Ifugo Tribesman
Banaue, Philippines
A farmer of the Ifugao tribe uses a machete to trim a stick. He wears a traditional straw beanie and smokes his pipe. The Ifugao built the impressive terraces of Banaue.
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A farmer of the Ifugao tribe uses a machete to trim a stick. He wears a traditional straw beanie and smokes his pipe. The Ifugao built the impressive terraces of Banaue.
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David Frossard writes:
When I saw this image I was immediately reminded of the Bontoc people (up the road from Ifugao, in Mountain Province), though the "wanu" (loincloth) looks Ifugao to me. The fact that this man is not tattooed nor wearing gold in pierced ears is the tipoff that he may be Ifugao.
Even so, there's a lot of variation between various groups of Ifugaos. There are at least 3 or 4 dialects of Ifugao widely spoken -- some would say more than that -- within, say, a 30-mile radius of the capital, Lagawe.
Where I used to live (central Ifugao), pipe smoking was rare but chewing betel nut was ubiquitous. The woven rattan hat was never seen, but a woven cloth one was common during ceremonies and such.
And to this day men do commonly carry an utak (machete) when out and about.