Apayao - People and Culture

People and Culture

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The Isneg, also Isnag or Apayao, live at the northwesterly end of northern Luzon, in the upper half of the Cordillera province of Apayao. The term “Isneg” derives from a combination of “is” meaning “recede” and “uneg” meaning “interior.” Thus, it means “people who have gone into the interior.” In Spanish missionary accounts, they, together with the Kalinga and other ethnic groups between the northern end of the Cagayan Valley and the northeastern part of the Ilocos, were referred to as “los Apayaos,” an allusion to the river whose banks and nearby rugged terrain were inhabited by the people. They were also called “los Mandayas,” a reference to an Isneg word meaning “upstream.” The term “Apayao” has been used interchangeably with “Isneg,” after the name of the geographical territory which these people have inhabited for ages. This is inaccurate, however, because the subprovince of Apayao is not exclusively peopled by the Isneg.

There has been a large influx of Ilocano over the years. From Cagayan, the Itawes have entered and occupied the eastern regions. The Aeta inhabit the northern and northeastern parts of the province. And then there are the Kalinga, the other major group in the province. The Isneg have always built their settlements on the small hills that lie along the large Apayao-Abulog river of the province. In 1988, the Isneg were estimated to number around 45,000. Municipalities occupied by the Isneg include Pudtol, Kabugao, Kalanasan and Conner (Peralta 1988:1).

Two major river systems, the Abulog and the Apayao, run through Isneg country, which until recent times has been described as a region of “dark tropical forests,” and endowed with other natural resources. In one early account, the Isneg were described as of slender and graceful stature, with manners that were kindly, hospitable, and generous, possessed with the spirit of self-reliance and courage, and clearly artistic in their temperament.

The Isneg’s ancestors are believed to have been the proto-Austronesians who came from South China thousands of years ago. Later, they came in contact with groups practicing jar burial, from whom they adopted the custom. They later also came into contact with Chinese traders plying the seas south of the Asian mainland. From the Chinese they bought the porcelain pieces and glass beads which now form part of the Isneg’s priceless heirlooms. The Isneg have been known to be a headtaking society since recorded history. The Isneg’s main staple is rice, which they have traditionally produced in abundance. This is raised through slash-and-burn agriculture. There has always been a surplus every year, except in rare instances of drought or pest infestation.

According to Isneg traditional view, the ownership of land is absolute, governed by an unwritten law of property relations. This law is respected and recognized, enforced and defended by generations of Isneg. Life is materially associated with the land, the forests, and the rivers. The recognized owner of a piece of land has exclusive rights over its natural resources and its fruits.

According to Isneg custom law, land is acquired and owned through: first-use (pioneer principle); actual possession and active occupation; and inheritance. The land that an individual or clan can own through the first-use or pioneer principle are: the bannuwag (swidden); the sarra or ngnganupan (forest and hunting grounds); and the usat or angnigayan (water and aquatic resources). Part of the land that can also be claimed for ownership is the land space called nagbabalayan (from balay, which means “house”) where the owner or his family and clan have resided in the past, and which they have planted to coconut, palm, and fruit trees. Land acquired through possession and occupation include the swidden farm, residential land, and fishing grounds. All these categories of land can also be acquired through tawid (inheritance).Isneg society did not develop a form of village leadership strong enough to be recognized as an indigenous political authority by all Isneg communities in the region. A possible reason for this failure is the small size of villages or hamlets, and thus the small population of males that could be harnessed to form an army strong enough to bring other villages under its control.

For ages, Isneg warriors engaged in small-scale ambuscades, and not in full-blown tribal war. The taking of a few heads during a raid was in retaliation for some previous wrong or misdeed, and not for the conquest of territory. Slavery was unknown, so there was no need to capture people.The Isneg hamlet may have brave men called mengal, one of whom may later become kamenglan, the bravest of the brave—the ultimate goal of a human being. The mengal also acts as arbiter of disputes. In the settlement of cases, jars, beads, rice, and animals are used to pay fines or damages. The mengal truly enjoys enormous prestige, being a warrior of proven courage. In the past, the mengal wore a red scarf around his head. His arms and shoulders were tattooed, to signify that he had taken several enemy heads in battle. The leader usually provided the sayam for his people, a lavish feast during which he was expected to recount his martial exploits. The mengal is usually one who has reached a very mature age, and having been acknowledged as the village leader, he assumes his place among the Isneg council of veterans like himself (Casal 1986:56).

The spiritual world of the Isneg is populated by more than 300 anito or spirits who assume various forms. There are no gods or hierarchical deities in the otherworld of the Isneg, only good or bad spirits.

