The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon

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Title: The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon
Author: Barrows, David Prescott, 1873-1954
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon" ***

THE NEGRITO AND ALLIED TYPES IN THE PHILIPPINES

By David P. Barrows

[Reprinted from the American Anthropologist, Vol. 12, No. 3,
July-Sept., 1910.]

Nine years of residence and travel in the Philippines have produced
the conviction that in discussions of the ethnology of Malaysia,
and particularly of the Philippines, the Negrito element has been
slighted. Much has been made of the "Indonesian" theory and far too
much of pre-Spanish Chinese influence, but the result to the physical
types found in the Philippines of the constant absorption of the
Negrito race into the Malayan and the wide prevalence of Negrito
blood in all classes of islanders has been generally overlooked.

The object of this paper is to present some physical measurements of
the Negrito and then of several other pagan peoples of the islands
whose types, as determined by measurement and observation, reveal
the presence of Negrito blood.

The physical measurements here given were taken by me at various times
between 1901 and 1909. They were taken according to the methods of
Topinard (Éléments d'Anthropologie Générale) and are discussed in
accordance with his system of nomenclature.

The first Negritos measured are members of a little community on the
south slope of Mount Mariveles in the province of Bataan. They are of
a markedly pure type. While it is usual to find Negrito communities
considerably affected by Malayan blood, in this case I doubt if there
is more than a single individual who is not of pure Negrito race. Nine
men and ten women, all adults, practically the entire grown population
of this group, were measured. Although this is a small number, the
surprising uniformity of characteristics in all practically assures
us that in these individuals we have the normal, pure type of Negrito,
which may be used as a standard for comparison with other peoples.

The stature of these nine men and ten women arranged serially appears
below:

Men Women
1374 1266
1381 1292
1435 1305
1439 1326
1440 = mean 1341
1467 1375
1495 1385
1526 1396
1532 1400
1460

These figures give an extreme variation of 158 mm. for the men and
194 mm. for the women. The mean stature for men is 1440, the average
1454, and for the women 1341-1375 and 1354 respectively. These,
it scarcely need be said, are extremely low statures, perhaps as
low as have ever been recorded on any group of people. According to
Topinard's nomenclature they are all distinctly "pigmy."

In every individual the extreme reach of the arms ("grande envergure")
exceeded the stature. In the men the excess varied from 30 mm. to
139 mm. and in the women from 23 mm. to 102 mm. This measurement
shows the Negritos to have unusually long arms. In yellow races the
arm-reach is about equal to the stature, and in the white race it is
usually a little above. I think we may take this excessive reach of
arms to be a truly Negrito character.

The cephalic and nasal indices for both men and women are next given:

Cephalic Index

Men Women [1]
80 78
80 79
80 81
80 81
82 82
82 87
82 93
87
88

Nasal Index

Men Women
84 79
90 86
90 90
91 92
95 92
97 92
98 97
98 98
100 98
109

Topinard's nomenclature for cephalic index is as follows:

Long heads (dolichocephalic) 74 and below
Medium heads (mesaticephalic) 75 to 79
Broad or round heads (brachycephalic) 80 to 90

Thus with two exceptions our Negritos are decidedly round headed or
brachycephalic. The exceptions are two women (indices 78 and 79),
who in other respects are typical. The first had the lowest stature
recorded (1266 mm.) and her arm-reach exceeded her stature by 57
mm. Her nose was very broad and flat (index 98), hair kinky, color
and other characters those of the pure Negrito. The second woman was
without obvious indication of mixed blood, but her nasal index was
only 79 or mesorhinian, and this even more than her head form would
suggest the probability of some Malay blood. I think we must conclude,
then, that the head form of the Negrito, while usually decidedly round,
has considerable variation and approaches mesaticephaly.

Topinard's nomenclature for nasal index is, for the living:

Broad and flat noses (platyrhinian) 108 to 87.9
Medium noses (mesorhinian) 81.4 to 69.3
Thin, high noses (leptorhinian) 69.4 to 63

Those familiar with Topinard's monumental work will recall the
particular importance he gives to the nasal index, and how he shows
that it is perhaps the most exact character for classifying races;
all white races being leptorhinian, the yellow mesorhinian, and the
black or negro races platyrhinian. Indeed the presence of a markedly
platyrhinian type of nose may almost be taken as clear proof of negro
derivation. The nasal index of Negritos, as would be expected in a race
whose outward characters are so obviously negroid, is exceptionally
high or platyrhinian. Again the figures for men and women are arranged
serially so as to show the mean and variation.

Nasal Index

Men Women
84 79
90 86
90 90
91 92
95 92
97 92
97 97
98 98
100 98
109

All of these nasal indices, with the sole exception of the woman
mentioned above, are below mesorhinian or pronouncedly platyrhinian
and negroid.

The shape of the Negrito nose is peculiar and after it has once
been carefully observed can be easily recognized. The root is deeply
depressed from a smooth and rounding forehead, the bridge is short
and low, and the end rounding and bulbous. Sometimes, but not usually,
the nostrils are horizontally visible. The apertures of the nostrils
are very flat and their direction almost parallel with the plane of
the face.

It has been repeatedly asserted that the body color of the Negrito is
black, but this is a gross exaggeration. It is a dark brown, several
shades darker than the Malay, with a yellowish or saffron "undertone"
showing on the less exposed parts of the body. As compared with the
lighter colored peoples about him his color is pronounced enough to
warrant the appellation of negro which is applied to him, but this
term must not be considered as other than a popular description.

The hair of the Negrito is typically African. It is kinky and grows
in the little clusters or "peppercorn" bunches peculiar to negro
races. The Negrito man and woman usually wear the hair short, cutting
it more or less closely so that it resembles a thick pad over the
head. Sometimes a tonsure on the back is cut away, and among still
other Negritos a considerable part of the hair is removed from the
head. In persons of mixed Negrito-Malayan blood the hair, if left
uncut, grows into a great wavy or frizzly mop standing up well from
the head.

The Negrito is seldom prognathous, nor is the lower part of his
face excessively developed. His profile and features on the whole
are comely and pleasing, especially in the pure type, which is less
"scrawny" than in mixed individuals. The body, too, is shapely and
the proportions good, except that the head appears a little large,
the legs too short, and the arms, as above noted, excessively long.

The muscular development is slender rather than stocky, seldom obese,
legs a little thin and deficient in the calf.

The Negrito eye is distinctly pretty. It is dark brown and well
opened. It has no suggestion of doubled lid and in all these respects
differs from the eye of the Malayan.

The lips are full, the chin slightly retreating, the ear well shaped
and "attached."

Such are, I believe, the normal characters of the Negrito of the
Philippines. He is a scattered survivor of the pygmy negro race, at
one time undoubtedly far more important and numerous; brachycephalic,
platyrhinian, woolly headed, and, when unaffected by the higher
culture of the surrounding peoples, a pure forest-dwelling savage.

The only other undisputed members of the Negrito race, besides those
found in the Philippines, are the Andaman islanders and the Semang
of the Malay peninsula. De Quatrefages' diligent and hopeful search
through the literature of Malaysia for traces of the Negrito led him to
the belief in their existence in a good many other places from Sumatra
to Formosa, but Meyer in a subsequent essay assailed De Quatrefages'
evidence except for the three areas mentioned above. If by Negrito
we mean compact, independent communities of relatively pure type,
I think we must agree with Meyer, but if on the other hand we mean by
the presence of the Negrito the occurrence of his typical characters in
numerous individuals of reputed Malayan race, then we must, I think,
admit the presence of the Negrito in a great proportion of the peoples
and localities of Malaysia. And in this sense there is much evidence
that the Negrito still exists from the Andamans to Formosa and even
to Japan, absorbed in the stronger populations that have overrun
these regions.

