Isneg

The Isneg (also known as the Isnag and Apayao) are a tribe living in Luzon, the Philippines. The Isneg and other ethnic groups of the Cordillera Administrative Region are collectively known as Cordillerans. They speak the Isnag language.

Early accounts of the Isneg

:The Isneg are distinguished from the other Cordillerans by the fine construction of their houses, resembling that of the lowland Filipinos, and they are particularly conspicuous about cleanliness. Their houses are set on four large and strong straight posts of incoruptible wood resistant to humidity, driven into the earth; instead of being made of bamboo cut in long narrow strips joined by rattan, as the lowland Filipinos do. Their houses are airy and bigger, and they do everything to decorate it the best way they can. They barter for products from their mountains, such as beeswax, cacao, and tobacco.:Jean Mallat, a French adventurer in the Philippines during the 1800s.

Isnegs today

Today, there are about 30,000 Isnegs living in Apayao Province. [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=isd] They are considered a Christianized people group; approximately 9% of the population are Christians. As of 2006, the entire New Testament, along with the books of Genesis and Exodus, had been translated into Isnag by SIL. Many Isnags are still animists.

ee also

*Dibagat
*Isnag language

References

*http://litera1no4.tripod.com/isneg_frame.html