Ibaloi 2
Ibaloi 2
Ibaloi 2
IBALOI
MARCH 2023
PROFILE
The Ibaloi are agricultural people who cultivate rice in terraced fields. In 1975, their population
was 89,000. They traditionally practiced mummification, which involved smoking the corpse for
months to dehydrate it and encasing it in caves held sacred by the Ibaloi.
HISTORY
The Ibaloi or Nabaloi are an indigenous ethnic group, found in the northern Philippines. They
occupy the southeastern two-thirds of Benguet, particularly the municipalities of Kabayan,
Bokod, Sablan, Tublay, La Trinidad, Tuba, and Itogon, and the southern portions of Kapangan
and Atok. Their name is derived from "those who live in the grasslands" and is traced back to a
couple in Mt. Pulog who survived the great flood. On August 1908, the Worcester policy was
established to separate the mountain people from the lowlanders. Bagamaspad and Pawid
propose three migration routes.
The early Ibalois moved to the Southern Cordillera Range through the tributaries of Aringay and
Galiano rivers to Chuyo (Bakakeng) and Tonglo (Tili) in Tuba; the Amburayan River to Darew
(Gaswiling) and Palaypay (Pungayan) in Kapangan; and third, the Agno River to Imbose (Pacso)
in Kabayan and Amlimay in Buguias. Traditional Ibalois engage in wet-rice agriculture, swidden
farming, mining, hunting, and fishing. Kinship is reckoned bilaterally and extended households
are ordinary.
WAY OF LIVING
Ibaloi houses are for the most part scattered in areas or on slopes that are raised almost two
meters on posts and secured with a pyramidal-covered roof. Subsistence is based on sticky rice,
tubers, beans, and maize supplemented every so often with the meat of pigs, mutts, chickens,
water buffalo, steeds, and cattle. Plunge is respective. There are checked separation between
the wealthy and the needy, with an impressive concentration of power and impact within the
hands of the previous. The conventional Ibaloi religion centered on predecessor worship.
RITUALS
The religion of the Ibaloys is polytheism and animism. They do not worship any god in the form
of statues and carvings, but they believe in spirits of ancestors and a supreme being they call
Kavuniyan or Kabunyan. The Ibaloys believe in a number of anitos (spirits) and deities to whom
they address their prayers and petitions in an appropriate ceremony. Two kinds of anito are
known: nature spirits that always create disasters or calamities and ancestral spirits (ka-apuan).
Ceremonial offerings are accorded these spirits.
The most important details in this text are the roles of the mambunong, mansip-ok and
mankutom in the religious activities of the Ibaloy people. The Mambunong is the maker of
prayers and presides in all feasts requiring the recitation of bunong or prayers. Mansip-ok is the
person who identifies the causes of illness and interprets the meaning of events. Mankutom is
the wise man who determines the reason for the sickness by using a pendulum-like instrument.
Rites and rituals are performed to implore the deities during important events like birth,
marriage, death, and other celebrations. The chanting of the appropriate prayers is never
interrupted.
The most important details in this text are the ceremonies related to the curing of illness and
offering for the spirits or deities. These ceremonies include Ampasit, Dosad, Sikop, Sibisib,
Kolos, and Dasadas. Ampasit is offered to the pinad-eng, tinmongao and ampasit who live in
rocks, trees, rivers, and the underworld. Dosad is performed to cure chest pains, Sikop is done
to cure coughs, and Kolos is offered to cure stomach pains and diarrhea. Dasadas is a
ceremony asking for good health and wealth from Kavuniyan, the deities and other spirits, and
is performed before a family occupies a newly built house.
Begnas is a ceremony performed outside the village before harvest, during famine, or when
death occurs. It involves the butchering of pigs and the simulation of a headhunting raid. Other
ceremonies related to the offering for spirits and deities include Podad, Amlag, Tawal, Lawit,
Tomo, Sabosab, Topya, and Basal-lang. These ceremonies are intended to restore good
relations between quarreling persons, cure deformities, and remove ill effects of activities done
against the traditions and customs of the village. Sacrificial animals like dogs, chickens, ducks,
and goats are butchered during this feast.
