The following is displayed here courtesy of "The H. Otley Beyer Foundation Museum".

MOUNTAIN PROVINCE PEOPLE

(Adaptation of "MOUNTAIN FOLK ART")

By William Beyer

1968 

The Mountain provinces, which used to be just one big province, occupy the central knot, or most of the Cordillera Mountains of northern Luzon. It is now divided into four separate provinces: Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc (which retains the old name of Mountain Province) and Kalinga-Apayao, the northmost province and the most inaccessible. There is no motor road yet to Kabugao, the capital town of Apayao.

The latest estimated figure of the Bureau of Census for the population of the four mountain provinces projected to 1969 is 505, 200. These people are scattered in a very mountainous country of about 12,000 square miles in extent.

To date, the people of Mountain Province are still mostly non-Christians and still practice traditional customs in life and death. They are divided into five different groups or tribes: the Igorot, Ifugao, Bontoc, Kalinga and Apayao. While these tribes show considerable differences one from another, they also have certain features in common which united them in one great group that is quite distinct from the other tribes of the Philippines.

The mountain peoples are all characterized by a sedentary life and a highly developed agriculture. They live usually in villages located near or surrounded by their cultivated fields. They all have highly-developed native cultures more or less unique to themselves. A brief description of each tribes will follow. 

I was born and raised as an Ifugao and as a child used to have a fire piston, and I had a G-string, a hip bag and wore one of those brass leglets plus my good luck charm, a neck ornament of gold.

 THE IGOROTS

Let us talk first, now, of the Igorots. They occupy the province of Benguet and western Bontoc. Areas of their purest culture are Eastern Lepanto, Northwestern Benguet and the Bakung district. Flying over the mountains, one can see the beautiful rice terraces and native huts- all thatched roofed- in the Bakang district and vicinity. 

In fact the  Igorots have a highly developed agriculture, growing rice in irrigated, terraced fields. Coffee is also grown and stock-raising is an important industry. Moreover, truck-gardening is now all along the mountain trails.

Gold and copper were once mined in a primitive way, copper being smelted by means of a blow pipe. But this was long ago- let's say, before the Spanish times- and because they had  copper in the region. We have lots of tools of beaten copper made by the Igorots, from the Lepanto area where they had their copper mines. But now, the tools and equipment of copper have been replaced by modern things. Only very few copper tools are found in use today. but many of the workers in the modern gold mines in the Mountain Province are Igorots. 

The Igorots today are a short haired peaceful people, but they were once war-like head hunters. There are at least four distinct dialect groups in the Igorot group, of which two- the Kankan-ai and the Mangimbailoi- are well marked. The Igorots have a high code of morals which is closely associated with their religious beliefs. 

In their religion, the sun god and the deities of the sky world occupy the most important place. Place spirits and animal deities have an important place in their system. The Igorots have a calendar-like the northern tribes-and also a legend of the great flood. the myth of the great flood and the brother and sister who survived it is common throughout Northern Luzon ( it is  most highly developed among the Ifugaos, and is found in one of their religious prayers in the ceremony called Bukad.

The Igorots have both priests and priestesses and they perform many private and public ceremonies, both for the benefit of the great deities and for the countless minor spirits which inhabit the sacred mountains, cliffs and trees which are scattered throughout Igorot country. Ceremonies of the common people are more or less of a primitive nature, but those of the aristocracy, of wealthy men, are nearly always public and general. The greatest ceremonies are those connected with marriage, the prestige feasts which prove a man's right to the title of nobility.

THE BONTOCS

The inhabitants of Bontoc Province, or the Mountain province ( just to retain the old name ) are a people quite distinct from the others in Luzon. They have an excellent physique; the women as well as the men are well-developed and athletic. 

They, too have a well developed agriculture and they plant rice in their irrigated fields two times a year. They are the only group in the mountains using fertilizer. Almost every family has a pig-pit near or beside the house and part of the pit is used for compost. Bontoc social institutions are unique in Northern Luzon. The exogamic clan has survived among the Bontocs more perfectly than anywhere else in the mountains. Each village is divided into several exogamic wards and each of these wards had public houses, such as the sleeping house of unmarried women and girls known as the Ulog  and the Ato which is the meeting place of men, with the adjacent hut where boys and unmarried men sleep.

