1. 1. Ifugaos Punnuk Celebration (ending the harvest season)
2. 2. A prominent elder who hosted the huwah. Behind her is the familys rice storage.
3. 3. Elders help prepare younger children in their traditional dress.
4. 4. Drinking rice wine
5. 5. The Cordillera rice terraces within the Ifugao province is regarded as UNESCO heritage site; some of the terraces are thousands of years old dating back to 650 AD.
6. 6. An elder Mansaka woman Bia Sheena Onlos a young Mansaka leader from Tagum City
7. 7. Mansaka hands holding mama (betel nut). Betel nut is the seed of the fruit from the areca palm and is communally used by different indigenous groups throughout the Philippines and tropical Asia.
8. 8. A Mansaka man collects stones on the river edge which will be processed with the hopes of extracting a small amount of gold. The Philippines is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire that contains much of the worlds copper and gold resources and Compostela Valley (ComVal) province is often dubbed the golden valley or the gold mining capital of the Philippines.
9. 9. Town of Mainit in Compostela Valley. Although this area is now prone to landslides it remains an important area for the Mansaka people. Unfortunately, a decade ago, Mainit also was the primary dumping ground for cyanide waste from the Apex Mining.
10. 10. Mansaka children in the town of Mainit wait for free school transport, provided by Apex Mining, to bring them down the mountain to the nearest public school. The Mainit public elementary school was closed in 2012 after Typhoon Pablo and will not reopen as the area was declared uninhabitable by the government.
11. 11. Mansaka boys taking an afternoon bath in the Mainit Hot Spring. Many local Mansaka will come here to bath either early morning or late afternoon after work.
12. 12. Cooking liorot over an open fire. After the bamboo is filled with different meats, herbs and root crops it is placed over a fire where it cooks, creating an inclosed oven type of heat inside the bamboo. The result is a delicious meal with simple yet unforgettable flavors.
13. 13. Datu Aguido Sucmaan holding his kudlog (two- stringed guitar) in his home off of the national highway leading into Tagum City.
14. 14. The younger generation of Mansaka youth. Mansaka children in Tagum City.
15. 15. Datu Onlos attending a weekly city council meeting in Tagum City. The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) of 1997, allows mandatory indigenous representation in all policy- making bodies and in local legislative councils.
16. 16. Lakay Lausan a Tingguian man. He is one of the elders in a small village in Abra province. Lakay Wa-aw is one of the older Kankanaey men still around and at 92.His necklace is centuries old and has been passed down from generation to generation. It is made of wild boar tusks and crocodile teeth from the Visayas.
17. 17. Traditional loom weaving provides livelihoods for a number of different communities within the Cordilleras. The finished products may be sold locally or sent to Baguio.
18. 18. A Tingguian woman having a smoke in her home, Abra Province.
19. 19. A Kankanaey woman having coffee with her grandchild during a mid-day break from working in the rice field.
20. 20. Men distributing meat to all of the people who helped cook and prepare the wedding food. As a token for their help different size chunks of meat are given out depending on what the persons role was during the preparation (in addition to being fed).
21. 21. People waiting in a long line to visit the home of the bride during lunch time. Everyone from the community is invited to come and get food at the brides home for three days straight. Wedding gatherings are some of the biggest social events held by the Igorots.
22. 22. Playing of gongs (ganza) and dancing is a fun and typical part of the wedding celebration
23. 23. Ghan-nao has one of the more elaborate tattoos that can be seen in the village of Buscalan, Kalinga.
24. 24. Fang-od giving a tattoo to a local tourist. She uses a thorn from a pomelo tree which is attached to a piece of bamboo. The bamboo that the thorn is attached to is then hit with a piece of wood to drive the ink into the skin. The ink she uses is the soot that collects on the bottom of the cooking pans she use at home.
25. 25. Men playing chess one afternoon in Buscalan, Kalinga.
26. 26. A Bangon Mangyan woman smoking kwako (tobacco). The Bangon are known for their pipes and even young children can be seen smoking pipes.
27. 27. An Iraya Mangyan man digging a fish pond near his home to raise tilapia for his family
28. 28. An Iraya Mangyan man mining for gold in a small river.
29. 29. Collecting crops is a daily activity for most Mangyan families. Children help gather whatever vegetables or root crops are available for the day. Planting and harvesting crops consumes a large percentage of their time.
30. 30. Root crops such as sweet potatoes, ube and kamoteng kahoy make up a large percent of the Mangyan diet. Here a mix of ube (the purple root) and sweet potatoes. All their cooking is done over an open fire.
31. 31. A Hanunoo house after the sun goes down. There is no electricity in the community making kerosene lamps essential to do anything after dark.
