Layers of Cordillera Identity
Layers of Cordillera Identity
Layers of Cordillera Identity
Source: Keesing, Felix and Marie Keesing. Taming Philippine Headhunters: A Study of Government
and of Cultural Change in Northern Luzon. Stanford University Press, 1934, 40.
Unit 1. Peopling of the Cordillera and Colonial Labeling
Overview
This part of the chapter presents theories of how the region was populated. The bigger
part of it dwells on labeling and naming that happened during the colonial periods. Of
particular focus is on the label Igorot, which began as a neutral geographic label and ended
with numerous but mostly negative connotations.
Pre-assessment
Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answers on the blank space
provided before each number.
______1) Who were the first inhabitants of Cordillera Central?
a) Austronesians c) Indonesians
b) Negritos d) Igorots
______2) Which language pair are closest to each other?
a) Bontok-Kalinga c) Itneg-Ibaloy
b) Ifugao-Kalanguya d) Bontok-Kankanaey
______3) It is popularly known that the Cordillera was not colonized by Spaniards. What does
this mean?
a) No Spaniards ever set foot in Cordillera territory.
b) Occupation and influence by Spaniards on the region are limited.
c) Inhabitants of the Cordillera resisted every Spanish entry to the region.
d) Only the area of Benguet was occupied and ruled by Spaniards.
______4) Ifugao terraces were constructed how many years ago?
a) 2000 years ago c) 200-300 years ago
b) 1000-2000 years ago d. 100 years ago
______5) A label used by both Spaniards and Americans that applied to all Cordillera Central
inhabitants.
a) Tingguian c) Ifugao
b) Mandaya d) Igorot
______6) During Spanish rule, which of the following labels was NOT used for the inhabitants
of Central Cordillera?
a) Infieles c) Indios
b) Igorot d) Salvajes
______7) On record, the use of Igorot as a label started when?
a) Spanish colonial period c) After/post-colonialism
b) American colonial period d) Japanese colonial rule
______8) The Cordillera Central was organized as Mountain Province in ____.
a) 1900 c) 1905
b) 1902 d) 1908
______9) The label used by Americans for people who clung to cultural traditions is ______.
a) Non-Christians c) Tribes
b) Infieles d) Indigenous Peoples
______10) Under colonial times, the bases of labeling/naming include the following EXCEPT
one.
a) geographical location c) political/administrative affiliation
b) ethnolinguistic features d) economic conditions
Lesson 1: Origins and Migrations
I. Introduction
This section presents known theories on the peopling of the Cordillera region. It shows
that the region was populated by way of migration.
Mode of delivery
Lecture with electronic presentation
Activities
Activity 1. Self-check
Instruction: Reconstruct peopling of the Cordillera by making a migration map.
Mode of Delivery
Lecture/Reading assignment/Guided classroom discussions.
Activities
Activity 1. Self-check
Instruction: Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answers on the
blank space provided before each number.
______1) Of the Cordillera provinces today, which was NOT part of the old Mountain Province
created in 1908?
a) Apayao c) Kalinga
b) Abra d) Ifugao
______2) How many sub-provinces were created under the 1908 Mountain Province?
a) 3 c) 6
b) 4 d) 7
______3) Igorrote literally means _____.
a) “from the mountain” c) “Uncivilized”
b) upstream” d) “Savages”
______4) How did the term Igorot earn negative meanings?
a) Igorots' resistance to Spanish colonialism was interpreted by Spaniards as
expressions of backwardness, savagery, and paganism.
b) Savage and uncivilized behaviors of Igorots resulted to American attachment
of negative characteristics to the term.
c) Colonial writing mistook the term to mean backwardness and isolation.
d) Lowlanders influenced the Spaniards to associate negative connotations to
the term.
______5) Which among the following is a term NOT geographically defined?
a) Mandaya c) Igorot
b) Tingguian d) Salvaje
______6) The first colonially defined political organization that grouped several villages into
single administrative territories.
a) Sub-provinces
b) Commandancia Politico-Militares
c) Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes
d) Provinces
______7) Who are the Igorots, according to David Barrows?
a) Lepanto and Bontoc people
b) Benguet people
c) Lepanto, Benguet, and Bontoc people
d) Includes all people in the Cordillera Central
______8) Who are the Igorots, according to Dean Worcester?
a) Lepanto and Bontoc people
b) Benguet people
c) Lepanto, Benguet, and Bontoc people
d) Includes all people in the Cordillera Central
______9) Aside from ethnolinguistic labels, people of the Cordillera Central were also identified
based on their “degree of civilization” in the following terms, EXCEPT _____.
a) Non-Christians
b) Tribes
c) Headhunters
d) Cordillerans
______10) Being “Ibaloy” or “Ayangan” is a label based on?
a) Political/provincial affiliation
b) Geographical location
c) Ethnolinguistic grouping
d) Level of civilization
Unit 2. Confronting and Adopting Identities
Overview
This section covers the post-colonial period. It tells how earlier naming and labeling
affected highlanders. It also tells how earlier naming and labeling were confronted and
reinterpreted in the changing context of Cordillera history. Finally, it touches on the growing
assertion of local identities.
