Igorot people
The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people,[2] or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples,[2] are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains are in the Cordillera Mountain Range, altogether numbering about 1.8 million people in the early 21st century.[1]
Their languages belong to the northern Luzon subgroup of Philippine languages, which in turn belongs to the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) family.
These ethnic groups keep or have kept until recently their traditional religion and way of life. Some live in the tropical forests of the foothills, but most live in rugged grassland and pine forest zones higher up.
Etymology[edit]
From the root word golot, which means "mountain," Igolot means "people from the mountains", a reference to any of various ethnic groups in the mountains of northern Luzon. During the Spanish colonial era, the term was variously recorded as Igolot, Ygolot, and Igorrote, compliant to Spanish orthography.[3]
The endonyms Ifugao or Ipugaw (also meaning "mountain people") are used more frequently by the Igorots themselves, as igorot is viewed by some as slightly pejorative,[4] except by the Ibaloys.[5] The Spanish borrowed the term Ifugao from the lowland Gaddang and Ibanag groups.[4]
Below is a list of northern Luzon ethnic groups organized by linguistic classification.
Igorot diaspora[edit]
There are Igorot minorities outside their homeland. Outside the Cordillera Administrative Region, they reside in neighboring provinces of Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon (particularly Nueva Ecija & Aurora), Metro Manila and Calabarzon, (where Igorot Village is located in Cainta, Rizal)[20] and Bicol Region.[21]
In Visayas, Igorots also form minority communities in Aklan, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Siquijor, Bohol, Biliran and Leyte.[21]
Igorots are also found as a minority in several areas Mindanao, setting communities in Agusan del Norte, Tagum City, Davao City, Digos City (Igorot Village is also found in the mountainous area in the city),[21] few other parts of Davao del Sur, Davao de Oro, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte[21] and Bukidnon.[22] Most of them are soldiers, policemen and government officials who are temporarily deployed in the area, but many have settled permanently as civilians retired from their posts and intermarried with the Mindanaoans of various ethnicities. There is an organization for Igorot residents of Mindanao.
Igorots can also be found in other countries, mostly as overseas workers.[23]