shared by Baguio Smile via FBI have no Spanish or American ancestry. Full Blooded Igorot (FBI) ako. There's no need to improve how the Igorot race should look as we are all created in the image of God. In many parts of the country, the word Igorot is used as a derogatory term for idiots. It was a primeval thinking that stuck in the minds of modern people who still think Igorots are short, ugly, dark skinned with curly hairs and tails. Because of these negative connotations that even a esteemed professor utter that “intermarriages with Caucasian missionaries improved the looks of these race.” But what does the word really mean and who are these people who are proud to be called as such. Are they really hideous that their race needs improvement through intermarriages with Caucasians?
Historian Dr. Trinidad de Tavera wrote at the turn of the century that the word Igorot was a term used by the tribes in the outskirts of the Cordillera. The root word “golot” means mountain ranges or “mountain chain”. The prefix “i” “means people of” or “dwellers in”, or it could simply mean “from”. “I-golot” therefore can be translated to “from the mountains” or “people living in the mountains”. The fact that golot is a place has still survived in the speech of the “Bago tribe” living in the outskirts of the Ilocos provinces who are believed to be related to the Igorots. We still hear people say, “Nagapodad Golot” (They came from golot) when people arrive from the mountains Golot is probably similar to the tagalong word “gulod” which means “hill”, “crest of a hill” or “mountain chain”. If those tribes mentioned by Tavera happened to use the tagalong language, they probably could have called us “taga-gulod” (from the gulod). "The word Igolot, therefore, appears to be of indigenous Filipino origin, and it is in this form that it first appeared in Spanish records. The substitution of R for L in the word did not become popular until the 18th century when Antonio Mozo used the word in his 1763 Noticia Historico Natural changing the letter ‘L’ into letter ‘R’". Ygorrotte became the collective term they used for the people of La Montañosa they divided into 6 commandancia, which established during the mid to late 19th century: Benguet (1846), Lepanto (1852), Bontoc (1859), Amburayan 1889, Kayapa 1891, and Cabugaoan (1891). There is no record if the people in question called themselves Igorots (or Igolots) in the olden days. It would be more likely that this is what they were called by non-mountaineers in the lowlands. The name was later changed to “Igorot” by the Americans, which became the official term they used for the people of the old Mountain Province (established in 1908) that includes the current provinces of Benguet, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Kalinga and Apayao. It was imposed on the mountaineers by American Authority in accordance with the American ethnological surveys. Presently, some people from the Cordillera Region refuse to use Igorot as their own identity for they argue that they were never called as such by their ancestors in the first place. And another reason is the derogatory meaning that lowland people associated with the name. Some wanted to be called Cordilleran instead. However, the word Cordillera is not an indigenous term but a foreign word and it exists in countries colonized by the Spaniards. It would then defeat the purpose of identifying the uniqueness of this distinct culture and people. In the first place, they pride themselves unconquered by the Spaniards so isn't using a Spanish term connote defeat. At present, even the people it seeks to define are still divided because of these negative connotations. However, this writer believes that Igorot is the closest local term to call these unique people. Many people in the Cordillera Region have already accepted the name. They still use their tribe’s name such as Ibalois, Kankanaey, Kalanguya and such but accepted Igorot as their collective name. The father of Philippine photography Eduardo Masfere has documented the Igorot culture for decades and his photographs have shown that Igorots are not hideous. In fact, many of those who were born prior to the arrival of American missionaries have aquiline nose. From the first worldwide exposure of the Igorots as live exhibits in St. Louis Fair in Missouri in 1904, these people continue to fight for acceptance as real human beings, not ugly exhibits who only eat dogs. Nowadays Igorot communities have migrated throughout the globe spreading awareness of their cultures. Many are being surprised to find out their good looking neighbour is a full blooded Igorot and would instantly change their perception of these mountain people. Igorot organizations are springing up and efforts to clear the negative connotations of the name continue to proliferate. How frustrating, therefore, it is to watch big TV networks continue to spread their archaic knowledge of the igorot tribes. If these big TV networks make proper research, they can greatly help in eradicating the negative knowledge that people have of these mountain people tribes called Igorots. We can't deny that there are distinctive features due to intermarriages, but it shouldn’t be stated as an “improvement of the race” as one professor mentioned in a TV interview. It’s sad to note that our own “kababayans” gauge beauty with the length of our noses and the whiteness of our skins. Same as other races, we have our attractive tribes mates and the less attractive, whether mixed race or not. So it shouldn’t be a factor in mentioning “improved race” when we see a good-looking Igorot. Jose Dulnuan’s poem is timely in spreading awareness about our culture. I am an IGOROT. Let me be treated as I deserve With respect if I am good, with contempt if I am no good, Irrespective of the name I carry. Let the term Igorot remain and the world use it with the correct meaning attached to it. As for me, I can trace my mother's bloodline eight generations back and my father's, four generations. That's before the arrival of Americans. I have Kankanaey, Ibaloy, Kalanguya and Tuwali ancestry.
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