Pre-assessment
Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answers on the blank space
provided before each number.
______1) What name replaced the Non-Christian Tribes of the Philippines after the war?
a) Cultural Minorities c) Indigenous Peoples
b) National Minorities d) Indigenous Cultural Communities
______2) What office is in charge of highlanders in the Cordillera immediately before the NCIP
was organized?
a) Office of Northern Cultural Communities (ONCC)
b) Office of Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC)
c) Presidential Assistant on National Minorities (PANAMIN)
d) Commission on National Integration (CNI)
______3) New label for highlanders popularized in the 1980s during the call for autonomy.
a) Igorot c) Indigenous Peoples
b) Cordilleran d) Non-Christians
______4) When was the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) established?
a) 1980 c) 1987
b) 1983 d) 1997
______5) When was the old Mountain Province divided into four new provinces?
a) 1966 c)1908
b) 1972 d) 1987
______6) The following are preferred general identities for Central Cordillera people, EXCEPT
a) Highlander c) Mountaineer
b) Native d) Cultural Minorities
______7) Student organization in Metro Baguio that provided a venue for ethnic expression
and a haven for students from all over the region.
a) Igorot Warriors International c) BIBKA
b) BIBAK d) Igorot Global Organization
______8) The dam project in the 1970s that ignited oppositions from affected areas.
a) Chico River Dam project c) Ibulao River Dam project
b) Abra River Dam project d) Apayao River Dam project
______9) The call for regional autonomy began when?
a) 1990s c) 1980s
b) 2000s d) 1970s
______10) What does the acronym CAR mean?
a) Cordillera Autonomous Region c) Cordillera Agrarian Reform
b) Cordillera Administrative Region d) Cordillera Administered Region
Lesson 1: Post-colonial Identity Struggle and the 1966 Division (1950s-1970)
I. Introduction
The end of Second World War officially ended colonial rule in the country. For the first
time, Mountain Province is managed without the paternal help of Americans. Instead, it
became a regular province directly under a national government dominated by lowlanders. It
is in this context that highlanders make sense of their identity as one people as well as
multiple ethnic groups.
Mode of Delivery
Chalk and board lecture with electronic presentation
Figure 5. Ethnic groups in the Cordillera Central (Source: Reconstruction from Fox
and Flory map of 1974)
Activities
Activity 1. Self-check
Instruction: Interview a BIBAK member during this period (1960s-1970s) and submit an
essay about their participation as a BIBAK member. Accomplish in groups. (20 points)
Mode of Delivery
Lecture with facilitated discussions
Figure 6. Macliing Dulag and two other Kalinga leaders in the resistance versus
the Chico dam are memorialized in a monument in Bugnay, Kalinga (Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidstanleytravel/47973887321)
Activities
Activity 1. Photo essay
Instruction: Find a photo related to this period in Cordillera history, and write a brief essay
about it. Accomplish in groups. (20 points)
Lesson 3: “Cordilleran” Identity (1983-1987)
I. Introduction
Oppositions to dam and logging projects shifted its attention to uniting the region as
well as creating a framework that would protect the region from easy penetration of destructive
development projects. The answer was an autonomous region. Such direction created
another fertile venue for identity-making.
Mode of Delivery
Lecture/Debate on autonomy
Activities
Activity 1. Self-check
Instruction: Describe the original ideas of autonomy that emerged out of this period. This
may be accomplished in groups. (15 points)
Mode of Delivery
Lecture with electronic presentations
III. Reading Resources and Instructional Activities
The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) is considered a landmark law in favor of
Indigenous Peoples. Passed in 1997, it promised protection and advancement of the rights
and privileges of indigenous people, particularly to finally have a definitive ownership to their
land. Before the IPRA, the state recognized ancestral land claims through the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order No. 2 (DAO 2) of 1992.
This right was reinforced in 1997 by the passage of the IPRA, which granted a collective right
to land through the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) and of individual rights
through the Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (CALT). These opportunities encouraged
registration and assertions of ethnic identities.
