The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bontoc Igorot
Title: The Bontoc Igorot
Author: Albert Ernest Jenks
Release date: March 18, 2005 [eBook #3308]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Jeroen Hellingman
Group of prominent men, Bontoc pueblo.
Photo by Jenks.
The Bontoc Igorot
Albert Ernest Jenks
Manila 1905
Letter of Transmittal
Department of the Interior, The Ethnological Survey,
Manila, February 3, 1904.
Sir: I have the honor to submit a study of the Bontoc Igorot made for this Survey during the year 1903. It is transmitted with the recommendation that it be published as Volume I of a series of scientific studies to be issued by The Ethnological Survey for the Philippine Islands.
Respectfully,
Albert Ernst Jenks,
Chief of The Ethnological Survey.
Hon. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary of the Interior, Manila, P. I.
Table of Contents
- Letter of Transmittal
- Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- The Igorot Culture Group
- The Bontoc Culture Group
- General Social Life
- Economic Life
- Political Life and Control
- War and Head-Hunting
- Æsthetic Life
- Religion
- Mental Life
- Language
- Plates
Illustrations
- Group of prominent men, Bontoc pueblo
- Sketch map of the Philippine Archipelago
- Sketch map of northern Luzon
- Sketch map of Bontoc culture area
- Section of the last long climb from Cervantes to Bontoc
- Tilud pass, east side
- A glimpse of Igorot land
- Ba-lu′-gan pueblo surrounded by rice sementeras
- Pueblo of Sagada
- The entrance to Bontoc pueblo
- Ku-lo-ku′-lo of Mayinit pueblo
- O-gang′-ga of Samoki pueblo
- Ku-lo-ku′-lo of Mayinit pueblo
- Bon-gao′ of Alap pueblo
- Bo-da′-da of Samoki pueblo
- U-dao′ of Bontoc pueblo
- Young woman of Bontoc pueblo
- Zag-tag′-an of Bontoc pueblo
- Ka-nay′-u of Bontoc pueblo
- Lang′-sa of Bontoc pueblo
- Sĭt-li′-nĭn of Bontoc pueblo
- Pĭt-ta′-pĭt of Bontoc pueblo
- Girls of Bontoc pueblo
- Blind woman of Bontoc pueblo
- Blind Ta-u′-li of Samoki pueblo
- Deformed feet of Bontoc men
- Bontoc pueblo viewed from Samoki
- Samoki pueblo viewed from Bontoc
- Plat of Bontoc pueblo, showing ato divisions
- Plat of section of a′-to Si-pa′-at
- Pa-ba-fu′-nan of a′-to Fi′-lĭg
- Fa′-wi of a′-to Si-pa′-at
- Fa′-wi of a′-to Cho′-ko
- O′-lâg
- Bontoc dwelling, the fay′-ü
- Timbers for a building seasoning in the mountains
- Fay′-ü showing open door
- Bontoc dwelling, the Kat-yu′-fong, a widow's house, showing pigpens which extend beneath it
- “In the shade of the low, projecting roof”
- “The mother who has come down with her babe on her back for an olla of water”
- The baby tenders
- Sam-kad′s' death chair
- Pine coffins
- The burial of Som-kad′
- Bûg-ti′ with his wild-cock snare
- Wire cock snare set, with lure cock in center
- Wild-cat caught in the snare kok-o′-lâng
- The bird snare Lĭng-ang′. (Snare set.) (Snare sprung.)
