We were exploring the wonderful rice terraces of Batad when we chance on this traditional looking hut. The caretaker of the place noticed that we were tourists and invited us to have a look. I have never seen one of these things so we agreed.
This was a traditional house of the Ifugao. It was entirely made of indigenous materials. The caretaker led us inside the house. The house was built above the ground such that the living quarters was cooled by air flowing from below. This will also prevent crawling insects from going in. It was pitch black inside the Ifugao house, apparently because they smoke food inside the house, this is also to keep insects away.
Adorning the walls of the Ifugao house is a garish collection of skulls of various animals, immediately noticeable is the huge skull of a water buffalo. The various animal skulls were a symbol of the wealth of the family. If the family can afford to sacrifice so many animals, it means they are wealthy. It was kind of creepy looking at the skulls while inside the dark sooty house.
Hanging inside the house are traditional baskets they use every day. Even the pots and cooking utensils are all on display. Off to the other side is a mattress, which is of course used for sleeping. Obviously there were not cushioned mattress back then and the Ifugao had to live like this.
After the small tour, our dear caretaker ask us for a small “donation” for his little “demonstration”. I was a little ticked of because of that, because I thought he should have told us from the very beginning. Anyway, I gave him a token amount since it was an interesting experience. It was interesting to find out how they live back then. Although most of the Ifugao no longer live in such dwellings, they have wonderfully preserved their culture and show it off to the world. I guess the donation can also help in making sure other people can continue to see it.
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ang talino nmn ng gumawa nito………thnks sa kanya…………………