Ifugao people
The Ifugao people are the Austronesian ethnic group inhabiting Ifugao province in the Philippines. They live in the municipalities of Lagawe, Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc. The province is one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines with an area of only, or about 0.8% of the total Philippine land area. In 1995, the population of the Ifugaos was 131,635. Although most of them are still in Ifugao province, some have moved to Baguio, where they work as woodcarvers, and to other parts of the Cordillera Region.
Demonym
The term Ifugao comes from ipugo, which means "earth people", "mortals" or "humans", as distinguished from spirits and deities. It also means "from the hill", as pugo means hill. The term Igorot or Ygolote was the term used by the Spanish for mountain people. The Ifugaos, however, prefer the name Ifugao.History
thought the Ifugaos came from southern China 2,000 years ago and migrated to Lingayen Gulf and the west coast of northern Luzon, after which they migrated to the Agno and Kayapa river valleys and into the Ifugao valleys. A theory by Felix Keesing, based on old Spanish sources, proposed that the ancestors of the Ifugao came from the Magat area after the arrival of the Spanish in Magat, so the rice terraces are only a few hundred years old. The Ifugao popular epic The Hudhud of Dinulawan and Bugan of Gonhadan supports this interpretation. A more recent theory by Manuel Dulawan assumes that the Ifugaos came from the western Mountain Province, due to striking similarities with Kankanaey language, architecture, clothing manufacturing and design and the many names and places from this region that feature in Ifugao myths and songs.According to studies, the Ifugao resisted the Spanish conquest several times. The groups that migrated to the Cordilleran highlands were believed to be those that resisted the Spanish colonial control, which became prevalent in the lowlands. According to Acabado, the rugged nature of the highlands around the Ifugao region did not outrightly hinder the Spanish conquest. Other regions that had similar rugged environment as found in Ifugao were subjected to colonial rule. Archeological research shows Ifugao practices of successful resistance by strengthening their political and economic resources. The Spanish conquest and a population increase was the cause of shifting to wet-rice agriculture.
According to Queeny G. Lapeña and Stephen B. Acabado, in order to successfully resist against a colonizing power, a constructive military organization within a complete polity is required. The Spanish took conquest of the Magat Valley, which drove the Ifugao to strategically resettle in the interior of the Cordillera Mountains between 1600 CE and 1700 CE. Wet-rice agriculture was adopted soon after, and extensive rice terraces were built. This was a subsistence shift for the Ifugao because they cultivated taro before the start of the wet rice cultivation. The author emphasizes that the Ifugao people kept their culture and identity alive by spending large amounts of time in rice fields, since they treated them as ritual areas to "reinforce community solidarity." Stephen Acabado states that since the village was increasing in population, the shift to wet rice cultivation, increase of exotic goods procurement, and finally increase in the distribution of ritual animals indicates "political elaboration as a response to Spanish conquest."
Subgroups
The Ifugao are divided into subgroups based on the differences in dialects, traditions, and design/color of costumes. The main subgroups are Ayangan, Kalanguya, and Tuwali.Language
The Ifugao language consists of four dialects. Due to being isolated by the terrain, Ifugaos usually speak in Ilocano, Tagalog, and English as their alternative to their mother tongue.Agriculture
Ifugao farming is characterized by wet rice terraces, supplemented with slash-and-burn farming of camote. They are famous for their Banaue Rice Terraces, which became one of the main tourist attractions in the country. The Ifugaos host a number of similarities with the Bontocs in terms of agriculture, but the Ifugao tend to have more scattered settlements, and recognize their affiliation mostly towards direct kin in households closer to their fields.The Spanish first described the Ifugao rice terraces in 1801. Though as William Scott notes, "These impressive stone-walled fields, irrigated for both rice and taro, had been known from the time of the first expeditions in to Kiangan in the 1750s..."
Ifugao culture revolves around rice, which is considered a prestige crop. There is an elaborate and complex array of rice culture feasts inextricably linked with taboos and intricate agricultural rites, from rice cultivation to rice consumption. Harvest season calls for grandiose thanksgiving feasts, while the concluding harvest rites tungo or tungul entail a strict taboo of any agricultural work. Partaking of the rice wine, rice cakes, and moma is an indelible practice during the festivities and ritual activities. Agricultural terracing and farming are the principal means of livelihood. Their social status is measured by the number of rice field granaries, family heirlooms, gold earrings, and carabaos. Prestige is also conferred through time and tradition.
A prayer is said by an elderly woman when harvest begins, directed towards Cabunian, the goddess of rice. Then, a protective prayer is said before the rice is placed in the granary.
The Ifugao solar calendar included a 365-day year, broken down into 13 months of 28 days each, plus one extra day.
Social organization
Ifugao society is divided into three social classes: the kadangyan or the aristocrats, the tagu or the middle class, and the nawotwot or the lower class. The class immediately below the wealthiest are called the inmuy-ya-uy. The kadangyans sponsor the prestige rituals called hagabi and uyauy and this separates them from the tagus who cannot sponsor feasts but are economically well off. The nawotwots are those who have limited land properties and are usually hired by the upper classes to do work in the fields and other services. The more affluent Ifugao, known as kadangyan or baknang, were usually generous by nature, lending rice to poor neighbors in time of food shortage and/or hardship, in return for labor. Acting as village or spiritual leaders, creditors or commercial managers, these rich families exhibited their wealth by providing for many feasts, or cañaos.Shifting to wet rice cultivation is one factor that intensified the social ranking that was already present among the Ifugao society. Those who adopted wet rice cultivation were able to consolidate political resources. "In Ifugao, the adoption of wet-rice agriculture is at the forefront in discussions regarding social ranking vis-à-vis prestige economy." The Ifugao social status is based on their rice lands and ability to sponsor feasts. One reason being is that an individual needs to be skilled in mobilizing rice terraces, and because rice terraces require labor-intensive work.
Culture
Ifugao culture values kinship, family ties, religious and cultural beliefs. Ifugao are unique among all ethnic groups in the mountain province for their narrative literature such as the hudhud, an epic dealing with hero ancestors sung in a poetic manner. Also unique to the Ifugao is their woodcarving art, most notably the carved granary guardians bulul and the prestige bench of the upper class, the hagabi. Their textiles are renowned for their sheer beauty, colorful blankets and clothing woven on looms. The Ifugao are known for their rich oral literary traditions of hudhud and the alim. In 2001, the Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao was chosen as one of the 11 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It was then formally inscribed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008.The Ifugaos' highest prestige feasts are the hagabi, sponsored by the elite ; and the uyauy, a marriage feast sponsored by those immediately below the wealthiest. Ifugao heirloom beads are prestigious goods that were limited to the Ifugao community of wealth; moreover, such beads were solely utilized for ritualistic occasions such as: funerals, weddings, and rice harvest festivals and signified respect.
Rice granaries are protected by a wooden guardian called a bulul. The bulul sculptures are highly stylized representations of the ancestors of the Ifugao and are thought to gain power and wealth from the presence of the ancestral spirit. The Ifugao are particularly noted for their skill in carving bulul.
Furthermore, Ifugao culture is known for their legal system, based on the elders of the village, amama-a. Their words had the effect of law, without appeal. The jury, agom, consisted of those articulate, mansapit, elders. If the jury could not decide a case, trial by ordeal was invoked. The logic being that the gods and goddesses, Kabunian, would not allow the innocent to suffer. Criminal cases are tried by ordeal. They include duels, wrestling, hot bolo ordeal and boiling water ordeal.
Bultong is the name for the Ifugao sport of traditional wrestling. It is often played during town and provincial fiestas. Bultong falls under the international classification of "belt wrestling".