- Trap fishing
- Emptying the fish trap
- Fisherman examining his ob-o′-fu
- Rice sementeras at transplanting season
- Banawi rice sementeras
- A terrace wall
- Women weeding a terrace wall at soil-turning season
- Partial view of Bontoc irrigating works
- The main dam, showing irrigation troughs beyond
- River irrigation scheme
- Irrigating ditch which feeds the troughs secured to the mountain side shown at the left
- Turning the soil in a water-filed sementera, showing women transplanting rice
- Mud-spattered soil turners
- Soil turners tramping the turned soil smooth and soft
- Bontoc camote beds
- Men crossing the river with pig manure to fertilize the rice sementeras
- Woman digging her final camote crop and working dead grass beneath the soil for fertilizer
- The rice seed beds at transplanting time, with granaries immediately beyond
- Women transplanting rice
- The bird scarers, Ki′-lao, floating over a field of ripening rice
- An outlook to guard against wild hogs
- Harvesting the rice
- Two harvesters
- Camote harvest
- Rice granaries
- Bunches of palay curing on the roof of a dwelling
- Granaries
- Carrying home the camotes
- Philippine carabaos
- Bontoc pigpens
- Cage in which fowls are shut at night
- Hats and headband
- (a) The bag pocket carried in front; (b) The rain hat
- Cotton blankets woven by Igorot in the western part of the Bontoc area
- Kambulo bark-fiber blankets
- Woman spinning thread on her naked thigh
- Lepanto Igorot woman weaving
- Wooden “pig pails”
- Gourd and wooden spoons
- Samoki potters at the clay pit
- Transporting clay from the pit to the pueblo
- (a) Macerating the clays in a wooden mortar; (b) Beginning a pot
- Shaping the rim of a pot
- Expanding the bowl of a pot
- Smoothing and finishing a sun-dried pot
- Woman's large transportation basket and winnowing tray
- Household baskets (sûg-fi′, fa-lo′-ko, ki′-ûg, ko′-lûg)
- The traveling basket; so-called “head basket”
- Bontoc shields
- Bontoc shields
- The Kalinga shields
- Banawi shield, front and back
- Bontoc war spears (fal-fĕg′)
- Spears (fan′-kao and kay-yan′)
- Bontoc battle-axes, with bajuco ferrules
- Bontoc battle-axes, with steel ferrules
- The Balbelasan or northern battle-ax
- Agawa clay pipe maker
- Agawa clay pipes. (Those in the lower row are finished.)
- Finished Agawa clay pipes, with stems
- Roll of beeswax and three wax pipe models
- Metal pipe makers
- Metal pipes. (The lower row shows poorly the “anito” pipe.)
- Children paring camotes
- Women threshing rice
- Gourd for storing salt meats
- Bamboo tube for carrying basi
- Mayinit pueblo. (Long salt houses in the foreground.)
- (a) Woman washing salt; (b) salt-incrusted rocks
- Mayinit salt producer preparing salt cakes for baking
- A cane-sugar mill
- Methods of transportation
- Man's transportation basket (ki-ma′-ta)
- Woman's transportation baskets
- Women burden bearers
- (a) Tulubin men bringing home salt; (b) Samoki potters with ware
- Mayinit women on the trail to Bontoc to sell palay
- A ba′-si vender
- Mak′-lan, a Bontoc warrior
- Ko′-mĭs on war trail between Samoki and Tulubin
- “Anito head” post in a Ko′-mĭs
- The warrior's attack
- Battle-axes
- A head dance
- Ceremonial rice threshing in Samoki pueblo during the celebration of a captured head
- A fa′-wi, where skulls are kept
- Soot-blackened human skulls from ato Sigichan
- A beheaded human body on its way to burial
- Burial of a beheaded man in Banawi
- Man's headdress
- An ear plug of sugar-cane leaves
- Bead headdress
- Woman's bustle-like girdle
- Igorot woman, showing rolls of hair
- The “switch” held in place by beads
- A tattooed Bontoc man
- Two well-done tattooes. (one man bears the jaw band and the other the cheek crosses.)
- An elaborate tattoo
- A simple tattoo
- Bontoc woman's tattoo. (a) old; (b) new/Jenks
- An elaborate Banawi tattoo
- Tattoo of a Banawi woman
- Gang′-sa, showing human-jaw handle
- A dance, with contorting head-ax dancer in the center
- A dance, with head-ax dancer at the right
- The foundation of Lumawig's house in Bontoc
- Sacred grove (Pa-pa-tay′ ad so-kok′)
Preface
After an expedition of two months in September, October, and November, 1902, among the people of northern Luzon it was decided that the Igorot of Bontoc pueblo, in the Province of Lepanto-Bontoc, are as typical of the primitive mountain agriculturist of Luzon as any group visited, and that ethnologic investigations directed from Bontoc pueblo would enable the investigator to show the culture of the primitive mountaineer of Luzon as well as or better than investigations centered elsewhere.
Accompanied by Mrs. Jenks, the writer took up residence in Bontoc pueblo the 1st of January, 1903, and remained five months. The following data were gathered during that Bontoc residence, the previous expedition of two months, and a residence of about six weeks among the Benguet Igorot.
