The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon From Ifugao to Kalinga written by Cornelis De Witt Willcox
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Cornelis De Witt Willcox >> The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon From Ifugao to Kalinga
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13 The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon
From Ifugao to Kalinga
A Ride Through the Mountains of Northern Luzon
With an Appendix on the Independence of the Philippines
By
Cornelis De Witt Willcox,
Lieutenant-Colonel U.S. Army,
Professor United States Military Academy,
Officier d'Academie.
Kansas City, Mo., U.S.A.
Franklin Hudson Publishing Co.,
1912.
Copyright 1912 By Franklin Hudson Publishing Company.
To
J.G.H.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PREFACE
CHAPTER I
Highlanders of Northern Luzon.--Meaning of the word
_Igorrote_.--Trails.--The Mountain Province.--Nature of the country.
CHAPTER II
Annual inspection of the mountain tribes.--We set out from
Baguio.--Pangasinan Province.--Agno River.--Reception by the people.
CHAPTER III
Padre Juan Villaverde.--His great trail.--The beginning of the
mountain journey.--Nozo.
CHAPTER IV
Early start.--Pine forest.--Vegetation.--Rest at Amugan.--The
_gansa_--Bone.
CHAPTER V
Aritao.--Bubud.--Dupax.--Start for Campote.
CHAPTER VI
The Ilongots and their country.--Efforts of our Government to reach
these people--The forest trail.--Our first contact with the wild man.
CHAPTER VII
School at Campote--Our white pony, and the offer made for his tail.
CHAPTER VIII
Appearance of the Ilongots.--Dress.--Issue of beads and cloth.--Warrior
Dance.--School work.--Absence of old women from meeting.
CHAPTER IX
Return to civilization.--Reception at Bambang.--Aglipayanos and
Protestants.
CHAPTER X
Magat River.--Enthusiastic reception at Bayombong.--Speeches and
reports.--Solano.--Ifugao "college yell."--Bagabag.
CHAPTER XI
We enter the Mountain Province,--Payawan.--Kiangan, its
position.--Anitos.--Speech of welcome by Ifugao chief.--Detachment of
native Constabulary.--Visit of Ifugao chiefs to our quarters.--Dancing.
CHAPTER XII
Day opens badly.--Ifugao houses.--The people assemble.--Dancing.--
Speeches.--White paper streamers.--Head-hunter Dance.--Canao.
CHAPTER XIII
Dress of the people.--Butchery of carabao.--Prisoner runs _amok_
and is killed.
CHAPTER XIV
Barton's account of a native funeral.
CHAPTER XV
Visit to the Silipan Ifugaos at Andangle.--The Ibilao River.--Athletic
feat.--Rest-house and stable at Sabig.
CHAPTER XVI
Change in aspect of country.--Mount Amuyao and the native legend of
the Flood.--Rice terraces.--Benawe.--Mr. Worcester's first visit to
this region.--Sports.--Absence of weapons.--Native arts and crafts.
CHAPTER XVII
We ride to Bontok.--Bat-nets.--Character of the country.--Ambawan.
--Difficulties of the trail.--Bird-scarers.--Talubin.--Bishop
Carroll of Vigan.--We reach Bontok.--"The Star-spangled Banner."--
Appearance of the Bontok Igorot.--Incidents.
CHAPTER XVIII
Importance of Bontok--Head-taking--Atonement for
bloodshed.--Sports.--Slapping game.
CHAPTER XIX
The native village.--Houses.--Pit-a-pit.--Native
institutions.--Lumawig.
CHAPTER XX
We push on north.--Banana skirts.--Albino child.--Pine
uplands.--Glorious view.
CHAPTER XXI
Deep Valley.--A poor _rancheria_.--Escort of boys.--Descent of
Tinglayan Hill.--Sullen reception at Tinglayan.--Bangad.--First view
of the Kalingas.--Arrival at Lubuagan.
CHAPTER XXII
Splendid appearance of the
Kalingas.--Dancing.--Lubuagan.--_Basi_--Councils.--Bustles and
braids.--Jewels and weapons.--Excellent houses.