32. 32. Nais, a Hanunoo Mangyan woman writing Hanunoo script on a fresh piece of bamboo. Nais is one of only three people in her community that can still write the script, using a small knife to carve the script on bamboo.
33. 33. Many Mangyans made the long trip down from the mountains to attend a free medical mission.
34. 34. A Bangon Mangyan community near the edge of the Bongabon River, Mindoro.
35. 35. A Mangyan ritual
36. 36. Young Agta man
37. 37. An Agta man shows a Philippine Sailfin Lizard that was caught in the forest. Once the lizards are large enough they are sold to the Chinese market for a small profit. The Chinese use the lizard as a medicine to help cure HIV.
38. 38. A Dumagat man hunts for fish in the shallow murky waters of Isabelas coast. Fish are the main source of protein for the Dumagats and what they use to barter for other goods such as coffee, tobacco and sugar.
39. 39. Many of the Dumagats and Agta work as laborers in the larger nearby towns. Here they are clearing a field in the town of Divilacan for a local family.
40. 40. A Dumagat woman attends non- formal class once a week to learn how to write basic strokes. Most of the Dumagats and Agta have never attended school, although some of the younger generation is now starting to get formal education.
41. 41. Agta children walking from their village into town to attend school. Their school uniforms and backpacks have been provided to them from different donors. Not all the children attend school, but more and more are starting to go.
42. 42. In one Agta community everyone gathers in the community leaders house at night to watch the one tv in the village. They use a generator for electricity in the evening and it seems to be the highlight of the day for the children and adults.
43. 43. Chieftain of one Agta community
44. 44. Men from a Dumagat community play basketball before heading out to fish for lobster at dusk
45. 45. A Matigsalug tribal Datu (Chieftain) Datu (Chieftain) from the Obu Manuvu tribe.
46. 46. The tribal muse for the Klata tribe A boy from the Bagobo tribe.
47. 47. An Atta Manobo woman A Manobo man
48. 48. Two stallions fight during an ethnic horse fighting event practiced by the T'boli people of Mindanao.
49. 49. Datu Biniti (tribal chieftain) of the Tigwahanon village. The chieftain is in charge of judgements and conflicts within the community and what he says is final.
50. 50. Tigwahanon Village in San Fernando, Bukidnon, Mindanao.
51. 51. Women pounding palay (rice in its shell) to remove the rice grains.
52. 52. Vernan striping away an abaca plant to get its fine raw fibers. Abaca fibers are sold to lowlanders as a source of livelihood for the community.
53. 53. A Manobo child in class at the community school where two volunteer teachers give lessons. The school reopened in 2007 after eight years of not having any teachers.
54. 54. A Manobo man on his horse along the edge of the Salug river in Bukidnon, Mindanao.
55. 55. Community members from Blos ride a local kuliglig as their main form of transportation when going back and forth to the larger town of Maconacon. It's a two hour ride on one of these from Maconacon to the Blos River.
56. 56. Two Agta men catching an octopus in the rocky shore where they headed out. They use a metal spear to pierce the octopus and then it takes the two of them to pull it out of the rock. It was very tasty when cooked.
57. 57. Agta children playing basketball on the side of their house. This was an activity the children were constantly playing whether rain or shine.
58. 58. A mother applying oil to her sick child's body. The baby had a fever and rubbing oil on the body is a way to help the child.
59. 59. Two Agta men head out from their boat to look for lobster near the town of Maconacon.
60. 60. The rugged path to an Agta community in Cagayan province on the western side of the Sierra Madre mountains.
61. 61. Corn was a common crop grown in this community. It was a nice change from canned tuna and rice every meal.
62. 62. Taut Bato village,Singnapan valley
63. 63. Panglima, a chief mediator of the Tau't Bato. Although blowguns were traditionally used to hunt in the forest, shotguns are now the more practical means for the Tau't Bato. Blowguns are still used on occasion, but shotguns are now the weapon of choice for hunting in the forest.
64. 64. Cooking their version of what they call pancakes, a sweet treat prepared from crushed rice, sugar and oil. It tasted very good and they were able to sell these to neighboring families.
65. 65. Making a bat catcher. The spines on the edges of the branches are very sharp and clasp to anything that touches them.
66. 66. Removing live bats from the bat catcher; and cooking freshly caught bat over an open fire. After the bat is slightly charred over the fire it is cut up and fried in oil.
67. 67. A Tau't Bato man pulling weeds from his rice in a slash-and-burn field (kaingin) along the route to Singnapan valley. This method of farming is common among the people here as it provides needed space to grow their necessary crops.
68. 68. Collecting honey from the forest after the queen bee has been smoked out. Transporting kamoteng kahoy in Singnapan valley.