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Ifugao / Mayoyao

Funeral.

Ifugao religion is quite complex. It recognizes eleven different classes of deities. The most important deities are those of the spirits of dead ancestors. If a dead ancestor becomes displeased for some reason, the people sacrifice a chicken or pig to pacify the ancestor. 

The belief in ancestral spirits greatly influences funeral rituals: the Ifugao attempt to honor a dead person by treating the body with the utmost respect. The body of the deceased is dressed in its finest clothes. The body is carried from one house to another, as each branch of the family tries to outdo the others by giving a feast in memory of the deceased. This process sometimes continues for two weeks. The body is then moved to a cave. After a year, the bones are removed from the cave, washed, and wrapped in a blanket. The blanket is then placed on a shelf in the back of the family's house. 

Ifugao / Mayoyao

The rice terraces are 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao by ancestors of the indigenous people. The rice terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". It is commonly thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are located approximately 1500 meters above sea level and cover 10,360 square kilometres of mountainside. They are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests above the terraces. 

Locals to this day still plant rice and vegetables on the terraces, although more and younger Ifugao do not find farming attractive. The result is the gradual erosion of the characteristic "steps", which need constant reconstruction and care.

Threatened by gradual deterioration, the terraces are now facing a harrowing future, one that is a stark contrast of its glorious heritage. Deforestation has resulted in erosion and the destruction of the irrigation system in some areas, while the changing values of modernization have incited farmers to abandon their land.

About 1/3 of the Rice Terraces are currently damaged, according to the Provincial Government of Ifugao which were declared by UNSECO as Heritage Sites: Banaue, Kiangan, Hungduan, and Mayoyao. All four sites boast of majestic rice terraces areas amidst misty mountains.

Some are now noticeably grassy, non-productive, and have been abandoned. Changing lifestyles have caused some families to pursue other jobs or migrate to nearby provinces, such that the population of Ifugao has decreased, and less people are left to cultivate the land.

In 1994, UNESCO issued a warning to the government that if the Philippines cannot preserve the Rice Terraces, then it will be de-listed from the World Heritage Sites. Consequently, it has been listed among the world's "endangered" sites. Since then, two administrations have passed, and several "master plans" have been crafted to address the problem, but no significant actions have been conducted to revive and preserve the former glory of the Terraces.

Source: Wikipedia and Sol Jose Vanzi.

Ifugao / Mayoyao

Pounding rice using the traditional wooden mortar and pestle.

Ifugao / Mayoyao

Ifugao / Mayoyao

 

Ifugao / Mayoyao.

Rice wine (tapod).

Rice wine is made from a nearly cooked red mountain rice preparation which is put in an earthen pot and fermented with the sprinkles of crushed local white cookie-like yeast called bubod which is made out of molded rice powder with a little amount of water and grated local herbs such as the roots of a specific mountains grass called inwed by the Cordillera people, that could further stimulate the sugar from the rice preparation to be converted into a high level of alcohol. 

 

 

Ifugao / Mayoyao

Ifugao / Mayoyao

Ifugao / Mayoyao

Native houses.

The Ifugaos typically build their houses at the edge of their fields.

Ifugao / Mayoyao

Native houses.

The Mayoyao native house is a pyramidal structure perched on four wooden posts. The house is erected by properly fitting together carefully shaped parts. Even without a single nail used, the house can withstand the strongest typhoon. It is also made in such a way that rats cannot enter, since granary occupies the top portion of the structure.

The posts are made out of molave, which can last for three generations. The beams, the floor and the walls are made of solid narra.

Alas, the native houses nowadays are built with red galvanized iron sheets for their roofing, which give them the distinctive red color instead of the traditional brown cogon roofing.

Native houses are also replaced little by little by more spacious houses build with concrete hollow blocks.