IFUGAO HUMAN TROPHY SKULLS DAVID HOWARD TRIBAL ART IFUGAO HUMAN TROPHY SKULLS

The Ifugao live in small hamlets of 5 to 10 houses scattered
among rice terraces. Ifugao huts; made without saws or tools, are
decorated in traditional Ifugao motif on carved beams, doors,
hearths, cabinets and moldings in each tribal domicile.

THE IFUGAO TRIBE, FROM THE PHILIPPINES, PLACE HEAD HUNTED
HUMAN TROPHY SKULLS OUTSIDE OF THEIR HUTS, AS WELL AS,
MOUNT THEM OVER THEIR HEARTHS INSIDE OF THEIR HOMES.

The Ifugao society is based almost exclusively on kinship.
Each individual is the center of a kinship circle which
extends to the third cousin. These family units are of the utmost
importance to the Ifugao when feuding or headhunting!
The Ifugao lack political organization and have relied
on marriage alliances and inter-tribal trade agreements.
The Ifugao recognize temporary "go-betweens" who settle
disputes in terms of customary law; know as "Peace Packs."
The aristocrats, or land owners, are the upper class who
maintain prestige by sponsoring periodic feasts that are
usually conducted at harvest time when ritual blood animal
sacrifice is offered to Ifugao deities via "Bulul" statuary.

Ifugao religion has an elaborate cosmology and
more than a thousand deities of various classes.
Ancestral and other deities are invoked to cure
illness or prevent death with the aid of
rice wine, feasting and ritual "Canao."

THE DAYAK, IFUGAO, AND NAGA HUMAN SKULLS ARE HEAD HUNTING TROPHIES.
THE ASMAT, VANUATU, AND PALAWAN HUMAN SKULLS ARE ALSO CONSIDERED
"ANCESTOR" SKULLS. THE DIFFERENCE IS; HEAD HUNTED SKULLS
ARE ACQUIRED FROM ENEMY VICTIMS!

ANCESTOR SKULLS ARE COLLECTED AND VENERATED TO REMEMBER
DECEASED FAMILY MEMBERS. THE IFUGAO COLLECT BONES OF DEAD
RELATIVES; WRAP THEM IN TRIBAL TEXTILES, AND STORE THEM IN THE
RAFTERS UNDER THEIR HUTS. HUMAN SKULLS AND SKULL CAPS FROM
NEPAL ARE RITUAL OFFERTORY VESSELS THAT ARE USED AS
DRINKING CUPS IN TIBETAN BUDDHIST CEREMONIES.