This
study is conducted in two areas – Caluttit, where the researcher resides and in
Sagada, where her parents come from. Most of the subjects of the study however
are from Sagada and even Mr. Coghill is based there.
Caluttit
Punong
Barangay: Esteban Alngangeo
Area
(ha) 54
Population 2, 969
No.
of Families 386
No.
of Reg’d voters 1,147
No.
of Precincts 8
This barangay used to be part of
Bontoc Ili. But with so few original inhabitants, it became moore natural and
likely place that attracted people from other places to settle. In due time, it
became a barangay “Dagupan.”
Caluttit residents come from a
substantial tribal mix of different tribes not only from the other parts of the
municipality or the province but from other parts of the country as well. To a
certain degree, it shares this trait with Barangay Poblacion.
The hospital, military barracks,
some schools, provincial jail and public cemetery are all located here.
Sagada
Geography
Sagada is nestled in a valley at the upper end of the
Malitep tributary of the Chico River some one and a half kilometers above sea
level in the central Cordillera; enveloped between the main
Cordillera Ranges and the Ilocos Range. Mt. Data in the south and Mt. Kalawitan
in the southeast pierce the horizon. Mt. Polis, Bessang and Mt. Tirad in the
east, and Mt. Sisipitan in the north mark the Mountain Province - Abra boundary.
The
climate and crops are like those of Baguio and Benguet: cabbage, tomatoes, green
pepper, potatoes, carrots, beans, and other temperate products. Between 1882
and 1896, the Spanish colonizers introduced Arabica coffee: a source of income since
the American occupation. Citrus, mainly
lemon, lime and Valencia oranges were introduced from Spain by Jaime Masferre to provide the needs of American missionaries and
employees of the Mission of Saint Mary the Virgin.
Basic
culture refers to the indigenous culture before the establishment of a Spanish
Mission in 1882. As an ili or village, Sagada was founded by a man, Biyag, from
Bika in Eastern Abra. The people from Bika were forced out of their ili
by raiding headhunters. Biyag's family resettled in Candon but when baptism or
the giving of names was enforced, Biyag's family chose to move back toward the
mountains in search for a settlement. Along the way, he and his siblings
decided to part ways. A brother, Balay, chose to return to Candon, a sister to Abra. Another brother settled along the upper Abra River. Biyag pushed further to the east until he came to what is now
Sagada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagada#Geography