Ifugao

• AKA: Ifugaw, Ipugao, Ypugao, Hilpan, Quiangan
• Location: N. Luzon; Ifugao Province
• Subsistence: Terraced wet rice, root crops, vegetables, hunting & gathering
• Population: 167369 (1990)
• The Ifugao in the Museum: The museum contains examples of Ifugao Bulols, Basketry, and miscellaneous woodwork.

The Ifugao are Known worldwide for the stunning rice terraces they have carved out of the mountainsides, modifications of the earth beside which, declared anthropolgist Franklin Barton, “the Suez and Panama Canals are quantitatively insignificant.” They are also among the most imaginative and prolific Fililpino craftspeople in a more general sense, especially with respect to woodworking, weaving, and basketry. Besides wet rice cultivation in their enormous terraces, the Ifugao practice dry cultivation of sweet potatoes and other crops, and rotate vegetables in the terraces during the off season. Some hunting and gathering also takes place, although the surrounding forest is growing quite sparse. The application of their extraordinary imaginations to the realm of the supernatural has resulted in a fantastically complex religion, with many hundreds of deities, and elaborate personal and social rituals marking every sort of event. They also possess a highly developed oral literature, including such epics as the “hudhods” and the “alims.”