Tinggian

• AKA: Itneg, I-tineg, Tinguian, Tinguianes, Itinek, Mandaya, Tingian
• Location: NW Luzon
• Languages: Ilokano
• Subgroups: Adassen, Binongan, Inlaod, Masadiit, Aplai, Banao, Gubang, Maeng, Luba, Balatok
• Subsistence: Valley wet rice, swidden rice and tubers
• Population: 51,422 (1990)

I-tineg means "people living near the Tineg river," which these people certainly do. Ostensibly the still-wild remnant of the Ilokanos, the Tinggians still maintain very close relations with them. They reside in the provinces of Abra, Ilocos Sur, and Iloilo, with concentrations in the municipalities of Tubo, Manabo, Sal-lapadan, San Quintin, Luba, and Boliney. Two general groupings exist: the valley Tinggian of the lower reaches of Abra province, who cultivate wet rice and maintain a concentrated and homogenous population; and the mountain Tinggian who rely on dry cultivation and root crops, and are much more sparse of population. The Tinggians traditionally live in fortified villages adjacent to their swidden fields. They differ from all other Philippine groups in their taste for dressing in white; the women are known also for their extensive and heavily beaded lower arm ornaments. The political unit is the village, at the head of which is an elderly lakay assisted by a council of other elders. Kadaklan (or Kabunyian) is the supreme deity of the animistic religion. Women generally serve as priests and healers. The sayang prestige feast, as elsewhere in the Cordillera, is aspired to by men of means.