The History of the Ifugao People and their Rice Terraces

The Ifugao People

Week 2

Environment

I’ve chosen to research the Ifugao people, a group living in the mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines, in the Cordillera region, with elevations ranging from 2,600 ft to 4,900 ft. Their location is within a tropical rainforest, and the community chose this area due to its traditional rice fields. Recently, researchers have seen threatening environmental changes that cause challenges like “slash-and-burn”, deforestation, and most of all, climate change. 

Climate Adaptions

Their climate is known to be a tropical rainforest with two types of seasons: a dry period from November to May, and a wet period from June to October. The hottest/driest periods are predicted between March to May, reaching about 28.3°C on average, while the rainfalls are predicted between June to August, reaching about 25.5°C on average. While they have two types of seasons, the Ifugao people also go through 4 types of climate changes depending on the rainfall weather. One of those climates is typhoons, which have a great influence on the rain, humidity, and cloudiness. Their way of adapting to climate change in their environment is based on their rice fields. Within their province, there are about 13 main bodies of water that the Ifugao people can access. They utilize the water they have by creating walls and holes made out of stone and compact soil to create wet fields for intensive rice cultivation. They would also use the natural flow of the water to water their rice fields. 

As of 2020, the population within Ifugao ranged to over 80,000 people within their community. Their population lives a rural lifestyle with about 5-10 houses spread out around their rice terraces. Their homes were made without the use of tools, but created decorative carvings to make the homes look more aesthetic. The Ifugao people are well-known for their rice farms, and were highly competitive when it came to exchanging their rice for goods they needed. While rice is one of the main plants in their culture, they also have animals like pigs and chickens as a food source. 

Since they live in the mountains, the various changes in weather, like landslides, erosion, heavy rainfalls, and extreme dry and wet weather, can cause serious issues for themselves and one of their main food sources, rice. To maintain their food source, they adjust the days they would plant their plants, as well as eating more fruits they pick from trees, and creating wells to store water when it may be dry and hot weather. 

Adaptions

A physical adaptation the Ifugao people gained was their skin. Due to the extremely hot weather, their skin has adapted to the dry environment that lasts for months. It’s hard to determine another physical adaptation that the ifugao people gained, but I would say their bodies can adapt to the weather well. When we take a look at their environment, where they live, and how often the weather could change, the Ifugao people have not only adapted well to each weather, but their bodies also adapted well based on the environment they’re in. 

One of their cultural adaptations would be the different types of rituals and ceremonies they hold. Whether it’s marriage, birth, harvests, or death, these rituals or ceremonies help bring the Ifugao community closer. Another cultural adaptation they carry would be their deep wells. They utilize their deep wells for water and to avoid using spring water. The last cultural adaptation I want to mention would have to be their rice terraces. Although they have access to other food sources like fruit trees and crops, their rice terraces give them an extra source for food, and they learned how to adapt to the weather to maintain their terraces. Something to take into consideration is their ability to use rice to make a profit for their families as well. 

Week 3

Language

The language that the Ifugao people speak is Ifugao, which is mainly from the branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family. There are 4 different language dialects: Batad Ifugao, Amganad Ifugao, Mayoyao Ifugao, and Tuwali Ifugao. Though there are 4 different dialects within the language, all 4 use the same alphabet. The alphabet consists of A, B, D, E, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, Ng, O, P, T, U, W, and Y. 

Gender Roles

When it comes to gender roles, there are only males and females. Both men and women work together when it comes to farming and livestock, but other tasks that are a part of the community are split between both genders to complement each other. For example, men usually go out to hunt and trade, while women stay home to care for the children. Women are usually the ones who handle the finances, but feel that they cannot spend their money as freely as men may do. Even though hardworking women are valued over beauty, women are considered the “weaker” sex who have easier work than men, meaning they deserve less pay. 

Men, however, are more likely to obtain a leadership role within their community. In fact, most superiors and high-ranking government officials are men. Women can serve in local community councils, but their roles are considered a minority. A female kadangyan, also known as an older woman, is seen to have more power and superiority than a young man who is from a lower class. 

The gender roles are passed on to the children once they grow older. Boys will start to learn how to hunt from their fathers, and girls will learn how to farm, cook, and clean from their mothers. Like I’ve mentioned before, women are seen as the “weaker” sex, meaning people consider men to be stronger and more resilient than women because of their biological and genetic status. This is why women are given the easier work while men take on the harder tasks. 

After reading “The Blessed Curse”, I think the protagonist in the story may be accepted by the Ifugao people, but I think the Ifugao people would feel indifferent towards the protagonist. The Ifugao people don’t have strict rules when it comes to gender roles, but they hold specific roles in order to complement each gender. I believe the Ifugao people may be confused about what kind of role the protagonist would hold in their community, but I don’t think they would completely shut down the protagonist from the community. 

