opportunities brought about by the gold mines. Most of the established
kankanaey communities in Itogon are concentrated around established gold mining
quarries and by most accounts on their ancestry, they immigrated from the mining
communities of Mankayan in Northern Benguet.

It was only during the pre - World War 2 American colonial period that other ethnic
groups immigrated into Itogon to fill the demand of the rapidly expanding mining
industry that was established by American prospectors.
The knowledge systems instituted by the early indigenous constituents of (the
community presently known as) Itogon to regulate the different affairs of
community governance can be closely compared to other cultural systems of ibaloi,
kalanguya and kankaney communities throughout the province of Benguet. Most of
these knowledge systems are still in practice up to present.
Indigenous Practices in Resource use and management
Knowledge systems related to forest resource use

Forest areas are subdivided by their distinct or dominant vegetation:

Kalasan/kalahan refers to the upland montane broadleaf forest predominated by oaks
and figs densely cover much of the upland mountain areas usually above 1200
MASL. This area is also known as mossy or cloud forests due to its high air-moisture
level and abundance of bryophytes, epiphytes, lichens and various fungi.
Belbel refers to pine trees (or dominant forests) that are found in the lower midland
altitudes commonly occurring between the upland montane and lowland
broadleaves.
Kaptangan refers to the warm lowland plains below the pine tree ecotone dominated
by lowland tropical rainforest broadleaves, also known as dipterocarps.
These forests (plant, water and animal life) are resource bases for the various
necessities that are essential in community sustenance and hence, regulatory
measures are enforced as the basic engine of resource exploitation and use. These
various control mechanisms established by the early settlers of the area is also
closely related to the various social structures that they have instituted.
Hunting, harvesting or extracting of any forest-based product requires prudence and
proper consent from the ethereal guardians through prayers, libation and offering.
They also enforced territorial boundaries to control incursive or invasive tendencies
of neighbor communities by instituting alliances and agreements (among neighbors)
to secure a sustainable use of these resources and be able to ward-off undesirable
parties.
Felling of trees for lumber must only be limited to the volume required for the
purpose lest it be deemed as extravagant and wasteful. It is said that dire
consequences emanate from bad resource-use practices and all extractive activities
must have an equalizing gesture of gratitude through offering, prayer and reverent
regard.
These extractive practices include all methods of hunting and fishing, wild fruit
gathering, logging and firewood collection including mineral extraction.
Zone management practices of forest crops and agro-forest areas

1. Pastolan/pastol: This is a zone designated for large cattle ranching. These graze
lands are geographically bounded from agricultural areas like rice fields and
orchards and are collectively managed through agreements forged between the
herd owners and the community.Fence lines, also known as baoks further zonify the
grazing area by subdividing it into smaller grazing fields to limit cattle from
overgrazing and allowing grazed out lots to regenerate.Baoks also delineate the rice
fields and protecting them from herds that may be attracted by the growing rice.
These fence lines are usually built by continuously collecting strewn rocks and

boulders and piling them to make at least a meter wide fence of considerable height
that cows could not jump over.
Another barrier is what is commonly called a pasbol a constricting gate that can
allow person to pass through but narrow enough to keep cows from passing. These
keep trails from being destroyed by the hooves of a mobile herd. Spring wells used
by the community are also protected by installing these barriers.
2. Uma: This is generally an agro-forest area designated for supplementary crops for
household use or cash-crops. Umas are established usually below the Pine forests
but has now evolved and umasmay be seen at elevations within the mossy or cloud
forests.
Traditional Umasor swidden farms are established in second growth forests that
have been allowed to regenerate and recondition its topsoil after a fallow period of
two to five years and the saplings or regenerative cover is cleared for the cropping
season.
Umasare usually worked on at the beginning of the dry season by clear cutting and
burning the dried material. Crops could range from corn, cow pea, bananas or
common root crops like camote, cassava or ube. These crops usually have an
annual harvesting period and may continue for as long as the soil condition allows a
good yield. Owners of these Umas may be transient farmers who need the extra
acreage to compensate their needs as they may not own rice farms
3. Baeng or Baengan: these are the woodlots situated near the household. These lots
are usually planted with fruit bearing trees that are essential to the household.
4. Payew or Papayew: The rice fields. There are the ricefields that are bounded
immediately by house lots or the baenganand there are rice fields that extend into
the forest buffer zones. Some rice fields are owned by families from other
communities but are duly recognized and respected by the local constituents. These
rice fields may be rented or be let by the owners to an interest party however, these
arrangements differ from the common landlord-tenant relationship as usually known
in the vast lowland farms.
5. Hunting, (in indigenous thought) is a livelihood and would require prudence
from the huntsman and due respect to the guardians of the forests. Hunting for
sport or for selfish reasons can cause dire consequences to the person or his/her
immediate kin.
Indicators of zone management practices in indigenous knowledge systems can also
be traced to the way particular tools are utilized and how rituals are performed.
Knowledge of the annual weather patterns are also essential indicators in resource
use and management.
Weather patterns: Itogon farmers, uma owners and hunters are deeply aware of

detailed characteristics of the annual weather that cyclically occur. These

knowledge systems include the seasonal onset and outset of wild fruits, the
different varieties of edible plants and fungi found on the forest floor, mating
seasons of wild animals. The arrival of various avian species are also indicators of
the onset or end of each season. Knowledge of the seasons also provides vital
information for what are the best varieties and species to plant or to prey on. One
example is the Puwek ni Kiling (storm of the kiling), a tropical storm that occurs late

