



Produced by Jeroen Hellingman





The Bontoc Igorot

by Albert Ernest Jenks




Letter of Transmittal

Department of the Interior, The Ethnological Survey,

MANILA, FEBRUARY 3, 1904.

Sir: I have the honor to submit a study of the Bontoc Igorot made
for this Survey during the year 1903. It is transmitted with the
recommendation that it be published as Volume I of a series of
scientific studies to be issued by The Ethnological Survey for the
Philippine Islands.

Respectfully,

Albert Ernst Jenks,

CHIEF OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Hon. Dean C. Worcester,
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, MANILA, P. I.





Preface

After an expedition of two months in September, October, and November,
1902, among the people of northern Luzon it was decided that the Igorot
of Bontoc pueblo, in the Province of Lepanto-Bontoc, are as typical of
the primitive mountain agriculturist of Luzon as any group visited, and
that ethnologic investigations directed from Bontoc pueblo would enable
the investigator to show the culture of the primitive mountaineer of
Luzon as well as or better than investigations centered elsewhere.

Accompanied by Mrs. Jenks, the writer took up residence in Bontoc
pueblo the 1st of January, 1903, and remained five months. The
following data were gathered during that Bontoc residence, the previous
expedition of two months, and a residence of about six weeks among
the Benguet Igorot.

The accompanying illustrations are mainly from photographs. Some of
them were taken in April, 1903, by Hon. Dean C. Worcester, Secretary
of the Interior; others are the work of Mr. Charles Martin, Government
photographer, and were taken in January, 1903; the others were made
by the writer to supplement those taken by Mr. Martin, whose time
was limited in the area. Credit for each photograph is given with
the halftone as it appears.

I wish to express my gratitude for the many favors of the only other
Americans living in Bontoc Province during my stay there, namely,
Lieutenant-Governor Truman K. Hunt, M.D.; Constabulary Lieutenant (now
Captain) Elmer A. Eckman; and Mr. William F. Smith, American teacher.

In the following pages native words have their syllabic divisions
shown by hyphens and their accented syllables and vowels marked in the
various sections wherein the words are considered technically for the
first time, and also in the vocabulary in the last chapter. In all
other places they are unmarked. A later study of the language may
show that errors have been made in writing sentences, since it was
not always possible to get a consistent answer to the question as to
what part of a sentence constitutes a single word, and time was too
limited for any extensive language study. The following alphabet has
been used in writing native words.


A as in FAR; Spanish RAMO
A as in LAW; as O in French OR
AY as AI in AISLE; Spanish HAY
AO as OU in OUT; as AU in Spanish AUTO
B as in BAD; Spanish BAJAR
CH as in CHECK; Spanish CHICO
D as in DOG; Spanish DAR
E as in THEY; Spanish HALLE
E as in THEN; Spanish COMEN
F as in FIGHT; Spanish FIRMAR
G as in GO; Spanish GOZAR
H as in HE; Tagalog BAHAY
I as in PIQUE; Spanish HIJO
I as in PICK
K as in KEEN
L as in LAMB; Spanish LENTE
M as in MAN; Spanish MENOS
N as in NOW; Spanish JABON
NG as in FINGER; Spanish LENGUA
O as in NOTE; Spanish NOSOTROS
OI as in BOIL
P as in POOR; Spanish PERO
Q as CH in German ICH
S as in SAUCE; Spanish SORDO
SH as in SHALL; as CH in French CHARMER
T as in TOUCH; Spanish TOMAR
U as in RULE; Spanish UNO
U as in BUT
U as in German KUHL
V as in VALVE; Spanish VOLVER
W as in WILL; nearly as OU in French OUI
Y as in YOU; Spanish YA


It seems not improper to say a word here regarding some of my commonest
impressions of the Bontoc Igorot.

Physically he is a clean-limbed, well-built, dark-brown man of medium
stature, with no evidence of degeneracy. He belongs to that extensive
stock of primitive people of which the Malay is the most commonly
named. I do not believe he has received any of his characteristics,
as a group, from either the Chinese or Japanese, though this theory
has frequently been presented. The Bontoc man would be a