Fire Mummies of the Philippines
We had a guest over the Easter weekend who wanted to go to Kabayan, Benguet and explore Baguio City before attending a seminar in San Fernando, La Union. When Ian showed me his Lonely Planet map, I immediately noticed that it was near the highest point of the Philippine Highway System on Halsema Road in the Cordillera Mountain Range. So I knew it was just a few hours away from Baguio and that a day trip was possible. What I did not know was that it is the location of the Fire Mummies of the Philippines.
Known also as the Kabayan Mummies, Ibaloi Mummies or Benguet Mummies, I had once watched a feature on Discovery Channel and they noted that the Philippines was one of the few countries in the world who mummified their dead. Only the Ibaloi tribe is known to practice mummification in the Philippines. The preparation of the mummies involved drying out the body of the deceased through smoke over a fire for many months. Then they were entombed in caves high up in the mountains of Benguet far away from the towns. In fact, to reach Kabayan would mean a 5-hour car ride and a 5-hour hike up steep stone steps.
Because Nico is half-Igorot and one of the most resourceful persons I know, of course he found a route that got them there in just 2 hours using a 1994 Nissan Altima Sedan plus 1 & 1/2 hour hike to get to the mummies. I couldn’t go with them because it was Easter Sunday and Atenara House was still packed with guests. When they got back, Nico stated very firmly that there was no way I would have been able to make the trip anyway because the steps were hundreds and hundreds of meters high and my poor sense of balance would not allow me to handle the climb.
We just...
Hi Lisa,
great feature! hope to see this one someday. what happened to my comment about your Easter resolutions? just asking. thanks. joe
Hi Joe, there was not comment from you in my comment tray except for this one. I usually bulk moderate comments so nothing gets lost. Please resend if you still remember it. thanks
I also saw the mummies on Discovery Channel and have read alot about the curse of Apo Annu(the mummy that was legendary in giving bad luck to anyone who try to “own” him until he was returned to his resting place. Take note, he pretty much travelled the whole world being passed by one collector to another.
I just hope that people who visit the mummies will be as careful and gentle as Ian and Nico. Please take nothing but pictures as souvenirs.
I feel so strongly about respecting the dead and protecting the mummies in the Northern Philippines. I’m really shocked on how easy it is to gain access to the cave where the mummies rest. The gate is so flimsy.
Talagang resoureful, yung sedan ginawang 4×4.
Hi!
I’m mean, staff of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. I’m very much interested with the fire mummy for our feature story. I think we’ll be needing your help to make our story more substantial. Please help me where to locate those fire mummies in Kabayan. My cell number is 09166250302.
Thanks alot! God bless you all!
HI Lisa and company! I am a senior student from UST High School. I have chosen this topic for my research in our English class. I am very much interested in these firemummies. I just wonder, how come they are very popular abroad while here in our very own country the topic sounds alien to them…
When my classmates ask me, “What’s your topic?”
I answer, “Fire mummies.”
They just shrug and I heard one say, “She’s a horror-thriller movie fanatic.”
They don’t have a clue what it really is.
Hi Tina
Nico IS the most resourceful person I know. He can find anything you need in Baguio and nearby environs, including the Fire Mummies — with a sedan, too!
Mean, would you believe I saw your request just NOW?! It must have been high season in Baguio when I bulk approved the comments — hahaha! If you’re still interested in doing a feature for your show, email me!
Welcome Melody! Maybe our countrymen don’t know much about it because the Ibaloi tribe has not wanted it know because of all the looting that went on in the past century — I’m just speculating of course. There’s more material on the web and you can actually visit them and their descendants are nice, friendly people.
Come to think of it, maybe there should be some kind of official, historical documentation and preservation effort that would keep these wonderful relics secure. Right now, anyone can just go up to the caves and move them around. Of course, this government would never dream of spending money on securing them — we Filipinos just like to be modern and build flyovers.
hi, just to seek information on whom to contact in guiding us to see this fire mummies. ( i mean, who knows the short cut )
hello,, my name is Christ, i have a lot of cousins in Kabayan and obviously i’m from kabayan..I noticed that you said ‘fire mummies”, this is my first time to heard that word, just want to know where did you get that stuff,?? some people say fire mummies but its better to say KABAYAN MUMMIES OR IBALOI MUMMIES..
How about the skeletons in Opdas Kabayan, haven’t you see that? or the highest mountain in the Philippines the Mt. PUlag.. thanks!
Hi Christian,
Since Discovery Channel did a feature on them a few years back and called them “Fire Mummies,” referring to the unique mummification process that shows an advanced culture, the mummies have been referred to by many folks as such.
Personally I hesitate to focus on their location (by calling them the K mummies or I mummies, although the post mentions early on that they are known by those names) or to be indiscriminate about letting folks know where they are because the caves are not well-protected. And we cannot risk anymore thefts or abuses of your relics.
Here, I merely recount Ian’s and Nico’s adventure. I have not had the opportunity to visit them or the other mummies elsewhere. Maybe when the communities decide for themselves how best to protect them, we can start geo-tourism in the area.
Till then, it may be best just to let folks know that the Philippines is one of only six countries in the world that has the ancient technology to mummify.
I think Benguet mummies would be the most appropriate term for that. For distinction..just like the “Egyptian Mummies”.