The Cañao Tradition is a thanksgiving ritual of the Ibaloi and Benguet people. It involves
sacrifices of animals and an offering of rice wine or tapuy, which is an important offering since
rice was a special commodity in the past. Celebrations can take up to a week of merrymaking
and are still carried out despite the new developments surrounding the mountains of the
Cordillera today. It is a deep-rooted tradition that transcends generations.
The Ibalois, especially the affluent families, have an ancient tradition of preserving a loved
one's dead body through mummification. The corpse is properly cleaned and covered in salt and
herbs before it is placed over a fire in a seated position. Tobacco smoke is blown into the
cadaver's mouth to dry its internal organs. During the early 20th century, several mummified
remains were found enshrined in different caves in the Cordillera Mountain. The municipality of
Kabayan houses the mummies for the deceased Ibalois and is recognized as the center of Ibaloi
culture.
There are still between 50 to 80 mummies left in their natural caves in Benguet. This ancient
practice has since died beginning in the 1500s when the Philippines was colonized by Spain.
The Ibaloi and Itneg people were among the most profusely tattooed ethnic groups of the
Philippines, with the most characteristic burik design being a wheel-like representation of the
sun on the backs of both hands.
JUSTICE SYSTEM
The baknang (affluent class) has control over the abitug, also known as abiteg or ebiteg (the
poor). Each village has its own tongtong (council), which is guided by custom law. Custom law
regulates marriage, divorce, property, inheritance, contracts, homicide, rape, assault, forcible
entry, theft, witchcraft, slander, gambling, abortion, and suicide. Prior to the arrival of the
Spaniards, witches were executed by strangulation with a rope, and slander was a capital
offense punishable by whipping. Rapists were compelled to host a caao (feast) for the victim,
and cases of assault were resolved through a caao or a kaising or kaysing (betrothal
ceremony).
No ornaments are worn except in very remote districts where the men wear leg bands called
baney. The women wear brightly colored costumes consisting of the kambal (jacket), the eten
or aten, a wraparound skirt with broad horizontal bands of different colors, and a donas (belt).
Color combinations are red and black, white and dark blue, or white and red. The women have
bangs and their hair hangs loosely down the back. The akon includes complex necklaces
adorned with coins from the Spanish and early American periods, tabing (earrings), karing
(bracelets), bideng or anas (beads), and shekang or chakang (mouthpiece).
The ling-ling-o is a gold, silver, or copper ornament that is formed like an almost closed C and
worn as a pendant on a necklace or an earring. Simpler necklaces are made from obukay and
takdian seeds taken from a reed plant. Traditional weapons, harking back to a life of tribal wars
and headhunting practices, are the kayang (spear), kalesay (shield), bekang and pana (bow
and arrow), and pa-pa (war club). Existing Ibaloy shields bear a carved human figure in low
relief, and one unique carving on a shield has a three-dimensional head on the upper end.
Basket weaving is done by the men, with the women's favorite basket being the kayabang.
The shage consists of two finely woven bamboo or rattan covers meeting at the center so that
the result is a square basket. The pasiking is trapezoidal and has a lid. The sling is made of split
bamboo strips woven in a herringbone design, but the cover is rimmed with woven rattan.
Ibaloy wood carving is utilitarian, hence plain and simple. The palting is a wooden pouch with
an elliptical base and smoothly curving sides.
The top of the cover is curved downward so that it fits snugly under the armpit. Some houses
bear ornamental friezes of stylized human and animal skulls, meant to signify family status, a
warrior's prowess, or sacrifices made by the house owner. Baguio's climate and historical
development has made it a haven for many visual artists, such as Benedicto Cabrera, Kidlat
Tahimik, David Baradas, Santiago Bose, Ynong Geslani, and Roberto Villanueva. The Baguio
Arts Guild (BAG) was established in the late 1980s, and the Arts Foundation of the Cordilleras
(AFC) under Divina Bautista of the University of Baguio was founded. Known art spaces in
Baguio include the Baguio Convention Center, Maryknoll Ecological Sanctuary, Tam-awan
Village, and the Botanical Garden. Since 1997, the Panagbenga or Flower Festival has been the
city's biggest tourist attraction.
