El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-04
No Paupers Among lgOrOts
Wild Tribesmen, Numbering lSO,OOO
Live in II Provinces OF
Northern LuEOn.
BY Frederic J. HnsKin =

M 1t has frequently been ex-
planned that the Philippines
wild tribes and Moros constitute
barely one-tenth Of the archipelaso's
population o. 100000 but this seems
necessary because Of the erroneous i'm
preston in this country that the
Igorots seen at the St Louis and
Seattle expositions were representative /
Filipinos. There are nearly 100000
ChrlStianiZed FilipinOs, between 70u,-
coo and 100000 AIOrOs. 10000 IgOrOUs
and several thousand nOn-Christians In
various small wild tribes.
IEOrots y hmber $4,000.
The 100000 IgOrOts are found in II
provinces of northern LUzOn- They
vary widely in development. ranging
from the barely civilized down to the
widest head hunters The Benguet
tGOrOtS found around BagulO are the
tamest, while the fiercest are the
lonCSOts and the kalingas- All OF
these wild men OF northern LuzOn are
grouped for administrative purposes in
the mountain province with an Amerl-
can governor. and American lieutenant
governors in the various subdivisions.
The great white father Of these people
IS Dean C. Worcester. secretary of the
interior They consider him the king
Of the islands. Their governor for a
great many years was William F. Pack
IN whom they had great confidence,
and the present governor or admins
traitor general Is A J.. Eckman, who
also knows them by virtue of long and
intimate experience.
Descendants OF IIaIays.
The lgOrOts are the T~-o01dants Of
the same Malay stock as the Christian
lied FiipinOs, but centuries Of isOla-
ton In their mountain ranges of from
5000 TO 5000 feet above sea level has
developed different traits and widely
divergent customs The hardy life and
the cool climate, which is that Of the
temperate zone rather than that of the
tropics, also has made them stronger
and more active than the FilipinOs OF
the lOwlands. The BOntOc ISOrOts also
display many evidences of the Chinese
infusion which resulted from a north
ward flight Of the followers of the no
tOriOus Chinese pirate LimahOne after
he had been driven from the vicinity
of Manila, in the early part of the
18th century The manners. customs
and traditions OF the IgOrOts while
bearing strong general resemblance,
when measured by the standards of the
ethnOlOgists show many differences
For example. the people near the
coast in the sub-prOvinco - Am
6urayan show plainly the influence Of
spanish and Filipino Civilization
wearing reasonable amount Of
clothes while the isolated ones. such
as the BOntoc lSOrots go almost naked
Tribal Councils.
Every IgOrOt town has loose gov
crnmenr which is satisfactory to the
Inhabitants. It consists principally Of
council Of old men who settle all dis
putes from squabble between a man
ana a VIE 10 such serious cases as
theft and murder. Very frequently the
government takes charge Of the serious
cases and always those Of great viO-
lence and murder In fact, the people
themselves are getting in the habit OF
appealing their tribal arbitraCOrs to
The American lieutenant governor OF
Juslce or the peace or to the regular
court which the Philippine government
maintains for the mountain provinces.
In deciding legal cases the old men
resort to unusual methods and peCu-
liar ceremonies, such as blood and hot
water tests
Believe In One God.
Tie more advanced IgOrOts believe
in one God They practice no outward
expression or form Of worship but the
tradition handed down from father to
son Is that an IEOrOt is born without
becoming possessed Of evilcd spirits
and that IL is the duty of each and all
TO protect one another from these evil
spirits. They believe that after death
all will assemble on one mountain and
then be free TO enjoy themselves ac-
cOrding to their ideas Of pleasure and
relaxation from the obligations that
were imposed upon them in life Thus
which naturally consider puniShmenLs
are really intended TO free the person
at the bar from the evil spirits that
forced him to do wrong They have
rather definite ideas as to right and
wrong and follow them according to
their lights Wild IgOrOIs believe that
the sun is the great god and the moon
is his little brother. The old people
believe that there are many bad spirits
but the young people do not take much
Z stock In them. especially now that they
have seen and spoken to a few Amer
leans.
No Paupcrism in Tribes.
While there is no pauperism among
lgorotS. they certainly are not rich
Their possessions are very few con-
siStinE principally Of a matched house.
a Few rude implements and some trim
kets. Some Of the head men own fair
" large farms When a man dies, no
matter now rich he may have been,
one-hef of all his edible possessions
and oEe-half Of his horses and focks
are eaten by his community. The body
is kept tied TO a chair in the house
until his property is eaten up then he
is buried on some hillside with pro
per ceremony. Whenever anyone be-
comes unable to care for himself OF
herself, relatives or friends assume
their support Their homes ~~0 usual
" ramshacBle one story bamboo az
fairs of one, two or three rooms. At
night entire families huddle together
to keep warm.
sleep in alright Rooms.
One end of a room Is divided into
slOpinE box extending entirely across
one end of the house. say IS feet long
by five feet wide and three and six
inches high The ground is the floor
Of this room At night before the fam
lily goes to bed a fire is built on the
floor i'm the box and when the place
is well heated the fire is raSed out
and the family crawIs in shuts the
door tight and goes to sleep. To keep
the heat in all the cracks Of this box
are carefully closed M with clap. the
result being an alright compartment
with hardly a breath of ventilation
Their beds are solid planSs with the
centers slightly hOIlOwedOut A block
of wood is supposed to make a good
pillow.
Lives on Rice and Potatoes.
The IgOrOt lives on rice and pOta-
toes the year round. These are the
only staples they are sure of month
in and month out They seldom have
meat. although they are fond of deer
and dos They also like lOcusts and
grasshoppers. The favOrite method Of
cooking a dos is to feed one for sew
cral DAYS until he is stuffed. The fam
lily and their friends then prepare
hot fire and encirClinE the poor ami
NAL they beat him to death with clubs
until every bone in his h~7-- Sc broken