Meyer's Distribution of the Negritos in the Philippines and Elsewhere
is a very valuable sifting of the evidence, but it is not final, as
was quickly apparent eight years ago when we came to locate Negritos
on the ground. There are none for instance in Cebu, where Meyer
was led to place them, and it is certain that they live in Guimaras
and on Palawan. Those of the last island are a very curious people,
locally called "Batak." They were first described in a brief note with
photographs by Lieutenant E. Y. Miller published by the Philippine
Ethnological Survey in volume II of its Publications. Doubt has been
cast on the Negrito character of these people, some supposing them
to be predominantly Malayan, but there is no doubt about their being
Negrito, although in places they have perhaps received Malayan blood.

In June, 1909, I measured a few Batak who had a small settlement called
Laksun near the village of Bintuan, thirty miles up the coast from
Puerto Princesa. The individuals of this group were typical Negritos,
in color, character of hair, and general appearance. Four men who were
measured were 1433, 1475, 1497, and 1590 respectively in stature. Their
arm-reach in every case exceeded the height, in one the excess being
152 mm. The head indices were 80 to 81, the nasal indices 85, 98, 102,
and 102. These are all true Negrito characters and, while there may be
in some communities of Batak a considerable amount of Malayan blood,
the predominant type is Negrito.

It appears also that the other pagan element in Palawan, known as
"Tagbanwa," while predominantly Malayan and exhibiting the general
appearance and manner of life of the Malayan, is in part Negrito, as
is revealed by the following measurements of five "Tagbanwa" men taken
at Eraan, thirty miles south of Puerto Princesa. These men include
the chief, "Masekampo Kosa" and four of his retainers. Their stature
varied from 1521 to 1595, less than the usual stature of a group of
Malayan men. The arm-reach was notably greater than the height. All
were brachycephalic, the indices being 79, 81, 81, 82, and 83. All were
platyrhinian, except one who was mesorhinian, the indices being 79,
88, 95, 100, and 105. In spite of these pronouncedly Negrito results,
these men had the appearance of Malays, not Negritos. Their skin
color was light brown, hair wavy not curly; their habits, bearing,
and speech indicated the temperament of the Malay.

The "Mamanua" of Surigao peninsula, Mindanao, have long been recognized
as of Negrito race. They were seen and described by Montano in 1880. At
the present time they are very few in number, and are found in the
forest about Lake Mainit and in the hill country southward. They
are fast being absorbed by the Manobo, who join their communities
and intermarry with them. In a little village called Kicharao in the
forest near Lake Mainit are Mamanua men married to Manobo women and
Manobo men married to Mamanua women, the children of these unions
sometimes presenting Negroid and sometimes Malayan characters. The
opportunity to observe the immediate results of mixture between two
different races is very unusual. Naturally this group is of mixed
race, some individuals looking like pure Negritos and from this
type varying all the way to primitive Malayan. Three men whom I
measured had a stature exceeding the Negrito but in other respects
were Negritic. The statures were 1583, 1594, and 1612; the cephalic
indices, 80, 85, and 86; the nasal indices, 97, 102, and 111.

What has not been generally noted, however, is the fact that nearly
all the peoples of eastern Mindanao, usually described as "Malayan"
or "Indonesian," are to a large degree Negrito. This is especially
true of the Manobo of the lower waters of the river Agusan. I have
no measurements of these people, but the appearance of nearly every
individual in their communities is Negritic rather than Malayan. The
stature is very low and frail, hair black and wavy to frizzly, features
negroid, and behavior that of the pacified Negrito. Similar characters,
though in a less marked degree, display themselves among the tribes
southward and about the gulf of Davao. There is no doubt that there is
a large amount of absorbed Negrito stock in the pagan peoples of all
this great island. Even among the Subanon of the Samboanga peninsula,
who are perhaps as purely Malayan as any, I have seen occasional
individuals with marked Negrito characters.

I shall not attempt here to estimate the proportion of Negrito blood
in the Christian peoples of the Philippines--Bisaya, Bikol, Tagalog,
Ilokano, etc.--further than to express my conviction that in certain
regions it is very large and has greatly modified the primitive Malayan
type. But let us turn to the consideration of possible Negrito blood in
two interesting pagan stocks of northern Luzon, the "Igorot" and the
"Ilongot" or "Ibilao."

The term Igorot is used to include all the wild, headhunting,
mountain-dwelling peoples of the great cordillera of Luzon, a region
some two hundred miles in length by forty across. This mountain area is
divisible into regions wherein the culture, physical type, and language
of the inhabitants are homogeneous or nearly so. These regions, in
reports made some years ago on the wild tribes of the Philippines,
I have called "culture areas," and they may serve, in the absence of
the tribal relation, as the basis of classification. Beginning with
the southern end of this mountain system we have the area of southern
Benguet and Kayapa inhabited by Igorot speaking a dialect called
"Nabaloi." In northern Benguet, Amburayan, and southern Lepanto are
the "Kankanay." In the central mountain region, a great area with
several subdivisions, the "Bontok"; and southeast, occupying the
former Comandancia of Kiangan, the "Ifugao." North of Bontok are the
"Tinglayan," the "Tinggian" or "Itnig," the "Kalinga," and "Apayao"
areas, and perhaps others. Of these most northerly peoples I have no
anthropometric data. Their general appearance is somewhat different
from that of the Igorot farther south. They appear to the eye to be
more slender and handsomely built, with finer features, especially
in the case of the Tinggian. I am of opinion, however, that these
dissimilarities are apparent rather than real, and that measurements
and careful observation will demonstrate unity of physical type
throughout the entire cordillera. This unity does not refer of course
to manner of dressing the hair, ornamentation, artificial deformations,
etc., in which there is wide variation. The ethnological origin of
these Igorot peoples is at first very puzzling. They are obviously
not typical Malayans. Some physical measurements which I have should,
and I believe do, throw some light on the problem.

On September 26, 1902, at Ambuklao, Benguet, I measured ten Igorot men
from the villages of Baguio, Trinidad, Tublay, and Ambuklao. All were
adults, from 20 to 40 years of age, except one, a boy of 16, who was,
however, married and not inferior in stature to the others. These
men all belonged to the poor or "kailian" class, except one who had
arisen to the "principal" class from poor parentage. By "poor" class
in Benguet is meant those who have no cattle, rice terraces, mines,
or other productive property and are liable to the forced labor of
"polistas." The stature, arm-reach, and cephalic and nasal indices
of these Igorot are arranged below:

Height Arm-reach Cephalic Index Nasal Index

1481 1489 83.0 82.9
1490 1550 75.7 85.8
1496 1532 78.9 104.8
1499 1556 79.7 83.3
1500 1567 76.8 83.5
1512 1588 87.5 75.0
1522 1583 76.0 89.4
1546 1602 81.2 97.7
1596 1564 82.3 79.1
1615 1647 96.3 105.0

Of these statures all but one are "short," or below 1600. In fact
these men are only a little above the average stature of the
Negritos of Mariveles (1450). Five are within 50 mm. of a true
pygmy stature. The mean stature is 1500 to 1512, and the average
is identical, 1505.7. In all but one case the arm reach exceeds the
height, the excess varying from 8 to 36 mm. Six are brachycephalic,
and four mesaticephalic, the variation extending from 75.7 to 96.3. The
nasal index shows wide variation from 75 to 105, the mean being about
85. Four are platyrhinian, two exceeding 100, two are mesorhinian,
and four are midway between Topinard's mesorhinian and platyrhinian
types. The muscular development of these men is very strong, robust,
or "stocky." The skin color is coffee brown with saffron undertone,
lighter on trunk. Their hair is coarse and in nearly every case
straight, in one case only being slightly wavy. The hair is usually
scant on the body and about the face, but two men have relatively hairy
bodies and legs. The eye in some cases appears to be oblique. The ear
in every case is attached and normal. The chin is retreating and in one
case the face is somewhat prognathic. The lips are thick and the under
lip heavy. In several cases the supraorbital arches are prominent.

On September 29th of the same year, at Wagan, a small town in Kayapa,
I measured fifteen Igorot of that town and of Losod. Eight were women
and seven were men. The measurements and indices of these follow:

Stature Arm-reach Cephalic Index Nasal Index

Men
1413 1478 78.7 125.0
1493 1539 80.4 86.4
1512 1544 82.7 84.0
1550 1600 78.9 90.7
1589 1650 73.2 90.9
1594 1650 78.8 100.0
1653 1672 74.6 140.0

Women
1351 1376 85.1 92.6
1367 1394 76.7 92.7
1423 1467 79.1 100.0
1433 1466 76.8 105.7
1435 1455 84.8 125.3
1435 1522 82.6 100.0
1442 1446 84.6 100.0
1509 1520 74.4 100.0

The mean stature (1550) and the average (1526) were a little higher
than in Benguet. In every case the arm-reach exceeded the height. The
shape of head in men and women shows a wide variation. Seven
are brachycephalic and seven are mesaticephalic while one is
dolichocephalic (73.2). The nasal index varies from 84 to 140--a truly
astonishing series of noses! All are platyrhinian except two, and nine
of the sixteen have indices of 100 or over. The descriptive characters
were much the same as for the Benguet group. There was occasional
marked supraorbital development, retreating chin, and prognathism.

Two of the men deserve special remark. One was the very small fellow--a
true pigmy (1413 mm.). He was named "Mokyao" and was born in Wagan. He
suggested the Negrito in stature, in arm-reach (65 mm. in excess of
stature), in nasal index (125), and in the slightly wavy quality of
his hair. His head, however, was mesaticephalic (78.7).

The other was the Igorot of unusually tall stature, 1653 mm.,
and he was the most extraordinary savage I have ever seen. He was
about 30 years old, named "Ñgaao," a native of Wagan. When he first
appeared in our camp he almost startled us with the brutality of
his appearance. He was promptly dubbed the "Gorilla." His arm-reach
was 1672, his head length 197, breadth 147, and index 74.6; his nose
length 35, breadth 48, and index 140; his height and breadth of face
were 179 and 139; width of shoulders 396; circumference of chest
880; of belly 810. His ears were greatly developed, his supraorbital
arches most pronounced, and his whole appearance like a restoration
of primitive man. He wore only a loin string and a deerskin knapsack,
and was most extraordinarily blackened with dirt and the pitch from
smoky fires. His intelligence seemed very low, but he was said to be
married and to have two children.

In May, 1908, I measured two Igorot men at Akop's place near Tublay,
Benguet, four men of Karao at Bokod and six men of Kabayan. These,
like the preceding, were all Nabaloi, although the people of Karao
speak a somewhat different dialect and are allied to the "Busul"--wild,
robbing Igorot of the high mountains between the Agno river valley
and Nueva Vizcaya. The statures and cephalic and nasal indices of
these twelve men are given below:

Stature Cephalic Index [2] Nasal Index [2]

1467 74.1 79.4
1508 74.2 85.1
1511.5 74.3 86.3
1529 75.2 87.6
1541 75.6 88.3
1550 76.0 92.0
1565 76.0 92.1
1572 76.2 93.7
1591 76.4 100.0
1602 78.1 100.0
1648 78.4 100.0
1681 79.7 100.0

The stature of these men is "short," about the same mean as that of
other Igorot given above. Two, however, belong to Topinard's "above
medium" statures, being 1648 and 1681. These are unusually tall
Igorot and it may be worth noting that both belong to the wealthy or
"baknang" class. The taller is "Belasco" of Kabayan and the other
"Akop" of Tublay. All are mesaticephalic and their indices cover the
entire range of this class, 74 to 80. The most brachycephalic is
"Belasco" and the next "Akop," the two of unusual stature. These
men are less brachycephalic than the Igorot measured at Ambuklao
and Kayapa, but the numbers in each case are too few to permit
generalization. The group is platyrhinian for the greater part, four
only being mesorhinian. On the whole this is a very homogeneous group
of men. With two exceptions all are of about the same low stature,
all mesaticephalic, all platyrhinian or nearly so. The hair of all is
black, coarse, and straight, the body smooth and face as well, except
that the men of Karao had a few mustache and chin hairs and seemed to
be more hairy on the legs than the others. The profile of the nose
was much alike in all, a straight short bridge, rounding bluntly at
the end. The brows were rather prominent, especially in the Karao men.

In the same month I measured two men of Bugias, Benguet, and four of
Suyok, Lepanto, all of whom were "Kankanay." These measurements were
as follows:

Stature Arm-reach Cephalic Index Nasal Index

1452 1490 75.3 100.0
1470 1545 78.8 88.6
1518 1577 79.2 95.0
1621 1676 78.8 97.8
1558 1554 72.8 92.6
1571 1591 81.0 83.0

These men are all of low stature, long armed, all platyrhinian, but
having a very varying head-shape, one being dolichocephalic (head
length 195, breadth 142, and index 72.8), and one brachycephalic, 81.

On the same trip, at Benawi, I measured ten Ifugao men. All were adult,
well formed, and of the laboring or "polista" class. Their measures
are as follows:

Height Cephalic Index [3] Nasal Index [3]

1465 71.00 85
1501 71.65 93
1530 74.00 95
1534 76.50 97
1556 76.90 100
1567 77.26 100
1579 77.80 106
1581 79.60 106
1600 80.40 118
1606 83.50 119

The mean height and the amount of variation are almost exactly the
same as those found in Benguet. All but two are of "short" stature,
while one approaches that of a Negrito. The head index is generally
mesaticephalic, but three are dolichocephalic and two brachycephalic,
the amount of variation being surprising. All are platyrhinian, most
of them excessively so. Their color was a dirty brown, with saffron
undertone. The hair was black, abundant, and in every case wavy. The
nose was flat, "bulbous," with a very rounding end, and deeply indented
at root. The lips were full and prominent, the chin retreating, and
eye-arches rather heavy. As these men sat together with their dark
faces and abundant heads of wavy hair they had a suggestively Papuan
appearance. Another peculiarity was their singularly depressed temples,
which gave the face a very narrow diameter across the brow.

