Baliwayway

Ilongot men wear a loincloth held around the waist by a cagit of either brass wire or rattan. Gabed, a piece of bark cloth, is wrapped around the legs and tied at the front and back with a string belt. Metal bands clasp the left arm, and several rings adorn the fingers. A handy bag containing arrowheads, flint, crocodile teeth, betel nut, and other articles usually complete the male apparel. The boys are set apart from the men by a boiset band around one of their leg calves.

Ilongot women use bark cloth fro their agde, which are drawn about their bodies like above-the-knee length skirts. These are matched with blouses which expose the midriffs. Although the Ilongot do not weave cloth, the women embroider skillfully and make cotton tassles which they tie on their horsehair ornaments. They also wear panglao (beaded necklaces), kalipan (earrings), brass arm bands, and small bell accessories.

The women do not weave cloth; but the inner bark of certain trees provides soft material having much the feel of chamois skin. Men wear a string cagit, women of either rattan or brass wire, wrapped five or more times around the waist. A piece of bark cloth, gabed, is passed between the legs to cover the privates, and is secured in front and back to the string belt. A neat bag contains the betel nut, lime, flint, tinder, and other small articles. Youths wear a band, bosiet, around the calf of the leg.

The women wear a bark tapis or sarong, agde, covering their bodies from the waist to the knees. The costume is completed with a string of beads, panglao, around the neck together with the earrings, calipan, and spirals of brass wire on the arms. Before the age of puberty, the children go around without clothing.

Filed and blackened teeth are considered aesthetically pleasing, and long hair preferred by both sexes. Prepubescent children are often unclothed.

Fancy headgear identifies a successful headhunter. A rattan frame is decorated with brass wire, and red yarn and shells. On the projected front part of this frame is placed the large red bill of a kalaw bird. An era pendant represents a man’s first kill. Notches are added either on the bill or the earlobes to indicate subsequent successes.