Hi Janice, good suggestion. I am personally in love with the Cordillera culture, cuisine notwithstanding, and hope to do a lot more features.
hi
im from kabayan obviously im proud to be one,,i hope you would be able to cover the other tourist attractions there not just the mummies,.the place is rich in natural resources and tourist attractions…
unpala palad i kabayan!!!!!
last battle 2 knng kmay n satan 2 catholic anti-cristo to gaspar into master evils final stage 2 iglesia n crsto real church of christ
Hi Melanie,
I do plan to feature all the Cordillera attractions eventually at Go Baguio! The first to be featured is Benguet, of course, plus Sagada in Mountain Province. Since you are from Kabayan, it would be lovely if you could blog about your hometown, too. You can get a free site at Blogger (just google it!).
Hi Gerald,
Judging by you various comments in different articles in this site, it seems you are having a spiritual struggle. It seems you have found some answers with Iglesia ni Kristo, am I right? Whatever your path may be, remember it is the same God for all of us… (My mom gets angry when I add) … the only difference is who collects the offertory.
Hi Lisa,
I came across your website in search of what to do while I’m visiting my father who resides in Baguio City and who is ill. It’s been 16 years since I have had the opportunity to come home and visit. Your website is awesome and very resourceful. I am going to take your recommendations on where to eat since I really miss authentic pinoy food — and there is no comparison to it — even from here in San Diego, California.
I know this part of my message may sound old as I see that the above comments are in regards to our indigenous people. I myself am half Native American and the rest you can say is filipina. I am, as many, is disturbed by the fact that the remains are being accessed by anyone. Is there any national law that protects these remains at all? I’m a bit annoyed that people are just disturbing these remains as if it something you ordinarily see at some store or amusement park. It’s not ethical and the indigenous people from there should stand up and fight to protect these remains and return them to where they belong. How would anyone in today’s society feel if someone came up to their family’s gravesite and opened it and had a look-see for whatever reasons?
As a Native American, here in the US, we are continually fighting for the return of our ancestors remains that these educational institutions have imprisoned for their scientific studies and theories. It’s a long battle — and a battle that most indigenous cultures around the world are fighting to this day. So hopefully, one day our indigenous people of the Philippines will stand up to their rights.
Hopefully I will bump into you Lisa, as I am a internet junkie and will be stressing out to find some place to log onto the web world on Baguio. I will be arriving April 14th, 2009 to the 26th. If you want to chat while I’m up there, I’m always up for a good cup of coffee. Email me sometime at the email required to post this or these, I should say – comments.
skulls and bones covered with tattooed dry skin..aged and preserved for the future generation to more than appreciate..call it “meh-kheng”
Perhaps, the best way to trace back the origins and history of the Ibaloi tribe is to analyze the tattoo etched on the dry skin and the mummified corpse. Surely, the blended art will provide the clue..could it be that it came all the way from ancient china during the Lim-hang expedition..a group was said to have disappeared and did not return to the shore. Could it be that this group went upstream (agno river) together with the likes of Princess Urduja? Nah..no recorded references yet to prove such claim.
Another, when in kabayan, try to find connection also with the stone piled(pyramid like)tomb found at the back of the Municipal building, on top of a boulder. And if in Eddet, look for the pyramid like tomb also resting on top of a boulder, near the bend of the river, at the paddies infront of the eroded mountain. No bricks and clay or hardened “kemet” to build tapered structures instead hand carved caves and naturally tunelled mountains are made as sacred tombs.
Perhaps, these tomb locations as well as the mountain tombs are strategically (astronomically concealed) set up not to hide them (mummies) but instead to have them well preserved.
“He who holds the wooden staff does not necessarily keep its bark”
May i know what year they found the mummies at kabayan cause i never heard about them before i left 1975.Just find out today one of my girlfriend she had a book about phillipines cause she was planning to go in the phil. for vacation. june 23 09 thanks pls e-mail me
Hi. Thanks for the very informative blog with the video.
Only professional archeologists should be handling anything like this. It baffles me to see that the coffin was actually moved, taken out to the elements and the skeleton exposed to daylight. Disturbing the peace by moving the boxes in place and shuffling the textiles protecting the skeletons is so distressing to these precious archeological heritage. I do understand that this was taken 2 years ago, I really hope that better security and preservation steps have been taken since.
Mabuhay and Pilipino.
good god you shouldn’t have opened that coffins. it will cause it to decompose faster. and please have some respect. and please nico don’t bring too much people in that place for them to reopen the coffins. a nice souvenir picture outside the burial place is enough opening it is way too much. i hope you understand.
hi
perhaps we can link the mummy story with the historical node which says that kabayan is the seat of Ibaloy ‘civilization’ — can we locate a material for this that we can take a look at? i have not yet gone through Pawid-Bagamaspad History of Benguet; will try to browse Merino & Baucas too
Should be converted into a fiction movie to The Mummy 5 the fire mummies of the Philippine ancestors supposedly aged Alex O’Connell’s descendants.
Hi Jay,
I love it that the Ibaloi tribe is one of the few “advanced” cultures that includes mummification — an a totally different way of accomplishing the same. A Brendan Frazer movie in a Philippine setting? Only if it showcases the indigenous peoples in a positive light!
Since Fire mummies is now very popular I hope it will not be commercialized , it shall remain revered.
I was interested knowing more about mummies so I was connected to your site. Your site is a big help.
I’m an Ibaloi but this is the time I knew Ibaloi tribe is the only one who practiced mummification. Actually, I’m realy interested to read more about mummification. Are their any sites or links and magazines to know more about it?
Salamat dja abadeg!!!
I think I have to correct the statement I wrote above. I must have written Ibaloi is the only one who practiced mummification in the Philippines.
Thank you so much!