In the foregoing series we have altogether 53 Igorot, 8 of them women,
whose physical characters may now be summarized. While this may seem a
small number upon which to base conclusions, a few general statements
may, with propriety, be made. [4]

Arranging serially the statures of the forty-five men, it is found
that two of them are below 1450 mm., nine are between 1451 and 1500,
fourteen between 1501 and 1550, thirteen between 1551 and 1600, five
between 1501 and 1650, and two are above 1650 and below 1700. I believe
that these figures are representative of all the Igorot stock. From a
personal experience extending over a good many years I think it may
be asserted that the Igorot in all parts of the cordillera present
about the same statures as those which I have here given. Belasco
and Akop would be recognized as very tall Igorot in any part of the
mountains. Two of the above are pygmy and all but seven are below 1600,
and correspond to Topinard's "below medium" statures. We may say,
then, with positiveness that the Igorot is one of the exceptionally
short races of mankind. With three or four exceptions the arm-reach
is greater than the height, usually by 40 to 50 mm. Thus, the short
stature is somewhat compensated for by long arms, heavy, robust bodies,
and short, muscular legs.

The cephalic index of both men and women ranges from 70 to 96.3, a very
surprising range. Ten are dolichocephalic, 71 to 74.6; twenty-nine are
mesaticephalic, 75.2 to 79.7; twelve are brachycephalic, 80.4 to 84.8,
and two are hyperbrachycephalic, 85 and 96.3. Thus the vast majority
of heads are mesaticephalic with more tendency toward brachycephaly
than to dolichocephaly.

The nose represents on the other hand surprising uniformity. Only
three noses are mesorhinian, 75, 79.1, and 79.4, thirty-nine are full
platyrhinian, while twenty-two have an index of 100 or more. The mean
index is 95.

From this comparison I think we may assert that in the mountain people
of the southern half of the cordillera of Luzon we have a very short,
long-armed, muscular race of dark brown color varying to saffron, with
coarse black hair that is usually straight but in Bontok is sometimes
wavy, and in Kiangan regularly so, full lips, retreating chin, flat,
broad noses rounding at the end and deeply depressed at the root,
with an extraordinarily high nasal index, and heads that have great
variation in shape but are usually mesaticephalic or brachycephalic.

May we then draw a few conclusions? Obviously this is not a typical
Malay type. To a possible basis of primitive Malayan stock some
other racial element or elements have been added and thoroughly
incorporated. The wide range in shape of head may be taken, I think, as
probable evidence of such mingling of types. The color, the straight
or slightly wavy black hair, and the temperament (the "psyche")
of the Igorot show the Malay or Oceanic Mongol derivation. The short
stature and limbs, the long arms, the shape and index of the nose, the
occasional heads of hair that are too wavy for the Malay and would be
unheard of in the Mongol--these things are Negrito, or at least they
are characteristic of the black race of Oceanica. The variability in
shape of head would be puzzling were it not for the fact that both
the Malayan and the black races of the Indian archipelago show a
wide variability in this character of the head. These reflections
have already suggested the theory that I have to propose for the
origin of the Igorot, that he is an old, thoroughly fused mixture
of the aboriginal Negritos, who still survive in a few spots of
the cordillera, and an intrusive, Malayan race, who, by preference
or by press of foes behind them, scaled the high mountains and on
their bleak and cold summits and canyon slopes laboriously built
themselves rock-walled fields and homes, in which they have long been
acclimated. The culture of the Igorot has been greatly modified and
advanced by the rigors of his habitat, but it is Malayan at base,
as are the languages which he speaks. Except in one or two localities
where there has been recent mixture with the still existing Negrito he
does not make use of the bow and arrow, which are Negrito weapons, but
uses the shield and spear for close fighting and the jungle knife or
an interesting modification, the "headax," for both fighting and work.

While the above expressed hypothesis of the origin of the Igorot
appears to me to have much probability, for a similar theory
to explain the Malay type of the Ilongot or Ibilao I feel even
stronger confidence. This curious people occupies a very broken
mountain area formed by the junction of the Sierra Madre with the
Caraballo Sur. This is the headwaters of the Kagayan river and to a
less degree of the Pampanga. Besides being wholly mountainous it is
covered with thick and well nigh impenetrable jungle, in which the
scattered homes of these wild people are hidden and protected. They
have long had the worst of reputations as head hunters and marauders,
and little information about them has circulated except wild rumors
of their strange appearance and treacherous ferocity.

They have been described as "very tall," "heavily bearded,"
"light in color," "white," and of a type elsewhere unknown in the
Philippines. For most of these reports there is no foundation. My
experience with this people is limited to two visits to two different
communities, in 1902 to a group in the jurisdiction of Nueva Vizcaya
and in 1909 to a community in the mountains back of Pantabangan,
Nueva Ecija. On the first visit measurements and notes were made of
four men and three women. Their stature was found to be as follows:

Men Women

1480 1386
1518 1440
1553 1510
1590

The average stature of these men was 1535, a little less than the
average stature of Igorot, and so a very short human height. The
cephalic index for the seven, and the nasal index for six (one missing)
are as follows:

Cephalic Index Nasal Index

79.7 77.5
80.7 82.5
80.8 88.6
83.8 88.6
85.1 88.7
87.1 90.9
88.0

All are brachycephalic except one (79.7), and all are platyrhinian
but one.

In the second community I measured twelve men and five women, with
the following results:

Stature Men Stature Women Cephalic Index Nasal Index

1610 1453 89 100
1583 1450 87 98
1582 1441 86 95
1580 1422 85.9 95
1570 1412 85 94
1544 84 93
1532 83.7 90
1503 83.3 89
1486 83 89
1467 81 88
1439 81 87.8
81 87
1240 (a boy) 80 87
80 83
79 82
79 82
76 76

The height of these men presents a wider variation, as would be
expected in the larger number (1601 to 1437), but the mean and the
general results are the same. The head index is brachycephalic except
in the case of three, and all are platyrhinian, or nearly so, except
one. Thus in these Ilongot we have a short race, even shorter than the
Igorot, brachycephalic and platyrhinian. Their hair is wavy, except
when it is curly. It is usually worn long. The face is occasionally
hairy; a few individuals have been seen with sparse but quite long,
curly beards. Their eyes are larger, finer, and more open than is usual
in the Igorot and the Malay. One peculiarity of the face is noticeable:
it narrows rapidly from the cheek bones to the chin, giving the face a
pentagonal shape. The color may be a little lighter than in the Igorot,
who is more exposed to sunlight than the Ilongot of the forest, and
it is much lighter than in the Negrito, but by no means light enough
to justify any likeness to either white or Mongol races.

In these people we have, I am quite sure, a mixture of primitive
Malayan and Negrito, with more Negrito than in the case of the
Igorot. Stature, curly hair, short head, and broad, flat nose--these
are all negritic characters, as is also the hairiness of the face
and body. In fact there can be no doubt of the presence of Negrito
blood in the Ilongot, for the process of assimilation can be seen
going on. The Negrito of a comparatively pure type is a neighbor
of the Ilongot on both the south and the north. Usually they are
at enmity, but this does not, and certainly has not in the past,
prevented commingling. The culture of the Ilongot is intermediate,
or a composite of Malayan and Negrito elements. He uses the bow and
arrow of the Negrito and the spear of the Malayan as well. There are
few things in the ethnography of the Ilongot that seem unusual and
for which the culture of neither Malay nor Negrito does not provide
an explanation. One curious peculiarity, however, is an aptitude and
taste for decorative carving, applied to the door posts, lintels,
and other parts of his house, to the planting sticks of the woman,
to the rattan frame of his deer-hide rain-hat, etc. But except for
this there seems little that is not an inheritance from the two above
strains or a development due to isolation in these mountainous forests
that have long been his home.

