Isnag people

The Isnag people (also referred to as the Isneg and Apayao) are
an Austronesian ethnic group native to Apayao Province in the
Isnag
Philippines' Cordillera Administrative Region.[2] Their native
language is Isneg (also called Isnag), although most Isnag also
speak Ilokano.

Two major sub-groups among the Isnag are known: the

Ymandaya, mostly concentrated in the municipality of Calanasan;
and the Imallod, with populations distributed among the other
towns of the province. Isnag populations can also be found in the
eastern part of the adjacent Provinces of Ilocos Norte and
Cagayan.

Contents
Name
Geography
Social organization
An Apayao girl in traditional
Culture
costume, circa 1935
Language
Religion Total population
Clothing 44,283[1] (2010)
Cuisine Regions with significant
Funeral practices populations
Early accounts of the Isnag Philippines (Cordillera
See also Administrative Region)

References Languages

External links Isnag, Ilocano, Tagalog

Religion
Christianity, indigenous folk religion
Name
Related ethnic groups
Various names have been used to differentiate the Isnag. The Igorot peoples
Spaniards referred to them as los Apayaos (referring to the river
along which they live) and los Mandayas (taken from the Isnag term meaning “upstream”). In 1923, they
were the last ethnic group to be conquered by the American colonialists. Before, they had no collective
name. Instead, they referred to themselves based on their residence or whether they lived: upstream
(Imandaya) or downstream (Imallod). At present, they are commonly known as Isnegs, which came from
an Ilocano word itneg that means Inhabitants of the Tineg River. Some of them, however, still call
themselves as Apayaos.[3]
Geography
The Isnegs are native in Apayao province, which was formerly a sub-province of Mountain Province, but
are also found in portions of Abra, Ilocos Norte, & Kalinga. Apayao has an area of 397,720 hectares and is
typographically divided into two parts: the Upper Apayao that is mountainous, and the Lower Apayao that
is generally flat with rolling mountains and plateaus.[3] Today, there are about 40,000 Isnegs living in
Apayao.[4] Isnag populations can also be found in the Eastern part of the Province of Ilocos Norte,
specifically the municipalities of Adams, Carasi, Dumalneg and Solsona; and in the Northwestern part of
the Province of Cagayan, specifically the municipalities of Sta. Praxedes, Claveria and Sanchez Mira. The
majority of them live along the Apayao River-Abulog River, Matalag River, and the small rivers on the
hillsides of Ilocos Norte and Abra.[3]

Social organization
Because there was no political or ward system, the kinship groups and family clans became the central
social organizations and were usually led by the husbands. Polygamy is allowed, but depends on the
capacity of the husband to support the family. Like other ethnic groups, they also follow a lot of taboos.
These taboos vary from place to place. A pregnant woman, for example, is discouraged to eat some kinds
of sugarcane, banana, and the soft meat of sprouting coconut to have a normal conception. In the past,
twins were also believed to be unlucky, so whenever twins were born, they would let the weaker twin die.
Also, if the mother dies upon giving birth, the child is also left to die and is usually buried with the mother.
The Isnegs don’t follow rituals on the adolescence of the child. They, however, have rituals on marriage,
like the amoman (or the present-day pamamanhikan), and death, like the mamanwa which is done by the
widowers.[3]

Isneg houses (balay) are two-story, one-room structures built on 4 corner posts with an entrance reached by
a ladder. The open space below (linong or sidong) includes a small shed (abulor) for jars of basi. The
bamboo pigpen(dohom) is nearby. Rice granaries (alang) are also made on four posts that include a circular
and flat rat shield. Temporary buildings associated with upland and swidden farming are called sixay. Their
bolo (badang) and axe (aliwa) are important tools. They are also expert fishermen.[3]

Culture
Isneg, or Isnag, kinship is bilateral, meaning children are equally related to both the mother and the father.
Households consist of interrelated families living close to each other, and extended families of three
generations living together in their balay. The family is the key element in society, the larger the better,
headed by the husband. No other society structure exists, though brave men, mengals, lead in hunting and
fishing. The bravest, Kamenglan, is the overall leader. A young man entered their ranks after the first
headhunting expedition. A mengal carries a red kerchief on the head and has tattoos on his arms and
shoulders. They are animistic and practice polygamy.[3]

Language

Isneg language is spoken by around 30,000 people mostly by the Isnag people, who are also bilingual in
Ilokano.

Religion
Approximately 9% of the population are Christians. As of 2006, the entire New Testament, along with the
books of Genesis and Exodus, had been translated into Isnag by SIL. Rest of the Isnags are mainly
animists.

Clothing

The Isnegs are aesthetically-inclined. In ceremonies, women wear a lot of

colourful ornaments and clothings, and men wear G-strings (usually of blue
color), abag, and bado (upper garment). Men don’t wear pendants but they
wear an ornament called sipattal, made of shells and beads, used only on
special occasions. They also practice tattooing which is done by rubbing soot
on the wounds caused by the needles.[3]

Cuisine

The isnegs traditionally only consume two meals a day; one in the mid-
morning and one in the late afternoon, or one at noon and the other in the
evening. Though most of their meals include rice, rice is always scarce
because of the limited womanpower. Hence, they resort to trade to satisfy
demands. Meals also include vegetables and root crops such as camote and
occasionally, fish and wild pig or wild deer. Dogs, pigs and chickens are only
eaten during feasts and chicken eggs are seldom eaten because they are An Isnag woman wearing
generally allowed to hatch. Sometimes, before or after meals, the typical isneg traditional attire, having
families enjoy home-grown coffee while gathering around the hearth while just performed a
rice wine is only consumed during festive occasions.[3] traditional dance.

They were proud of using bamboo as cooking utensils. They have sinursur, a
dish made of catfish or eel on bamboo with chili, abraw, freshwater crabs with coconut and chili, sinapan,
which looks like smoked meat. They used anything they can find in nature as food, from brooks, rivers,
lakes and streams, they catch fish and other creatures in it. In forests, they use any edible leaves in there.
They douse the harvest in cooking it with chili.

Funeral practices

The Isnag wrap the deceased person in a mat (ikamen), and is then carried on the shoulders of the
immediate male family members.[5] Items are placed inside the coffin in order to help the deceased person
throughout his/her journey. For example, a jar (basi) is placed in the coffin to quench the deceased one's
thirst. Another example is a spear and shield also being put inside in order to help him/her protect
himself/herself from enemies during the journey. The coffin is then lowered into either the kitchen area of
their families home or in a burial site owned by his/her family.[6]

Early accounts of the Isnag

The Isnag are distinguished from the other Cordillerans by the fine construction of their
houses, resembling that of the lowland Filipinos, and they are particularly conspicuous
about cleanliness. Their houses are set on four large and strong straight posts of
incorruptible wood resistant to humidity, driven into the earth; instead of being made of
bamboo cut in long narrow strips joined by rattan, as the lowland Filipinos do. Their
 houses are airy and bigger, and they do everything to decorate it the best way they can.
They barter for products from their mountains, such as beeswax, cacao, and tobacco.
Jean Mallat, a French adventurer in the Philippines during the 1800s.

See also
Dibagat
Isnag language
Isnag in the Provinces of Ilocos Norte and Cagayan

References
1. National Statistics Office (2013). 2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A:
Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables), Philippines (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20200607120654/https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/PHIILIPPINES_FIN
AL%20PDF.pdf) (PDF) (Report). Manila. Archived from the original (https://psa.gov.ph/sites/d
efault/files/PHIILIPPINES_FINAL%20PDF.pdf) (PDF) on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 October
2020.
2. [1] (http://nlpdl.nlp.gov.ph:9000/rpc/cat/finders/CC01/NLP00VM052mcd/v1/v23.pdf)
3. Sumeg-ang, Arsenio (2005). "5 The Isnegs". Ethnography of the Major Ethnolinguistic
Groups in the Cordillera. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. pp. 94, 106–107.
ISBN 9789711011093.
4. "Isnag" (https://web.archive.org/web/20061119062025/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lan
guage.asp?code=isd). Ethnologue. Archived from the original (http://www.ethnologue.com/s
how_language.asp?code=isd) on 2006-11-19. Retrieved 2006-10-19.
5. Scheans, Daniel J. (1964). "The Apayao of Ilocos Norte". Ethnohistory. 11 (4): 394–398.
doi:10.2307/480732 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F480732). JSTOR 480732 (https://www.jstor.
org/stable/480732).
6. Vanoverbergh, Morice (1939). The Isneg Life Cycle. Washington, D.C.: Catholic
Anthropological Conference.

External links
Isneg by Arlene Sapanza (https://web.archive.org/web/20060611220024/http://litera1no4.trip
od.com/isneg_frame.html)

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