IGOROTS The Ibaloi

ALTERNATIVE / ASSOCIATED NAME: Ibaloi / Ibaloy / Nabaloi ETHYMOLOGY: I in the Ibaloi means from, so far from Baloy, an old place in bokod PEOPLE: Ibaloi people are one of the many ethno-linguistic indigenous tribes that inhabit Benguet Province in the southern-most part of the Cordillera Mountain Range in Northern Luzon. Collectively known as Igorot, with the other tribes in the region, Ibaloi people continue to fight to preserve their culture and language. Ibaloi people experienced many years of colonization by the Spanish, Japanese, and by the Americans, resulting in the destruction of their ancestral farmlands by extractive economies such as mining and logging. The Ibaloi people were traditionally an agrarian society. And still, many of them continue with their agriculture and rice cultivation. The Ibaloi language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages family. The Ibaloi language is closely related to the Pangasinan language, primarily spoken in the province of Pangasinan, located southwest of Benguet. Houses, generally scattered in fields or on hillsides, are raised about two meters on posts and covered with a pyramidal thatched roof. Subsistence is based on wet rice, tubers, beans, and maize, supplemented occasionally with the meat of pigs, dogs, chickens, water buffalo, horses, and cattle. Descent is bilateral. There is marked differentiation between the rich and the poor, with a considerable concentration of power and influence in the hands of the former. Contact with neighboring groups and Christian missionaries and involvement in the national economy have produced considerable local variation in Ibaloi culture. The traditional Ibaloi religion is centered on ancestor worship. The main occupation of the Ibalois is farming and gardening. As very hardworking people, they have succeeded in making La Trinidad, Benguet as the salad bowl of the Philippines due to their abundant vegetable products like Baguio beans, cabbage and Irish potatoes as well as strawberries. They prefer to spend most of their time working in the fields rather than begging for help. They may not be sociable but they are kind, hospitable, sincere and humble. In the early 1950s, some of the Ibalois migrated to neighboring provinces of Benguet like Nueva Vizcaya, the Ilocos Region and Ifugao. Now, they are considered as one of the most advanced tribal groups in the country today because of their acceptance of innovations and new technologies.

CULTURE AND TRADITIONS: PESSHET

The Ibaloi's major feast is the Pesshet, a public feast mainly sponsored by people of prestige and wealth. The Pesshet feast can last for weeks and involves the butchering and sacrifice of dozens of animals. One of the more popular dances of the Ibaloi is the Bendian Dance, participated by hundreds of male and female dancers.

BENDIAN

Bendian is also one of the feasts celebrated by the Ibaloi. It is performed for many reasons. Some of which are to heal a prolong illness, relieve natural calamities such as famine and drought, and to celebrate a bountiful harvest. However, the biggest Bendian is to celebrate a victory in war and a successful headhunt. The arrival of successful head takers, called ulul is met with great festivities by the entire village. The Bendian festival celebrated by the Benguet, Ibaloi, and Kankanay is always big and extraordinary. It involves the village circling and dancing around the ulul leader while executing various arm movements. Lasting until the wee hours of the night, the Bendian ritual ends on the sound of the loudest oway or war cry. This version of Bendian centers on the maidens part of the circle.

MUMMIFICATION

The process of mummification among the Ibaloi lasts for months. There are also times when it lasts for years. This starts even before the death of a person. A person who is nearly dying is given a very salty drink a few days before the persons death. When that person dies, his body is thoroughly cleaned and will be placed on a chair they refer to as sangadil or (death chair). They smoke the corpse for a few months using low heat until all its organs are preserved. A jar is also placed underneath the death chair to collect all the drained fluids from the corpse. Once the body is completely dehydrated, the body is placed under the sun to hasten the process of drying the body. The outer skin is removed by the leader to speed up the drying of the internal organs using the smoke from tobacco. The extracts of herbs are slowly spread all over the dead body, which is now dry. After which, the cadaver is placed in a pinewood coffin and is buried in caves located in the mountains of Benguet or in caves found in steep rocks or cliffs.