in the year and usually coincides with the immigration of the bird locally known as
kiling.A brightly shining moon with a rainbow encircling or a bloody red sunset it
may indicate a coming storm.
Knowledge of Indicator species of plants or fungi that show signs of the various
annual seasons are also well ingrained into the indigenous knowledge of the igorot
huntsman, cow herder or farmer. Countless surveys have already been conducted
by various interest groups on a multitude of medicinal plants that abound in the
igorots territories.
Customary rituals: Most Igorot rituals are well stitched into the annual events that

influence fortune and tribulations revolving around the igorots welfare. These belief
systems precipitate the particular (prescriptive) rituals as responses to such annual
events. As for instance, the events behind the performance of a pechit may be
cause for one family to suffer from an unexplained illness and thus a mansep-okis
summoned to seek the cause behind the illness. The mambunong is called to
perform the prayers upon the offerings as prescribed.The pechitmay also be
performed as thanksgiving for the good fortunes that may have blessed a family. In
these two instances where the pechitis performed, it is very important to strictly
follow the prescriptions as to the number of animals to be butchered as offerings to
the guardian spirits or upon those that cause such misfortunes.The foundations of
these rituals spell the ingrained relationships between the mortal, resourceconsuming kind and their ancestors and spirits that own and guard such precious
resources.These belief systems also show the Itogon Igorots world view on resource
utilization as being that of a steward or a tenant who is only allowed to partake of
such natural resources while having the ingrained responsibility of also conserving
and protecting such from extravagant and wasteful exploitation. Sustainability of
resources is reflected in this view. There is the consciousness of providing even for
the unborn generation while ensuring the survival of the present generation. This
survival is sustained by staying faithful to the ways of the past generation in their
utilization of the resources that come from goodness of the spirits and the
ancestors. Rituals of offering to the spirits when they exploit the natural resources
(i.e. water and forests) kept them from getting more than what they actually
needed.
INDIGENOUS IMPLEMENTS USED IN RANGELAND COW HERDING
Silo The cowboys noose usually strung from a two meter pole with its lasso

hanging at one end. A good handler can easily snare a head and the noose would
tighten and lock around its neck or the horns.
Another trick employed with the silois to set up a sizeable noose among the low
brush found along the cowpaths. One end of the lasso is knotted tout around a deep
rooted brush a peg made from a tree branch and droven deep enough to keep the
snared animal from pulling it off.
Bitad A single strand harness of about an inch wide made from tanned cowhide. It
is usually used as an alternative to rope. It is said to be the best tout line to hold
down the wildest cow or bull by snaring one of its feet with it. Guiding a wild cow
with the bitad is usually by controlling the movement of the hind foot where the
bitad is harnessed on.
Busal The muzzle commonly crafted from rope. A well measured busal could easily
keep an animal well within good reign and keep a herder from getting dragged by a
wayward cow or bull.

Marka, malka> A branding iron usually used for registry purposes. Branding irons

bear the distinct mark of the herd owner. This implement is registered in the local
municipal registrar and cattle bearing this distinctive mark are known to be
belonging to an individual herd operator with appropriate legal recognition. Cows
are skillfully singed by this marka during branding activities.
Etak The universal bolo.
Ta-ed> A short handy knife usually used in the kitchen by women
Kalapyaw A rain coat hewn from grass or (in the lowlands) coconut leaves
Eket/gwanet Stranded rope usually from abaca hemp, silag, bamban or plastic and
nylon.
TABOOS Pejew Loud and whimsical talk of what part of the animal is good to eat
during or when catching an animal enrages the spirits who oversee the herds
upkeep. They appropriately alarm the animal and it would be almost impossible to
snare it. If it is snared, it often will not move and may even just lay still. It would be
impossible and ridiculous for a team to carry it. Unceremonious slaughter of an
animal in the range due to imprudent and foolish behavior may cause dire
consequences.
INDIGENOUS TERMS OF PLACES AND SPOTS IN RANGELAND MANAGEMENT
Bawek/Baok A physical barrier that keeps animals from intruding into other

designate areas in the rangeland.

Coral A physical enclosure, usually natural enclosures a fenced-in structure where
animals are driven into and entrapped for various purposes like branding and
snaring individual heads for he market.
Asinan An often used gathering area where cows are herded-to by blowing a horn
or yelling asin for purposes of periodically providing supplementary salt licking
that is essential to the overall health of cattle.
Pastol/Estancia the common designation for grazing land.
Nanpitdawan A usual waterhole made by the carabaoss wallowing in muddy fields.
These eventually become periodic watering areas until it dries up.
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE IN GOLD MINING

Mining in the Philippines is said to be about ten centuries old. Written history says it
had long preceded the colonial periods of the Philippines.
Upon the arrival in of Spanish colonialists in the 16th century it is said that the
conquistadores saw, worn in abundance, as normal attire, by people whom they
thought to be primitive gold hewn ornaments. They did not know that as early as
the 10th century, these supposedly primitive people had been participating in an
Asian trade in which gold figured as both a commodity and a medium of exchange.
It is said that Chinese and Japanese traders before the advent of the Spanish
conquest knew of the mines of Mankayan and were said to even have (at one time
before the discovery of the mines by the Spanish conquest) a direct hand in the
operation of extracting and processing of ore.
A Spanish expedition in 1623, (after a series of earlier expeditions failed) records
some description of the the Antamok gold fields but this visit was said to have been
met by fierce opposition from the Igorots.
One detailed observation of an early missionary who sought the mining
communities of Itogon by tediously ascending the Agno river tells of deep tunneling
methods being employed in Antamok and even during those early times, the igorot
miners had a well in-depth knowledge of exploration, digging with the crudest (but

