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Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 17(2), April 2018, pp. 307-313 A glimpse of the fire mummies of Kabayan, Benguet, Luzon, Philippines and the role of plants associated with the mummification process Teodora D. Balangcod Department of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines Baguio, Baguio City E-mail: [email protected] Received 18 July 2017, revised 5 December 2017 The use of herbs was identified in the mummification process to preserve the dead body. In the Cordillera, mummification is unique. After the dead bodies are cleaned and applied with herbal extracts, these are exposed to smoke from a fire beneath the corpse seated on a death chair called sangadil. The process drains the fluids from the body. In the municipality of Kabayan in Benguet province, the preserved bodies are called fire mummies because fire was used in addition to the herbal extract application in the preservation. Thus, this study was conducted to identify the herbs used in the mummification process and test their antibacterial potential against selected bacteria to determine the contribution of the herbs in the preservation of the mummies. Based on the interviews and focused group discussions, four plants were mentioned to have been used in mummification namely; bayabas (Psidium guajava L.), diwdiw or tibig [Ficus nota (Blanco) Merr.], patani (Phaseolus lunatus L.), and besudak (Embelia philippinensis A. DC). Antibacterial assays of the ethanolic extracts of the plants showed that E. philippinensis and F. nota have antibacterial properties which suggest that these plants have contributed to the preservation of the Kabayan fire mummies. Keywords: Fire mummies, Herbs, Kabayan, Mummification, Preservation IPC Int. Cl.8: A61K 36/00, A61K 39/00, A61K 38/00, A23C, A23B Mummification is a practice of preserving the dead seat of Ibaloi culture. Ibaloi is one of the indigenous which is reported to be observed in various countries. groups in the Cordillera. Based from scanty readings Mummification is defined as a process of making a and interviews, mummification of the dead among the mummy by embalming or drying while to mummify Ibaloi is a practice that is reserved for the elite, called means to shrivel or dry up1. Different steps are the Kadangyan. A report revealed that the practice of reported from various countries and similarities in the mummification in Benguet was dated between 14th preservation of the dead can be noted. The use of and 19th centuries4. Moreover, it is believed that the herbal extracts is common in the mummification practice of mummification in the Cordillera was process to help preserve the dead bodies. The tradition interrupted by the introduction of Christianity in the of mummification is first known to be practiced by Philippines by the Spaniards in the 19th century. the ancient Egyptians due to their belief in the Remarkably, the century old mummies, buried in afterlife. Mummification includes cleaning or caves and rocks in Kabayan still exist at present. washing, removal of the internal organs, soaking in Surprisingly, most body parts are intact, even natron, a salt mixture from dry lake beds to dehydrate the marks or tattoos on the skin are visible, the deceased body, followed by spreading of oil and which suggests that the method of preservation is herbal extracts all over the body, and wrapping very efficient. the body in linen, using resin as adhesive to keep Two famous burial places, the Timbac caves and the linen wrap intact2. Smoking the dead was reported Tinongshol burial rock located in separate barangays, as a more recent practice by the people of Papua, presently contain fire mummies (Figs. 1 & 2). The New Guinea3. former is a rock cave while the latter is a humongous In the northern part of the Philippines, famous burial rock, where the wooden coffins are placed for mummification is Kabayan, that is one of 13 inside huge holes specifically created for containing municipalities in Benguet province, Cordillera the coffins. The mummy caves were accidentally Administrative Region. Kabayan is regarded as the discovered by mountain climbers sometime in the 308 INDIAN J TRADIT KNOWLE, VOL. 17, NO. 2, APRIL 2018 stealing and selling of the mummies like the case of Apo Anno, which was previously stolen. The mummy was sold from one person to another. Apo Anno was returned to its hometown through the efforts of the local government units and local historians who clamoured to bring him back to where he belonged. Additionally, it is believed that the returning of Apo Fig. 1—(a) The burial rock in Tinongshol barangay. Holes are Anno’s mummy was hastened by misfortunes created on the big rock to contain the wooden coffins. (b) Another experienced by the people who bought Apo Anno. To side of big burial rock. There can be several holes on the burial rock date, there are still reports of stealing and mutilation of some fire mummies despite the efforts of the local officials of protecting them. Some body parts were taken by and marked with the name of the visitors. While mummification has long been traditionally practiced in Kabayan and may be true in other local communities in the Cordillera, there are few published accounts to date. Fortunately, the mummification process in the Cordillera region can be described based on the verbal accounts of elders, who have heard stories from their ancestors. Through the verbal accounts, the mummification process reveals the use of smoke as a drying method and the use of herbs in the preservation of the dead. The drying process of the dead is currently practiced by some ethnic groups in the Cordillera region, particularly by the groups distantly located from the cities, although the drying process do not lead to mummification. This study focused on the plants involved with the mummification process and the preservation of the dead, specifically the antibacterial potential that may contribute to the preservation process. Currently, antibacterial screening and other related studies like drug discovery came to the forefront of natural products research due to the increasing prevalence of various diseases and the continued resistance to antibiotics. Most of the studies on Fig. 2—(a-b) One of two burial caves at Timbac, Kabayan barrio antimicrobial tests are based on folkloric knowledge barangay, this is a common burial cave for the mummies. which is extracted from oral interviews and written (c) Wooden coffins of various sizes that contain the mummies, literature. In the Philippines, there are few published bigger coffins contain more than two mummies. documents regarding ethnobotany, earlier publications 1980s and since then, the mummies have become focused on well-known minority groups, the 5-7 famous. Recently, the mummy caves were officially Negritoes and Tasadays . In 1989, Co-documented proclaimed as one of the Philippine National Cultural the useful plants particularly in the Cordillera region8. Treasures under Presidential Decree No. 374. Apart Recent published materials documented the from the two burial caves in two barangays, it is indigenous uses of plants, including medicinal plants believed that there are more burial caves in other parts by the Ibaloi in Tabaan Norte and Bayabas, Sablan of Kabayan and other municipalities. However, the and plants that are used by the Kalanguya in Tinoc, local officials are hesitant in revealing the location of Ifugao for various purposes9-10. Because of the need to the fire mummies. This is due to the possibility of determine the medicinal value of plants, efforts on BALANGCOD: ROLE OF PLANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MUMMIFICATION PROCESS 309 discovering new drugs and providing scientific bases in Baloy, Itogon. When an epidemic struck Baloy, the to some folkloric uses of plants can now be found in settlers moved upstream and occupied one of the recent works11-14. These works and discovery have barangays in Kabayan called Embosi. This group that added to the repository of knowledge on drug moved upwards to Embosi from Baloy are then called discovery in the Cordillera. Conversely, there is scant Ibaloi, (the prefix i attached to a noun means ‘coming documentation of the ethnomedicinal knowledge of from’). The Ibalois presently pre-dominates almost all the local community in Kabayan, Benguet province. parts of Kabayan. Kalanguya, the other indigenous With the dearth of literature on the fire mummies group in Kabayan is believed to have originated from of Kabayan and the plants used in the process, this the neighboring municipality, Ahin of Tinoc, Ifugao. paper aimed: The lesser percentage of the population comes from various adjoining municipalities through intermarriage. 1. To gather information and contribute to the scarce information about the fire mummies in Kabayan, The municipality of Kabayan was named from the Benguet province based on the interviews of the word kabaayan, which means “from the place where key informants of Kabayan, Benguet; baay or baai is located. