Gad Dang Tribe

Gaddang
“Gaddang,” also “Gadang” or “Ga’dang,” derives from “ga” meaning “heat” or “fire,”
and “dang” meaning “burn,” and means “burned by heat.” The name probably
alludes to the skin color of the Gaddang, which is darker than any of the native
peoples of the old Mountain Province. The Gaddang are found in northern Nueva
Vizcaya, especially Bayombong, Solano, and Bagabag on the western bank of the
Magat River, and Santiago, Angadanan, Cauayan, and Reina Mercedes on the
Cagayan River for Christianized groups; and western Isabela, along the edges of
Kalinga and Bontoc, in the towns of Antatet, Dalig, and the barrios of Gamu and
Tumauini for the non-Christianized communities. The 1960 census reports that there
were 25,000 Gaddang, and that 10 percent or about 2,500 of these were non-
Christian. In 1979 the total population of the Gaddang increased to 43,150.
Economy
Rice is the staple crop. The non-Christian Gaddang still use the kaingin system,
while the converts irrigate their fields and use the plow. The upland Gaddang
plant rice during the abafini (rice-growing season), which lasts from July to
December, and plant other crops during the mamula (literally, “other
domesticated plant growing”), which lasts from January to July. Upland
harvests are mainly for domestic consumption, for often, the rice yielded does
not even last the year. Also planted are camote or sweet potato, mung bean,
cowpea, sponge gourd, garlic, tomato, millet, bananas, yams, taro, jute,
ampalaya or bitter melon, kangkong or swamp cabbage, spineless amaranth,
leaf mustard, red pepper, papaya, and sugarcane. Tobacco is the only cash
crop being cultivated by the upland Gaddang to be marketed in the lowlands.
They also gather bamboo. The proceeds from the sales of tobacco allow the
uplanders to purchase rice to make up for any domestic shortage as well as
luxuries like gin and other commercial products. Both rice and gin need to be
collected in surplus quantities by the Gaddang because of their importance in
the anitu (ritual). Aside from farming swiddens, upland Gaddang also hunt,
trap, and fish to supplement their diet. They raise pigs and chickens for food
and for use as sacrificial animals in their rituals. Wallace notes that while the
upland Gaddang have water buffalos, these are not worked in the fields. They
are rented out to the Christian lowlanders seasonally, and from the rent
additional rice is purchased.
Social Organization and Customs

Lacking a well-defined political system, the kinship system is the Gaddang’s
major source of order in his world. The Gaddang “personal kindred” (Wallace
1970:66) theoretically extend up to the 12th degree of consanguinity on both
sides of an individual’s ancestry. In practice, this is effective only in so far as the
individual could trace lineal descent, which, in Wallace’s study, rarely extends
beyond the fourth degree of consanguinity. Sometimes the state of being wayi
(relatives) is a matter of common agreement: two people decide to become
relatives and henceforth consider each other so. In the days when headtaking
and warfare were common, blood relationships had great bearing, as relatives
were responsible for avenging transgressions against the individual. Following
the decline of headtaking, the increased dispersal due to land pressures, and
the shift to plow agriculture, the kindred was transformed into more benign
and pacific institutions which the individual could depend on for mutual
economic assistance. The Gaddang kinship system recognizes the following
relationships: ama (father), ina (mother), ulitang (parent’s brother), ikit
(parent’s sister), kolak (sibling), kapingsan (cousin), anak (child), and
panganakan (sibling’s child). The term afu covers the grandparents and
grandchildren, extending to all ascendants and spouses and cousins of
grandparents and grandchildren. It is also a term of deference and respect for
an elderly person (Wallace 1970: 69-70). The atawa or spouse is also the
source of additional kinship relations. In-laws are katuwangan, an affinity
extending past parents-in-law to their siblings, cousins, and their respective
spouses. Children-in-law and their spouses, nephews and nieces are
mannuwang. Kafalay is the term for mutual parents-in-law, equivalent to the
Tagalog balae (Wallace 1970: 70).
Religious Beliefs and Practices

