Anthropos 80.1985: 381-401
The Tingyans of Northern Philippines
and Their Spirit World
Dominic T. Gaioni
Introduction
1. The Tingyans and Their Social Milieu
2. The Cosmological View of the Tingyans
3. The Tingyan Pantheon
4. The Tingyans’ Ritual Life
Conclusion
Introduction
In this study I shall explore the present situation
concerning the traditional 1 religious beliefs 2 and
practices of the Tingyans, a minority group
inhabiting the western slopes of the “Cordillera
Central” in Northern Philippines. At the same
lime I shall attempt to explain why the Tingyan
traditional belief system has survived to such a
considerable degree.
Earlier anthropologists and missionaries,
notably Fay-Cooper Cole in 1907 (1922:
295-314), Fred Eggan in 1934 und 1950 (1956:
331-339), predicted the rapid and inevitable
Dominic Togni Gaioni, master of arts in cultural
Anthropology (1983, University of California at Los Ange
rs); instructor in sociology and anthropology at Divine
tTord College and Clarke College, Iowa, U.S.A., from
1983-1985. - He is a member of the Anthropology Society
°f Philippines and the Philippine Association for Intercul-
tnral Development. - He carried out fieldwork in the
Philippines (1975-1979); Sabah, East Malaysia (1979);
^ Q st Malaysia (1980); Mexico (1981-1982); Kenya and
Uganda (1984). - He published several articles on the
et hno-history and culture of Northern Philippine ethnic
***inorities (The Ilocos Review 1975-1976, 1979, 1982,
**gan, Philippines).
1 By traditional, I refer to the religious belief system
tra nsmitted by Tingyan ancestors through oral tradition
a nd customary practices prior to the penetration of Chris-
tla nity.
2 By religious beliefs, I mean interpretations of reali-
^ by reference to the ultimate structure of the universe
an d to its supernatural centers of power and destiny.
demise of Tingyan ancestral religion. Their
forecast, however, turned out to be quite pre
mature.
In 1955 Florencio Millare (405-406) noted
that ancestral “paganism” and “pagan wor
ship”, particularly rituals related to healing and
death still survived among the Tingyans of this
region.
He also indicated that people would resort
to their traditional religious practices only after
every other human remedy or Christian cere
mony had proven futile.
Thirteen years after Millare’s observations,
it was my turn to explore the Tingyan way of
life. From 1968 to 1974 I served as a missionary
in several lowland and upland Tingyan commu
nities. While stationed in the municipalities of
Tayum, Penarrubia 3 , Likuwan, Lakub 4 , and
Tineg, I had the opportunity to make prelimina
ry investigations into various aspects of Tingyan
culture.
Most of the data used in this study, howev
er, are the result of extensive fieldwork I
conducted in Tingyan territory from 1975 to
1979, while I pursued anthropological studies at
the University of the Philippines in Manila.
Field investigations revealed the existence
of numerous, well-kept sacred grounds and
frequent ritual activities not only among the
relatively isolated highland villages, but even in
larger lowland communities such as Gaddani
(Tayum), Penarrubia, San Quintin, Langiden,
Danglas, Lagayan, and Manabo. As recently as
the fall of 1979, I had the opportunity to play a
3 Penarrubia is referred to as Patok by Tingyan
speakers.
4 Lakub and Likuwan are also spelled Lacub and
Licuan in Spanish and English records. Throughout the
paper I follow the current Filipino orthographic symbols
for place names of Malay origin.