IFUGAO

are Known worldwide for

the stunning rice terraces they have
carved out of the mountainsides
• The Ifugao are known for their rich oral
literary traditions of hudhud and the alim. In
2001, the Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao was
chosen as one of the 11 Masterpieces of the
Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It
was then formally inscribed as a UNESCO
Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008.
 UNESCO
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
• Ifugao is situated in the foothills of the northern Cordillera mountain range of the
• Philippines. It abounds with spectacular rice terraces (now a World Heritage
• property), and with a wealth of traditional verbal art. Most known among these is
• the all-women-chanted hudhud, which has joined the ranks of UNESCO-declared
• world masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity; but no less
• impressive (although lesser known), is the all-male-chanted alim—the apogee of
• elaborate Ifugao kadangyan (“upper class”) prestige rituals for welfare.
• Alim is not familiar, even to Ifugao ritual performers (mumbakis) who have not been
• specif ically trained in chanting it, for it is professional knowledge requiring long
• formal apprenticeship.
• In terms of economic activities, the Ifugao
people commonly engage in farming, wood
carving and weaving. The five rice terraces,
collectively called the Ifugao Rice
Terraces (IRT) constituting the World Heritage
Site, are in four municipalities (Banaue,
Hungduan, Kiangan, and Mayoyao).
• Ifugao people have faced difficult
environmental and social conditions in recent
decades, including a growing population,
deforestation, and rice terrace degradation.