CHAPTER XXVII

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Igorrotes (7).

This is an important, and to me, the most interesting of the independent or partly subdued races of the Philippines. They are a fine, hardy, industrious, and warlike race, well worth a great and patient effort to bring them within the pale of Christianity, and to advance the civilisation they have already attained. They are of a dark bronze colour, with straight black and abundant hair, large dark eyes set rather obliquely as amongst Chinese. Their faces are broad with high cheek-bones, the nose aquiline and the head large. The features in general have a Mongolian cast, and a certain nasal twang in their speech resembles that of the Southern Chinese. The men have capacious chests, showing good lung-power, their muscles well developed indicating great strength and ability to resist fatigue. The women have also well-marked figures and rounded limbs. The fashions vary with different tribes, but it is common to find both sexes wearing their hair cut in a fringe over the forehead, but reaching down to the eyebrows, long enough at the sides to cover the ears, left long at the back of the head, where it is gathered up into a knot.

The Igorrotes of Lepanto wear beards, some of them are as thick as a Spaniard's, but the tribes farther South pull out, not only their beards, but all the hair on their bodies, except that of the head. Their dress varies from a mere apron (Bahaque) when at work in the fields, to an ornamental jacket very smartly cut and elaborate sword-belt when at war or on any full-dress occasion. These jackets are very handsome and have stripes of blue, crimson and white. They wear a variety of head-dresses, turban, Salacot or a kind of cocked-hat and feathers. Both men and women wear cloaks or plaids of bright colours made of cotton. Although the word Igorrote has come to be almost a generic name for the heathen Highlanders of North Luzon, it is here limited to those who dwell on the Western part of the Cordillera Central, comprising the whole of the districts of Benguet and Lepanto, part of Bontoc and parts of the Provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur. The sub-tribes Buriks and Busaos are included.

Tattooing is very general amongst them. In some districts you can hardly find a man or woman who has not a figure of the sun tattooed in blue on the back of the hand, for in Central Benguet they worship the sun. Some of them tattoo the breast and arms in patterns of straight and curved lines pricked in with a needle in indigo blue. The Busao Igorrotes, who live in the North of Lepanto, tattoo flowers on their arms, and in war-dress wear a cylindrical shako made of wood or plaited rattan, and large copper pendants in their ears. These people do not use the Talibon, and prefer the spear. The Burik Igorrotes tattoo the body in a curious manner, giving them the appearance of wearing a coat of mail. But this custom is probably now becoming obsolete, for at least those of the Igorrotes who live near the Christian natives are gradually adopting their dress and customs.

White is the colour of mourning, as amongst the Moros of Mindanao and Sulu. Both sexes are fond of personal ornaments, such as ear-rings, collars, arm-rings, bangles, leg-rings and belts. Collars of crocodiles' teeth are highly esteemed. In the long list of their manufactures I shall enumerate their ornaments. Their arms are the talibon, a short double-edged sword; the gayang, a javelin or assegai; and the aligua, a light axe, having a spike at the back opposite to the cutting edge. After throwing their javelins, they rush on with their drawn swords, holding their shield, called a calata, on the left arm. This is made of light wood and is long and narrow. With the exception of the shape of the shield their equipment is much like that of the Roman Legionaries twenty centuries since. The aligua appears to be used, not as a fighting weapon, but to decapitate their fallen enemies and as a means of carrying the head home on a spike. Great rejoicings, with feasts and dances, were held after a successful skirmish, and large quantities of liquor consumed. But the constant pressure of the Spanish authority has in a great measure stopped these petty wars. They make a kind of beer called Basi by fermenting cane-juice, and another liquor, something like the chicha of the Peruvian Coast Indians, from rice. This latter is called bundang. They are great smokers, and make their own pipes of various materials. They appear not to have universally adopted the Malay custom of chewing buyo. There is a settlement of Christian Igorrotes on the coast of Ilocos Sur, close to the boundary of La Union, which has been established many years. But in general the Igorrotes have steadily refused to embrace Christianity, and evidently do not want to go to the same heaven as the Spaniards. The behaviour of the troops led against them in 1881 by General Primo de Rivera doubtless confirmed them in this repugnance. The expedition did not do much in the way of fighting, Remingtons and mountain-guns failed to subdue the bold mountaineers armed only with javelin and sword. The Spanish officers and men, however, are reported to have abominably mishandled the Igorrote women. For this ravishing foray the late King Alfonso XII. bestowed the title of Vizconde de la Union upon Primo de Rivera, and showered promotions and crosses upon his staff.

The Igorrotes live in villages with a population of three or four hundred souls. There is a chief to each, but the villages are not organised into states, each being independent. The chief is supposed to be chosen from the families called Mainguel, who have distinguished themselves in war. As a matter of fact, the richest man usually becomes chief. The wealthy families vie with each other in the grand feasts which they give to all comers. The noble and the illustrious guests are personally invited to these feasts, but the common people assemble at beat of drum. The chief presides at the meeting of the Bacuanes or nobles in whom are vested the village lands, and who direct its affairs.