most appropriate) of tools and having institutionalized systems of ownership and

inheritance.
Various indigenous terminologies in the different steps of mineral processing may
be found in the dialects of the Igorot miners. Social institutions are also instilled in
the cultural fabric of the indigenous mining community and most of these rites of
passage are still in good use up to these current times.
Various conservation systems are also observed most especially the recirculation of
waste water and recovery of mine waste for reprocessing. Other social structures
like sharing, keeping profits and investing are also deeply instilled into the culture of
the indigenous miner.
TERMINOLOGIES OF METHOD, SYSTEMS AND MANAGEMENT
Naba: The general term for unprocessed ore. Ore that is extracted from the by

mining is called naba. Extraction of naba may be in the form of panag usok or
tunneling or extracting them through abucaya low impact method of strip mining.
Balkes: Placer mining using sluice boxes and channeling of waterways along sand
bars and gravel pits.
Sayo: Gold panning in its simplest form. Sayo is also used in exploration, sampling
pay dirt, alluvial deposits, river sand bars and gravel pits.
Abucay: This may also be a form of naba but are usually found on shallow surface
outcrops usually weathering extrusive basalt bedrock. Abucay can be worked on by
young men or teenagers who are not employed in the mines by other reasons.
Elder, able bodied men are usually employed or would preferably work on tunnels
as yields from abucay can be very low and working on its ore is often not
economical.
Usok: The tunneling method of mining. The method entails a long term investment
plan requiring usokowners to provide supply for the mine workers. Partnership
agreements are forged and work assignments are well designated with none airing
grievances of unfair labor load.Panag usok requires experience, skill and a lot of
courage to endure the long hours in usually squalid conditions and dog-house like
confines. Dangerous exposures to toxic gas that may suddenly gush out from a
collapsed dig or slowly accumulate to lethal levels can happen at any moment. Only
skill and experience can save a work team from such exposures. Again, only the
exclusive skill and knowledge of the seasoned miner can know when timber props
ought to be replaced or be put in place to keep tunnel ceilings from
collapsing.Vents, adits, raises and columns are made for safety measures inside the
usok.
Advances (abante)in the tunnels depth are often by controlled blasting or by
manual pick and hammer. The lode or naba is loaded onto a wheeled bagon-- a
modification of the classic mine rail wagon.
Naba from dog-holes are carefully loaded into sacks and painstakingly dragged out.
Mineral processing
Crushing and milling. Crushing extracted naba is initially by hand using a sledge

hammer and a sizeable rubber ring usually about two inches high and eight inches
in diameter. The raw nabais placed onto this ring and is hammered to bits. The ring
keeps the ore in place and not scattering its valuable contents in the hammering
process. A modification of this process is by using a fabricated hammer mill
(replicated from the jaw crusher that is used in large scale milling).

Grinding. Traditional fine grinding methods use the gaid, manually grinding the

crushed ore between two heavy abrasive stones that are shaped (by continuous
use) into a boat-like mortar and a ball-like pestle. The modification is a miniaturized
replica of the conventional rod or ball mill.
Gold Recovery. After milling naba into a sticky dough-like texture, ore is washed from
the mill and sluiced. Sluice boxes are fitted with either a woolen blanket or a jute
sack. The fine concentrated (naba) ore sometimes referred to as linangis further
soaked or leached in a pond that is either mixed with natural solutes that enhances
the wetting qualities of water and enhancing the separation of metals from the nonmetallic elements in the ore. This process of leaching also uses herbal preparations
like sunflower leaves or calamansi into the muck.
Modern leaching uses either potassium cyanide or calcium cyanide as wetting
agent. The leaching process can take a month to let most of the metallic particles
separate from the clay. Traditional small-scale gold producers separate the gold
from the ore by means of dayasor yakayak, this is by carefully winnowing the rock
dust from the heavier metallic particles. A more cheaper and dangerous method is
soaking the final product onto mercury -all metallic particles win into the mercury
and the non-metallic particles remain with the wash water. The use of mercury is
not encouraged or even totally banned in traditional mining.
Another process of gold recovery can be done on mine tailings as a method of reprocessing what is supposed to be thrown away. This process commonly referred to
as lugaba is by recovering as much tailings and leaching these into a chemical
mixture for a given time to further crack the remaining soluble materiel and
concentrate the metallic contents.
Lugaba requires extensive experience in evaluating the minute characteristics of
the mine tailings in order to maximize the profitability of recovering gold.
Gold Purification Panagpuro. The traditional process is by using the common tools in
blacksmithinga furnace (pugon) a crusicble (gangi), borax and a lot of patience.
In the process of gold recovery, it is important to know that work designations do
not discriminate gender. Roles of women in the gold recovery process, usually
beginning from the panaggiling stage is equally important as the miner and mucker
in the usok.
Women are more involved (but not limited to) in the ore cracking process up to the
purification process where most known and skilled handlers of the gangiare women.
Men nevertheless are not limited to the initial stages of gold ore extraction work as
they can also do purification work.
Cleaning up in the pogonwork area is a tedious and meticulous process, carefully
cleaning the surrounding area of the furnace, gathering all the ash and left-over
charcoal, crushing all the used crucibles and reprocessing these wastes for residual
gold. This process is often designated to the apprentices who would happily do it to
upgrade their skills and earn the reward of owning the recovered gold in the
process.
When the gold is assayed and readied for the market, usually all the participants in
the process are enjoined to keep together in vigilant watch until the gold is sold.
Proceeds from the sale is initially kept while the process of accounting of
expenditures is taken up. Expenses of the supply is totally reimbursed and
appropriately complimented by a previously agreed (purcinto). What is left is
equally shared. Win or loss, the gang is kept conscious of the whole process of
turning rock into gold.
SOCIAL PRACTICES