CHAPTER XXIII
We leave the mountains.--Nanong.--Passage of the Chico.--The
Apayao.--Tabuk.--The party breaks up.--Desolate plain--The Cagayan
Valley.--Enrile.
CHAPTER XXIV
Tobacco industry.--Tuguegarao.--Caves.--The Cagayan
River.--Barangayans.--Aparri.--Island of Fuga.--Sail for Manila.--Stop
at Vigan.--Arrival at Manila.
CHAPTER XXV
Future of the Highlanders.--Origin of our effort to improve their
condition.--Impolicy of any change in present administration.--
Transfer of control of wild tribes to Christianized
Filipinos.--Comparison of our course with that of the Japanese
in Formosa.
APPENDIX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
An Igorot Warrior
Hon. Dean C. Worcester
Views of the Benguet Road
Working on the Benguet Road
Padre Juan Villaverde
Benguet Road, Zig-zag
Tree Fern, Province of Bontok
Ilongot Women
Native Policemen
Reception Committee of Ifugaos
Mountain Scene in the Ifugao Country
Mountain Scene between Benawe and Kiangan
Inaba, Ifugao Village
Ifugao Couple with Adornments of a Wedding Ceremony
Ifugao Children
Headless Body of Ifugao Warrior
Ifugao Warrior
Typical Ifugao House
Ifugao Making Rounds of Granary
Anitos, Kiangan
Ifugao Chief Making a Speech
Conference between Government Officers and the Headmen of the District
Ifugao Head-hunter, Full Dress
Head-hunter Dance, Kiangan
Dancing at Kiangan
Ifugaos Dancing
Silipan Ifugao Earring
Ifugaos Dancing, Benawe
Crossing Ibilao River by Flying Trolley
Ifugao Head Dance
Rice Terraces at Benawe
Body of Igorot Girl Prepared for Burial
Carabao Fight
Igorot Tribunal
A Bontok Igorot House
Igorot Rice Fields
On the Trail from Benguet to Cervantes
Bontok Igorot Woman
Elaborate Tattooing of the Head-hunter
Bontok Igorot Constabulary Soldiers
Bontok Igorot Slapping Game
_Gansas_ with Human Jaws as Handles
Women and Girls Wearing Banana-leaf Skirts
New School-house, Bontok
Valley of the Rio Chico
Kalinga Girl
Looking Down the Rio Chico
Spiral Camote Patch
Madallam, Kalinga Headman
Two Headmen of Lubuagan
Kalinga Warriors
Typical Kalinga House
Conference at Lubuagan
View of Lubuagan, Capital of Kalinga
Kalinga Head-ax
Igorot Shield
Ifugao Carved Bowl
Ifugao Pipe, Carved Figure, and Wooden Spoon
Carved Wooden Figurines
Map of Northern Luzon
PREFACE
In 1910 the Secretary of the Interior of the Philippine Islands did
me the honor to invite me to accompany him on his annual tour of
inspection through the Mountain Province of Northern Luzon. In the
following pages I have tried to describe what fell under my notice
during the journey, with such comments, observations, and conclusions
as seemed pertinent.
I should like here to thank Mr. Worcester for having invited me to join
him, and Major-General Duvall, United States Army, for allowing me
to accept. My thanks are also due the various officers and officials
of the Insular Government who placed me under obligations by their
hospitality and other courtesies and by the never-failing patience
with which they received and answered my many questions. To my
friend Colonel J.G. Harbord, United States Army, Assistant Director
of Constabulary, I am beholden for instructions sent out in advance
of the journey to the various Constabulary posts on the itinerary,
directing them to offer me every opportunity to accomplish the purpose
of my trip. Except where otherwise indicated, the illustrations
are from photographs taken either by Mr. Worcester himself, or else
under his direction. Some of these, as shown, were lent to me by the
National Geographic Magazine of Washington, and others by the Bureau
of Insular Affairs of the War Department. My best thanks are due and
given in each case. Dr. Heiser was kind enough to let me have a few
photographs taken by him. To Lieutenant P.D. Glassford, 2d Regiment
of Field Artillery, I am indebted for the map of Northern Luzon and
for one or two other illustrations copied from Jenks' "The Bontoc
Igorot"; to Father Malumbres, of the Dominican Monastery in Manila,
for information relating to Padre Villaverde and for the portrait of
that missionary; it is to be regretted that this portrait should be
so unsatisfactory, but it is the only one available. The frontispiece
is by Mr. Julian Miller, who has lived in the Igorot country, and
whose drawing is from life.
