Jungle food, common ancestry of Igorots, Dayaks, Nagas and how Christianity 'tamed' them.

Jungle food: Purple hill rice, pickled small river fish, chicken soup cooked in bamboo, pickled jungle fern, river fish crackers.

I brought Cristina and her fellow Igorot friend (who has just come to Singapore for work)  to eat at Kantin@Jewel a restaurant serving the food of the tribes in Sarawak. See photo captions. The food is not really authentic though they do use the wild herbs and vegetables found in the tropical forests.

The Igorots of The Philippines, the Dayaks of Sarawak, the Nagas of Nagaland, India are all descended from the aboriginal tribes of  Taiwan. These fierce warlike tribes with their common  head-hunting tradition were never subdued by the foreigners who invaded and colonized their country - the Japanese in Taiwan, the British in India and Malaysia, the Spanish, Americans and  WWII Japanese Army in The Philippines. But those who accepted the Christianity brought by missionaries were transformed. 

But even today, some Nagas are still fighting the Indian government . In The Philippines amongst the tribes of the Igorot nation, (Ibaloi, Ifugao, Bontoc, Kankaenay, Isneg, Kalinga) it is still dangerous for outsiders to venture into the mountainous territory of the Kalingas- the fiercest tribe of all. Cristina's stepmother is a Kalinga, a formidably strong and fierce woman, and so is Whang Od the legendary tattoo artist featured on Vogue Magazine a few years ago. Today, the older Igorots live in peace with the rest of the community while many of the young ones have intermarried with the lowland Ilocanos.

* See captions below the photos for more stories.

Above:Cristina and her friend from the village.

Cristina in Taiwan, in the traditional costume of the Paiwan tribe, which looks very similar to her Igorot costume.

Me, with old Igorots in Baguio

Me outside a sign of The Ten Commandments in the Ilocano kanguage which the Igorots who intermarry with the lowland Ilocanos have adopted. 

108-year old Whang Od the legendary Kalinga tattoo artist that was featured by Vogue Magazone as a supercool woman.