IFUGAO HEADHUNTING HUMAN SKULL HAT DAVID HOWARD TRIBAL ART IFUGAO HEADHUNTING HUMAN SKULL HAT

Headhunting is the practice of taking and preserving a person's
head after killing the person. Headhunting was practised
in historic times in parts of Oceania, South and Southeast
Asia, West and Central Africa, and Mesoamerica, as well
as among certain tribes of the Celts, the West Germanic
tribes, and Scythians of ancient Europe. It occurred in
Europe to the end of the Middle Ages in Ireland and the
Anglo-Scottish border regions, and until the 19th century
in Montenegro, Croatia, Albania and
western parts of Herzegovina.

The headhunting practice has been the subject of intense
study within the anthropological community, where scholars
try to assess and interpret its social roles, functions, and
motivations. Anthropological writings explore themes in
headhunting that include mortification of the rival, ritual
violence, cosmological balance, the display of manhood,
cannibalism, prestige by taking on a rival's spirit and power,
and as a means of securing the services of
the victim as a slave in the afterlife.

Today's scholars generally agree that headhunting's primary
function was ritual and ceremonial. It was part of the process
of structuring, reinforcing, and defending hierarchical relationships
between communities and individuals. Some experts theorize that
the practice stemmed from the belief that the head contained
"soul matter" or life force, which could be
harnessed through its capture.

In Southeast Asia, anthropological writings exist on the Murut, Ilongot,
Igorot, Iban, Dayak, Berawan, Wana, and Mappurondo tribes. Among these
groups, headhunting was usually a ritual activity rather than an act of war
or feuding and involved the taking of a single head. Headhunting acted as
a catalyst for the cessation of personal and collective mourning for the
community's dead. Ideas of manhood and marriage were encompassed
in the practice, and the taken heads were highly prized. Other reasons
for headhunting included capture of enemies as slaves, looting of
valuable properties, intra and inter-ethnic conflicts
and territorial expansion.

Italian anthropologist and explorer Elio Modigliani visited
the headhunting communities in South Nias (an island west of Sumatra)
in 1886, and produced an in depth study of their society and beliefs.
He found that the main purpose of headhunting was the belief
that by owning another person's skull, the victim would
serve as a slave of the owner for eternity in the afterlife,
and thus human skulls were a valuable commodity.
Sporadic headhunting continued in Nias island
until very recent times, the last reported
incident dating from 1998.

Headhunting was practised among Sumba people until
the early 20th century. It is done only in a large war parties,
not in silence and secrecy like in hunting wild animals.
The skulls collected were hung on the skull tree erected in the
center of village. As recently as 1998, in Waikabubak, a major
clash of clans resulted some people decapitated,
reminiscent of the old headhunting tradition.

Kenneth George wrote about annual headhunting rituals
that he observed among the Mappurondo religious minority,
an upland tribe in the southwest part of the Indonesian island
of Sulawesi. Actual heads are not taken; instead, surrogate heads
are used, in the form of coconuts. The ritual, called pangngae, takes
place at the conclusion of the rice-harvesting season. It functions to
bring an end to communal mourning for the deceased of the past year;
express intercultural tensions and polemics; allow for a display of
manhood; distribute communal resources; and resist
outside pressures to abandon Mappurondo ways of life.

Around the 1930s, headhunting was suppressed among
the Ilongot in the Philippines by the US authorities.
The Igorot in the Philippines also practiced headhunting.

Ifugao culture revolves around rice, which is considered a prestige crop.
There is an elaborate and complex array of rice culture feasts inextricably
linked with taboos and intricate agricultural rites, from rice cultivation to
rice consumption. Harvest season calls for grandiose thanksgiving feasts,
while the concluding harvest rites tungo or tungul (the day of rest) entail
a strict taboo of any agricultural work. Partaking of the rice wine (bayah),
rice cakes, and moma (mixture of several herbs, powdered snail shell and
betel nut/arecoline which is used as a chewing gum to the Ifugaos) is an
indelible practice during the festivities and ritual activities. Agricultural
terracing and farming are the principal means of livelihood. Their social
status is measured by the number of rice field granaries, family heirlooms,
gold earrings, and carabaos (water buffaloes). Prestige is also conferred
through time and tradition. The more affluent, known as kadangyan, were
usually generous by nature, giving rice to poor neighbors in time of food
shortage(s) and/or hardship(s). Furthermore, their culture was known for
their legal system, using one of the world's most extensive oral legal
traditions specifying the offense depending on the use of custom law;
trial by elders (influenced in part by public opinion); or trial by ordeal.
The wealthy were subjected to greater fines than the poor.
A village in the Batad rice terraces

Untouched by the influences of Spanish colonialism,
Ifugao culture values kinship, family ties, religious and
cultural beliefs. Ifugao are unique among all ethnic groups
in the mountain province for their narrative literature such
as the hudhud, an epic dealing with hero ancestors sung in a
poetic manner. Also unique to the Ifugao is their woodcarving
art, most notably the carved granary guardians bului and the
prestige bench of the upper class, the hagabi. Their textiles are
renowned for their sheer beauty, colorful blankets and clothing
woven on looms. Houses were well-built, characterized as square
with wooden floors, windowless walls, and pyramidal thatch roofs.
Elevated from the ground by four sturdy tree trunks, they feature
removable staircases that were hoisted up at night to prevent entry
by enemies or wild animals. Lastly, their attire remain traditional for
male Ifugaos, donning the wanno or g-string; there are six
types of wanno which are used depending on the
occasion or the man's social status.

THE IFUGAO TRIBE, FROM THE PHILIPPINES, PLACE HEAD HUNTED
HUMAN TROPHY SKULLS OUTSIDE OF THEIR HUTS, AS WELL AS,
MOUNT THEM OVER THEIR HEARTHS INSIDE OF THEIR HOMES.
IT IS EXTREMELY RARE TO FIND A HAT DECORATED IN A
HUMAN SKULL OF A HEAD HUNTED VICTIM!

THE DAYAK, IFUGAO, AND NAGA HUMAN SKULLS ARE HEAD HUNTING TROPHIES.
THE ASMAT, VANUATU, AND PALAWAN HUMAN SKULLS ARE ALSO CONSIDERED
"ANCESTOR" SKULLS. THE DIFFERENCE IS; HEAD HUNTED SKULLS
ARE ACQUIRED FROM ENEMY VICTIMS!

ANCESTOR SKULLS ARE COLLECTED AND VENERATED TO REMEMBER
DECEASED FAMILY MEMBERS. THE IFUGAO COLLECT BONES OF DEAD
RELATIVES; WRAP THEM IN TRIBAL TEXTILES, AND STORE THEM IN THE
RAFTERS UNDER THEIR HUTS. HUMAN SKULLS AND SKULL CAPS FROM
NEPAL ARE RITUAL OFFERTORY VESSELS THAT ARE USED AS
DRINKING CUPS IN TIBETAN BUDDHIST CEREMONIES.