138 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
138 lines
6.6 KiB
Markdown
**Ifugao** refers to a province of Luzon in the
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[Philippines](Philippines "wikilink") that had been governed by a
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[semi-anarchist political
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system](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Societies "wikilink") for two
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thousand years and developed the
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[sustainable](Sustainability "wikilink") [Banaue Rice
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Terraces](Agriculture "wikilink"), often considered the Eighth Wonder of
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the World.
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## History
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Ifuago was first settled around
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[500BCE](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Southeast_Asia "wikilink"),
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and building up itself over the next 2000 years through a complex web of
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agriculture, housing and a decentralised, self-governing structure.
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During the [Spanish Colonisation of the
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Philippines](Spanish_Colonisation_of_the_Philippines "wikilink")
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(beginning in 1521) it took hundreds of years for Ifugao to fall under
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Spanish control as the people fiercely resisted colonisation. The
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province remained relatively untouched during the Philippine Revolution,
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American Colonisation and [World War II](World_War_II "wikilink"), after
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indepedence, it became a haven for tourists, anthropologists and
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archeologists.\[1\]
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## Decision-Making
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Villages hardly exist; rather houses are scattered, sometimes with a
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cluster of a dozen or so in one place. These can be seen as
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self-governing neighbourhoods (they also lacked a
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[state](State_\(Polity\) "wikilink"), [police](police "wikilink") and
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[law](Law_\(Statism\) "wikilink")). There is a unique class system, with
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wealthy men on top (called kadangyang) who are granted this status in
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recognition of their sponsoring of feasts and mediating disputes. They
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mediate disputes in families, houses and between villages and often buys
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and sells resources in the community. Despite this, he has no authority
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and does not act as a [police force](Police "wikilink"), and is only has
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as much power as he is granted.\[2\]
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## Crime
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Most disputes are resolved through fines that must be agreed upon by
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both parties. If one side refuses to pay a fine, then the other is
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permitted to steal from them. Otherwise, disputes are resolved through
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various contests like egg throwing, wrestling matches and marriages. The
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death penalty is used in extreme cases such as murder.\[3\] However,
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almost all disputes were resolved peacefully.\[4\]
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## Economy
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### Food Production
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Food production in Ifugao was based around mountain gardens of rice and
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taro as well as raising chickens and pigs. Rice is stored in granaries
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and used to produce rice wine and rice cakes and *moma* (a mixture of
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several herbs, powdered snail shell and betel nut/arecoline which is
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used as a chewing gum to the Ifugaos.\[5\] Most people own enough land
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to provide for themselves and if they don't they perform favours for
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others to survive (a sort of proto-capitalist market).\[6\] Ifugao
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agriculture was considered the best in Asia at the time.
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The Banaue Rice Terraces were carved into the mountains of Ifugao and
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are occasionally called the "Eighth Wonder of the World". It is commonly
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thought that the terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by
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hand. The terraces are located approximately 1,500 metres (4,900 feet)
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above sea level. These are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the
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rainforests above the terraces. It is said that if the steps were put
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end to end, it would encircle half of the globe.\[7\]
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The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras is a similar structure,
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employing early hydraulic engineering. Maintenance of the living rice
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terraces reflects a primarily cooperative approach of the whole
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community which is based on detailed knowledge of the rich diversity of
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biological resources existing in the Ifugao agro-ecosystem, a finely
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tuned annual system respecting lunar cycles, zoning and planning,
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extensive soil conservation, and mastery of a complex pest control
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regime based on the processing of a variety of herbs, accompanied by
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religious rituals.\[8\]
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### Housing
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Ifugao housing has been described as: "Square in floor plan, it is
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elevated to about shoulder height by four posts (*tukud*), around which
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are fitted cynlindrical wooden rat-guards (*halipan*), carrying two
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transverse girders (*kuling*) which support three floor joists into
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which the floorboards (*dotal*) are fitted and wallboards (*goab* and
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*pamadingan*) and studs (*bagad*) are mortised. The four studs, placed
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at the corner of the house, are mortised at their upper end into four
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tie-beans or purlins (*wanan*) which form a square to carry much of the
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weight of the roof as well as the central crossbeam (*pumpitolan*) on
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which stand two queenposts (*taknang*). These queenposts terminate in a
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small square (*ambubulan*) which supports the upper ends of the rafters
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(*bughol*), the roof being a true pyramid in form with four triangular
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sides and thus rising to an apex without any ridgepole. The wallboards
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are rabbeted into a transverse beam (*huklub*) at waist or chest height,
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at which point a shelf (*patie*) is fitted between them and the roof,
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whose eaves descend as low as the level of the floor. Above the tie
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beams a reed floor or platform is often fitted to make an attic-like
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storage space (*palan*) for unthreshed rice. Wooden panels close
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doorways on two opposite sides of the house, and entrance is gained by
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means of a ladder which is removed at night. This type of house is
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called *bale* (or *fale*), but the same basic building with a few
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modifications - the wallboards extend up to the roof, there is only one
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door, and the whole thing is smaller - serves as a rat-proof granary
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(*alang*)."\[9\]
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## Culture
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People commonly identify with family centered around several households.
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But there is also a unique class system, with wealthy men on top (called
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kadangyang) who are granted this status in recognition of their
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sponsoring of feasts and mediating disputes. Ifugao men and women have
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fairly equal relationships. Both man and wife bring to their marriage an
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equal amount of property and they also work side by side in the
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fields.\[10\]
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## See Also
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- [Highland New Guinea](Highland_New_Guinea "wikilink")
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## References
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1. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifugao#History>
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2. [Harold Barclay](Harold_Barclay "wikilink") (1990) - [People Without
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Government: An Anthropology of
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Anarchy](People_without_Government:_An_Anthropology_of_Anarchy "wikilink")
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3.
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4. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifugao#Precolonial_age>
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5. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifugao#Rice_culture>
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6.
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7. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banaue_Rice_Terraces>
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8. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_Terraces_of_the_Philippine_Cordilleras>
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9.
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10. |