Territory of the Kankanay Since the Kankanay have been studied very little, the exact extent of their culture area is not at present certain. The Igorot of northern Benguet, and almost all of the people living in Amburayan and southern Lepanto, s ... Read more

Territory of the Kankanay Since the Kankanay have been studied very little, the exact extent of their culture area is not at present certain. The Igorot of northern Benguet, and almost all of the people living in Amburayan and southern Lepanto, speak the same dialect, have similar customs, and call themselves by the same name, “Kakanay” or “Kankanay.” The people of this group have no important cultural features by which to distinguish them from the Nabaloi, and linguistics is the only basis on which they may be classed as a separate unity. The inhabitants of northern Lepanto call themselves “Katangnang,” speak a variation of the dialect spoken in the southern part of the sub-province, and have some customs, such as communal sleeping houses for unmarried boys and girls, which are more similar to certain customs of the Bontoc than to any found among the southern Igorot. It might also be mentioned that the towns of northern Lepanto are comparatively large and compact like those of Bontoc, while the Kankanay of southern Lepanto as well as those of Benguet and Amburayan live in scattered settlements. Another difference is the amount of authority exercised by the baknang or wealthy class. In [345]northern Lepanto the baknang are comparatively unimportant, while among the southern Kankanay they are as powerful as among the Nabaloi. However, the best authorities regard practically all the Lepanto Igorot as Kankanay. This seems to be advisable at present, but it is not improbable that a more thorough study of the Katangnang in the northern part of the sub-province will result in their being classed as a separate group. Regarding the Igorot of northern Lepanto as Kankanay, the territorial limits of the tribe are approximately as follows: On the north, the Lepanto-Bontoc sub-provincial boundary; on the east, the western boundary line of Ifugao; on the south, a line passing near the southern limits of Alilem and Bacun, then through the southern part of Kapangan between the barrios of Kapangan and Datakan, then through the township of Atok a little north of the central barrio, and then through the southern barrios of Buguias; and on the west, a line passing through the foothills of Amburayan and Lepanto. Less