The Bontocs are monotheistic and believe in Lummawig as a god. They have many myths, legends and stories about Lummawig- who is a good god who has given them fire, animals and plants and all the necessary and useful articles of daily life. As in the Ifugao tribe, the chief priests are men and they have similar sacrificial animals- except the dog, which at one time was not used in any ceremony in Ifugao.

Betel-nut chewing exists among the Bontocs only in the eastern region- the western and central Bontocs do not chew betel nut. In fact, the language and culture of the western and central areas has been considerably modified by contact with outsiders and because of their accessibility by good motor roads. the eastern part like Lias, Kadaklan and Natonin- to this day is not yet accessible by motor roads.

THE IFUGAO

The Ifugao province occupies the eastern and central slopes of the Cordillera mountain range and is accessible by motor roads, either through Highway 5 through Bagabag or through Highway 11 via Baguio and Bontoc. 

The Ifugaos were at one time the most numerous among the tribal peoples-126,000 in the 1918 census. 

They have built the most famous rice terraces in the world. It has been estimated to cover more than 100 square miles in area, faced by great stone walls averaging from six to eight feet high, and of a total length of more than 30,000 miles. Single walls are sometimes found which are from forty to fifty feet high. The whole country is covered by precipitous mountains and it is on the sides of these mountain that the terraces have been built. Series of terraces beginning from the river ( like giant steps ) rise to several thousand feet. The ditches which irrigate these fields are often several miles in length and draw water from streams high up the mountain sides. The famous Banaue terraces can be glimpsed from Highway 11, and it has been estimated that these terraces are about 4,000 years old. The so-called amphitheatre rice terraces of Batad, Barrio Banaue have a distinct stone wall from the mountain top to the bottom of the river.

Like the Bontocs, the Ifugaos have a girl's dormitory, the agamang , where the girls and unmarried women sleep, and discuss what they must know about life and about sex. It's actually a school because there's a chaperone there. Usually the agamang  is not a public house in Ifugaos areas; it's the house of a widow or an older, unmarried woman. As you'll see later, in the slides, the agamang is reached by way of a ladder- if the ladder is left outside, it means the boys can come there for courtship. The courtship is conducted by using a jews-harp, or love harp, as it's called, and the couple can speak through it to each other without letting the others know. There is only courtship, however, no sex relation in the agamang- this is the place where the girls can really discuss things with their own group, and where courtship can begin. They go into the agamang as soon as they have their little skirts--when they are six or seven, because once they have reached this age its taboo for them to sleep with their parents. They stay in the agamang  until they are married. The boys go to their dormitory at about the same age- when they first put on the G-string.

The Ifugao religion is highly developed and polytheistic in nature. Animals are sacrificed on all important occasions to the greater deities and to the souls of their ancestors. Like the Igorots, the Ifugao have prestige feasts for the wealthy class, and these are public and general. They have their own calendar, though this is dying out now, and they used to count years by tying knots.

The Ifugaos were the original carvers in the mountain provinces, and they have intricately and artistically carved houses. At the present time they have developed their wood carving industry commercially.  Still, though, hidden villages within walking distance continue the non-commercial carvings.

THE KALINGAS

The Kalingas of the sub-province of Kalinga- Apayao province are very finely built physically and are easily recognizable. They are the tallest people in the Philippines- particularly in the northern part of the sub-province.

For protection, the Kalingas close to the border of the Cagayan valley used to live in tree houses, with a long rope ladder that was pulled up at night. These houses were often built from fifty to sixty feet above the ground. 

They raise both irrigated and dry rice, taro, corn, sweet potato and many other vegetables. 

The head axe is the favorite Kalinga weapon, but spears are also used- and the Kalingas, especially in the northern part, have the most beautiful shields which are long and graceful. The Kalingas are brave warriors and until sometime after the American regime, head hunting was their favorite sport.

The head-hunting ceremonies were very elaborate. During their progress, the brains were removed from the skulls, mixed with basi (a kind of strong wine of fermented sugar cane juice) and drunk by the members of the head-hunting expedition. That are great betel-nut chewers, like the Ifugaos and the Apayaos. 

Like some of the Apayaos, the Kalingas are expert craftsmen and navigate the rivers with their crafts.

Incidentally, before it became popular in the western world, the Kalinga women were using the mini-skirt many generations ago. 

The Kalingas are very hospitable people, even though they have been fierce warriors.

