98 The Philippine Journal of Science ■ ms 



THE RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY OF THE IFUGAO PEOPLE OF 

 NORTHERN LUZON ^^ 



The subject of the Ifugao religion is an extensive one, and I 

 have no intention of discussing it in detail here. I shall merely 

 give a few general facts, and a few of the more interesting 

 myths. In addition to some minor papers by the Dominican 

 fathers Malumbres and Campa, most of our information con- 

 cerning the Ifugao religion is contained in three extensive 

 manuscript monographs.-" The myths that I shall give here are 

 selected from the first and third of these manuscripts, and the 

 general facts are taken from all three. 



BELIEFS AND MYTHS OF THE KIAN6AN IFUGAOS 



The Ifugao conception of the universe differs considerably in 

 the different religious districts.^° The Western Ifugao and 

 Central Ifugao beliefs are closely associated, but stand quite 

 apart from those of Kiaiigan Ifugao. The people of the latter 

 area think of the universe as being composed of a large number 

 of horizontal layers which are very similar one to the other. 

 The upper face of each of these layers is of earth, while the 



" There are about 127,000 Ifugaos, nearly all living in the subprovince 

 of Ifugao. They are divided into a large number of hereditary clans, 

 each of which has its own social and political organization. They are 

 an agricultural people, and have developed their great stone-faced ter- 

 raced rice fields to an extent probably not equaled elsewhere in the world. 

 I do not believe that the physical type, lang'uage, or culture of these 

 people is wholly a native development. The evidence seems to indicate 

 that the present-day Ifugaos are the result of mixture, perhaps one or 

 more thousand years ago, of several widely different native types with an 

 incoming people of high culture. Indications seem to point to the high- 

 lands of Burma as the original home of this highly-cultured people, but 

 this is a supposition that will require proof. Within historic times the 

 Ifugaos have been almost entirely free from mixture of any sort. 



"1. — "The Religious Beliefs of the KiaiTgan Ifugaos," a manuscript 

 of some 300 pages, by Juan Fernandez Villaverde, translated and anno- 

 tated by myself with the assistance of Mr. John M. Garvan. 



2. — "The Religion of the Kiangan Ifugaos," a manuscript of 350 pages, 

 by Roy Franklin Barton, with notes by myself. 



3. — ^Unpublished notes. "The Religion of the Central Ifugaos," a manu- 

 script of about 300 pages, by myself. 



'" The subprovince of Ifugao may be divided into five general culture 

 areas which can be also considered as religious districts. These are: 

 Kiangan Ifugao, Western Ifugao, and Central Ifugao, speaking the Pure 

 Ifugao dialect; and Alimit Ifugao and Mayoyao Ifugao, speaking the 

 Sub-Ifugao dialect. (Plate I.) Very little is known of the religion of 

 Alimit Ifugao and Mayoyao Ifugao, and they will not be further discussed 

 in this paper. 