POLITICAL SYSTEM
Historically, the baknang (rich class) has control over the abitug, also known as abiteg or ebiteg
(the needy). Under the current election system, the government official is often from the
baknang or, in the event that from the abitug, is beneath the baknang's patronage. Each town
has its possess tongtong (board), which is comprised of the baknang and the village's wise
men, known as impanama or pangamaen. Council choices are guided by custom law, which
cannot be changed subjectively without the town people's collective consent. In this way,
whereas the baknang have a few impact over the ruined, their specialist is constrained by the
tongtong. Today, the Ibaloy respect the national government's authority as embodied in the
governor, mayors, councilors, and other government officials in Benguet province.
Animal husbandry is practiced for food and religious purposes, and gold panning occurs. The
Ibaloy have absorbed textile and weaving techniques from nearby Ilocano, Kankanaey, and
Isinay weavers. Cattle was a sign of prosperity and distinction among the Ibaloy during the
period when Baguio and the surrounding territories were perfect for grazing, but its prominence
diminished rapidly.
EDUCATION
The Ibaloi literary tradition is an oral tradition and does not have the art of writing poetry. The
spoken language is well-developed and the Ibalois started to learn how to write after the
Americans taught them the ABCs. However, not everybody was able to write and even if there
were those who learned how to write, creatively writing and translating these literary pieces
were not the main concern. The only book that was translated is the New Testament of the
Bible and the focus of learning was more on the industrial and agricultural arts. The Ibalois
gather not to hear somebody deliver a speech or oration but to perform rituals and ceremonies.
CURRENT ISSUES
- American law had been a major obstacle for Baguio City's Ibaloi residents for more than
a century, as the colonizing government required them to secure documentary titles to
their lands. In 1901, the American government appropriated P11,000 for the
expropriation of Baguio land as it embarked on the creation of the mountain city.
Custom dictates that the first to till the land orimprovements are recognized owners of
the property, and the Americans acknowledged the settlements of the "Igorrotes" when
agents of the colonial government reached Kafagway to build a hill station. This was
reinforced by a decree exempting Benguet from paying taxes. The study said the Ibaloi
were forced to sell their landholdings which were in the way of proposed government
building sites, and lost much more land they needed for grazing cattle.
In 1909, Baguio was officially declared the summer capital, and the American government gave
its inhabitants a shorter period to perfect their land titles when it established the Baguio
townsite. In 1924, 48 Ibaloi claimants petitioned the government to recognize their land rights,
but these claims were not settled. Baguio addressed its first squatting problem by relocating
these families to villages, which were covered by ancestral land claims. The national
government had tried to resolve the claims from the 1960s to the martial law years of the late
strongman Ferdinand Marcos. In the 1990s, the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) was tasked to process ancestral land claims, but by 2002, 757 claims
remained in limbo.
194 of 425 ancestral land claims it examined indicated they inherited these properties, and 10
percent of the 757 claims involve emancipated tenants of the old baknang who were granted
rights to lands. Some Ibalois even played the game of "titling through squatting," hoping to
benefit from "grateful or manipulative politicians" in the same manner squatters of the 1950s
were granted their lands through relocation sites.
- Three Ibaloi tribesmen were reportedly prevented by the US Secret Service escort of
former US President Bill Clinton from wearing their G-string inside the Manila Hotel
where the former US leader spoke on "Embracing our Common Humanity" as founding
chairman of his William J. Clinton Foundation on Wednesday. National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) chairman lawyer Roque Agton has ordered an investigation
into the reported incident, which is a clear case of racial discrimination, a violation of the
international convention on the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous
peoples, and a racial discrimination case that can be elevated to the United Nations. The
alleged discrimination took place on the day President Aquino ordered the transfer of
the NCIP from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) back to
the Office of the President (OP).
- Mr. Aquino signed Executive Order 11, returning the IP body back under his office to
"ensure concerted efforts in formulating and implementing policies, programs and
projects geared towards the protection and promotion of the rights and welfare of
Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples." Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles
was designated oversight official of the NCIP and two commissioners were also
appointed. The new commissioners are Zenaida Brigida Hamada-Pawid, representing
Region I and the Cordilleras, and Dionesia Banua, standing for the island groups
including Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, Panay and the rest of the Visayas. Dr. Cayabas
was with two students of the NIIT, Moshe Dacneg and Joneelyn Aparri, when a US
Secret Service agent approached Dacneg wearing a G-string and told him to "follow
me." Cayabas insisted to the agent that there was no guideline on what to wear during
the forum. The agent fumed and started to point fingers at Cayabas and even warned,
"We won't mind dragging you in a drastic way if you act differently."