For non-Christian upland Gaddang, Nanolay is both creator of all things and a
culture hero. In the latter role, he is a beneficent deity. Other gods in the
Gaddang pantheon include Dasal, to whom the epic warriors Biwag and
Malana prayed for strength and courage before going off to their final battle.
The fathers of the two heroes were Bunag, the god of the earth, and Limat, the
god of the sea. Ilosa, the Gaddang universe, is composed of dufafa (earth) and
kalekay (afterworld). In Gaddang cosmogony, the term denotes a place where
all living things originated, the place where Nanolay performed his acts of
creation. Dufafa is a world where famine, sickness, death, and uncertainty
reign, while the concept of kalekay remains vague to many Gaddang. Even
knowledgeable Gaddang mediums say that kalekay is simply the place of
Nanolay, Ofag, and kararawa (soul). Nanolay is described in myth as a fully
benevolent deity, never inflicting pain or punishment on the Gaddang. He is
responsible for the origin and development of the world. Ofag is Nanolay’s
cousin, but does not have the latter’s creative powers. Kararawa are the souls
of dead creatures, human or nonhuman. Upon death, the souls of all creatures
go up to the kalekay, except cats, which are reborn as ants, and chickens,
which are reincarnated into butterflies. In kalekay, the kararawa go about
living as they lived on earth. The absence of a “desirable destination” after
death for the Gaddang suggests an orientation toward the world of the here
and now. To the Gaddang, the dufafa is composed of, among others, man,
domesticated plants, ghouls, and sickness. Wallace (1970:87) observes that the
Gaddang have a paranoidal fear of danger brought about by a history of
headtaking and a present ridden with disease and malnutrition. The Gaddang
believe in two kinds of illness: the sickness caused by evil spirits, and the hurt
or injury suffered in accidents such as those caused by falling, muscle sprains,
and insect bites. The Gaddang also specifically identify blindness, insanity, birth
defects, skin diseases, goiter, deafness, and malaria as other illnesses outside
the first two classifications. Most “hurts” are attributed to natural causes, i.e.,
it is “natural” for an insect to bite or for a person to accidentally cut his/her leg
with a knife.
Architecture and Community Planning

In the old days, the Gaddang lived in houses built on high branches of trees.
These afung or dwellings were provided with a detachable ladder drawn up at
night to prevent unwanted entry. The construction of afung was probably in
response to Ilongot headtaking forays. The afung was built 6-20 meters from
ground level. As the communities grew bigger, lower houses became common.
While dispersed settlement is still a feature among the pagan Gaddang in
eastern Bontoc and Ifugao, the valleys and plains have more compact
settlements, some big enough to become towns in Nueva Vizcaya.
Gaddang houses measure anywhere from 5-16 square meters and are raised 1-
2 meters on piles. The shape is often rectangular, with bamboo walls and
flooring and cogonthatched roofs that slowly arch downward from a central
horizontal beam all the way to the lower part of the walls. Grass or husk are
alternately used as walling materials. The interiors have very little or no
furnishings save for one or two trunks where valuables like beads and gongs
are kept. Most activities such as sleeping and eating are on the floor. Being
kaingin cultivators, the Gaddang regard the house as a temporary shelter to be
abandoned whenever necessary, such as when one needs to transfer to a new
kaingin or when a death occurs in the household. The Gaddang construct a
death house or dwelling where the corpse remains for several days before it is
buried. The Gaddang also build separate granaries which are similar in size and
shape to their houses.
Visual Arts and Crafts