SAGAOK - This is sometimes compared to a practice of social taxation where an usok

of fortunate yield (tama)is opened to other miners (traditionally elderly men or

women) for a given period for them to extract whatever the bounty that they may
be shared Strict protocol also must be observed in sagaokas not to disturb, destroy
or unsettle the guardian spirits of the workplace; as like the forests, farms and
rivers, the mines is also regarded as a fortunate endowment upon the workers who
toil; and to abuse or utter any disrespect must not be tolerated.
Some tunnel operators who may provide sagaoknowadays opt to dole out cash
instead so as to secure the tunnels from unscrupulous activities.
NGILIN Usually a given period of rest and abstinence due to unfortunate
circumstances or events that may have stricken a member of work gang.
Sometimes a ngilincan be community-wide as it may be deemed so by the
community leadership. Strict observance of the ngilinkeeps gang members from
work for even over a week or sometimes a month.
Strict observance of diet Gang members are told abstain from everything that is
nalangsior of repugnant smell: Canned fish, dog meat, cat meat, goatmeat,
horsemeat and the like. This observance is enforced until the end of the mining
season, usually when an amount of profitable yield is produced.
TABOOS - Illicit sex, drinking and rowdiness in the work place, loud rambunctious
behavior, mocking and ridicule of instituted beliefs.
Any behavior that is deemed offensive to the spirits that keep the gold is strictly
culled out of the work place. Any member who breaches protocol is expeditiously
taken out of the gang and banned from the work place.
INDIGENOUS PRACTICES IN AGRICULTURE

The Benguet Igorot is regarded as having a deep and intricate knowledge in

agriculture that is fine tuned with the seasons that annually beset his or her
community.
Physical structures like irrigation canals and ditches, rice terraces and swiddens,
woodlots and orchards, residential houses and granaries are evidences of a well
established society that posses a well rooted past of its varied methods of
managing life-supporting resources at levels of sustainability.
Agriculture also requires optimum use of available resources that contribute to
maximum crop yield. This include soil fertility enhancing material that is mostly
found various organic waste that is found in farms livestock manure, rice hay and
other mineral enriching compounds. This practice of utilizing organic inputs for soil
conditioning are inherent traits in the igorot agricultural system.
The constituents of Itogons agricultural community still practice resource
management systems that were imbibed from their forebears. The wisdom of such
practice of conservation may be surmised by a local belief that if one partakes of
the yield from the first crop, you can never feel hungry, no matter how little the
harvest maybe.
In the whole cropping cycle, (as for instance, the method of rice faming) requires
the knowledge of preemptive control to ensure security of crops from potentially
destructive agents.
In the whole rice cropping season, farmers also take good notice of the various
onsets of avian migration and climatic events that make up the annual seasons.
The arrival of the killing brings the rainy season to its near end but nevertheless
signal strong and heavy rains that usually grace the end of the tropical monsoon
and the arrival of the northeastern cold front.

The arrival of the beshing necessitates installation of scarecrows and traps in the
fields that already nearing harvest as the leaves yield into a robust golden display.
In the midseason, rice field dikes are well inspected and cleaned, (gaik) rows are
weeded out (kamas) so that rats would not burrow along its dikes and weeds would
not compete with the rice for the needed nutrition from the soil. The water level is
controlled to keep the paddies from drying. These tedious task of tending falls onto
the responsibilities of the rice farmer that sees his individual participation in his
community as a duty more than a task. Community involvement in almost all the
affairs of the individual member is a common occurrence. Communal participation
in harvest through the kamal ensures that harvests are on time and cost -efficient
as the farmer is required to only to feed the assisting party.
Kamal is instituted cooperative work that the community is obliged to fulfill inorder
to avail of cheap cooperative assistance in most of the heavy tasks of production.
Cooperative work is also an important aspect in local governance as most tasks in
maintaining common communal structures and administrative territories as like
forest areas, pastures and watersheds fall onto the individual duties of the
constituents.
Physical structures like irrigation canals and ditches, rice terraces and swiddens,
woodlots and orchards, residential houses and granaries are evidences of a well
established society that posses a well rooted past of its varied methods of
managing life-supporting resources.
Cultural practices like the peshit,correlate periods of communal feasts and
thanksgiving festivities with fortunate harvests or a generous surplus of livestock
that can be butchered as sacrificial offering along with ceremonial wine for libation
for the spirits of ancestors, the guardians of the forests, water and the animals; to
Kabunian the creator
Agriculture also requires optimum use of available resources that contribute to
maximum crop yield. This include soil fertility enhancing material that is mostly
found various organic waste that is found in farms livestock manure, rice hay and
other mineral enriching compounds. This practice of utilizing organic inputs for soil
conditioning are inherent traits which is also present in the agricultural system of
Itogon.
LAWS:
G.R. No. 3241
The accused, an Igorot, was convicted in the Court of First Instance of Nueva
Vizcaya of the crime of unlawful detention, under article 481 of the Penal Code,
which punishes "any private person who shall lock up or detain another or in any
way deprive him of his liberty."
An Igorot orphan girl called Gamaya, 13 years of age was taken from the possession
of her grandmother, Ultagon, in the rancheria of Anao, in the Province of Nueva
Vizcaya, by one Buyag, also an Igorot; whether this was done with or against the
will of the grandmother is not altogether clear in the evidence. We accept the
version least favorable to the accused that of the child who testified that in the
daytime Buyag came to the house and took her away, although the grandmother
objected, saying "Do not take off that little girl," but not speaking when she went
away. The man brought her to his house, about a half mile distant, where she was
not confined, but on the contrary was allowed to go back alone to her grandmother,
with whom she would spend a little while, returning the same day. She testified that
on last evening, the grandmother was angry and did not wish her to go, but did not