The common people are in a kind of bondage to the nobles, and cultivate their lands for them. In Lepanto they are called cailianes as in Ilocos. Their houses are square, and similar to those of the other natives in the outlying districts, being raised on posts above the ground-level. A framework of bamboos is supported on four trunks of trees, the roof is thatched with cogon (elephant grass) and the sides are closed in by canes, bamboos or pine planks. Each house stands in an enclosure of its own, strongly fenced with rough stones or posts. They are far inferior to the Christian natives in the arrangement of their houses. Instead of having a separate kitchen on a pantalan or raised platform, the fire is made in the centre of the house, and the smoke finds its way out through a hole in the roof. The rafters and inside of the thatch is blackened by the soot. They make no windows to their houses and only a small door, the ladder to which is drawn up when they retire to rest. They are not clean in their persons, and neglect to wash their clothes, or clean the interiors of their houses. They thus compare very unfavourably with the Tagals as regards cleanliness, although, as we shall see, in some other respects they are greatly above them. Each village has its Town Hall, which they call the Balta-oa. This is where the Town Council assembles to settle the affairs of the community, to hear requests for divorces, and to administer the law to offenders. Public festivities also take place here.

They are monogamous, and have the highest respect for the holiness of the marriage tie. It is not absolutely indissoluble, but can be dissolved by the village council on serious grounds; but apparently divorce is systematically discouraged, and the sacredness of marriage is upheld. In former times adulteresses were punished by beheading, but more lenient views now prevail, and a good whipping is considered sufficient to meet the case. Generally death only dissolves the tie, and even then only partially, as re-marriage is difficult; for it is not proper for the widow to marry again without the consent of her late husband's family, which may not easily be obtained, and if she contracts new ties, the children of her first marriage are removed from her control. On the other hand, Igorrote respectability requires that a widower should entirely neglect his toilet and commune silently with his grief for several years before taking to himself a new wife. Like most heathen, they show the greatest respect and affection for their parents, and cherish them to their life's end.

In sharp contrast with the license accorded to young girls by the Tagals and Visayas, the Igorrotes carefully guard the chastity of their daughters, and do not allow them to go about without a chaperon. The father even often accompanies them on their excursions. When they arrive at the age of puberty, the boys and girls are separated.

In each village there are two special buildings not too near each other. In one of these the girls sleep under the watchful guard of a duenna, who looks after their morals, and in the other the youths under the care of an elder. The youth caught violating the sanctity of the damsels' dormitory, or the maiden who is detected in an intrigue, or shows signs of maternity, may expect a severe correction. They do not seem to raise as many difficulties about the marriage of their daughters as the Tagals do, and they do not make it a matter of a mercenary bargain. When a youth takes a fancy to a marriageable maiden of his own degree, he applies through his parents to the father of the girl, and if he and his daughter look with favour on the proposal, the young man is admitted to cohabit with the damsel. But if within a certain period the girl does not show signs of succession, the would-be bridegroom is sent about his business. On the other hand, if pregnancy is announced, the wedding takes place with all possible ceremony, including an invocation of the Anitos or ancestral gods, feasts and dances, which last eight or nine days, but the young couple are excused from attendance. The Igorrotes, in fact, openly recognise a custom which is practised to a great extent in the agricultural districts of England and Scotland, with this difference, that the Christian youth in the latter countries often evades the marriage, while the heathen Igorrote carries out his engagement. I think, on the whole, the heathen comes out best.

Although so desirous of offspring, they like to have them come one at a time, and they consider it to be an evil omen when one of their women brings forth twins. In such a case the last born is handed over to whoever desires to adopt it. This is held to avert the omen and straighten things out again.

Of late years the establishment of forts with the Tagal or Visayas garrisons in the Igorrote territory, and closer contact with Christians generally, have tended to demoralise the heathen, and, above all, to lower somewhat their lofty ideal of chastity.

Amongst the Igorrotes of Lepanto, and those farthest removed from Spanish influence, when a man of position dies, a notification is sent to all his blood-relations, even though they reside at a great distance, and the corpse is not buried until they have all arrived and have each taken the dead man's hand in theirs, inquiring of him tenderly why he has abandoned his family. All this time a great feast is going on outside the house, vast quantities of rice and meat are provided and consumed, and an unlimited allowance of beer drunk by the guests. The expense is often out of all proportion to the means of the family and perhaps involves them in debt for years.

