Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-07-05
THB PHILIPPINES.
XXII-The Igorots.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

-
1t has frequently been explained in
| these series Of articles that the Philip
pines wild tribes and Moros constitute
barely one-tenth of the archipelagos pop
ulation OF 100000, but this seems neces-
| sary because of the erroneous impression
in this country that the Igorots seen at
the st. Louis and Seattle expositions
were representative Fflipinos. There are
nearly 100000 Christianized Eiipinos,
between 10000 and 100000 Moros, 100000
| Igorots and several thousand non-Chris-
tians In various small wild tribes.
The 10000 Igorots are found In eleven
| provinces OF northern LuEon. They vary
| widely in development, ranging from the
| barely civilized down to the widest head
hunters. The Benguet Igorots found
around Baguio are the tamest. while the
fercest are the Ilonogots and the Kali
ingas. All of these wild men Of northern
Luzon are grouped for administrative
purposes in the mountain province with
an American governor and American
lieutenant governors In the various sub
divisions. The Great White Father of
! these peoples Is Dean c. Worcester sec
rotary OF the interior. They consider
| him the king of the islands. Their gov
liam F. Pack, in whom they had great
confidence. and the present governor or
| administrator general Is A. E. Eckman,
| who also knows them by. virtue OF long
| and intimate experience.
| The Igorots are the descendants OF
the same Malay stock as the Christian
| lied Filipinos,
Harder Than Tribes but centuries
Living in Lowlands. their r0 noun
tain 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
tive than the Filipinos of the lowlands.
The Bontoc Igorots also display many
evidences Of the Chinese infusion,
which resulted from a northward flight
of the followers of the notorious Chi
nese pirate Limahong after he had been
driven from the vicinity of Manila in
the early part of the eighteenth CEN
tury. The manners, customs and ira
ditiOns Of the Igorots while bearing
strong general resemblance when
measured by the standards of the eth
nologists. show many differences. For
example. the people near the coast In
/
plainly the influence Of Spanish and
Filipino civilization, wearing reason
able amount Of clothes, while the iso-
lated ones. such as the Bontoc Igorots,
go almost naked.
Every Igorot town has loose govern
| ment which Is satisfactory to the tnhab-
itants. II consists principally of a
council Of old men who settle all dis
| and a wife to such serious cases as
theft and murder. Very frequently the
government takes charge Of the serious
cases and always those hos OF. OF great treat, violence
selves are getting in the habit OF ap-
pealing from their tribal arbitrators to
the American lieutenant governor or
justice Of the peace or to the regular
court which the Philippine government
maintains for the mountain provinces.
| In deciding legal cases the old men re-
| sort to unusual methods and peculiar
| ceremonies. such as blood and hot-water
tests.
| The more advanced Igorots believe i'm
one God They practice no outward ex-
pressi ION or
Think All Igorots form of wor-
Born Without Sin. s snip; Out hand uae
ed down from father to son is that
an Igorot is born without sin and can
commit no sin except by becoming pos
sessed of evil spirits. and that 1t is the
| other from these evil spirits. They be-
lieve that after death all will assemble
on one mountain and then be free to en-
| joy themselves according to their idea OF
| pleasure and relaxation from the obliga-
| tons that were imposed upon them in
| life. Thus many acts OF the native
tribunals which Americans would natur-
ally consider punishments are really in
q
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 Igorots believe that the sun
is the great god and the moon is
his little brother. The old people be-
but the young people do not take much
| stock in them, especially now that they
have seen and spoken to few Ameri-
cans.
Igorots. they certainly are not rich. Their
possessions are very few, consisting prin-
cipally of a matched house, a few rude
implements and some trtnkets. Some of
When a man dies, no matter how rich
he may have been one-half of all his
edible possessions and one-half of his
horses and fiocks are eaten by his COM
| munity. The body is kept tied in a chair
in the house until his property is eaten
up then he Is buried on some hillside
with proper ceremony. Whenever any one
becomes unable to care for himself or
| herself, relatives friends assume their
support. Their homes are usually ram
shackle one-story bamboo affairs of one,
| two or three rooms. At night entire
families huddle together to keep warm
y
| One end of room Is divided into Sleep
! ing quarters In the shape of a sloping
box extending
All Sleep in Box entirely across
| ruuA vA:1,4 one end of the
| "AAo' house. say fif-
teen feet long by five feet wide and
three inches high. The ground is
the floor of this room. At night
before the family goes to bed fire
| is built on the floor in the box
and when the place is we'll heated
the fire is raked out and the fam
lily crawls In, shuts the door tight
and goes to sleep. To keep the heat in
all the cracks of this box are carefully
closed up with clay, the result being an
air-tight compartment with hardly
breath of ventilation. Their beds are
solid blanks with the centers slightly hol-
lowed out A block Of wood is supposed
to make a good pillow.
| The Iporot lives on rice and sweet po-