BINANGI - the traditional Igorot House

by: Felisa Daskeo

The traditional house of the Igorot, called the “BINANGI” is a thatch-roofed 4 poster house that has no windows except for a small opening at the roof just in front of the door for the air to pass through.  The interior of the house is dark made even darker by soot caused by smoke from the hearth and the kind of lamp being used.

BINANGI- the traditional house of the IGOROTS

In the olden days, Igorots use the “Saleng” a kind of wood from an aged pine tree that works like the torch, for lighting purposes.  This is why the walls of the houses are black with soot.

Today, almost everything traditional has been wiped out by the new technology.  Nobody is using “SALENG” anymore, not even the very old folks in town are using saleng at home; instead, electricity has made lighting the house very easy with just the press of a finger.  Flashlights came also very available.

The houses today inTadian are like this.

What’s very sad, I only saw two “BINANGI” houses in town when I visited our town last May 2012.  This means that the Igorot traditional way of life is already vanishing and the new technology is taking place.

This is sad because the coming generation does not know anymore what life was all about in the olden days.  Culture is very important as a part of life and supposed to be preserved for the future generation to see.  The “BINANGI” that are left standing will perhaps stay for as long as the owners will not replace them with concrete houses.  But if the thatch roofs are not replaced, the roofs will fall down to the ground after many years.  And that will be the end of the “BINANGI” in my town.  

People of today love to live in houses that are big and sturdy.

I have never experienced living in a BINANGI.  I was born in the 60s but our house was already a two floors house built with lumber and GI sheets.  Our neighbor who used to live in a BINANGI loves to tell us that their house is warm when the weather is cold and cold when the weather is hot.  She was right and I had proven it true when I went inside their BINANGI house and I sniffed the fresh cool air.  

The thatch roof plus the walls and floors made of thick lumber is what makes the Binangi house cool.  Having a Binangi house today is next to impossible because everybody loves concrete houses embellished with all the beautiful materials inside.

As for the two binangi houses, I’d be very happy if they are left to stay and preserved for the future generations to see and appreciate.

by: Felisa Daskeo
Copyright 2012

The Footprints of Kabunian Embeded on a Rock in Tadian, Mt. Province

by: Felisa Daskeo

Tadian, Mt. Province is one of the very quiet towns in the northern part of the Philippines, this is the place where Kabunian- the Igorot God was believed to have stepped down because he left footprints on a big rock.  Just like the many other towns in the Philippines, Tadian has also its share of folktales, beliefs and practices.  Because the olden times were primitive times, people didn’t write stories.  They were merely related from mouth to mouth.  Most of the stories were told by the old men and women and nobody dared wrote them and made books about them.

Look closely at the center part and you can see the a pair of footprints.  The left footprints have the holes on the toe part.

The Footprints of Kabunian (The Igorot God), has been told and retold several times by the old folks of Tadian Mt., Province.  

The story goes that, in the very olden days some old men who were gathered in a place called Bimmukod witnessed a very strange sight.  The old men gathering in a certain place is a normal situation in Tadian as the old men often gathered together in a certain place in order to settle disputes or talk about some very important matters because in those olden times, the old men were the law and they were the wise men who talked about problems in the community and offered solution or else settled them.

If you look closely, the footprints are there but they are obscured by the dirt.

It was told that suddenly, the men were disturbed by the sudden appearance of a man from out of the blue.  He was a very strange man; described by the old men as foreign looking, tall, huge with a very fair complexion.  The man just came out from a place they called “Liang”.  Liang means a very shallow cave.  There is a big rock here and below it is a very shallow cave. 

Look at the little holes.  Those are the toes.

No one saw where the stranger came from, but they spotted him first in Liang.  The men merely watched in awe and shock as they were blinded by the glittering hair of the man and his shining clothes.  With a walking cane and a dog, the men recognized him as Kabunian.  The stranger walked to the rice paddies with fast strides, then disappeared in the woods and was never seen again.

Shocked but still conscious, the men went to see the big rock where the man was first spotted and to their amazement; they saw fresh footprints embedded on the rock.  The man left footprints on the hard rock, which was impossible for an ordinary man to do.  This time the men have proven that the man was no ordinary man and that he was Kabunian because what normal man could leave footprints on a rock?  Only Kabunian, their God, is capable of leaving an indelible sign.  There were big footprints embedded on the rock with the traces of the dog's footprints too and the cane being stuck on the rock.  All these were tangible signs of Kabunian's visit to the place.

And so the story of the old men who witnessed the passing of Kabunian and his dog in Tadian was handed down from generation to generation until I heard it and I thought it was worth writing for the people to learn that there are some events that are like fairy tales but there is proof that the story of the strange man has really happened a long time ago.

The footprints on the rock are still there, ; embedded and had stood the harsh times but marred by the passing of time.  When we were small kids, we always went to play on the big rock and I can still remember clearly that the footprints then were still clearly embedded on the rock.  The last time I visited the place in May 2012, the footprints were not any more prominent.  They were obscured by accumulated dirt and weathering, but the big footprints are still there and you can notice them when you look closely.  The sizes of the footprints are too big for a normal Igorot man.  The footprints are too large.

Kabunian who was believed to have stepped down in Tadian, Mt. Province may have been watching the place for a long time until he finally left the place for good.  Where?- nobody knows but the people believe that Tadian, Mt. Province is a blessed place visited by Kabunian.  

The strange man was never spotted again and the people concluded that it was really Kabunian who passed by the place.

Basing from the many stories that circulated for perhaps hundreds and hundreds of years, Kabunian always held a cane and was always accompanied by his dog.  

Copyright 2012 Felisa Daskeo