The accompanying illustrations are mainly from photographs. Some of them were taken in April, 1903, by Hon. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary of the Interior; others are the work of Mr. Charles Martin, Government photographer, and were taken in January, 1903; the others were made by the writer to supplement those taken by Mr. Martin, whose time was limited in the area. Credit for each photograph is given with the halftone as it appears.
I wish to express my gratitude for the many favors of the only other Americans living in Bontoc Province during my stay there, namely, Lieutenant-Governor Truman K. Hunt, M.D.; Constabulary Lieutenant (now Captain) Elmer A. Eckman; and Mr. William F. Smith, American teacher.
In the following pages native words have their syllabic divisions shown by hyphens and their accented syllables and vowels marked in the various sections wherein the words are considered technically for the first time, and also in the vocabulary in the last chapter. In all other places they are unmarked. A later study of the language may show that errors have been made in writing sentences, since it was not always possible to get a consistent answer to the question as to what part of a sentence constitutes a single word, and time was too limited for any extensive language study. The following alphabet has been used in writing native words.
- a as in far; Spanish ramo
- â as in law; as o in French or
- ay as ai in aisle; Spanish hay
- ao as ou in out; as au in Spanish auto
- b as in bad; Spanish bajar
- ch as in check; Spanish chico
- d as in dog; Spanish dar
- e as in they; Spanish hallé
- ĕ as in then; Spanish comen
- f as in fight; Spanish firmar
- g as in go; Spanish gozar
- h as in he; Tagalog bahay
- i as in pique; Spanish hijo
- ĭ as in pick
- k as in keen
- l as in lamb; Spanish lente
- m as in man; Spanish menos
- n as in now; Spanish jabon
- ng as in finger; Spanish lengua
- o as in note; Spanish nosotros
- oi as in boil
- p as in poor; Spanish pero
- q as ch in German ich
- s as in sauce; Spanish sordo
- sh as in shall; as ch in French charmer
- t as in touch; Spanish tomar
- u as in rule; Spanish uno
- û as in but
- ü as in German kühl
- v as in valve; Spanish volver
- w as in will; nearly as ou in French oui
- y as in you; Spanish ya
It seems not improper to say a word here regarding some of my commonest impressions of the Bontoc Igorot.
Physically he is a clean-limbed, well-built, dark-brown man of medium stature, with no evidence of degeneracy. He belongs to that extensive stock of primitive people of which the Malay is the most commonly named. I do not believe he has received any of his characteristics, as a group, from either the Chinese or Japanese, though this theory has frequently been presented. The Bontoc man would be a savage if it were not that his geographic location compelled him to become an agriculturist; necessity drove him to this art of peace. In everyday life his actions are deliberate, but he is not lazy. He is remarkably industrious for a primitive man. In his agricultural labors he has strength, determination, and endurance. On the trail, as a cargador or burden bearer for Americans, he is patient and uncomplaining, and earns his wage in the sweat of his brow. His social life is lowly, and before marriage is most primitive; but a man has only one wife, to whom he is usually faithful. The social group is decidedly democratic; there are no slaves. The people are neither drunkards, gamblers, nor “sportsmen.” There is little “color” in the life of the Igorot; he is not very inventive and seems to have little imagination. His chief recreation—certainly his most-enjoyed and highly prized recreation—is head-hunting. But head-hunting is not the passion with him that it is with many Malay peoples.
His religion is at base the most primitive religion known—animism, or spirit belief—but he has somewhere grasped the idea of one god, and has made this belief in a crude way a part of his life.
He is a very likable man, and there is little about his primitiveness that is repulsive. He is of a kindly disposition, is not servile, and is generally trustworthy. He has a strong sense of humor. He is decidedly friendly to the American, whose superiority he recognizes and whose methods he desires to learn. The boys in school are quick and bright, and their teacher pronounces them superior to Indian and Mexican children he has taught in Mexico, Texas, and New Mexico.1
Briefly, I believe in the future development of the Bontoc Igorot for the following reasons: He has an exceptionally fine physique for his stature and has no vices to destroy his body. He has courage which no one who knows him seems ever to think of questioning; he is industrious, has a bright mind, and is willing to learn. His institutions—governmental, religious, and social—are not radically opposed to those of modern civilization—as, for instance, are many institutions of the Mohammedanized people of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago—but are such, it seems to me, as will quite readily yield to or associate themselves with modern institutions.
I recall with great pleasure the months spent in Bontoc pueblo, and I have a most sincere interest in and respect for the Bontoc Igorot as a man.