In concluding this account of the Ilongot I cannot forbear calling
attention to what appears to me a striking resemblance between
them and the "Sakay" of the Malay peninsula as these latter are
photographed and described in Skeat and Blagden's Pagan Races of the
Malay Peninsula. There, as in the Philippines, we have a wavy-haired
people (the Sakay) located in between, and obviously mingling with,
the Negrito ("Semang") on the north and the primitive ("Jakun")
Malayan on the south. The type is clearly intermediate between these
two races, and every Sakay community seems to contain individuals
that exhibit both pronounced Negrito and Malayan characters. There
seem to be no culture elements in the ethnography of the Sakay that
are not found in the life of Semang, Jakun, or allied peoples. And
yet, in the face of what would seem to be the obvious and natural
supposition that the Sakay is a half-breed of the Semang and Jakun,
our authors, following Professor Rudolf Martin (Die Inlandstämme der
malayischen Halbinsel), discover in the Sakay a distinct race of wholly
different origin from the Semang and Jakun--but allied to the Veddahs
of Ceylon! This seems to me to be creating a far-fetched theory where
none is necessary. While I have not had an opportunity of studying
the Sakay at first hand, I am tolerably familiar with Negrito and
primitive Malayan, and the results of their intermarriage, and every
fresh examination of the texts and illustrations above referred to
increases my belief that the Sakay, like so many of the types of the
Philippines, is an exhibit to the widely diffused Negrito element in
Malayan peoples.

University of California, Berkeley.

THE ILONGOT OR IBILAO OF LUZON

By Dr. David P. Barrows

University of California

Reprinted from the Popular Science Monthly, December, 1910.

The grewsome practise of taking human heads is particularly associated
with the Igorot peoples of the Cordillera of Luzon. These all engage
in it or have done so until recently. But to-day the most persistent
and dreaded headhunters are neither Igorot nor inhabitants of the
Cordillera; they are a wild, forest-dwelling people in the broken
and almost impenetrable mountain region formed by the junction of
the Sierra Madre range with the Caraballo Sur. They have been called
by different names by the peoples contiguous to them on the north,
west and south, "Italon," "Ibilao," "Ilongot" or "Ilungut." The last
designation would for some reasons be the preferred, but "Ibilao,"
or as it is quite commonly pronounced locally through northern Nueva
Ecija, "Abilao," has perhaps the widest use. [5]

There are no early records of these people and until late in his
rule the Spaniard knew almost nothing of them. In the latter half
of the eighteenth century, the valley of the Magat was occupied and
the mission of Ituy founded, out of which came the province of Nueva
Vizcaya, with its converted population of Gaddang and Isinay. To
reach Ituy from the south the trail followed up the valley of the Rio
Pampanga almost to its sources and then climbed over the Caraballo Sur
to the headwaters of the Magat. On this trail along the upper waters
of the Pampanga grew up several small mission stations, Pantabangan
and Karanglan, with a population of Pampanga and Tagalog people drawn
from the provinces to the south. After more than a hundred years
these small towns are still almost the only Christian settlements
in northern Nueva Ecija. From the time of their establishment we
find references to the "Ilongotes" who inhabited the mountains to
the east and were spoken of as "savages," "treacherous murderers,"
"cannibals," and wholly untamable. Much as described a hundred years
ago they have continued to the present day. Their homes are in thick
mountain jungle where it is difficult to follow them, but, from time
to time they steal out of the forests to fall upon the wayfarer or
resident of the valley and leave him a beheaded and dismembered corpse.

Here are a few instances occurring in recent years which came under
my own notice or investigation. In 1902, the presidente of Bambang,
Nueva Vizcaya, informed me that four women had been killed while
fishing a short distance from the town. In March of the same year, a
party of Ilongot crossed the upper part of Nueva Ecija and in a barrio
of San Quentin, Pangasinan, killed five people and took the heads of
four. In November, 1901, near the barrio of Kita Kita, Nueva Ecija,
an old man and two boys were killed, while a little earlier two men
were attacked on the road above Karanglan, one killed and his head
taken. In January, 1902, Mr. Thomson, the superintendent of schools,
saw the bodies of two men and a woman on the road, six miles south of
Karanglan, who had been killed only a few moments before. The heads
of these victims had been taken and their breasts completely opened
by a triangular excision, the apex at the collar bone and the lower
points at the nipples, through which the heart and lungs had been
removed and carried away. As late as a year ago (1909), on the trail
to San José and Punkan, I saw the spot where shortly before four
men were murdered by Ilongot from the "Biruk district." These men
were carrying two large cans of "bino" or native distilled liquor,
from which the Ilongot imbibed, with the result that three of their
party were found drunk on the trail and were captured. These are
only a few out of numerous instances, but they explain why the great
fertile plains of northern Nueva Ecija are undeveloped and why the
few inhabitants dwell uneasy and apprehensive.

There have been no successful attempts to subdue or civilize these
people. Between 1883 and 1893, the missionary friar, Francisco
Eloriaga, founded the Mission of Binatangan in the forested hills east
of Bayombong, and the Spanish government had the project of erecting it
into a "politico-military commandancia," but so far as I know did not
reach the point of sending there an officer and detachment. Something
was learned about the most accessible Ibilao, but no permanent results
followed. [6] Since the American occupation, however, progress has
been made in our knowledge and control of this people. In October,
1902, the writer, at that time chief of the Bureau of Non-Christian
Tribes, and engaged in a preliminary reconnaissance of the pagan
peoples of northern Luzon, made a trip with a small party to one of
their communities in the mountains east of Bambang. Photographs,
measurements and notes on their language and social institutions
were made. In January, 1906, Mr. Dean C. Worcester, secretary of the
interior, approached these people from the north, by ascending the
Kagayan river. His party started from a station of the Tabacalera
Company, south of Echague, and from there rode through fine forest
to a "sitio" called Masaysayasaya. From here they "started at dawn
and about noon passed the 'dead line' set by the Ilongotes. A little
before sundown reached Dumabato, an Ilongote and Negrito settlement,
which had been the headquarters of Sibley, [7] the deserter. Here
were found a few filthy Ilongotes and some fine Negritos."

In the spring of 1908, Dr. William Jones, of the Field Columbian
Museum, began a residence among the Ilongot of the upper Kagayan and
lived with them continuously until nearly a year had passed, when he
was killed by them. His notes and specimens were fortunately preserved
and, when published, should constitute the most original and important
contribution ever made to Philippine ethnology. Dr. Jones was part
American Indian, a member of the Sac and Fox tribe. He was not only
a brilliant scientist, but one of the most engaging and interesting
men I have ever known--a man to cleave to. Here are brief extracts
from two letters written by him from the Ibilao country, valuable,
I think, not only for the information they contain about this people,
but for the light they throw upon him and his manner of work.

May 26, 1908. I am at present among the Ilongotes of the Cagayan,
where I am having the most enjoyable time since my arrival in
the islands. These people are wilder than the Igorrotes. We made
friends at the beginning and the friendship has grown wider and
stronger every succeeding day. I have a shack high up on poles
where I dwell with great comfort. And plenty of food is to be
had always; wild hog and venison in the jungle on either side
of the river; lurong and liesas in the river; wild honey back on
the mountain side; bananas, beans, camote and other things from
the cultivated patches, and rice which has been saved from last
season. For the last fortnight the people have been clearing in
the jungle for sementeras. [8] I wish you might hear the sweet
melody of the songs of boys and women at work in the clearings,
songs sung to the spirits of the trees and for good crops. Ilongot
society is much simpler than that of the Igorote; there is little
if any of what may be called village life. There is a house here,
another yonder and so on here and there along the river. Places
near the river are reached by going on balsas [9] and away from
the river the trails are dim and indistinct. I do not know where
I shall end up. I am heading up-stream. It may be that I shall
find myself going west and southwest into the country of the
Ilongotes, who are enemies of the ones I am now with. I have to
go much lighter than what I am now to keep up with the little
black Negrito. He is like a flea; here to-day, there to-morrow,
and ever on the move when food is gone, and at rest, when he
has a supply, long enough to consume it. He is at outs with the
particular people I am with at present.