C. De W.W.
West Point, N.Y.,
January, 1912.
CHAPTER I
Highlanders of Northern Luzon.--Meaning of the word
"Igorot."--Trails.--The Mountain Province.--Nature of the
country.
It is to be regretted that the people of the United States should in
general show so little interest in the Philippine Islands. This lack
of interest may be due to lack of knowledge; if this be so, then it
is the duty of those better informed to do all that lies in their
power to develop the interest now regrettably absent. Be this as it
may, it is assumed here that most of our people do not know that a
very large fraction of the inhabitants of the Philippines consists
of the so-called wild men, and that of these the greatest group or
collection is found in the mountains of Northern Luzon.
These mountaineers or highlanders constitute perhaps, all other
things being equal, as interesting a body of uncivilized people as
is to be found on the face of the earth to-day. The Spaniards, of
course, soon discovered their existence, the first mention of them
being made by De Morga, in his "_Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas_"
(1609). He speaks [1] of them as inhabiting the interior of a rough
mountainous country, where are "many natives who are not pacified,
nor has anyone gone into their country, who call themselves Ygolotes,"
Here we have the first form, the classic form according to Retana, of
the word now universally written _Igorrote_, or in English _Igorot._
The word itself means "highlanders," _golot_ being a Tagalog word for
"mountain," and _I_ a prefix meaning "people of." De Morga mentions
the "Ygolotes" as owning rich mines of gold and silver, which "they
work as there is need," and he goes on to say that in spite of all
the diligence made to know their mines, and how they work and improve
them, the matter has come to naught, "because they are cautious with
the Spaniards who go to them in search of gold, and say they keep it
better guarded under ground than in their houses,"
The Spaniards at a very early date sent armed exploring parties
through the highlands and maintained garrisons here and there down
to our own time. [2] But they never really held the country.
The Church, too, early entered this territory, the field being given
over to the Dominicans, [3] who furnished many devoted missionaries
to the cause. But here, too, failure must be recorded in respect of
permanency of results in the really wild parts of the Highlands. It
has remained for our own Government to get a real hold of the people
of these regions, to win their confidence, command their respect,
and exact their obedience in all relations in which obedience is
proper and just.
The indispensable material condition of success was to make the
mountain country accessible. Only those who have had the fortune to
travel through this country can realize how difficult this endeavor
has been and must continue to be, chiefly because of the great local
complexity of the mountain system, but also because of the severely
destructive storms of this region, with consequent torrential violence
of the streams affected. But little money, too, can be, or has been,
spent for the necessary road-work. In spite of the difficulties
involved, however, a system of road-making has been set on foot,
the labor needed being furnished by the highlanders themselves in
lieu of a road tax. Very briefly, the system is as follows:
(_a_) The first thing done is to open what is known as the "meter
trail," i.e., a trail one meter wide, at a grade not to exceed 6
per cent, and where possible to be kept at 4 per cent. At certain
points where the absolute necessity exists, a 10 per cent grade is
admissible for very short distances, as at river crossings, but only
where a gentler grade would involve a long detour at great expense.
This "meter trail" weathers for one year, and thus automatically
develops its own weak spots. These are repaired as fast as discovered
(which is practically at once, by reason of constant supervision),
and the trail thus hardens, as it were, into something approaching
permanency.
(_b_) The next step in the history of the trail is to widen it to
two meters, the same general course being followed as outlined in
(_a_). As a satisfactory state of permanency is reached we come to
(_c_) The final widening, draining, and metalling of the trail to
accommodate wagon traffic. The trail now becomes a permanent road.
