Ibaloi people

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The Ibaloi or Nabaloi is an indigenous ethnic group found in the northern Philippines. The Ibaloi are one of the indigenous peoples collectively known as Igorot, who live in the mountains of the Cordillera Central on the island of Luzon.


There are approximately 2 million Ibaloi. Most of them can be found in the southern part of the province of Benguet.


The Ibaloi are a mostly agricultural people cultivating rice in terraced fields. Many contemporary Ibaloi have integrated into the mainstream Filipino culture and some are employed as miners in the gold and silver mines of Benguet.

The Ibaloi traditionally practiced mummification. The process they used involved smoking the corpse for months to completely dehydrate the dead body, which preserved every part of the body including tattoos and internal organs. They would then encase the preserved body within a hollowed out log and placed in caves that are thought to be spiritual by the Ibaloi.

The Ibaloi language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages family. It is closely related to the Pangasinan language.

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