Traditional attire for Gaddang women includes the tapis, a lengthy piece of
cotton cloth wound around the waistline down to the knees, and a
longsleeved, round-necked collarless and waist-length blouse. The cloth used
for these costumes are woven by the women themselves from homegrown
cotton, and dyed in bright natural colors. In olden days, Gaddang women did
not have upper garments except during feast days. The traditional costume for
the Gaddang male is the G-string. The G-string is held by a girdle, whose flap is
weighted on the hem by beaded tassles. An upper collarless, short garment
may also be worn, together with headkerchiefs. Today, most Gaddang use
shirts, trousers, and dress for everyday wear and reserve the traditional attire
for ceremonies and other formal occasions.
Tattooing is common to both men and women, with designs imprinted on their
arms, legs, and fingers. The men have theirs on the breast. Being tattooed
assures them passage to heaven.
Literary Arts
The literary material collected by Lumicao-Lora (1984) from Christian Gaddang
enclaves such as Solano, Bagabag, and Bayombong and the non-Christian
communities of western Isabela includes riddles, proverbs, poems, legends,
and the epic of Biwag Anni Malana written by Francisco Gabuat-Soriano.
Lallagunut (riddles) appear to be a major pastime among Gaddang children and
adults, who trade riddles formally or informally, at home, in school, on the
street, on the farm, in the market. Riddles which reflect the flora and fauna of
the Gaddang areas serve to sharpen a child’s sensitivity to his/her
environment.
These samples show the consistent use of an image parallel to the object being
referred to (Lumicao-Lora 1984:72-78): Ana tata bafay, iwarac na ino anacna.
(Kalabasa) A woman scatters her children. (Squash) Appat a mauauahi
sinumallung so simban Naddadaruma color na sinnun da Allawan da, tata
lamang a libaga. (Mamman) Four sisters went to church Wearing clothes of
varied hues. When they came home, they all wore red. (Betel chew) Ana tata
tolay, Accananna bagguina. (Candela) There’s a person eating up His own body.
(Candle)
Gaddang dances are mostly festive dances performed during weddings,

baptisms, and other social occasions. Ritual dances are led by the mabayan and
makamong. Dance steps are characterized by tiring knee bends and muscle-
tensing foot movements. Hands are flapped with the graceful coiling of fingers.
The female steps are more shaped and controlled, compared to the male’s
which are more vigorous in foot and hand movements. The dancers move to
music provided by the gangsa and the galating or dungadong (bamboo guitar),
usually in 2/4 or 4/4 time. The men exhibit their skills in beating the gongs in a
showy dance called mallallebad tontac, while the women perform a graceful
dance with smooth, twisting, and bouncing body movements. This is called
saba-llungung, an all-woman dance accompanied by a bamboo guitar. The
agammeyan is a typical ethnic festivity dance performed by the villagers during
a gathering or anitu. The steps are very fast, almost modern.
Members of the household, and sometimes their kith and kin, butcher and
cook the pig. More rice may be cooked. Afterwards small portions of rice and
pork are set on five plates. The entire household witnesses the scattering of
the ritual food around the house by the makamong who pray, “We beg
forgiveness and offer you this food.” Thus appeased, the spirits purge the
household. Members of the household eat what remains on the five plates.
The ritual concluded, friends arrive to partake of the excess food in the
celebration highlighted with music and dancing. For their services the
makamong are given a hip and a shoulder of the pig. A few days before
planting, the rice rite is performed. A makamong attends to a single household.
While the rice is cooked and eaten, the makamong prays that the rice is spared
from disease and harmful animals. Gaddang theater with Spanish influence is
represented by the komedya which has been performed in Nabuan, Santiago,
Isabela since the turn of the century, where it was believed to have been
introduced by the Ibanag. Four komedya have been performed in Isabela since
decades ago, and two of them are Principe Leodevico and Principe Rodrigo.
Hermitanio Botol was one in the four generations of directors who have
handled the komedya. Today, the komedya features red breeches,
shirts,bands, and capes for the Moors, and green or blue attire for the
Christians. The marches are accompanied by a band consisting of clarinet,
saxophone, drums, trombone, mandolin, and banjo. Performances are held in
front of houses or on the street during the town fiesta.
http://nlpdl.nlp.gov.ph:81/CC01/NLP00VM052mcd/v1/v15.html

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Gad Dang Tribe

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Gaddang

Social Organization and Customs

Religious Beliefs and Practices

Architecture and Community Planning

Visual Arts and Crafts

Gaddang dances are mostly festive dances performed during weddings,

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