IPRA also created an office to oversee the affairs of the Indigenous Peoples. Named
National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), it replaced the old offices of the Office of
Northern Cultural Communities (ONCC) and the Office of Southern Cultural Communities
(OSCC).
Finally, IPRA formalized the use of “Indigenous Peoples” as another label for most
highlanders. It is defined to include people who have lived in a defined territory they call their
own, share cultural and linguistic relations, and were differentiated from the rest of the bigger
population by virtue of their resistance to colonialism (IPRA, 1997). In effect, this label
replaced the “cultural/national minority” label even if the IPRA itself still uses “Indigenous
Cultural Communities” as another name for Indigenous Peoples.
In the 1990 national census, there are only 9 ethnic groups in the Cordillera included.
Ten years after, the government census recognized 22! This continued to grow in the
government census after 2000. IPRA, and the perceived benefits it created, appear to have
attracted open assertions of distinct and separate ethnic identities.
Other recognizing offices like the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA),
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples
(NCIP) remain conventional in their recognition of ethnicities, but government censuses,
supported by linguistic studies, are bold enough to acknowledge more ethnicities. Most of the
ethnicities added are those previously categorized as sub-groups, such as the Mabaka,
Majukayang, Guinaang, and more of Kalinga, as well as Adasen, Inlaud, Masadiit, and others
in Abra.
Activities
Activity 1. Self-check
1) Enumerate three benefits provided by the IPRA for Indigenous Peoples.
2) Name two ethnolinguistic groups for each province and two cities.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter traced the evolution of labels and names used for the general
Cordillera population as well as the emergence and reemergence of ethnolinguistic
groupings. Under colonial rule, efforts were directed towards understanding and
defining groups of people who resisted colonial introductions. Igorot persisted as a
common identification for all, even if its application shifted at different times. Under
colonialism, the term Igorot also changed its meaning, from its literal association to
location and geography, to cultural and racial traits. Igorot was defined as
backwardness and uncivilization, which consequently invited prejudices and
discrimination. As a result, its acceptance also shifted. Events of the 1970s and 1980s
provided a venue for the redemption of the term when it became more associated to
resistance and bravery. At present, the label remains contested but those who have
accepted this identity do not feel as defensive as their parents and grandparents.
Igorot is an identity that many inhabitants of this region have been associated with,
and it continues to be reinvented and reinterpreted. “Cordilleran” is an offspring of
the 1980s historical events that is adopted for its neutral denotation and more
encompassing application. As such it is the identity used in the campaign for regional
autonomy. Setting aside technicalities, Igorot and Cordilleran are labels
interchangeable for some.
Cordillerans and Igorots are also labeled as Indigenous Peoples, a name
inscribed in the IPRA for people who were treated differently because of their
resistance to Spanish colonialism. Old labels like national or cultural “minorities” and
“non-Christians” are things of the past. Even labels associated with levels of
civilization like “backward” and “uncivilized” became eclipsed, except to outsiders who
remain innocent or ignorant of the developed status of Cordillera Indigenous Peoples.
“Tribe” has been appropriated to mean ethnic group despite its negative association
with “headhunting” and backwardness.
Still in another layer of identity, Cordillerans and Igorots are also connected to
their provincial affiliation or municipal and village (Ili) membership. Through this,
people became “Imontanyosa” or “taga-Abra” or “taga-Apayao”. This began as early
as Spanish Commandancia Politico-Militares (CPM), and sustained by American
special provinces. The creation of Mountain Province in 1908 was an attempt to keep
the non-Chrisitans in one administrative territory. It was ended in 1966 division but
revived in the call for an autonomous Cordillera and the temporary creation of the
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Culturally they are also identified with their ethnolinguistic affiliations as
Ibaloy, Tingguian, Baliwon, Kalanguya, and many others. Various groups have
recently asserted their own ethnolinguistic identities. Many of these were sidelined
for some time by earlier ethnological research, but new studies and the perceived
benefits under the IPRA have placed the issue in the limelight. From 12 recognized
ethnolinguistic groups, data from linguistic research, and self-identification reflected
in the recent government census (2020), there are as many as 92 groups in the region.
The history of identity formation is not over, but the labels and names etched
in colonial scholarships remain influential.
CHAPTER SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answers on the blank space
provided before each number.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
1. a 11. a
2. c 12. d
3. a 13. d
4. b 14. a
5. a 15. a
6. b 16. b
7. a 17. b
8. d 18. a
9. d 19. b
10. a 20. a
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