The VIEW
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Kinabiggat Housepost (c C17th)
Central support post for the traditional Ifugao home (or bale). Among the most known of Ifugao structural embellishments are the kinabigat, or ‘King Posts’. Carved to represent an ancestor or tutelary figure, kinabigat are the most integral of architectural features in the Ifugao home (bale) – serving as the roof’s main vertical support.
Kinabigat comprise a major part of balog: items which are reserved for – and normally possessed by – Ifugaos of wealth and status. source:salcedoauctions.com
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[Time Trowel] Seriously, let go of the myth about the Ifugao Rice Terraces’ age
The fact is, there is no archaeological evidence for [the 2,000-year-old rice terraces] claim. The model was created by early 20th-century American scholars H. Otley Beyer and Roy Barton, who based their arguments not on data but on racialized theories of culture and human development. Their ideas have long been repeated in textbooks, tourist promotions, and nationalist histories, often reshaping Indigenous narratives to serve national agendas. The evidence, however, tells a very different story.
[…] In Taiwan, long thought to be the starting point of the so-called Austronesian expansion, millet rather than rice dominated the diet two millennia ago. Rice accounts for less than 5% of archaeobotanical samples and was grown in rainfed fields rather than irrigated paddies. Terracing and irrigated rice only began in the 17th century when Han Chinese settlers arrived, transforming landscapes within decades. If they could do so quickly, why assume Cordillera farmers could not have built the terraces later and with similar speed?
In Madagascar, the story is similar — rice appears only around 1,200 to 1,400 years ago, introduced much later than once believed. Local varieties emerged through hybridization and adaptation, not through inheritance from a timeless tradition.
Similarly, archaeobotanical studies in the Philippines show that taro and millet were staples long before rice became dominant. The large-scale turn to wet rice farming accelerated only under Spanish colonization, when rice became taxable. Irrigation ditches known as zanjas were introduced, and Ilocano farmers transformed them into zanjeras, cooperative systems that combined Indigenous practices with colonial structures.
[…] Beyer, often called the Father of Philippine Anthropology, explicitly argued that the terraces were not the work of the Ifugao themselves. He wrote in 1955:
“I do not believe that the physical type, language, or culture of these people is wholly a native development. The evidence seems to indicate that the present-day Ifugaos are the result of mixture, perhaps one or more thousand years ago, of several widely different native types with an incoming people of high culture.” In other words, he thought the Ifugao were incapable of such innovation and that outsiders must have introduced the practice.
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EP 284 5-15 Ipugaw (Ifugao) Stories (Cole)
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The Creation
Ipugaw
In the beginning there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs that he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, “You must speak.” Immediately the reeds became people, and in every home was a man and a woman who could talk, but the language…
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The Rice Terraces Of Banaue: A Stay Of Two Halves
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itetem song translation
itetem is a song that talks about someone who has returned home after a long time.
i couldn’t find any english translation of this folk song on the internet so here it is !
note: i did not translate this, credit to my mother <3
[[MORE]]
- in the first verse, since ifugao houses are on stilts to enter the house you climb the ladder !
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Bulul: Guardian of the Harvest
The bulul, or “Ifugao rice God”, is curved ancestor figures that serve as a rice diety and guardian of the rice crop. These wooden rice guardians, often carved from narra or ipil wood, are more than just works of art; they are sacred objects entrusted with the power to good harvests and protect their rice fields.
These sculptures offer insights to the Ifugao people’s artistry and craftsmanship, spritual significances, and cultural legacy. In this time, the Bulul has gained recognition as an iconic symbol of Philippine heritage. Some bulul version are now made for tourist visiting the province of Ifugao.
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Archaeology of Pericolonialism
Acabado, S. (2017). The Archaeology of Pericolonialism: Responses of the “Unconquered” to Spanish Conquest and Colonialism in Ifugao, Philippines. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 21(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-016-0342-9
Blumer, H. (1932). The Half-Way Sun: Life Among the Head-Hunters of the Philippines. R. F. Barton. The American Journal of Sociology, 37(4), 691–691. https://doi.org/10.1086/215838
Kaut, C. (1967). Social Change in a Philippine People [Review of Mountain Arbiters. The Changing Life of a Philippine Hill People, by E. P. Dozier]. Science, 156(3783), 1722–1723. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1722263
Phelan, J. L. (1967). The Hispanization of the Philippines : Spanish aims and Filipino responses, 1565-1700. University of Wisconsin Press.