Kagadyangan, on the Cagayan, Isabela. July, about the 12, 1908. I
am compelled by force of circumstances to continue in this field
for three or four months more; at least that much time must pass
before I can observe a full cycle of the various activities of
these people. Furthermore, the rainy season sets in about September
and it is difficult ascending in this region where the rapids are
numerous and swift.... I have come upon Ilongote habitations in
cliff and rock shelters. Why might their ancestors or those of
others not have lived in such in ages past and left evidences
of an earlier culture? Many Ifugao burials are in sepulchres
on mountain sides and the practise is no doubt very old. Places
like these and those of rock shelters in other lands have given
fruitful results and might they not in these islands? [10] I am
having a pleasant time with these people. They are the wildest of
any people that I have yet come across in Luzon. But like all wild
people, they are cordial and hospitable. I live in their houses
and so have their presence day and night. I hunt, fish and hike
with them, see them on and off their guard, observe them in all
their varying moods--in short, I'm very close to them all the
time. Some time I will tell you a thing or two about them.

Alas, for his intimacy and confidence in them! Alas, that so gifted
and lovable a man should have been lost by their treachery to science
and to his friends!

From the Nueva Vizcaya side considerable progress has been made
in the acquaintance and control of these people. For several years,
Mr. Conner, the superintendent of schools, cultivated their friendship
and gained information that led to his successor, Mr. R. J. Murphy,
organizing a school in the community of Makebengat. The method followed
was to hire a very trustworthy and capable Filipino of the town of
Bambang who speaks their language and has had friendly relations
with them, to go out and dwell with them, persuading and hiring them
to build a good dwelling house for the teacher, a school house and
shop, and to bring their own dwellings into the locality fixed upon
for the school. Then there were sent out two native teachers (one a
woman, capable of teaching spinning and loom weaving), to begin the
instruction of the children in language, figuring and in industrial
arts not known to the Ilongot. This school experiment promises to
succeed and has already led to starting one or two other schools in
communities still more distant in the forest.

Governor Bryant, of the province, has felt much interest in these
people, and two years ago performed the very difficult feat of
traversing the forests from these first communities northward to
the province of Isabela. This hazardous exploration occupied about
two weeks before the party emerged from the forest into the open
country. The greatest difficulty and peril was lack of food, which can
not be carried in sufficient quantities to sustain the entire journey.

In January, 1909, a very important exploration was made by Governor
Bryant, escorted by Captain Hunt with a detachment of soldiers,
and accompanied by Mr. Murphy and Dr. M. L. Miller, chief of the
ethnological survey. The party left Dupah, January 7, and traversed the
wholly unknown country lying to the southwest. The course of the wild
gorge of the "Kaseknan" river, the head of the Kagayan, was developed,
several important communities of Ilongot were discovered and visited
without hostilities and the first knowledge obtained of much of this
region. After struggling for ten days with the difficulties of jungle,
ravine and densely covered mountains, the party reached Baler on the
Pacific coast.

In May, 1909, the writer, accompanied by Lieutenant Coon and six native
soldiers, reached a small community of Ilongot east of Pantabangan,
called "Patakgao." This community seemed to be composed of renegades
and outlaws from several other communities. Certainly their hand was
against every man. They were charged by a small group of Ilongot living
near Pantabangan with the murder of two of their number a few weeks
earlier and they themselves professed to be harried and persecuted by
unfriendly Ilongot to the north and east of them. They had wounds to
exhibit received in a chance fray a few days before with a hunting
party from near Baler. Altogether, their wayward and hazardous life
was a most interesting exhibit of the anarchy and retaliation that
reign in primitive Malayan communities which are totally "in want of
a common judge with authority." A series of measurements was obtained
by me at Patakgao and vocabulary and notes extended.

With the above remarks as to what has been accomplished in throwing
light upon these people some description of them will be given. For
information of their location and condition I am indebted to several
others, and particularly to Mr. Murphy, otherwise the facts are the
results of my own investigation.

Ilongot can not be said to live in villages, for their houses are not
closely grouped, but are scattered about within hallooing distance
on the slopes of cañons where clearings have been made. Each little
locality has its name and is usually occupied by families with blood
or social ties between them, and several such localities within a
few hours' travel of one another form a friendly group. Outside of
this group all other Ilongot as well as all other peoples are blood
enemies, to be hunted, murdered and decapitated as occasion permits.

The most considerable body of Ilongot appears to be those living
east of the towns of Nueva Vizcaya from Mount Palali south, along
a high-wooded range to the district of "Biruk," nearly east of
Karanglan. Here are some important occupied sites that go by the
names of Kampote, Kanatwan, Kanadem, Makebengat, Oyao and Biruk, as
well as others. Homes are shifted from time to time as new clearings
have to be made, and the name of a community's home will vary and
can not always be relied on. All of these communities seem to be in
fairly friendly relations with one another, though they are not bound
together by tribal or political ties. Southeast on the rough hillsides
of the Kaseknan River, the country first traversed by Mr. Bryant's
party in January, 1909, are several communities of very wild Ilongot,
Sugak, Kumian and Dakgang. Those places were greatly alarmed by the
approach of the party and used every effort to persuade it to pass
without visiting at their houses. Conversations had to be held by
shouting back and forth across deep gorges, and approach was very
difficult. These people have scattered rancherias toward Baler and
sustain trading relations with the Tagalog of that town, but are
hostile with the Ilongot of the Nueva Vizcaya jurisdiction. Appurtenant
to the towns of Karanglan and Pantabangan are a few minor communities,
among them Patakgao. Finally, further north on the Rio Kagayan,
toward the province of Isabela, we have the Ilongot communities in
which Dr. Jones worked, and lost his life, Dumabato, Kagadyangan and
others. It may be that these Ilongot communicate with the Tagalog town
of Kasiguran. In all of these communities together there are probably
only a couple of thousand souls at most. Few communities have as many
as twenty houses or 200 souls; the most are isolated groups of four or
five married couples and their immediate relations. The harsh nature
of their country, unsanitary life, occasional epidemics and most of
all their perpetual warfare contribute toward their diminution rather
than their increase.

Like other primitive Malayan people who live in the forest, the Ilongot
support life by cultivating a forest clearing or "kaingin." The great
trees are girdled, men ascend their smooth clean trunks a hundred
feet or more and daringly lop away their branches and stems that the
life of the tree may be destroyed and the sunlight be admitted to
the earth below. At Patakgao I was shown some beautiful long pieces
of the rattan an inch and a half in diameter with elaborately woven
loops at the ends. These are swung from one tree top to another and
serve as passage-ways for the men at work. To cross they stand on the
slack cable, one hand grasping it on each side, and so, crouching,
pass along it at a height above the ground of 80 to 100 feet. With
this in mind, I could understand their replying to my inquiry as to
when they prayed, by saying that they "prayed and sang to the spirits
when they went to climb the trees." Their crops are mountain rice,
camotes or sweet potatoes, gabi or taro, maize, squash, bananas,
tapioca and, in some places, sugar cane and tobacco. They are good
gardeners, although all their cultivation is by hand, their tools
being a short hoe or trowel and a wooden planting stick, which is
ornamented with very tasteful carving.

