The Kalinga Girl: Simple and Beautiful at Heart

The Kalinga girl-woman is simple but beautiful inside and out. She does not care much for make-ups and fancy dresses, but cares much about family, and how to be of help to them and her community. Kristel Erica is a registered nurse serving her local community in the Mountain Provinces. I laud your noble and generous spirit, Kalinga woman!

Kalinga Male Native Costume, Igorot Male Costume

The male Kalinga native costume is very simple. It consists of a woven, long rectangular cloth which could be used to cover the male private organ. There are no upper clothing.

Feathers could be worn as a head dress and beads or “bongol” can add “glamor” to the Kalinga male native costume.

In the olden days, tattoos were worn by proud warriors. The more tattoo a male had, the more prized heads, he had cut off. It is a proud symbol of bravery and courage, in the olden times.

Image credit: Bryan Elevado

Kalinga Culture: The Kalinga Native Costume

The Kalinga native costume is composed of a tapis (woven rectangular cloth, worn on the lower half of the body for women). In the olden ages, this was the only costume of Kalinga women. I still witnessed the time of topless women. In our village in Kalinga, during the 1960s, married women went topless once they got married.

Nobody looked at them with malice. The malice lies in the eyes of the beholder. The men in turn wore "bahags" or g-strings, a thin and long cloth which is worn around the man's private parts, with both ends hanging from his body. Tattoos were also in fad.

Nowadays, people wore upper shirts and pants. Some old folks though still prefer to wear the old native costume. Tattoos are also still adapted by the younger Kalinga generation as a way of being proud of their ancestry.

WATCH OUT FOR THE PICTURES NEXT POST.



These pictures were taken by Nats Dalanao, an engineer cum photographer. Thanks Nats for the pictures.