prevent her. According to her recollection she remained with Buyag, in the vicinity
of her grandmother's residence, some two or three months.
Buyag testified that more than two years before, in order to help the family after the
father's death and for the purpose of keeping the child at home, he had bought her
for three pigs, twenty-five hens, two measures of rice, and a cloak worth two pigs,
from her mother, with whom she remained until the third year, when (her mother
presumably having died) she was brought away by one Eusebio, at the instance of
himself and another Igorot named YogYog, who had furnished part of the purchase
price. Together they instructed Eusebio to sell her for a carabao and 50 pesos.
Eusebio, in the Province of Nueva Vizcaya, and sold her to the accused, Tomas
Cabanag, for 100 pesos.
In respect to this last sale, the stories of Tomas, Antonia, and the girl substantially
agree. Cabanag had previously been instructed to buy a girl by one Mariano Lopez
of Caoayan, to whom after a few days Gamaya was delivered in return for the price,
which appears to have been 200 pesos. In his hands she remained for about two
months until she was taken away by an officer of Constabulary. Afterwards this
prosecution was instituted. Although Gamaya made objection to leaving the house
of Cabanag she appears to have gone without actual constraint and at no time in
any of these places was she physically restrained of her liberty; she was not under
lock or key or guard, went into the street to play, returned at will, and was not
punished or ill used in any way, but was employed about the household tasks; in
short, she appears to have been treated by Mariano Lopez as a household servant
and to have been well earned for while in the custody of the accused.
It is proved in the case that it is an Igorot custom to dispose of children to pay the
debts of their fathers, the transaction in the native language being termed a sale,
and the defendant appears to have engaged in the business of buying in Nueva
Vizcaya children to sell in the lowlands of Isabela.
In his sentence, the judge below said:
However much may be said in extension of the alleged custom among the ignorant
Igorots of seizing and abducting children for the sale and even in selling their own
children voluntarily, there is nothing in all this to palliate or extenuate the conduct
of the accused in this case.
The Congress of the United States has declared that human slavery shall not exist in
these Islands and while no law, so far as I can discover, has yet been passed either
defining slavery in these Island of fixing a punishment for those who engage in this
inhuman practice as dealers, buyers, sellers or derivers, the facts established in this
case show conclusively that the child Gamaya was by the defendant forcibly and by
fraud, deceit and threats unlawfully deprived of her liberty and that his object and
purpose was an unlawful and illegal one, to wit, the sale of the child, for money, into
human slavery. This constitutes the crime of detencion ilegal, defined and penalized
by article 481 of the Penal Code and this court finds the defendant guilty and
charged in the information.
There are neither extenuating nor aggravating circumstances found in the case.
The court therefore sentence the accused, Tomas Cabanag, to eight years and one
day of prision mayor and to pay the costs of this instance with the accessories of
the law.
This sentence can not be sustained. There can be no unlawful detention under
article 481 of the Penal Code without confinement of or restraint of person, such as

did not exist in the present case. (U.S. vs. Herrera, March 28, 1904, 3 Phil. Rep.,
515.)
Under the complaint for this crime it is possible to convict for coaccion upon proof of
the requisites of that offense (U.S. vs. Quevengco, 2 Phil. Rep., 412), but among
those requisites is that of the violence through force or intimidation, even under the
liberal rule of our jurisprudence (U.S. vs. Quevengco, supra; U.S. vs. Vega, 2 Phil.
Rep., 167; U.S. vs. Ventosa,1 4 Off. Gaz, 573); consequently the charge of coaccion
against the accused can not be sustained upon the evidence.
The Penal Code, chapters 2 and 3, title articles 484 to 490, provides punishment for
those who carry off children under 7 years of age or those who devote children
under 16 years of age to certain hazardous occupations; but none of these articles
can apply to the case before us, except article 486, which punishes him who
induces a child over 7 years of age to abandon the house of its parent or guardian.
Under this article it is possible that on full proof of the facts, Buyag might be held,
but not the accused. It was not design of the law to prevent parents or grandparents
from devoting their children to customary work, nor from receiving compensation
for such work in wages or otherwise. Such agreements binding out minors are
sanctioned in most countries, usually however, subject to stipulations for their
welfare expressly prescribed by statute. In the absence of proof of what the
agreement of the parties or the custom of the people called for in respect of the
use, treatment, and care of the child, the term of her service and her final
disposition, and particularly in respect of the maintenance of her relations with her
grandmother and the prospect of an ultimate return to her, it is not possible to hold
that the arrangement was a criminal or even an illicit one. The name applied to it by
the custom of the Igorots is not enough to establish that in truth and in effect it was
a sale, or anything more than a contract for services. While there is thing more than
a contract for services. While there is much in this practice to condemn, we do not
feel it to be our province to strain the law in order to bring this local custom of this
mountain people to an end. This condition may present matter for the consideration
of the legislature but not for action by the criminal courts. Not even the abhorrent
species of traffic apparently carried on by the accused justifies a sentence not
authorized by law.
The judge below quotes the Bill of Rights of the Philippines contained in the act of
Congress of July 1, 1902, declaring that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist in said Islands." This constitutional provision is self-acting whenever the
nature of a case permits and any law or contract providing for servitude of a person
against his will is forbidden and is void. For two obvious reasons, however, it fails to
reach the facts before us:
First. The employment or custody of a minor with the consent or sufferance of the
parents or guardian, although against the child's own will, can not be considered
involuntary servitude.
Second. We are dealing not with a civil remedy but with a criminal charge, in
relation to which the Bill of Rights defines no crime and provides no punishment. Its
effects can not be carried into the realm of criminal law without an act of the
legislature.
It is not unnatural that existing penal laws furnish no punishment for involuntary
servitude as a specific crime. In the Kingdoms of the Spanish Peninsula, even in
remote times, slavery appears to have taken but a surface root and to have been
speedily cast out, the institution not having been known therein for centuries. It is