The houses of the Ilongot are of two sorts. Sometimes they are low
wretched hovels, built two or three feet above the ground, with roofs
of grass and sides of bark. But frequently the Ilongot build really
well-constructed and creditable homes. These are set high above the
ground, fully twelve feet, on a large number of posts or piles; the
floor is made of carefully set strips of palma brava, the door-posts,
lintels and exposed pieces of framework are curiously and tastefully
carved. Such a dwelling is built large and spacious for the occupancy
of several families and there is usually a hearth in each of the four
corners of the big, single room. Such a house set on a conspicuous
ridge and lifted by its piles high among the foliage of the surrounding
jungle is a striking and almost an imposing sight.

The arms of the Ilongot are the spear, the jungle knife which they
forge into a peculiar form, wide and curving at the point, a slender,
bent shield of light wood and the bow and arrow. The use of the latter
weapons is significant and here, as always in Malaysia, it indicates
Negrito influence and mixture. They use a bow of palma brava and the
ingenious jointed arrow of the Negrito with point attached by a long
cord of rattan to the shaft, which separates and dragging behind the
transfixed animal impedes his escape.

Both men and women wear the long rattan waist belt wound many times
about the loins with clouts and skirts of beaten bark cloth. The men
also use a curious rain hat not unlike a fireman's helmet, made of
rattan and deerskin, the light frame neatly decorated with carving,
and a deerskin rain coat to cover their backs in the dripping forest.

The physical type of the Ilongot is peculiar and rather unlike that of
any other Philippine people. The men are small, with long bodies and
very short legs, weak, effeminate faces, occasionally bearded. The
hair is worn long, but usually coiled upon the head and held by a
rattan net. The color of the Ilongot is brown and a little lighter
than that of Malayans exposed to the sun by life on the water or in
the plain. Their head hair is sometimes nearly straight, usually wavy
and occasionally quite curly. These rather unusual characteristics
of the Ilongot have led to some absurdly exaggerated reports of
their appearance.

My measurements include 15 men, 8 women and a young boy whose stature
is disregarded. The height of the men varied from 1,439 mm. to
1,610 mm., the mean being about 1,540, a very small stature though
considerably above the Negrito. The stature of the women was from 1,386
mm. to 1,510 mm., the mean being about 1,440. The cephalic index of all
but four of the 24 individuals was between 89 and 80 (brachycephalic),
one was 79.9, two were 79, and one 76 (mesaticephalic). The nasal
index of all but six varied from 100 to 87 (markedly platyrhinian),
while the remaining six had indices from 83 to 76. The mean index
of all was 88.6. The arm reach, as is usual in Negritic peoples,
exceeded the height.

A peculiarity of the Ilongot face is that, while it is relatively
wide at the cheek bones, it narrows rapidly below, giving the effect
of a pentagonal shaped face with sharp chin. The eyes are relatively
well opened and clear, like the eye of the Negrito, without slant or
folding lid.

In the Ilongot then we have a small, shortlegged, wavy or curly-haired
man, round headed generally, flat and broad nosed, with occasionally
bearded face and restless nervous physiognomy. Most of these are
not characteristics of the ordinary forest Malayan; on the contrary,
they suggest the Negrito, and occasion the belief, in my own mind,
that the Ilongot is, like many other peoples of the Philippines and
Malaysia, a mixed race resulting from the union of Negrito and Malayan.

From what has already been said it is apparent that in Ilongot society
we have a most rudimentary stage of political development. There is
no tribe. There is no chieftainship. There are no social classes,
for the Ilongot have neither aristocracy nor slaves nor what is very
common in most Malayan communities, a class of bonded debtors. They
have words to designate such classes, a slave being "sina lima"
and a debtor "makiotang," but this information was imparted with the
repeated statement, "There are none here." I was unable to get any word
whatever for a chieftain, although the Ilongot of Neuva Vizcaya spoke
of the "nalahaian" or head of the body of kin, but this person seemed
to be only the oldest influential relation in the family group. The
Ilongot of Patakgao said it was customary to hold a council called
"pogon" but it was evident that this gathering was without definite
constitution. The feebleness of the political life of the Ilongot
can be appreciated by comparing it to the Igorot, the sturdy mountain
headhunters in the Cordillera to the west. The Igorot likewise have no
conception of the tribe but they do have thoroughly organized towns and
town life. They have a detailed social system, based primarily on the
possession of wealth; there are slaves, servant and indebted classes,
and a carefully developed and adequate body of law covering property,
inheritance, conveyance and contract. Thus the political life of
the Igorot, although exceedingly weak on the side of federation or
agreement between the independent towns, is centuries of development
ahead of the almost institutionless communities of the Ilongot.

The Ilongot appears to be usually a monogamist and the wife is
purchased, or at least a dowry called "piyat" is paid in weapons,
utensils, liquor, wire, etc. Her position is not at all that of a
bought piece of property, but, like the woman in Malayan society
generally, she is the companion and almost the equal in influence
and independence of the man.

While the machinery for righting injuries or settling grievances is
almost non-existent, the Ilongot has a strong sense of injury and
of wrongful acts. He will say with the strongest feeling and disgust
that certain actions are "forbidden" (ma kul).

I once asked an Ilongot what he would do if a man of a neighboring
community, with which relations were peaceful, should come and steal
his pig. He thereupon detailed the steps open to him. He might take
his weapons and go within hallooing distance of the aggressor's home
and demand a double fine or restitution ("baiyad"). If the demand did
not avail he would make a solemn warning ("tongtongan") and then, if
satisfaction did not follow, there was no recourse but retaliation. I
believe, however, that compensation, even for such offenses as murder,
is frequently arranged through the anxiety of all members of the
family to escape retaliation. Feud, that inevitably arises under
such social conditions as these, pursues generation after generation
and the obligation that descends to posterity and relations to take
vengeance is spoken of as the "debt of life" (utang nu biay).

Apart from the taking of heads as an act of vengeance, murder with the
winning of the gruesome trophy is obligatory on the other occasions as
well. An Ilongot once said to me "A man may during his life take three,
four or even five heads, but he must take one, and that before he
marries. This head he carries to the relations of his intended wife to
prove that his heart and body are strong to defend her." Furthermore,
after the palay harvest each year the bundles of unthreshed rice or
palay are neatly piled into a stack about a tall stake which is set
up in the "kaingin." Then, for some ungodly reason, a human head
is very desirable to place on top of this pole. So raids are made,
usually on the Christian settlements below. Several questions may
be asked regarding these practises, but I can offer nothing by way
of answer. To whom is the "debt of life" owed? To the spirit of the
dead person? To the customary Malayan spirits of the forest? Only a
long acquaintance would enable one to get to the bottom of the motive
of such customs as these.

