05/05/2026
ARE IGOROTS CULTURALLY UNIQUE?
At first glance, the Cordillera peoples look different from other Philippine ethnic groups.
They have loincloths (bahag) and wrap-around skirts (tapis).
They play and dance with gongs.
They chew betelnut.
They have traditional tattoos.
And, yes, they are infamously known as descendants of warlike groups and head-takers.
However, contemporary scholarship points out that these perceived differences are relatively recent โ an outcome of colonial history. Our common pre-colonial story says otherwise.
The Visayan peoples (the first Philippine groups encountered by the Spaniards) were known to have played and danced with gongs, too.
They also had tattoos, for which reason they were called โpintadosโ in Spanish records.
They also wore bahag and wrap-around skirt, as would have been true to all Philippine ethnic groups prior to their donning of modern-day pants and shirts.
Betelnut chewing was once prevalent in pre-colonial Philippine cultures. It was essential during arrangements for marriage, dispute settlements, and peace pacts. Betelnut was also important in rituals and as offerings to deceased ancestors.
Inter-village warfare (including the cutting of heads) was common among pre-colonial ethnic groups in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. And that would have included the Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Kapampangans, Bicolanos, Ilocanos, etc.
If these cultural markers were widespread among Philippine ethnic groups back then, then the Cordillera peoples are not quite unique in having them after all.
The only difference is that the Igorots have retained much of these pre-colonial markers up until today.
Having successfully resisted Spanish rule, they have remained largely independent, and were able to maintain their pre-colonial way of life for a much longer time.
In contrast, the lowland ethnic groups have succumbed to Spanish state and religious control and gradually lost or transformed their traditional cultures over the course of colonization.
From where we stand today, history can no longer be undone. But we can yet reclaim and mobilize our common pre-colonial heritage as a key resource to fuel our ongoing task of nation building.
Note: This post is in keeping with the National Heritage Monthโs theme of โRoots and Horizons: Our Shared Heritage, Our Collective Future.โ
May is National Heritage Month.
This is our time to pause and listen to the stories woven into our identity. Stories of ancestors who built with their hands, traditions that have shaped us, places that hold our memories. Stories of youth who carry these forward with hope and imagination.
This May, we invite you to become part of these narratives. Visit a heritage site. Learn a traditional craft. Listen to an elder's story. Support a young artist. Celebrate with your community. Together with NCCA, we invite you to practice all these with us!
In every act, you honor where we come from and help build where we are going.
Our heritage is not something to preserve behind glass. It is alive in our hands, our hearts, our choices. It grows when we tend to it together.
Roots and Horizons. Shared Heritage. Our Collective Future.
Join us this May because OUR story matters.