only in relation to Spain's possessions in the American Indies that we find

regulations in respect to slavery. In general they do not apply in their terms to the
Philippine Islands where the ownership of man by his fellow-man, wherever it
existed, steadily disappeared as Christianity advanced. Among the savage tribes in
remote parts, such customs as flourished-were not the subject of legislation but
were left to be dealt with by religious and civilizing influences. Such of the Spanish
laws as touched the subject were ever humane and radical. In defining slavery, law
1, title 21 of the fourth Partida, calls it "a thing against the law of nature;" and rule
2, title 34 of the seventh Partida says: "It is a thing which all men naturally abhor."
These were the sentiments of the thirteenth century.
To sum up this case, there is no proof of slaver or even of involuntary servitude,
inasmuch as it has not been clearly shown that the child has been disposed of
against the will of her grandmother or has been taken altogether out of her control.
If the facts in this respect be interpreted otherwise, there is no law applicable here,
either of the United States or of the Archipelago, punishing slavery as a crime. The
child was not physically confined or restrained so as to sustain a conviction for
illegal detention, nor are the acts of the accused brought within any of the
provisions of the law for the punishment of offenses against minors; consequently
the conviction in this case must be reversed, in accordance with the
recommendation of the Attorney-General, with costs de oficio, and the prisoner is
acquitted.
After the expiration of ten days let judgment be entered in accordance herewith and
ten days thereafter let the case be remained to the court from whence it came for
proper action. So ordered.

What is it in Igorot Culture that should be passed on to the Next

Generation: As Perceived
If culture is dynamic as affected by migration, education, religion, etc., one day the
Igorot Culture shall have lost its identity unless this generation makes effort to pass
some aspects of the Igorot culture to the next generation.
As such, foremost, the identifiable spirituality of the Igorots should be passed on.
The spirituality of the Igorots manifested in different ways, in different places and
different times in accordance with its applicability in terms of specific ethnic beliefs
is what matters. Spirituality as practiced by the older generation of Igorots is
acknowledging the Supernatural Being or Creator with or without performing a ritual
at any time yet giving due respect to whatever religious affiliation he belongs to.
The Creator is referred as God, the Almighty, the Powerful, the source of life, the
Creator of all things termed in different local/ethnic names like Kabunian/Lumauig,
Alawagan to the Isnags, Nintotongcho to the Bontocs, Adikaila to the Kankanaeys,
Apo Dios, Manakabalin, Allah, etc. Being spiritual or believing in the value of
spirituality, redounds to respect of land, bodies of water or the environment in
general which is anchored on the belief that a spirit or spiritual deity present in
every living creature controls its life per se. The belief in the presence of spirits by
the power of a Supernatural Being is a manifestation that there is God.
Secondly, on matters of the Igorot as a social being, the next generation for identity
should make effort to learn and understand Igorot rituals expressed in cultural
dances, songs, chants, traditional choreography, literary arts, etc. with the proper

instrument/gadgets, costumes as well as their meanings, origin, and what each

color, design/icons symbolize or represent. The originality and uniqueness of every
ethnic culture in the Igorot communities should further be learned and understood
parallel to other cultures where they are immersed, before the original Igorot
Culture gets lost. Being knowledgeable on all those mentioned above would avoid
misinterpretation or negative impact and instead would lead to the voluntary
appreciation of the Igorot culture.
Another identity of the Igorots which should be passed on to the next generation is
whatever applicable indigenous knowledge and appropriate technologies relevant to
making the most of whatever least resources for healthy living, or long life.
As a whole, the second generation before making the necessary
innovation/adjustment, should understand first what it means to be an Igorot
defined by culture, what it means to be a Christian Igorot defined by one's spiritual
beliefs and unique traditions, and what it means to be a successful social being
defined by one's ideology acceptable in a global society anywhere around the world.
By Marjorie Lev
"Inayan" is my favorite because it is a kind of discipline from your parents that goes
on from generation to generation.
Every time a child starts to talk and understand what is good and bad like if they
pinch, fight or bite other children, they always say, Ene inayan na into no innikikan
da abes ken sik-a! The same as they grow older. If they lie or steal, inayan is
always there. It is also a differentiation to know right from wrong.
In short, for me, it is the "Golden Rule" of the Igorots.
Finally, I am thinking a lot about how modern life changed most generations these
days, how we have in many ways lost our way morally.
Secondly, the "BagBaga" it goes hand in hand with "Inayan." BagBaga is an advice
not only from our elders, parents, but also from anybody who wants to share there
knowledge, experience bad or good especially how they change their lives, how
they became successful.
I have an uncle that every time we are gathered to my aunties or my uncles
houses if he is around, he always tells us, You know it is not only the professionals
who are successful or make good in their lives, anybody as long as you have a goad
and a determination to reach that goal you want, if there is a will there is a way.
Look at me I'm not a professional but I made it." This uncle I'm talking about was
the late Bernan Capuyan from Ambasing.
By Lolit Hafner
My opinion in answer to the above question is related to my report before on
bicultural marriage.
Since cultural practices are made meaningful with the use of own language, I
believe teaching our younger generation to speak and understand our dialects is
important. Inability to communicate in the vernacular will limit access to our Igorot
culture since our literatures are mostly orally passed from generation to generation
(rhymes, chants, legends, fables, songs and stories). Teaching them to speak in the
dialect doesnt need to compete with their formal education. It can start from
nursery level and would develop as they grow up hearing the pure language at
home. This may be in form of bedtime stories on Igorot legends, fables, suitable
stories of childhood experiences on how we lived back home in our communities or