In many cases only wooden tools have been available, and the lack of
money has compelled a sparing use of explosives. Nevertheless under
this system there now exist in the Mountain Province 730 miles of
excellent horse trail of easy grade, [4] and what is significant,
the people of the highlands are using these trails, and so becoming
peacefully acquainted with one another.
The Mountain Province itself is the outcome of the difficulties
encountered in governing the wild tribes so long as these were
left in provinces where either their interests were not paramount,
or else the difficulties of administration were unduly costly or
difficult. Established in 1908, it has a Governor, and each of its
seven sub-provinces a Lieutenant-Governor, the sub-province as far as
possible including people of one and of only one tribe. The creation
of this province was a great step forward in promoting the welfare
of the highlanders.
A word must be said here in explanation of the nomenclature of the
mountain tribes. Generically, having in mind the meaning of the word,
they are all Igorots. But it is the practice to distinguish the various
elements of this great family by different names, restricting the term
"Igorot" to special branches, as Benguet Igorot, Bontok Igorot, meaning
those who live in Benguet or Bontok. The other members are known as
Ifugao, Ilongot, Kalinga, and so on. [5] Lastly, the following extract
from the "Census of the Philippine Islands" [6] gives some idea of the
mountain system in which dwell the people whom we are about to visit.
"West of this Valley [the Cagayan] and separating it from the
China Sea, stands a broad and complex system of mountains, known as
the Caraballos Occidentales. Its length is nearly 200 miles, and
its breadth, including the great spurs and subordinate ranges and
ridges on either side, is fully one-third its length. The central
range of the system forms the divide between the waters flowing to
Cagayan River on the east and those flowing to the China Sea on the
west. Its northern part bears the name Cordillera Norte. Farther south
it is called Cordillera Central, while the southern portion is called
Cordillera Sur." "At its south end the Cordillera Sur swings to the
east, and, under the name of Caraballos Sur, joins the Sierra Madre,
or East Coast Range."
This description, it must be understood, gives no adequate idea of the
local intricacy of the system, while at the same time it is precisely
this intricacy, both vertical and horizontal, that increases the cost
and difficulty of making roads, and that has served in the past to
keep the inhabitants of these regions apart.
CHAPTER II
Annual inspection of the mountain tribes.--We set out from
Baguio.--Pangasinan Province.--Agno River.--Reception by
the people.
Every year Mr. Worcester makes a formal tour of inspection through
the Mountain Province to note the progress of the trails and roads,
to listen to complaints, to hear reports, devise ways and means of
betterment and in general to see how the hillmen are getting on. This
tour is a very great affair to the highlanders, who are assembled
in as great numbers as possible at the various points where stops
are made; during the stay of the "Commission" (as Mr. Worcester is
universally called by the highlanders) at the points of assemblage,
the wild people are subsisted by the Government.
The trip is long and hard, nor is it altogether free from
danger. Preparations have to be made two months ahead to have forage
for animals, and food for human beings, at the expected halts, while
everything eaten by man or beast on the way must be carried by the
_cargadores_ (bearers) who accompany the column, since living off
the country is in general impossible. Under these circumstances but
very few guests can be invited. I was so fortunate as to be one of
these in 1910; how fortunate, I did not realize until the trip was
over. For although an American may ride alone unmolested through the
country we visited, still he would see only what might fall under his
eye as he made his way; whereas, on this official trip, thousands of
people are brought together at designated points, and one can thus
do and see in a month what it would take a much longer time to do
and see under one's own efforts.
This year (1910) the party was made up of Mr. Cameron Forbes, the
Governor-General of the Philippine Islands; Mr. Worcester, Secretary of
the Interior; Dr. Heiser, Director of Health; Dr. Strong, Chief of the
Biological Laboratory; Mr. Pack, Governor of the Mountain Province;
and of two officers besides myself, Captain Cootes, 13th Cavalry,
Aide de Camp to the Governor-General, and Captain Van Schaick,
16th Infantry, Governor of Mindoro. General Sir Harry Broadwood,
commanding His Majesty's forces at Hong Kong, had been invited, but at
the last moment cabled that his duties would prevent his coming. Unless
he reads this book he will never know what he missed! As we passed
through the various sub-provinces their respective governors and one
or two officials would join us and ride to the boundary.