BELIEF SYSTEM

1. Spirits classified as to hierarchy are: a.) The maker of the universe, Adika-ila (Kankana-ey) / Mengos-oschong (Ibaloi, this is the highest and powerful of all the spirit and his realm is in the sky world; b.) Deity (gods/goddesses), Kabunyan; c.) Spirits of ancestors, Ap-apo(Kn) / Kaapuan(Ib) and people who just died, Kakading/Kedaring. They are believed to move freely from the sky world to the underworld and back as they wish; d.) Spirits inhabiting the earth collectively called Anito in kankana-ey/kalutaan in Ibaloi. These underworld spirits when offended, trespassed and brush aside should be violent thereby inflicting illness, death and misfortune to man. 2. Spirits classified as to generosity. Generally, all spirits are regarded as good; however the degree of goodness or badness of the spirits depends on perception of men's action. The degree of offense of man against the spirit is the measure of the degree of his punishment curable only by appeasing the spirit. a.) The Benevolent spirit, Maeya (Kn) / Mapteng (Ib), is offered a thanksgiving ritual consisting of animals, food, rice wine, and other materials as gifts. b.) The Malevolent, Makedse (Kn) / Makedsel (Ib), who caused illness could also be appeased by performing a healing ritual to restore the health of the afflicted by offering similar gifts. The Benguet people regard rituals and feasts as a fulfillment of their aspirations as well as a cure to illness. They believe that the good spirit will give them favors in the form of good health land material wealth. THE RITUALS

This is the administering of prescribed rituals as a healing cure, protection, purification, sanity, normalizes birth and good voyage / journey. The spirits are called upon with offerings of animal, tapey, food, and other desired / prescribed materials of favors received or restored health. In any ritual rice wine, tapey (Kn) / tafey (Ib) is always used being the traditional wine, and the pig as the traditional animal. Since there are classes of spirits, the rituals are then performed to conform according to the spirits demands.

CLOTHING

The traditional clothing of Ibalois is made from beautifully hand-woven clothes. Ibaloi, Kankena-ey and Kalanguya men's traditional clothing is the kuval or G-string, a piece of woven cloth wrapped around the waists and draped down to cover the loins called tapis. The traditional clothing for women was the kambal or blouse, and aten or divet, a wrap around skirt. These now are worn only during traditional ceremonies and on special occasions. MARRIAGE

The Ibaloi is one of the Cordillera tribes which practice the Kalon and the Kaising, customs on courtship and marriage. These have been practiced by the Ibalois since the early 50s until the early 80s. The Ibaloi man need not court a woman, instead the former chooses a woman he wants for a wife and expresses his love through an intermediary with a good reputation in the community and through parental agreement. The Ibalois also practice kaising where parents enter into an agreement with the parents to whom they wish their child to marry in the future. One of the reasons for this practice before was for the rich clans and families to keep their wealth within their class. Thus this arrangement happens despite the childrens wishes or decisions. This marriage custom eventually waned, however, due to sad experiences on the part of the children who were not paired off well. The parents of both bride and groom still decide on what to do during the wedding feast and ceremony. The grooms parents who shoulder most of the wedding expenses do most of the decision making. An Ibaloi wedding celebration is held at the brides house. Although the dowry system is not observed, it is a must that animals like carabaos, cows, or pigs be butchered for the wedding celebration which lasts from two to five days or even longer, especially for rich families. It is considered disgraceful for both parties if no animals are butchered or sometimes if only one or two pigs are butchered. Native dancing, offering of old coins and other rituals are complied with. FOOD The Ibalois are not selective when it comes to food. They cook their dishes by just adding salt, ginger, pepper, or cooking oil. Their main food consists of rice, vegetables, and meat. This tribe seldom eats fish because they are not used to it. HOUSE A typical Ibaloi house is made of lumber from pine wood, galvanized iron, cogon, and sometimes cement. Most families usually prefer lumber over cement as building material because the former makes the interior of the house warmer.