In the Igorrote territory under Spanish influence this extravagance and delay of burial is discouraged. Some of the Igorrotes dry their dead over a fire in a similar way to the Tinguianes. The dead are buried in a sitting posture, after the manner of the Peruvian Indians, but enclosed in coffins, which are placed in any small cave or cleft in the rocks, enlarged by hand if necessary. The Igorrotes believe in a Supreme Being, the creator and preserver; he is called Apo in Benguet, and Lu-ma-oig in Lepanto. The wife of Apo is called Bangan, the daughter Bugan and the son Ubban. There are two inferior gods, Cabigat and Suyan, these deities hold intercourse with mankind through the Anitos or ancestral spirits, some good, some evil, who reward or chastise mankind in this life. They represent these spirits by roughly-carved idols of wood. Some of these idols are male and others female. Occasionally the carving is of an obscene nature, and similar to some clay images I have seen taken from tombs in Peru. They practise family prayer, and the object of it is to solicit the favour of the Anitos. Sometimes the will of the Anitos is declared through an old priestess called an Asitera, who receives a fee for her pains. The ancestral spirits are more worshipped than the gods. Poultry, swine, and dogs, may not be slaughtered except in a sacrificial manner. There is a priest in every village called the Manbunung who first consecrates the animal to the Anitos, and then kills it and returns it to the owner, reserving, however, the best piece for himself. In company with his first-born son he takes the lead at prayer-meetings, or on special occasions, such as illness, marriage, the commencing some important work, or averting some evil omen. This man makes some pretence at healing the sick, but rather with charms and incantations than by administering medicine. There is a sacred tree near each village, which is regarded as the seat of the Anitos. In the shade of this is a sacrificial stone. Sometimes near a house may been seen a small bench for the Anitos to repose on, and a dish of rice or other food for their refreshment. The Igorrotes believe that there are two places where the souls of the dead travel to. One is an agreeable residence provided with everything necessary to happiness, and is for the spirits of those who have died a natural death. But if they have been evil-doers, such as robbers or murderers, and have escaped due punishment on earth, they are punished here by the other souls before being allowed to enjoy the advantages of the place. But the souls of brave warriors killed in battle, and of women who have died in child-birth, arrive at a much more desirable place, a real heaven, and reside amongst the gods.

The Igorrotes of Cabugalan in Lepanto regard eels as the embodiment of their ancestors; they will not catch them or do them any harm, but feed them when opportunity offers. The Asiteras assist at feasts and make invocations and propose toasts which are drunk by the men present. The private or family feasts are called Bumaguil, being held in the giver's house or courtyard, but public entertainments or feasts of the whole village are called Regnas, and are held in or in front of the Balta-oa or Town Hall. They are preceded and followed by songs and dances. The songs are inharmonious and monotonous. The dances vary with the localities. In one dance bowing to the beer-mugs is a feature. As amongst other Malay races, ordeals are in fashion to decide disputes. One consists in a priest or chief scratching the scalps of the disputants with a small iron fork. Whoever loses most blood during this operation has lost his case. The Igorrotes work hard at their agriculture, and their rice-farming is excellent. They plough the valleys with the aid of buffaloes and terrace the hillsides, which they cultivate by hand. They burn down the pine-forests to clear the hills. They irrigate where possible, carrying the canals over any ravine by means of rude aqueducts. They grow considerable quantities of tobacco, [28] which is, however, of inferior quality. This they sell to the civilised natives, and it is exported. I suppose it goes to Hamburg to make German Havana cigars, just as conger eels go to Paris to make fillets of soles. They cultivate sweet potatoes, also the ordinary potatoes, which grow well, and although small, are much prized in Manila, and meet with a ready sale. The Igorrotes of Lepanto eagerly seek new seeds to plant. It is strange that an agricultural people like this should have little or no idea of breeding cattle, but instead of doing so, they purchase from the Ilocanos and others cattle, horses, and pigs for consumption, paying good prices for them. They even buy dogs to eat. I have been assured by Mr. Ernest Heald, formerly British Vice-Consul at Sual, that he has often seen Igorrotes returning to the hills from Dagupan, leading strings of dogs, which they had purchased for food at prices varying from twenty-five to fifty cents, and that the dogs seemed to have an instinctive idea what they were being taken away for. The cooking of the Igorrotes is abominable, especially their way of cooking meat. It would not obtain the approval of Brillat Savarin. They seem to have no objection to eating it putrid, and their robust constitutions apparently prevent their suffering from ptomaine poisoning. The most remarkable characteristic of the Igorrotes is their skill as smiths, miners, and metallurgists. Their forges are not usually in their villages, but are hidden away in the forest; they use piston-blowers instead of bellows, and charcoal as fuel. Their lance-heads, swords, and other weapons are well shaped and of excellent quality. They worked the copper ores of Mancayen in Lepanto very successfully. From official documents it appears that from 1840 to 1855 they sold on an average each year about nineteen tons of copper, either in ingots or manufactured. Then a Spanish Company took up the work and ignominiously failed. Gold mining and washing was formerly a monopoly of the nobles, and the washing is so still to some extent. For centuries, and long before the Spanish conquest, the Igorrotes have brought down gold to trade with the coast natives. Such particulars as are known to me about Igorrote mining, smelting, and gold-washing, will be found under the headings Gold, Copper, Iron, in