Total population | |
---|---|
18,712 (2020 census) [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Philippines (Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Aurora, Northern Luzon) | |
Languages | |
Bugkalot, Ilocano, Tagalog, English | |
Religion | |
Animism, Paganism, minority Christianity | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Igorots, Ibanag, Ilocano, other Filipino ethnic groups |
The Bugkalot (also Ilongot or Ibilao [2] ) are a tribe inhabiting the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains, on the east side of Luzon in the Philippines, primarily in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija and along the mountain border between the provinces of Quirino and Aurora. They are also commonly referred to as "Ilongot", especially in older studies, but nowadays, the endonym Bugkalot is preferred in modern ethnic research. [3] They were formerly headhunters. [3]
Presently, there are about 18,000 Bugkalots according to the 2020 census. [4] The Bugkalots tend to inhabit areas close to rivers, as they provide a food source and a means for transportation. Their native language is the Bugkalot language, spoken by about 6,000 people. They also speak the Ilocano and Tagalog languages.
In Ivan Salva's study in 1980 of the Bugkalots, she described "gender differences related to the positive cultural value placed on adventure, travel, and knowledge of the external world." Bugkalot men, more often than women, visited distant places. They acquired knowledge of the outside world, amassed experiences there, and returned to share their knowledge, adventures, and feelings in a public oratory in order to pass on their knowledge to others. The Bugkalot men received acclaim as a result of their experiences. Because they lacked external experience on which to base knowledge and expression, Bugkalot women had inferior prestige.
Based on Michelle Rosaldo's study and findings of other stateless societies, anthropologists must distinguish between prestige systems and actual power within a society. Just because a male has a high level of prestige, he may not own much economic or political power compared to others that are less prestigious within the society.
Renato Rosaldo went on to study headhunting among the Bugkalots in his book Ilongot Headhunting, 1883-1974: A Study in Society and History. He notes headhunting raids are often associated with bereavement, a rage, and expiation at the loss of a loved one.
Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced in historic times in parts of Europe, East Asia, Oceania, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Mesoamerica, South America, West Africa and Central Africa.
Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija, is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest local government unit (LGU). Nueva Ecija borders, from the south clockwise, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora. The province is nationally known as the Rice Granary of the Philippines, producing the largest rice yield in the country.
Aurora, officially the Province of Aurora, is a province in the Philippines located in the eastern part of Central Luzon region, facing the Philippine Sea. Its capital is Baler and borders, clockwise from the south, the provinces of Quezon, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and Isabela.
Davao del Sur, officially the Province of Davao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Digos. Davao City is the largest city in terms of area and population within the province's jurisdiction, yet it is administratively independent from the province; as such, Davao City is only grouped for geographical and statistical purposes.
Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya, is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital is Bayombong. It is bordered by Benguet to the west, Ifugao to the north, Isabela to the northeast, Quirino to the east, Aurora to the southeast, Nueva Ecija to the south, and Pangasinan to the southwest. Quirino province was created from Nueva Vizcaya in 1966.
Quirino, officially the Province of Quirino, is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital is Cabarroguis. It is named after Elpidio Quirino, the sixth President of the Philippines.
The kampilan is a type of single-edged sword, traditionally used by various ethnic groups in the Philippine archipelago. It has a distinct profile, with the tapered blade being much broader and thinner at the point than at its base, sometimes with a protruding spikelet along the flat side of the tip. The design of the pommel varies between ethnic groups, but it usually depicts either a buaya (crocodile), a bakunawa, a kalaw (hornbill), or a kakatua (cockatoo)..
The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains are in the Cordillera Mountain Range, altogether numbering about 1.5 million people in the early 21st century.
The Philippines is inhabited by more than 182 ethnolinguistic groups, many of which are classified as "Indigenous Peoples" under the country's Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997. Traditionally-Muslim peoples from the southernmost island group of Mindanao are usually categorized together as Moro peoples, whether they are classified as Indigenous peoples or not. About 142 are classified as non-Muslim Indigenous People groups, and about 19 ethnolinguistic groups are classified as neither indigenous nor moro. Various migrant groups have also had a significant presence throughout the country's history.
Michelle "Shelly" Zimbalist Rosaldo was a social, linguistic, and psychological anthropologist famous for her studies of the Ilongot people in the Philippines and for her pioneering role in women's studies and the anthropology of gender.
The Gaddang language is spoken by up to 30,000 speakers in the Philippines, particularly along the Magat and upper Cagayan rivers in the Region II provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela and by overseas migrants to countries in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, in the Middle East, United Kingdom and the United States. Most Gaddang speakers also speak Ilocano, the lingua franca of Northern Luzon, as well as Tagalog and English. Gaddang is associated with the "Christianized Gaddang" people, and is closely related to the highland tongues of Ga'dang with 6,000 speakers, Yogad, Cagayan Agta with less than 1,000 and Atta with 2,000, and more distantly to Ibanag, Itawis, Isneg and Malaweg.
The Ifugao people are the ethnic group inhabiting Ifugao province in the Philippines. They reside in the municipalities of Lagawe, Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc. The province is one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines with an area of only 251,778 hectares, or about 0.8% of the total Philippine land area. As of 1995, the population of the Ifugaos was counted to be 131,635. Although the majority of them are still in Ifugao province, some of them have moved to Baguio, where they work as woodcarvers, and to other parts of the Cordillera Region.
The indigenous peoples of the Philippines are ethnolinguistic groups or subgroups that maintain partial isolation or independence throughout the colonial era, and have retained much of their traditional pre-colonial culture and practices.
Renato Rosaldo is an American cultural anthropologist. He has done field research among the Ilongots of northern Luzon, Philippines, and he is the author of Ilongot Headhunting: 1883–1974: A Study in Society and History (1980) and Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis (1989).
The Itneg are an Austronesian ethnic group from the upland province of Abra in northwestern Luzon, Philippines.
The pasiking is the indigenous basket-backpack found among the various ethno-linguistic groups of Northern Luzon in the Philippines. Pasiking designs have sacred allusions, although most are purely aesthetic. These artifacts, whether handwoven traditionally or with contemporary variations, are considered exemplars of functional basketry in the Philippines and among Filipinos.
The Gaddang are a linguistically-identified ethnic group resident in the watershed of the Cagayan River in Northern Luzon, Philippines. Gaddang speakers were recently reported to number as many as 30,000, a number that may not include another 6,000 related Ga'dang speakers or other small linguistic-groups whose vocabularies are more than 75% identical.
Grave goods are utilitarian and ornamental objects buried with the deceased. "Pabaon", as present day Filipinos know, is the tradition of including the priced possessions or items of the dead to its grave because of the belief that these things might be helpful to the deceased as it travels to the life after death. This has been a practice since the neolithic times.
Batok, batek, patik, or batik, among other names, are general terms for indigenous tattoos of the Philippines. Tattooing on both sexes was practiced by almost all ethnic groups of the Philippine Islands during the pre-colonial era. Like other Austronesian groups, these tattoos were made traditionally with hafted tools tapped with a length of wood. Each ethnic group had specific terms and designs for tattoos, which are also often the same designs used in other art forms and decorations such as pottery and weaving. Tattoos range from being restricted only to certain parts of the body to covering the entire body. Tattoos were symbols of tribal identity and kinship, as well as bravery, beauty, and social or wealth status.