Above are the citations toward the topic of Pericolonialism in Ifugao, Philippines, caused by the Spanish Conquest. Specifically, the evidence of colonialism in Ifugao came from the archeology of wet-rice, ceramics, and buffalos. Evidence of the transition from taro to rice being used as the area’s main source of carbs came to show a lot in how the population was trying to handle or fight against the colonists and its effects. Same goes with the evidence found on the increase of exotic goods, as well as the buffalo and pig remain to support more feastings among the Ifugao. The archeology of Ifugao comes to show that while the Spanish Conquest failed during earlier attempts to colonize and bring Philippines under its umbrella, it did not fail to change the economic and political standards of surrounding towns or tribes. The effect of colonialism comes before the event of official conquering of the country.
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Ifugao
Magangdang umaga po!
卒論に向けての研究の第一歩として、6/11にイフガオ州ラガウェで行われた、Gotad Adというお祭りを見に行きました！
会場であるラガウェは、私が研究するDinuy-aという伝統舞踊の発祥の地であり、イフガオ州の中心部に当たるバナウェからジープでさらに1時間ほど南下します。
メイン会場のDon Bosco高校の体育館では、６月１日から１８日まで、踊りの他にも芸術作品の展示やバイクレースなど様々な催しが行われており、その周辺には出店や屋外展示などがたくさん並んでいてとても活気がありました！
伝統舞踊のパフォーマンスの様子。
この踊りはラガウェで始まりイフガオ州に広まったため、同じ踊りでも州内の地域によって表現方法が微妙に違っているそうです。私の地元・徳島には阿波踊りがあるので、同じ阿波踊りでも連によって踊り方や構成が違うのと似ているなあと思いました^^
今回の催しはコンペティション形式で、それぞれのグループは地域を代表しており、画面中央右に写っている審査員が最も優れた演技を決定するそう。アリーナを囲むように椅子に座っているのは出番に向けて待機している他の地域の踊り子です。
最も印象に残ったのは、鶏を使った踊り、、
手を話すと鶏が飛んで行ったり、生き物を使った踊りが私には衝撃的でした…!
今回は突然決まった訪問だったので長く滞在することができず、世界遺産の棚田すら見ないで帰ってきてしまいました💦
私を連れてきてくれたガイドさんのお友達をつたって、祭りがあったところとは少し離れた地域に泊まり、現地の生活を体感する貴重な経験もできたので、それについても機会があれば書こうと思います！
次の訪問は今回できたつながりを頼りにもう少し長く滞在する予定なので、舞踊についてももう少し詳しく知ることができればいいなと思います！！
Ifugao
Hello!
I went to Lagawe municipality, Ifugao province on 11th June and saw the festival there!
That was my first step for my research about the traditional dance in Ifugao.
Lagawe is the municipality where the Dinuy-a dance was born. It takes about 1 hour by jeepney from Banaue, which is the center of Ifugao, to go there.
There were also exhibitions of arts and bike races and so on at the gym of Don Bosco High School. And then outside, they have lots of street foods or exhibitions that express characters of each municipality in Ifugao.
I’ve mainly seen dance performances held there.
Dinuy-a dance was born in Lagawe and then spreaded among Ifugao, so these are a bit different depending on the municipality. My home town Tokushima also has their own traditional dance named Awaodori, each group also has different ways of dance. I ‘ve been thinking there are similarities.
This event is a competition and each group is on behalf of their own municipality. There are judges in front of dancers and dancers from other municipalities are sitting around and watching them.
The most impressive thing is that some of them are holding chicken during the dance and sometimes they are flying! It was surprising for me to use a living creature in their performance!
I couldn’t stay long and even see rice terraces which is their signature. Guide accompanied me and I stayed at his friend’s house located in Kiangan and Asipulo. I’m happy to experience the lifestyle of a provincial city and I hope I will be able to write about that sometime.
Next time I will stay there more long so I will proceed my research more:))
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Working on a native Ifugao inspired outfit for my OC, I’ve been wanting to put more stuff from my homeland into my wizardblr lore
Prob gonna be Bayyaung and Wanoh