The Ivatan people are an indigenous group inhabiting the Batanes Islands on the northern border of the Philippines. The homeland of the group is separated far from the main landmass and directly faces the open sea.
The ancestors of the Ivatan people are estimated to have settled in the Batanes Islands since 4000 BCE. The name of the group roots from the word i-batan, which means "from Batan", with the local spoken language named Chirin nu Ibatan.
Most of the Ivatan population is concentrated in Basco, Mahatao, Ivana, and Uyugan on Batan Island, while others are spread across Itbayat Island and Sabtang Island.
The island region in the northern Philippines is regularly hit by equatorial typhoons. In facing daily extreme weather, the Ivatan people cultivate sloped hill lands for food needs, wear clothing made from palm fibers, and erect settlements out of thick limestone.
Sloped-Land Farming Patterns
The Ivatan people developed methods of cultivating land and catching fish to meet daily food needs.
The steep hill contours lead the Ivatan people to cultivate sloped land for farming. On the slope areas, residents plant various types of root crops as daily staple food because root crops do not easily get damaged when hit by storms.
The Ivatan people rely on sweet potatoes and taro to fulfill daily needs. The structure of root tubers formed under the ground allows the plants to remain surviving in the farm fields. Meanwhile, rice cultivation is very rarely conducted because the stalks are fragile and rent to being destroyed when hit by heavy rain.
Coastal Fishing Activities
Besides cultivating sloped fields, the Ivatan people go to sea using traditional wooden boats called tataya. The small-sized boats are designed with a rounded hull, either using outriggers or without outriggers.
Paddles or the span of sails made from woven pandan leaves utilize the blowing wind to move the boat forward to catch fish.
The type of catch frequently obtained from the waters of Batanes is flying fish, known by local residents as dibang.
In order to be stored for a long time, the meat of dibang is cleaned and then smeared with salt before being dried under the hot sun. Processing through the method yields food supplies that do not easily spoil. The dried fish product becomes the main food reliance when bad weather stops all sailing activities.
Beyond food fulfillment, adaptation of the Ivatan way of life is also visible in the use of body-protective clothing gear.
Traditional Protective Gear
The utilization of natural materials in the Batanes Islands shapes the tradition of making body-protective clothing.
Women wear a headpiece named vakul, which is a weave of vuyavuy palm leaf fibers extending from the crown of the head down to cover the back area.
Meanwhile, men wear a thick vest named kanayi when working the fields or going to sea. Vuyavuy plant fiber is processed into the primary material choice because of natural water-resistant properties that do not easily rot from exposure to sea salt water.
Vuyavuy plant fiber material possesses water-resistant properties naturally. The palm fiber does not decay quickly despite being frequently exposed to sea water containing salt.
Besides clothing, self-protection from storm threats is applied to the shape of residential housing structures. The walls of Ivatan houses are built using stacks of thick limestone blocks with thatch roofs tied tightly to the wooden frame.
Limestone House Construction
The traditional Ivatan house is called sinadumparan. It is built from stacked limestone blocks bonded with lime and sand, creating walls up to one meter thick.
The limestone walls are built directly attaching onto the rocky ground. The sinadumparan building is intentionally made low and does not use stilts so that strong sea winds blowing past cannot easily knock the house down.
The roof of a sinadumparan house uses thick cogon grass weaving named vuchid. Layers of cogon grass thatch are tied tightly using rattan cords to the hardwood frame on the inside. The thick wood frame on the roof supports the building load when earthquake shocks occur in the island region.
Reference:
Esteban, R. C., & Valientes, E. A. (2019). Ivatan indigenous knowledge, classificatory systems, and risk reduction practices. Journal of Nature Studies, 18(1), 76–96.