Week 4

Subsitence 

Their subsistence is related more to agriculture, coming from a combination of wet-rice cultivation and slash-and-burn. Their main food source is rice, as they have terraced lands built to plant and grow their rice. The majority of their diet comes from agriculture, meaning they not only grow rice, but they also grow vegetables like taro, cotton, beans, cabbage, and more in the wetlands. While they have wetlands for their plants, they also have Swidden lands, an area of land cleared

for cultivation by slashing and burning vegetation, where they plant and grow their sweet potatoes and corn. 

While they have plants, they also have animals like chickens, pigs, sometimes cows, and occasionally buffalo that they raise and use for food or sacrificial purposes. While their diet is made up of plants and animals, there is a small percentage where their diet can contain fish, snails, and clams. The Ifugao people depend on private woodland plots for fruit, medicinal plants, fuel, and building materials. 

As I’ve mentioned before, the work is divided equally between men and women of the Ifugao community. Despite their rough weather, their food sources can be used seasonally because they learned how to adjust their farming style to the weather and the seasons. I would say the nutritional health of the Ifugao people is quite healthy, as they have fruits like oranges for vitamin C and as a way to help them fight colds. 

Economic Systems

The Ifugao people could produce a surplus, but only when it was a good harvest day due to the weather and seasonal changes. While they have a specialization of labor in their agricultural farms, they also contain a specialization of labor in crafts, which is usually done by women. They would typically redistribute goods to others when their food supply was not looking good. When it comes to wealth, it is typically passed down from family to family through the number of rice fields, which could also be redistributed. They don’t contain their own currency, but they do use other countries’ currency to engage in trading. 

Week 5

Marriage

The Ifugao people have a bilateral, consanguine kinship, and through their strong bond for blood family, they still maintain a relationship with those of their non-kin if their interests align well. When it comes to marriage, they usually live a monogamous life, but wealthy people tend/could to practice polygyny. As for cousin or incest marriages, it is said like a forbidden taboo up to the first cousins, but among distant cousins, it may be allowed, but at a cost of their livestock. The point of marriage is to have babies. If the woman isn’t able to have a baby, then the man can make a decision to leave the woman. The bride and groom can gain the inheritance of their family’s rice lands if one or both of them are the firstborn in the family, known as the rule of primogeniture. Depending on the most productive rice farm, the newlywed couple will live near the land that both may have inherited. The bridewealth comes from pigs and quality items like beads. Marriage partners are determined first through courtship at the girl’s home, but if they come from a wealthy family, their partner may be chosen by their parents to boost social influence and status among the community. As of August 3, 1988, the Ifugao have banned homosexual marriage in their culture. It is unknown how the people truly feel about homosexual relationships. 

Kinship

Like I mentioned in the marriage section, they have a bilateral, consanguine kinship, in which the rules are closer to exogamy rules. They contain a strong bond for family and remain close to their non-kin relatives. Their wealth is passed down to them through family in the form of rice fields, and their inheritance is passed through their families of the same descent. It’s not really known what kind of kinship the Ifugao people hold, as they have a “kinship circle” they would follow. Naturally, if I were to decide what kind of kinship system they follow, I would consider them to be a part of the Eskimo kinship system, as they are known to have a “nuclear family”. 

Week 6

Social Organization

The Ifugao people live in a stratified social system. There are 3 social classes within their system: Kadangyan, Tagu, and Nawotwot. The Kadangyan are known to be the elite and wealthiest of their community. They hold many lands of rice fields that may be passed down from their families, which is a sign of wealth as mentioned before. Behind the Kadangyan are the Tagu, who are known as the middle class. They’re not as rich as the Kadangyan, but they’re not as poor as the Nawotwot. The Nawotwot are the lower class who own close to no land and could be seen working for the Kadangyan. 

Political Structure

The Ifugao people don’t necessarily have a political structure. However, there are about 150 districts with a ritual rice field in the center of the district. The owner of that rice field will make all the agricultural decisions for the district. Kinship was the main reason for the community to come together. There were times when they would reach a “war zone”, which is a time when the Ifugao people fought head-hunting battles. Although they don’t have chiefs or commanders, they have a Monbaga, someone with legal authority and power based on their wealth. A Monbaga should know about the customary legal rules and have a large group of people supporting their decisions. If I understand this correctly, their main role is to choose who dies or gets fined when they commit an offense in the community. Depending on the relation to the kin or the wealth the offender may hold, their punishment could lead to their death. 

