CHAP 7

• Municipalities in Ifugao province

  • Aguinaldo
  • Asipulo
  • Banaue
  • Hingyon
  • Hungduan
  • Kiangan
  • Lagawe
  • Lamut
  • Alfonso Lista
  • Mayoyao
  • Tinoc
• Lagawe

  Capital of Ifugao province
• Ifugao province

  • Rugged and mountainous except for Lamut and Alfonso Lista which has large areas of rolling hills and plains
• Ifugao is bounded by

  Mt. Province to the north and Nueva Vizcaya to the south

  
• Magat River/Dam separates Ifugao from

  Isabela on its eastern side
• Mt Pulag separates Ifugao from

  Benguet on its western side
• Republic Act No. 4695 passed, creating the independent province of Ifugao from the previous Mountain Province

  June 18, 1966
• Ifugao

  Derived from the word 'pugaw' meaning "earth" in the cosmic belief or "hill", hence, ipugaw, later modified to Ifugao, means "from the hill"
• Common organized settlements in Ifugao

  • Rice Terraces located in 8 municipalities collectively called the Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT)
• Ifugao Rice Terraces (IRT)

  • Built through indigenous knowledge developed across generations, survived the test of time
  • Cultural practices, beliefs, traditions and feasts are tailored at keeping the symbiotic relationship of the Ifugaos and their environment as demonstrated by the annual agriculture cycle

  
• UNESCO declared 5 IRT clusters as World Heritages, recognizing them as "a living cultural landscape"

  1995
• Provided evidence that the IRT must be 400-700 years old, positing that the boost in land cultivation coincided with the Spanish colonization

  Recent archeological study
• Early settlements concentrated in

  • Rice terraces areas in Kiangan, Hungduan, Banaue and Mayoyao
  • Old Kiyyangan as the earliest settlement
• Due to more economic opportunities in areas with more plains and rolling hills

  Population is shifting and increasing rapidly in Alfonso Lista and Lamut municipalities
• Ifugao

  Derived from the word "ipugo" which means people of the earth, or mortals as distinguished from those of the other realms, or 'people of the hill' or mountain people
• Ethno-linguistic groups of Ifugaos

  • Tuwali
  • Ayangan

  
• Lamut and Alfonso Lista are melting pots of all these Ifugao ethno-linguistic groups, with other minority groups like Ilocanos and Gaddangs also present</b>
• Ifugaos

  • Famously known for their extensive rice terraces, elaborate rituals and festivities, wood crafts, dances, and ethnic dresses
  • Oral traditions are also among the distinctive characteristics, evidenced by the "Hudhud", an Ifugao chant inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
• Ifugao kinship system

  Comprises all those related by consanguinity including the dead ancestors at least up to the fourth generation ascending, of great importance underlies their social structure, land use, and rice production
• Ifugao social classes

  • Kadangyan (wealthy)
  • Tagu (common, children and family of kadangyan who did not perform any of the prestige feasts)
  • Nawotwot (the poor)
• Wealth in Ifugao

  Measured not just by material possessions, but also by performing the Ifugao customary prestige rites like the uyya-uy and/or the hagabi
• At present, Ifugao is structured similar to the rest of the country, but culture-based social structures like the council of elders are still present
• Education in Ifugao before schools

  Informal and largely based on oral tradition, with learning done at home and in communal areas, passing of knowledge and skills through oral mode and by observation
• Role of mumbaki (Ifugao priest)

  Tasked in training mumbaki aspirants, who after being deemed prepared will be ordained into priesthood
• Agamang (community sleeping quarters)

  Important institution for the transmission of Ifugao oral heritages
• With the losing relevance of the agamang in present times, community gatherings are now platforms for the transmission of Ifugao culture
• Education institutions are also finding their role in the preservation of Ifugao indigenous knowledge systems and practices
• With the losing relevance of the agamang in present times, community gatherings, like wakes, weddings, among other ceremonial activities, are platforms in the transmission of culture
• Education institutions are also finding its role in the preservation of culture – transmission of the Ifugao IKSP
• Supplemental Readings


  • Dulay, M C, Nangpuhan, DG G, Dugyon, EM C & Ngohayon, S. L. (in press). Ifugao Heritage in S L Ngohayon, D P Anduyan, Jr, EM C Dugyon & Begnalen, N (Eds.). Cordillera Heritage. Manila. Ifugao State University & the Commission on Higher Education-CAR.
  • Ngohayon, S. L., Martin, M. M. & Dulawan, L. D. (Eds), (2021). Ifugao Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices. Manila. Ifugao State University.
• Indigenous games of the Ifugaos at present, are originally part of the practices having cultural relevance and purpose
• In the distant past, they were not performed as competitive events for entertainment purposes but played a role in the cultural justice system
• These indigenous games are done to settle disputes, determine favored groups by deities, and identify individuals for a specific task, among others
• It is believed that winners of such competitions, with the appropriate rites which are conducted before, are the wills of the gods/deities
• At present, these games are being performed during cultural festivals and occasions as a way of paying homage to the cultural identity and also for the generation to be educated through practice the diminishing cultural practices
• Examples of cultural competitions used to settle disputes or determine favored groups in the past

  • (not exhaustive list)
• Ifugao has a rich oral literature heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation
• Authorship to such literature is also not identified. Accordingly, it is impossible to attribute authorship of any piece to one particular person or group
• Types of Ifugao oral literature

  • Narratives (folktales, legends, myths)
  • Chant (Ritual and Non-ritual Chants)
  • Song
  • Rhyme
• Hudhud

  Long narrations depicting the lives and conquests of local heroes, and the life of early Ifugaos and their culture