A Legend On The Origin of Baguio
A Legend On The Origin of Baguio
A Legend On The Origin of Baguio
Story:
Before it was transformed into a hill station and became known as a top tourist
destination, Baguio was home to the indigenous Ibaloi tribe of the Philippine
Cordilleras. The Ibalois were industrious, kind and silent tribe of agriculturists.
These natives originally named this land as Kafagway, a word which means wide
open space. This vast land was used by the Ibaloi tribe primarily for the grazing of
their herds of cattle; mostly water buffaloes or simply carabaos. The terrain where
carabaos pastured was composed of gently rolling hills with a lot of natural springs
where the cattle used to cool themselves.
When the Americans came and reached Kafagway, the Ibaloi tribe were surprised. A
general asked a native for the name of the place. Since the Ibalois can not
understand the American language, the native who was asked was not able to
answer. It took him minutes to ponder what the American was talking about. Few
minutes passed, the American general pointed to the ground and asked again.
Unsure of what was being asked, the Ibaloi native gave the name of the mossy
flowering plant that covered the ground. It was bag-iw. The Americans
pronounced it as bag-i-yo which became popular and later on evolved into
Baguio.