Balangao people
The Balangao people predominantly inhabit the majority of the municipality of Natonin, with the exception of the barangays of Maducayan, Saliok, and Banao (home to the Majukayong and Kachakran peoples), and extend into parts of the neighboring municipality of Paracelis. According to the linguistic research of Joanne Shetler, the Balangao-speaking population consists of two primary sub-dialectal groups: the Ha'ki (inhabiting the western regions) and the Balangao proper.[1] The Balangao have historically been conflated with neighboring groups, such as the Bontoc people, due to early 20th-century administrative classifications. While occasionally referred to by the exonym Baliwon—a term more accurately applied to the highland Gaddang people (Ga'dang)—the Balangao are a distinct ethnolinguistic group with a unique cultural identity and a language belonging to the Central Cordilleran subgroup. [2]
Language
Their language is called Balangao, a member of the Central Cordilleran subgroup of Northern Luzon langauges.
Economy
The Balangao tribe focuses mainly on farming, either in rice terraces or on lands that were cleared by fire. Many younger Balangao have been exposed to education and modernization, changing the once traditional society of the tribe.
References
- ^ Shetler, Joanne (1976). Notes on Balangao grammar. Language Data: Asian-Pacific Series No. 9. Huntington Beach: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- ^ "Ga'dang, Baliwon in Philippines". Joshua Project. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
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