Anthropos 80.1985: 381-401 
The Tingyans of Northern Philippines 
and Their Spirit World 
Dominic T. Gaioni 
Introduction 
1. The Tingyans and Their Social Milieu 
2. The Cosmological View of the Tingyans 
3. The Tingyan Pantheon 
4. The Tingyans’ Ritual Life 
Conclusion 
Introduction 
In this study I shall explore the present situation 
concerning the traditional 1 religious beliefs 2 and 
practices of the Tingyans, a minority group 
inhabiting the western slopes of the “Cordillera 
Central” in Northern Philippines. At the same 
lime I shall attempt to explain why the Tingyan 
traditional belief system has survived to such a 
considerable degree. 
Earlier anthropologists and missionaries, 
notably Fay-Cooper Cole in 1907 (1922: 
295-314), Fred Eggan in 1934 und 1950 (1956: 
331-339), predicted the rapid and inevitable 
Dominic Togni Gaioni, master of arts in cultural 
Anthropology (1983, University of California at Los Ange 
rs); instructor in sociology and anthropology at Divine 
tTord College and Clarke College, Iowa, U.S.A., from 
1983-1985. - He is a member of the Anthropology Society 
°f Philippines and the Philippine Association for Intercul- 
tnral Development. - He carried out fieldwork in the 
Philippines (1975-1979); Sabah, East Malaysia (1979); 
^ Q st Malaysia (1980); Mexico (1981-1982); Kenya and 
Uganda (1984). - He published several articles on the 
et hno-history and culture of Northern Philippine ethnic 
***inorities (The Ilocos Review 1975-1976, 1979, 1982, 
**gan, Philippines). 
1 By traditional, I refer to the religious belief system 
tra nsmitted by Tingyan ancestors through oral tradition 
a nd customary practices prior to the penetration of Chris- 
tla nity. 
2 By religious beliefs, I mean interpretations of reali- 
^ by reference to the ultimate structure of the universe 
an d to its supernatural centers of power and destiny. 
demise of Tingyan ancestral religion. Their 
forecast, however, turned out to be quite pre 
mature. 
In 1955 Florencio Millare (405-406) noted 
that ancestral “paganism” and “pagan wor 
ship”, particularly rituals related to healing and 
death still survived among the Tingyans of this 
region. 
He also indicated that people would resort 
to their traditional religious practices only after 
every other human remedy or Christian cere 
mony had proven futile. 
Thirteen years after Millare’s observations, 
it was my turn to explore the Tingyan way of 
life. From 1968 to 1974 I served as a missionary 
in several lowland and upland Tingyan commu 
nities. While stationed in the municipalities of 
Tayum, Penarrubia 3 , Likuwan, Lakub 4 , and 
Tineg, I had the opportunity to make prelimina 
ry investigations into various aspects of Tingyan 
culture. 
Most of the data used in this study, howev 
er, are the result of extensive fieldwork I 
conducted in Tingyan territory from 1975 to 
1979, while I pursued anthropological studies at 
the University of the Philippines in Manila. 
Field investigations revealed the existence 
of numerous, well-kept sacred grounds and 
frequent ritual activities not only among the 
relatively isolated highland villages, but even in 
larger lowland communities such as Gaddani 
(Tayum), Penarrubia, San Quintin, Langiden, 
Danglas, Lagayan, and Manabo. As recently as 
the fall of 1979, I had the opportunity to play a 
3 Penarrubia is referred to as Patok by Tingyan 
speakers. 
4 Lakub and Likuwan are also spelled Lacub and 
Licuan in Spanish and English records. Throughout the 
paper I follow the current Filipino orthographic symbols 
for place names of Malay origin.