Ilongot
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The Ilongots are a tribe who inhabit the southern Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains, on the east side of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Presently, there are about 2500 Ilongots. The Ilongots tend to inhabit areas close to rivers, as they provide a foodsource and a means for transportation.
In Michelle Rosaldo’s study in 1980 of the Ilongots , she described “gender differences related to the positive cultural value placed on adventure, travel, and knowledge of the external world.” Ilognot men, more often than women, visited distant places. They acquired knowledge of the outside world, amassed experiences there, and returned in order to share their knowledge, adventures, and feelings in a public oratory to pass on their knowledge to others. The Ilognot men received acclaim as a result of their experiences. Because they lacked external experience on which to base knowledge and expression, Ilognot women had inferior prestige.
On the basis of Michelle Rosaldo’s study and findings of other stateless societies, anthropologists must distinguish between prestige systems and actual power within a society. Just because a male has a high level of prestige, he may not own much economic or political power compared to others that are less prestigious within the society.
Renato Rosaldo, Michelle Rosalindo's husband went on to study headhunting among the Ilongots in his book "Ilongot Headhunting, 1883-1974: A Study in Society and History".
[edit] References
Phillip, Conrad. (2005). Window on Humanity. New York: McGraw-Hill
