Anthropology

Island ways of life The Philippine islands are an archipelago of over 7,000 islands lying about 500 mi (805 km) off the southeast coast of Asia. There are over 60 dialects and different ways of life. Philippines have three main islands which are: Luzon, Visayas which are Christians and Mindanao which is populated mostly with Muslims. Each parts have different ways of living. Some live in the mountains, provinces, by the water and cities. All four are very different to each other. Igorots or Ita or also were called Negritos are one of the forefathers that lived in the mountains for centuries. These group of people are commonly found in the mountains of Luzon. They survive on old style way of living. They hunt for food and plant crops. They are also the ones that built place called Banaue Rice Terraces which is one of the largest and most visited tourist spot in the Philippines. The Elder of the presidente can have more than 3 wives while some may have two. These people are very diligent in their work. Usually the mother stays home to take care of their family and the man of the house goes out to the field and care for the crops. When Igorot woman gives birth it is all done in old fasion way which is done in the home of the one giving birth. No medicines are involve and no large celebration after birth. They also do not believe in twins because they see it as if the carabao only deliver one baby carabao at birth (carabao is the national animal in the Philippines) why should a woman deliver two? If a Igorot woman do give birth to twins, which ever child is the most quiet or if they are both the same the smaller baby will be buried alive in the sementerio near the dwelling. Circumcision is done when the child is from 4-7 years old. Most of the time money is not used as a payment to those who circumcise. A few leave of tobacco or food could be used as a payment. Luzon is also populated with Ilocanos and Tagalog dialects which are the two main dialects. Southern Luzon is where the Tagalog and the North is where the Ilocano are. These two groups are some way similar in their way of living. Most people makes their living from driving taxis, passenger jeeps and tricycles. The Ilocano in the other hand they make there living planting crops and selling it to big production companies. Some of the crops that they plant are corn, mango, tobacco, rice and more. There is little machine used when taking care of their farms its mostly manual labor using carabao to carve or dig the soil for planting and all family driven. Family is another thing that is very different from America. It does not matter how old he/she maybe. He/she can stay with their parents for as long as they want married with kids or not. When a young female gets pregnant she must marry the man who got her pregnant and the man’s family will pay all the spending for the wedding. There are also a lot of celebrations and festivals that Pilino celebrate, one is the fiesta. The fiesta is part and bundle of Filipino culture. Through good times and bad times, the fiesta must go on. Each city and barrio has at least one local festival of its own, usually on the feast of its patron saint, so that there is always a fiesta going on somewhere in the country. During these festivals the people dress up with the national dress and shirt for the males. The shirt for males is called the barong. The dress for females is called Barot Saya. They will then dance the Tinikling which is the national dance using two long piece of bamboo. But the major and most elaborate festival of all is Christmas, a season celebrated with all the display and show the fun-loving Filipino can handle. New year eve is like no other. Fire work is a must. Fire work is sold almost every corner, side of the road or someone’s house and you do not need a permit or any paperwork to purchase any type of fireworks. Fireworks could last up to 4days in a row. During rainy season people that live close to the rivers have their own way of fishing where they put divisions in between the shallow part of the river composed of big rocks to divert the flow of water. They then get a bamboo and make a big strainer out of it and put it in between the rocks to filter all fishes carried by the current. Politics in the Philippines is known to have a lot of corruption. Religion plays a big role in making decision on who should sit in the office. In smaller cities, candidates uses scare tactics for people to vote for them or the people will be threatened.

They also believe in mythological creatures such as: Aswang or Vampire, Kapre or a giant that lives in a tree that smokes giant cigars, tikbalang which is demon horse, diwata or fairies, witches, spirit-summoner, goblins, dwarfs, mermaids and mermen. They also believe in a fairy of the Mount Makiling in Laguna. She is the most widely known fairy in the Philippines. She is believed to to be the guardian of the forest and protect it. All of the people look up to her as a provider of food and resources from that particular mountain. It is said that she resemble a woman which is Marry herself. Some description of Mariang Makiling are she is a woman who never age, have a long black silky hair, twinkly eyes, light olive skin, and very beautiful. Some also believe that some men that passed through the mountain where she is at have disappeared and it is said that she had fallen in in love with the men and took him to be her husband. Also another is that you can eat everything you see like fruits and vegetables as much as you want but you can not take it outside of the forest or else she would get angry and the person will get lost and never find his/her way. He or she would have to throw the fruit away and turn their shirts inside out to show that they are not hiding any more fruits.