THE APAYAOS

The Apayaos live in a sub-province of Kalinga-Apayao, which occupies the northern-most part of the mountain provinces. The people are also called the Apayao Itneg to distinguish them the Tinggiayan Itnegs. 

The Apayaos have mixed considerably with the Negritos who also occupy the sub-province, and have adopted the bow and arrow of the Negrito as a favorite weapon. They also make and use a spear - leaf shaped - that is identical in shape with the common type used by the Muslims of Mindanao. The men and women alike carry a hatchet shaped like a head axe, but those carried by the women are much smaller.

Ancestor worship is not practiced- like the Ifugao region- but the Apayaos believe in place spirits and animal deities like the Ifugao. Their chief belief is in the Anito (or spirits.) They are also tattooed, but tattoo is dying out now in this region. Tattoos once marked a man as having successfully taken a hand in battle.

Like the other tribes, their main musical instruments are the brass gongs, the skin drum and the flute. The dance of the Apayaos is similar to that performed in parts of Kalinga, but with a faster tempo.

The Apayao, like the Kalingas and some Bontocs, ferment sugar cane juice for their wine. 

Throughout the northern provinces, there are festivals and ceremonies to mark great occasions and important events in the lives of various peoples. these are to some extent similar ( I deal with the Ifugao as best known to me.) There are prestige feasts given by important people, and there are planting ceremonies and harvest festivals. But perhaps the elaborate rituals for the dead are the most unusual to outsiders.

MOUNTAIN PROVINCE BURIAL PRACTICES

Great distinction is made between a natural death and a violent one. In a natural death, everything is one to show that it is a joyous occasion. The body is placed in a place of honor seated on a ceremonial death chair. At least one, perhaps more carabaos are sacrificed according to ancient ritual. Later the carabao is part of the funeral feast. The carabao is the largest and most valuable animal in the mountains, thus conveying the most honor to the deceased.

How long the body is displayed depends on the wealth and social position of the deceased. The funeral dance is like that for any other festival; the man has lived out his life and no one should be sorry about it.

After the ceremonies, the body is taken to the burial cave. Later, there is a second burial; when the body decomposes, the bones are recovered and washed; once again there is a sacrificial carabao and sacred rites are held.

In the case of a violent death, there is no feeling that it is a happy ceremony- no honor is paid the deceased. He is not dressed in native dress; he is buried in the clothes in which he dies- at high noon on the third day. Until that time, the body is not placed on the honorary death chair, but is put on a stretcher. And the widow must fast throughout the three days; she must not eat and must remain seated until the body is taken to the burial cave.

Any village having a member of the deceased man's family is under obligation to attend the funeral dance. The dancers all wear a special, sacred plant - a red plant as a head dress, and beat big wooden clappers used only for the violent death dance. There are other wooden clappers, but they are small; the big ones are used for religious ceremonies, but only for the violent-death dance. Sometimes after converging, the dancers make up a procession a mile long, and the sound of the wooden clappers roll in waves across the mountains. Then as the dancers do into a very wild dance, they hiss and beat the clappers.

For the violent death rites, the people will sacrifice a pig- and this is a sacrifice to the god of revenge; there is no sacrificial animal for the deceased. After that prayers will be said; ceremonial rice wine is drunk. then a death blanket covers the body of the deceased for burial. The body is taken to the burial cave and seated, with a stick to support the head. The relatives then shout at him and urge him to rise up and avenge his death, they even shout curses at him.

In the case of children- and babies- the same procedure is followed for a violent death. If the child dies naturally, the body is brought away after the third day ( sometimes after only one day ), and there is genuine mourning. If a baby is still-born, there is just a little prayer and that is all.

What is considered a violent death? A man who has been murdered- one who has been pushed or shot or boloed. The worst is that he was killed. An automobile accident is still considered a violent death- that is like being pushed. If he should die in battle, that is violent death, it probably goes back to the head hunting days. There is also some belief about life after death- in the sense that the people want the victim to rise up and avenge his death, that is why they shout at the dead man. In the past, the person who committed the murder or caused the violent death was hunted and killed. But nowadays the government makes an arrest or the murderer surrenders himself to  the authorities. Because if the murdered tries to run, the murdered victim's relatives will hunt him down and kill him.

So life in the mountains is changing. People are accepting the government law instead of taking matters into their own hands. Modern civilization is making a great impact and change is inevitable.