traditional practices. This can be followed by some written documentations or books

about Igorot culture. Having knowledge of some backgrounds about our culture,
they will be the ones asking more questions as they grow up or get exposed during
their immersion in our ilis.
As I have previously written, knowing the language helps to access to the culture. It
is therefore our responsibility to teach our children our language as one way of
passing part of our Igorot culture we hold dear.
By Violeta Passerini
Some of the young generation were born in Igorotlandia and came here with their
parents, who came to work, and some were born here through multicultural
marriage. Those families who are lucky could go for a vacation yearly, once in two
years or after five years, etc. These young generation are also lucky when they
could stay in the ili and see how our elders live. And considering the taken
vacation here in Europe, its very short to stay at home.
The connection of this to the What should we pass to the next generation is just
simple. While most of us write about our culture and tradition, I would also like to
say that pictures are also nice to pass to our children.
The Igorot way of living changed through modern technology which reached our
provinces. The hearth was replaced by Shellane that its impossible to hung and
make kini-ing. The camote or tugi is now seldom cultivated. The reason is our
parents are already old to do this manual work and the either the children are in the
cities or abroad to seek for better living, or camotes are replaced by vegetables
crops.
Through the ahente or museum collection our native art crafts are also
disappearing. Its a pity that some of our parents dont know the value of these
things.
When we have these pictures, we have also an evidence when one day our children
confront us with the question How did you live before in Bontoc, Ifugao, etc.?
Whats the use of these things? How do you use it? Do my grandparents still use
them? And when we show these pictures and our children ask questions, Im sure it
will be a nice moment to recall the past and tell them also about our culture.
The late Hon. Masferr documented the Igorots through his photography but I know.
that there are still pictures which we possess since the 60s or 70s not taken by
Masferr but from a friend or relatives.
This is already late for the 3rd ICBE documentation but when members of ICBE
would help me to do this, then we could present the collection in the next
consultation.
By Peter Agnaonao
I would like to answer this question by enumerating some of our Igorot values that
are deeply rooted in our culture.
First, is the Inayan concept that emanates from our beliefs.
Second, is the Ob-obbo, which is one of the expression of solidarity.
Third, is the traditional governance of the Ili like the recognition of the wisdom of
the council of elders, the practice of tongtongan in settling a conflict within the
community, and the traditional practice of managing and conserving the natural
resources.

From our humanities and arts, I think that our music, dances and artefacts are still
worth passing.
Another thing that I would like to suggest that should continue to be passed is the
concept of the Dap-ay. This could certainly take a new form like this ICBE,
organisation of Cordillerans, BIBAK, IGO and other forms of Igorot associations that
makes itself a venue to:
1) discuss issues affecting us and our Igorotland,
2) talk about problems and find solutions or remedies and
3) pass to the next generation, our Igorot culture.

By Yvonne Belen
During my childhood in Bontoc, I had experiences on several aspects of the Igorot
culture. But I have taken most for granted. Now that I write on what have to be
passed on, I want to share some I distinctly recall.
One is strict adherence to community tradition. I refer especially to tengaw, a day or
days designated by village leaders as community holiday.
Since I consider myself a student of Igorot culture, I requested for information from
Caridad Fair-od. She wrote:
Tengaw is a community or village holiday. On the day of a tengaw, no one is allowed
to enter or go out the village the moment a signal is announced through village
criers and with knotted plant symbols at strategic entry places. The purpose of
tengaw is to avoid any spiritual disturbance that might be the cause or reason for
any misfortune or the non-realization of the very purpose of the community ritual
performed.
Tengaw is observed after a community ritual is performed. The tengaw could be
after the following rituals with their common purposes: 1) Victory or loss over a
tribal tribal war, performed to acknowledge and thank Kabunyan and other spirits,
2) Kanyaw in celebration of harvest or the symbolical sowing of palay seeds,
performed to acknowledge the Creator and to wish for abundance and prosperity, 3)
Cleansing ritual after a bad omen was observed in the community, performed to
pray for divertion of the bad to something good.
In the western municipalities of Mountain Province, they call it obaya not tengaw.
The procedure and purposes are the same. The difference is that the western
people or iAplai do not have ritual after a tribal war. Among the Bontocs and
Sadangas, the most nairut is the tengaw after a tribal war.
I only realized the effects of tengaw the last time I went with my family to Bontoc.
We were there in December 2002 and decided to go to Mainit to see the hot springs.
But we were refused entry because the community had a tengaw.
We were already going up the village when the woman, at the first house we passed
by, said, You cant proceed. Its tengaw today. Didnt you see the plant with a
knot?
Yes, I did. I replied.
But I didnt know the meaning of the knot in the plant.
That means its tengaw, she told us.
Disappointed, we returned to Bontoc. While we missed the hot springs, I admire and
respect the village elders for their decision.
We had a similar experience when my family and I went to Alab. I wanted to show
them my grandparents house in Dongyuan, where I was born. We werent allowed
to go to that part of the village because they had a tengaw. Somebody died. So, I
could only show the house where I was born, from my cousins house at the
mountain opposite Dongyuan.
While we were at my cousins house, he brought out etag from the luden. Etag are
pork slices, which are kept in the dried shell of a gourd called luden. We Igorots and
Cordillerans have been practicing this method of food preservation for generations
and I think it should be passed on. The meat is free of chemicals except table salt,
which is used as the preservative.
Aside from food preservation, the Bontocs make safeng, a fermented food product.
Among the Bontocs, they call it safeng; those from Sagada call it, sabeng. From the
internet, I was able to get the recipe of Marya Tsullipas. The ingredients are spring

