Tribe and location.

The Bugkalot also known as Ilongot is a tribe that is full of pride

and strength. The tribe lives in the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains on the east
side of Luzon, about 90 miles northeast of Manila. They reside primarily in the Nueva Vizcaya
and Nueve Ecija provinces, along the mountain border between Quirino and Aurora.
Language. Their dialects are Abaka (Abaca), Egongot, Ibilao, Italon, Iyongut. Their
classification is Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Philippine, Northern Luzon, Meso-
Cordilleran, South-Central Cordilleran, Southern Cordilleran, Ilongot
Ways of living.The Bugkalot depend primarily on dry-rice swidden agriculture and
hunting, as well as fishing and gathering. They burn and plant new fields each year, growing
corn and manioc among the rice. They keep domesticated dogs for hunting, and pigs and
chickens for trade. Men forge their own knives, hoes, and picks, and make rattan baskets,
whereas women weave and sew.
Other beliefs and practices. the Bugkalot practiced gabinet, which involved placing a
length of rattan that reached either side of the river. On this rod, the Bugkalot tied several leaves
of anahaw and stones which disturbed the water and drove out the fish from their hiding places.
Ten to 20 men lined up alongside the gabinet as the two men on either end of the pole walked
the length of the river. The men who were lined up were armed with arrows that had detachable
arrowheads that were secured with a twine about a meter long and released from a rubber
band. Fish was selectively targeted. With regard their belief, Bugkalot relied on the witch
doctor (shaman), called ayogen. He is the tribe’s witch doctor, a man with otherworldly
connections and elemental powers. He was usually an elder and believed to have the magical
power to diagnose and heal ailment, summon and drive away the evil spirits, and give advice
relative to harvest, hunting, head-hunting, and even identification of a thief.