On account of the difficulties of supply and transportation, we were
requested to bring no _muchachos_ (boys--i.e., servants), so we had to
shift for ourselves. Our baggage was very strictly limited; each man
being allowed two parcels, one of bedding, and the other of clothes,
neither to be more than could be easily carried on the back of a single
_cargador_. Mr. Worcester took along for the whole party an ingenious
apparatus of his own contrivance for boiling drinking-water, as all
streams in the Philippines at a level lower than 6,000 feet have been
found to contain amoebae, [7] the parasitic presence of which in the
intestines produces that frightful disease, amoebic dysentery. We were
especially desired to leave our revolvers at home, and had no escort.
Accordingly, our mounts and kit having been sent on a day or two in
advance, we set out from Baguio in motor-cars, April 26, at eight
A.M., of an extraordinarily fine day. The day before it had rained
mercilessly; not only that, but clouds and mists had enveloped us so
that one could not see twenty yards ahead. We were nearing the rainy
season, and conditions were uncertain, but this morning the gods were
on our side and we could not have asked for better weather. We went
down the splendid Benguet Road, following the bed of the Bued River [8]
to the railway, a drop of over 4,000 feet in thirteen miles. Strange
to say, the stream had not risen at all, a fortunate circumstance,
as one hundred and sixty bridges are crossed in the drop, and at
times a rise will wash out not only the bridges, but all semblance
of a road. [9] At the railway we turned south over the great plain
of Pangasinan. This, in respect of roads, is the show province of
the Archipelago and deserves its reputation, one hundred and twenty
miles having been built. Those we passed over this day would have
been called good in France even. Our passage was of the nature of
a progress, thanks to the presence of the Governor-General. Simple
bamboo arches crossing the road greeted us everywhere, Mr. Forbes
punctiliously raising his hat under every one. All the villages had
decorated their houses; handkerchiefs, petticoats, red table-cloths,
anything and everything had been hung out of the windows by way of
flags and banners. Across the front of the municipal building of one
village was stretched a banner with this inscription, "_En honor de
la venida del Gobernador General y de su Comitiva_" ("In honor of the
arrival of the Governor-General and of his retinue"), and then below on
the next band, "_Deseamos iener un pozo artesiano_" ("We should like
to have an Artesian well"), which led Mr. Worcester to remark that
four years before the banner would have demanded "_independencia_"
(independence), and not an Artesian well.
Even in Pangasinan, good roads must come to an end, and ours did as
we neared the Agno River. For this blessed river is a curse to its
neighborhood, and rises in flood from a stream say seventy-five yards
wide to a rushing lake, if the expression be permitted, half a mile
and more across. Our car finally refused to move; its wheels simply
turned _in situ_, so deep was the sand. There was nothing for it but
to walk to the river bank, where we were met with many apologies. A
bamboo bridge had been built across the stream a few days before so
that our cars might cross, but yesterday's rain had washed it down,
and would we try to cross on rafts? We looked at the rafts, bamboo
platforms built over large _bancas_ (canoes, double-enders cut out of a
single log), the bamboos being lashed together with _bejuco_ (rattan,
the native substitute for nails), and decided that no self-respecting
motor would stand such transportation, but would go to the bottom first
by overturning. So we got our stuff aboard the rafts, were poled over,
and made the rest of the journey to Tayug, our first considerable halt,
in _carromatas_ (the native two-wheeled, springless cart). Fortunately
the distance was short, the _carromata_ being an instrument of torture
happily overlooked by the Spanish Inquisition.