water, sweet potatoes, cassava, fresh corn ears, broth from boiling rice (am), ripe
frying bananas, cooked glutinous rice and small young squash (optional). These are
placed in an earthen jar and sealed. After a week, the concoction is ready and the
liquid can be drunk in a gulp or taken in sips. It is used as vinegar when cooking
fish, which the Bontocs call khachiw. Others mix the liquid from safeng with water
and use the mixture to boil sweet potatoes.
Ive tasted sweet potatoes boiled in this mixture and it has a different taste from
those boiled in plain water. I must say the taste of safeng is acquired.
The women in the ili in Bontoc and Sagada still make safeng or sabeng,
respectively, since the recipes may have been passed on by their mothers or
grandmothers. They know its nutritional benefits. It is for this reason that I think the
knowledge of making safeng should be passed on the next generation.

By Patrick A. Bounggick and Cristabel Olat-Bounggick

The Igorots are composed of different tribal groups who share some common
attributes, but also have many distinct differences in traditions, dialects and
practices. Luckily, Patrick and I belong to the same tribal group so we have a
common culture hence, we combined our report. We are both pure Igorots by origin,
but our childhood exposure was not sufficient or honestly, we did not take seriously
the importance of our culture. Thus, sharing our thoughts on this query is based on
our background, observations, experiences and exposure.
First, it is an honor to be called by our Igorot names Layugan and Dono. We
acquired our names through rituals, with chants and pinikpikan performed by our
parents. We inherited our Igorot names from our great-grandparents and quite
advantageous, for knowing the same names from others could be traced that she or
he is our relative.
Secondly, it is quite essential teaching our children our very own dialect. No matter
where we are, who we are, migrants or immigrants, our children should express
themselves speaking our dialect. The communication problem will not be only
affected but being Igorot as a whole. Our children should be aware that we have
several dialects such as Kankanaey, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Itneg, Isneg, Kalinga.
The Igorot dances are by themselves beautiful, meaningful and unique. Encourage
and teach the young generation to wear our costumes by involving them in any
activity such as presenting our dances for any invitations, joining special occasions
and attending seminars or consultations. Provide them the proper understanding of
our various weaving designs and their meanings. Hence, our dances and costumes
should be appreciated and preserved.
The second generation should be prioritized in such gatherings like seminars/
consultations sponsored by our organization, BIMAAK Europe or Igorot Global
Organization.
What are the Core Values and Other Aspects of the Igorot Culture That We Want to
Have?
By Judith Balangyao
What are they doing?.. Are they going mad talking to themselves or talking to no
one?.. Why are they doing that?...and more what's and why's. These are the kind of
questions I often asked myself every time I witness my parents, grandparents or
any alapos doing some of the Igorot rituals or ceremonies especially on occasions
like weddings, christening, burials or festivals, either sad or happy gatherings. Some
of which I take as impractical or unnecessary and some I appreciate and would
probably practice myself if I cross such situations... yes, I'm interested in
understanding or learning more about these practices.
Igorot arts, crafts and costumes are also valuable to me. It really shows how the first
Igorots are so creative to come up with all these to survive life with just very little
thing they possess. Our costumes are so original too (especially men's) that really
turn people's head back once they have an eye on them. These are stuff we could
actually bring with us wherever we go around this globe. Having them handy makes
it easier for us to explain/tell people about the place where we come from.
Most importantly is keeping the values and right conduct emphasised on us by our
Igorot parents since birth. These include respect to parents and the elderly; and the
importance of education.
Igorots may not be that showy in expressing their love (in my own opinion) but
they're genuine inside them. I grew up in a multi-cultural society back home and

even when I was still young, I already noticed the difference in children's behaviours
depending really on everyones upbringing. Igorot children would not probably kiss
their mum when they meet in the street but would definitely offer a help when
needed...even if this means carrying a sack full of kamote or saba with their
school uniform. There is really nothing worse than showing disrespect to parents or
the elderly. Another thing I appreciate so much is how Igorot parents (or most
parents) stress the importance of education on their children. They take it as the
only treasure they could pass on as an inheritance...remember the story about this
Igorot father who sold all his cows and land just to send his son to college?? Thats
just an example...and mind you, it's not an experience of just one but many.
These are all significant for me as I live and would love to pass on to younger ones
too if I will be given the chance.

What we want to share as Igorots to the next generation

By Henry Foken
Our dances
Most of all, our dances to identify us as Cordillereans. And I know that wherever we
are, when we hear the sound of our gongs, we feel at home (if we are proud to be
an Igorot, not trying to hide ourselves).
Some Igorots don't want because they don't know our dances. Or they dont
understand our culture. So its good to share these dances to our next generation.
And one more thing it seems we are one here in Europe, it is good do it here. So one
day, when our next generation goes home, they will challenge some people in
Cordillera. In my experience most of the next generation in the Cordillera doesnt
know where they come from. Because most that they know now is Born again...
That's why, its good to share these to the next generations.
Our Songs
I should say that our songs are mostly monotone. That's why most of the people
don't hear so much or are not interested at all, especially if they don't know the
language. In my experience again how to make it interesting to other people is,
mixed like modern but not modern. For example: Sing the song with guitar or other
instrument, plus in every paragraph theres a refrain. And mostly, the refrain or
chorus is the place to tell what you mean in that song.
Another is, it is the artist who also makes it attractive. One sample which I
composed is "Cordillera."