1 INTRODUCTION
When the Spanish first encountered them in 1572, the inhabitants of Ilocos (then called "Samtoy") were living in large villages at sheltered coves or rivermouths and were trading with the Chinese and Japanese. Although massive churches in a distinctive style give evidence of Spanish-Ilocano collaboration, the colonial period was marked by frequent revolts; the most famous of these was that led by Diego and Gabriela Silang during the British occupation of Manila in 1762–63.
2 LOCATION
The four provinces of the Ilocano homeland (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and landlocked Abra) stretch from Cape Bojeador at the northwestern tip of Luzon down to the Gulf of Lingayen. Most of the population is concentrated along a narrow coastal plain that has only a few good harbors. This environment is harsh, forcing Ilocanos to be hard-working and thrifty. Many Ilocanos have left their homeland to seek employment elsewhere.AGE
The four provinces of the Ilocano homeland (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and landlocked Abra) stretch from Cape Bojeador at the northwestern tip of Luzon down to the Gulf of Lingayen. Most of the population is concentrated along a narrow coastal plain that has only a few good harbors. This environment is harsh, forcing Ilocanos to be hard-working and thrifty. Many Ilocanos have left their homeland to seek employment elsewhere.AGE
3 DIALECT
Because of the remarkably stable history of the Ilocano language owing to the fact that the Ilocano people have populated much of the Kailokuan from a small homogeneous homeland, dialect diversity is minimal. The original Ilocano speaking areas (in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur) are said to speak the "purest" form of the language, called by Ilocanos 'nauneg nga Iloko' (deep Ilocano). However, due to the migration of the Ilocanos southward and eastward, much of northern Luzon is heavily influenced by Ilocano language and culture. La Union and Pangasinan provinces are dominated in most areas by Ilocano speakers speaking the southern dialect. The southern dialect has minimal lexical differences from the northern one, but a major phonological difference-- the addition of a high back unrounded vowel represented in the orthography by the letter 'e'. As this sound exists also in Pangasinan, we might be able to attribute this difference as a remnant left behind by ethnic Pangasinenses who are now mother tongue speakers of Ilocano.
4 FOLKLORE
According to one Ilocano origin myth, a giant named Aran built the sky and hung the sun, moon, and stars in it. Under their light, Aran's companion, the giant Angalo, could see the land, which he then molded into mountains and valleys. The giants found the world they had created windswept and desolate. Angalo spat on the earth, and from his spit emerged the first man and woman. He placed them in a bamboo tube that he tossed into the sea. The bamboo washed up on the shore of the Ilocos region, and from this couple came the Ilocano people.
Like other Filipinos, Ilocanos recognize an array of supernatural beings, such as the katawtaw-an (the spirits of infants, who died unbaptized who in turn victimize newborns). The karkarma, the souls of living persons, leave the body at death but linger in the house until after the post-funerary offerings of food are made to the deceased; in the form of the scent of perfume, the odor of a burning candle, or a strange draft of wind, they are believed to visit relatives who have failed to come to the sickbed of the deceased. The al-alia, the spirit doubles of humans, appear at their human doubles' death as the groaning of the dying, the cracking of glass, the rattling of beds, and the banging of doors, or in the form (at night) of a grunting pig, howling dog, or a crowing chicken. These signs remind the living to pray to God for the forgiveness of the deceased's sins (otherwise, the al-alia may visit misfortunes upon them).
According to one Ilocano origin myth, a giant named Aran built the sky and hung the sun, moon, and stars in it. Under their light, Aran's companion, the giant Angalo, could see the land, which he then molded into mountains and valleys. The giants found the world they had created windswept and desolate. Angalo spat on the earth, and from his spit emerged the first man and woman. He placed them in a bamboo tube that he tossed into the sea. The bamboo washed up on the shore of the Ilocos region, and from this couple came the Ilocano people.
Like other Filipinos, Ilocanos recognize an array of supernatural beings, such as the katawtaw-an (the spirits of infants, who died unbaptized who in turn victimize newborns). The karkarma, the souls of living persons, leave the body at death but linger in the house until after the post-funerary offerings of food are made to the deceased; in the form of the scent of perfume, the odor of a burning candle, or a strange draft of wind, they are believed to visit relatives who have failed to come to the sickbed of the deceased. The al-alia, the spirit doubles of humans, appear at their human doubles' death as the groaning of the dying, the cracking of glass, the rattling of beds, and the banging of doors, or in the form (at night) of a grunting pig, howling dog, or a crowing chicken. These signs remind the living to pray to God for the forgiveness of the deceased's sins (otherwise, the al-alia may visit misfortunes upon them).