The chief spirits are: Anlabban, who looks after the general welfare of the people and is recognized as the special protector of hunters; Bago, the spirit of the forest; and Sirinan, the river spirit. They may take the form of human beings, former mortals who mix with the living, reside in bathing places, and so on. They may be animals, with the features of a carabao, for example, and live in a cave under the water. They may be giants who live somewhere in the vicinity of Abbil. They may be spirits guarding the foot and center of the ladder going up the skyworld, seeing to it that mortals do not ascend this ladder. Most of these spirits, however, are the souls of mortals and exhibiting human traits when living as mortals. Some spirits can bring hardship into the life of the Isneg. One such spirit is Landusan, who is held responsible for some cases of extreme poverty. Those believed to be suffering from the machinations of this spirit are said to be malandusan (impoverished). But the Isneg are not entirely helpless against these scheming spirits. They can arm themselves with a potent amulet bequeathed to mortals by the benevolent spirits. This amulet is a small herb called tagarut, which grows in the forest but is hard to find.At harvest time, a wide assortment of male and female spirits attend to the activities of the Isneg, performing either good or bad works which affect the lives of people. There are spirits who come to help the reapers in gathering the harvest. They are known as Abad, Aglalannawan, Anat, Binusilan, Dawiliyan, Dekat, Dumingiw, Imbanon, Gimbanonan, Ginalinan, Sibo, and a group of sky dwellers collectively known as the llanit. On the other hand, there are spirits who prefer to cause harm rather than help with the harvest. These are Alupundan, who causes the reapers’ toes to get sore all over and swell; Arurin, who sees to it that the harvest is bad, if the Isneg farmers fail to give this female deity her share; Dagdagamiyan, a female spirit who causes sickness in children for playing in places where the harvest is being done; Darupaypay, who devours the palay stored in the hut before it is transferred to the granary; Ginuudan, who comes to measure the containers of palay, and causes it to dwindle; Sildado (from soldado or soldier), who resembles a horse, and kills children who play noisily outside the house; and Inargay, who kills people during harvest time. When inapugan, a ritual plant, is offered to Inargay, the following prayer is recited by the Isneg farmer: “Iapugko iyaw inargay ta dinaami patpatay” (I offer this betel to you, Inargay, so that you may not kill us) (Vanoverbergh 1941:337-339).

Unlike other groups, the Isneg have no traditional or indigenous knowledge of cloth weaving or pottery making. Instead, they have procured articles of clothing, pots, and other materials from the lowland Ilocano traders, in exchange for their honey, beeswax, rope, baskets, and mats (Wilson 1967:10).

Nevertheless, Isneg women have been known to favor colorful garments as their traditional costume. These consist of both small and large aken, a wraparound piece of cloth. The small version is for everyday use, while the large one is for ceremonial occasions. They also wear the badio, a short-waisted, long-sleeved blouse which is either plain or heavily embroidered; a square head scarf; and sometimes a piece of cloth around 2 meters long, worn around the waist and which serves as a carrier for small articles. The usual colors for these articles of clothing are blue and its various shades often with narrow stripes in red and white.

Menfolk, on the other hand, have a traditional dress of dark-colored (often plain blue) G-string called abag. On special occasions, this is adorned with an iput, a lavishly colored tail attached to the back end, which generally consists of a thick tuft of long fringes. They wear an upper garment called bado, which has long sleeves and reaches down to the waist. The colors are usually grayish blue, although sometimes the Isneg also wear them in red and dark blue, occasionally black or purple. Isneg men also sport the sipatal, a breastpiece indicating one’s social status (Reynolds and Grant 1973:98-99; Vanoverbergh 1929:225).

The only decorative art that the Isneg have developed from earliest times is tattooing. There are names for the various types of tattoos. There are tattoos for men and tattoos for women. Isneg males tattoo their forearms down to the wrist and the middle part of the back of their hands. This basic type is called hisi, generally black in color, and of no particular design. The andori is the more ornate type, which appears on one or both arms, on the inside. It begins from the wrist and runs all the way to the biceps and the shoulders. The design is composed of mainly wedges, diamonds, and angular lines. The andori used to symbolize the status of an Isneg male who had killed any number of enemies. The more he killed, the longer the andori on his arms. This type is largely gone now, having been associated with the practice of headtaking. Another type is the babalakay (spider), which is tattooed in front of one or both of a man’s thighs. This is either a cross-shaped figure with twiglike extensions at the ends, or several lines radiating from a small imaginary circle, suggesting an arachnid but also rather sunlike in appearance. The women decorate themselves with one of three types of tattooing. One is the andori, which the Isneg woman is allowed to have on her arms if her father has killed any number of enemies in battle. She may have the balalakat tattoo on her throat and on either or both of her thighs, sometimes also on her forearm. Or it may be the tutungrat, a series of broken lines at the back of her hands, sometimes accompanied by some dots or short, parallel straight lines tattooed at the back of her fingers (Vanoverbergh 1929:228-232).