The primitive Malayan is full of beliefs and dreads of the malignant
spirits which throng his environment. These are the spirits of forest,
trees, cañons, streams and sea; horribly conceived monsters and ghouls,
and furthermore, and omnipresent in the affairs of the living, are
the spirits of the dead--the ghosts. The Negrito, on the contrary,
seems to be very little disturbed by such beliefs. His elementary
religious notions leave him free for the most part from terror by night
or by day. Where troubled with conceptions of "anito" or "diwata"
it is almost certain that he has been learning at the feet of some
demon-worshipping Malayan. Now, the Ilongot appear to have religious
ideas that have come from various sources. Those of Nueva Vizcaya, with
whom I talked, professed belief in spirits and called them "be tung";
the spirits of the dead were "gi na vá." The Ilongot of Patakgao,
curiously, have been affected by Christian nomenclature. The ruling
spirit or spirits is "apo sen diot" ("apo" meaning lord or sir and
"diot" being a corruption of Dios). They had no word for heaven,
but mentioned "Impiedno" (Infierno). They said that when people die
"they go to the mountains." They bury the dead near their houses
in a coffin of bark (ko ko). They said that there were no "aswang"
(malignant monsters believed in by the Christian Filipinos) in their
mountains. They stated that prayer is a frequent observance; that they
prayed when some one is sick or injured. "When an animal is killed
we pray before cutting up the animal," and as stated above prayer is
offered before the dangerous ascent of trees. In one house I saw a
little bundle of grasses which was put there, following prayer made
"at the first time when we are eating the new rice." Prayer is then
made that rats may not destroy the harvest or other ill occur to crops.

These notes are too fragmentary to give any definite idea of what
the religion of the Ilongot may be, but two other things observed
had religious significance. When our party reached the vicinity of
the community at Patakgao, we encountered in the bed of the cañon
we were following a curious contrivance placed over the running
water. Two stakes had been set up, and attached horizontally was a
branch twelve feet long, five or six feet from the ground. A chicken
had been sacrificed here and its blood had been daubed along this pole
in at least eighteen different stains. Feathers had been tied to the
ends of the upright poles and midway between them a curiously whittled
stick of shavings was tied perpendicularly and the giblets and head of
the fowl stuck upon it. Our guide, who was a Christian native from a
small barrio which has some relations with this community, pronounced
this contrivance to be a warning against further approach, in fact a
"dead line." But later, Buliud, one of the important men of Patakgao,
insisted that it was an offering made for the cure of their wounds
received a few days before in a fight with hostile Ilongot.

In the houses of the Ilongot at Bayyait were many curiously whittled
sticks suspended from the rafters. Some of these were of irregular
shape like a ray of lightning; many were bunches of shavings,
singularly suggestive of the prayer sticks of the Ainu.

The language of the Ilongot is predominantly Malayan. It contains a
large bulk of words identical or related to the surrounding Malayan
tongues. There are a few Sanskrit or Indian words, "pagi" (palay,
"paddy," the unhulled rice) and "pana" for arrow, both words widely
diffused in Malaysia. But besides, there is a doubtful element which
does not seem to be Malayan; at least no similar words or roots occur
in any of the other vocabularies of primitive peoples of northern Luzon
collected by me. The Ilongot continually makes use of a short u, which
sometimes becomes the German sound ü as in "buh dük," a flower. These
sounds can not be imitated by the Christian people in contact with
them. This is a condition similar to what we find in Negrito speech,
where, with a preponderance of terms occurring in Malayan languages,
are often a number of totally distinct and usually eccentric words
and sounds.

Finally, it is manifest that the Ilongot are a problem to the
government of the islands. What is to be done with such people as
these? They can not be allowed to continue, as they have done, to
harass and murder the peaceful population of Nueva Ecija, northern
Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya. Some means must be found to restrain
them. Humanity does not permit their extermination. Steps are now
being taken to do something to get them in hand. The exploring parties
above referred to have opened the way. The communities organized
under teachers of the Bureau of Education seem to promise something as
well. Last fall when I left the islands search was being made for the
right sort of an American teacher to put in charge of school interests
at Baler, with jurisdiction over the Ilongot villages appurtenant
thereto. The people of Patakgao since my visit have accepted an
invitation, then made, to send their young men and boys to the barrio
of San Juan, a village in the mountains back of Pantabangan, where a
school is conducted and where several of these youth are now living
in charge of a native man in whom the Ilongot have confidence. The
Bureau of Education meets the slight expenses of this educational
experiment. This work of social development, here as in a thousand
similar places in the Philippines, will be best done by the American
teacher, but the task is inviting only to the man in whom the spirit
of youth and adventure and fascination with human problems runs strong.

Mr. Murphy's last report concluded, "I believe the schools can do
these people a great amount of good and solve the government's worst
problems. The work, however, is dangerous, as the man who undertakes
it has no protection but his own diplomacy in handling the people. If
trouble comes it will be from the young bucks, desirous of gaining
a reputation."

NOTES

[1] Obtained for seven women only.

[2] The numbers are arranged serially.

[3] The numbers are arranged serially.

[4] Other anthropometric data on the Igorot besides that here presented
are as follows: In 1905, at San Francisco, Dr A. L. Kroeber measured 18
men and 7 women of Bontok and published the results in the American
Anthropologist for Jan.-Mar., 1906, p. 194. The stature of these
men varied from 1460 to 1630, the average being 1550. The average
arm-reach was 1572, the average nose length 41 and breadth 40, the
index varying from 85.7 to 135.5, while the average nasal index was
99.8. The average head length was 186 and breadth 148. The cephalic
index varied from 73.40 (dolichocephalic) to 85.47 (brachycephalic),
with an average index of 78.43 (mesaticephalic). The data for the
women were: stature 1486, arm-reach 1491, nasal index 85.7 to 108.8,
average 99.7, cephalic index 78.59. These measurements conform closely
to my own taken upon Igorot of surrounding localities.

More recently Dr Robert B. Bean of the Bureau of Science, Manila,
has published the results of a study of the Igorots of Benguet. (The
Benguet Igorots: A Somatological Study of the Live Folk of Benguet
and Lepanto, Bontoc. Manila, 1908.) Dr Bean measured 104 adult males,
10 adult females, and 30 boys. The average stature of the men was
1540, which is about my own average; but he seems to have found a
maximum stature in Benguet of 1700, a very tall stature indeed and
unprecedented in my experience with this race. He also considers the
Igorot to be "essentially short armed." He found a very variable type
of head (hyperdolichocephaly to hyperbrachycephaly). The nose was
platyrhinian. Thus, in a general way, Dr Bean's results agree with
my own, although his measurements were carried out with many more
details than it appeared to me advisable to attempt. Our conclusions,
also, as to the origin and affiliations of the Igorot are far apart.

[5] The report of these people under different names has been the
cause of the belief that they were so many separate peoples. Professor
F. Blumentritt makes this mistake. "Versuch einer Ethnographie der
Philippinen," p. 33; "List of Native Tribes of the Philippines,"
translated in Smithsonian Report for 1899.

[6] A brief account of the people about Binatangan was published by
a missionary in 1891 in "El Correo Sino-Annamita," Vol. XXV. "Una
Visita á los Rancherias de Ilongotes" by Father Buenaventura Campa.

[7] Sibley was an American soldier from the 16th Infantry who deserted
in 1900, and lived for over four years, a renegade among these
people. He finally surrendered to Governor Curry, of Isabela province.

[8] Fields for seeding.

[9] Cane rafts.

[10] The Ifugao are an Igorot people inhabiting the Kiangan region. All
the Igorot people practise, wherever possible, the burial of their
rich and important personages in caves and artificial grottos. Burial
caves occur in many places in the Philippines and have yielded a
large store of jars, skulls and ornaments.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon" ***

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