The Role of Violence

The Ifugao people experienced feuds that would last for a long duration of time. If these feuds ended, it’s because the solution would be an intermarriage between the feuding groups. There would also be warfare, which are raids with at least 100 men. These raids would happen to collect and display the skulls of the expedition leaders and take the slaves, and sell them to lowlanders. In the present, there has been violence against women and children, including domestic violence and child abuse. Between 2019-2021, research shows that 1 in 731 women in the Ifugao community become a victim to rape. There’s a high number of victims who are around the age of 11-17, and the offenders are mainly not blood-related to the victims. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean there’s a percentage where the offenders are related by blood to the victims. These views of violence are most likely not seen as a positive view in their culture. 

Week 7

Religion

In the present, the Ifugao people follow the Roman Catholic religion. In the past, the Ifugao people would follow a more complex, animistic religion while participating in several rituals. They believed there were hundreds of deities that each had a specific role for them. Some of these deities had names that may refer to several other deities. The names of these deities are Afunijon, Mah-nongan, and Kabunian. Rituals and ceremonies would happen for the purpose of successful hunting, a large quantity in agriculture, “fancy” feasts, and more. They would use about 15 priests to recite the myths that would allow them to gain power over the deities in order to allow their bodies to be possessed. Once possessed, the deity is required to be given an offering, which can be a pig, chicken, or even a chicken claw. Once they are given an offering and are fed rice and wine, they will complete an exhortation made to the deity. 

Art

The Ifugao people would create a Bulul, which is believed to hold an ancestral spirit, and place it in rice granaries so they would protect their rice crops. These are used for harvest ceremonies in hopes of an abundance in agriculture. The Bulul is made and carved out of wood. The Ifugao women were also known to do ikat (tie-dyeing) and weaving. 

Music would consist of a chant called the Hudhud. The Hudhud is a narrative chant that is traditionally performed and practiced during the rice sowing seasons, harvest seasons, and funerals. They also have dances which are usually performed at their times of small or big feasts. The most well-known dance, also known as a wedding festival dance, is called the Bumaya-Uyaoy. 

Conclusion

I believe the Ifugao people have been affected by other cultures in a positive and negative way. While they are free to leave their homes behind for a better education and not have to rely on surviving through agriculture, their population continues to grow smaller, meaning their traditions may soon be forgotten due to the small number of young adults within the population who have stayed. I believe their culture is healthy and thriving, but I would say they may be in danger of losing their cultural identity because of how small their population is growing. I believe they do play a role in the modern world, as they are well known for their rice terraces. Because of their terraces, it became a popular tourist spot, specifically in Banaue, which many people became curious to see. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a strong influence, but I wouldn’t consider this to be a weak influence as well. 

References

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ifugao-people 

https://news.nationalgeographic.org/new-report-climate-risk-assessment-of-the-ifugao-rice-terraces-of-the-philippine-cordilleras/

https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/enhancing-indigenous-knowledge-in-rice-terraces#:~:text=Located%20in%20a%20tropical%20rain,areas%20down%20to%20the%20terraces.

https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/information/climate-philippines#:~:text=Based%20on%20the%20average%20of,summer%20capital%20of%20the%20Philippines.

https://rssocar.psa.gov.ph/content/highlights-ifugao-population-2020-cph#:~:text=The%20population%20of%20Ifugao%20as,Administrative%20Region%20population%20in%202020.

https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10080583#:~:text=Ifugao%20society%20is%20organized%20around,born%20(rule%20of%20primogeniture).

https://minorityrights.org/communities/indigenous-peoples-5/#:~:text=Although%20most%20indigenous%20communities%20live,the%20government's%20anti%2Dpeddling%20drive

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ifugao#:~:text=Women's%20roles%20in%20Ifugao%20society,the%20home%2C%20and%20elderly%20women 

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/ifugao.htm 

https://www.apn-gcr.org/publication/redd-implementation-in-community-based-muyong-forest-management-in-ifugao-philippines/#:~:text=Recently%2C%20the%20Ifugao%20is%20facing,commercial%20rice%2C%20and%20climate%20change.

https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/cultures/oa19/summary

https://www.cseashawaii.org/projects/tagalog-animations/resources/teachers-archaeology-manual/early-ifugao-history-the-people-and-old-kiyyangan-village/#:~:text=Early%20Ifugao%20culture%20had%20a,poor%20worked%20for%20the%20kadangyan.

https://rssocar.psa.gov.ph/infographics/2019-2021-violence-against-women-and-children-ifugao

https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/12185/RP

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/626371

https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/hudhud-chants-of-the-ifugao-00015

https://www.parangal.org/ifugao#:~:text=The%20Ifugaos%20perform%20the%20Bumaya,as%20a%20wedding%20festival%20dance.