At Tayug a great concourse of people welcomed us, with arches, flags,
and decorations. The _presidencia_, or town hall, was filled with the
notabilities, and Mr. Forbes was presented with an address by one of
the _senoritas_. Suitable answer having been made, we adjourned, the
men first, the women following when we had done, according to native
custom, to the side rooms, where a surprisingly good tiffin had been
got ready for us, venison, chickens, French rolls, _dulces_ (sweets),
whiskey and soda, Heaven knows what else, to which, all unwitting of
our doom, we did full justice. About two miles beyond Tayug lies San
Francisco, the initial point of our real mounted journey. The people
along this part of the road had simply outdone themselves in the matter
of arches, there being one at every hundred yards almost. At San
Francisco the crowd was greater than at Tayug; and here was set out
for us another sumptuous tiffin, in a house built the day before for
this very purpose, of bamboo and nipa palm. Access to it was had by a
ladder and we sat down at a table, while the _senoras_ of the place
waited on us, every inch of standing-room being occupied by people
who had crowded in to see the performance of the Governor-General and
of his _comitiva!_ And perform we did--we had to! Ducks, chickens,
venison, _camotes_ (sweet potatoes), peppers, beer, red wine--no one
would have thought that but three-quarters of an hour before we had
just gone through the same thing. But it would have been the height
of discourtesy to give way to our inclination by showing a lack of
appetite; moreover, it is not often that a party is held in a house
built to be used merely one hour. So we did honor to the occasion,
but had to let out our belts before mounting immediately afterward.
CHAPTER III
Padre Juan Villaverde.--His great trail.--The beginning of
the mountain journey.--Nozo.
The point to which we had come, San Francisco, marks the beginning of
the Juan Villaverde trail from the Central Valley of Luzon through
the mountains before us, to the province of Nueva Vizcaya. All day
the chain we were to pierce had been in sight, and I for one had been
wondering where we were to find a practicable entrance, so forbiddingly
vertical did the range appear to be.
Now the Spaniards in the Philippines at best were but poor road-
or trail-makers. Indeed, in the matter of trails they were simply
stupid, in some cases actually going straight up a hill and down
the other side, when the way around was no longer, and of course far
easier to maintain. But Padre Juan Villaverde of the Dominicans was
a great and honorable exception. Quite apart from this aspect, we
hear so much that is evil of the friars that it is a pleasure, when
possible, to point out the good they did, a thing more frequently
possible than people imagine it is. For Father Villaverde gave his
life to missionary work among the hill-people, seeking in every way to
better their condition materially as well as morally. Born in 1841,
as early as 1868 we find him on duty at Bayombong, in Nueva Vizcaya,
the province we were about to enter. From the first he seems to have
been impressed by the possibilities of the country in which he was
laboring; and, foreseeing that good communications would ultimately
settle most of the questions relating to the highlanders, he built
trails, trails that are still in use, whereas nearly all the others
(but few in number) established by the Spaniards have been abandoned by
us, where Nature has not indeed saved us the trouble by washing them
out of existence. For thirty years Villaverde worked unceasingly,
building roads and bridges and churches, and striving to civilize
the people among whom he lived; but his chief work, that by which
his memory is kept green to this day, is the great trail from the
otherwise almost inaccessible province of Nueva Vizcaya, across the
Caraballos to the Central Valley of Luzon, where access to the outer
world by rail becomes possible. This trail is officially designated
by his name, and is maintained by Government. This was the one we
were about to enter upon. [10] Accordingly we thanked our kind hosts
of San Francisco; and at last set out on our real trip. But, curious
and eager as I felt to engage upon it, I could not help regretting that
this part of our journey was over, that we had to turn our backs on the
smiling plains of Pangasinan, its hospitable and courteous people. The
day had been so cool and fresh, and our progress so easy; flat as
was the country, it had its charm, the charm of cultivated plains,
relieved by lanes of feathered bamboos, by clumps of nodding palms,
by limpid streams. But we were off, nevertheless, the Governor-General
on a cow-pony, nearly all the rest on Arabs and thoroughbreds, Van
Schaick and I riding mountain ponies. We had fifteen miles to go to
reach our first resting-place.
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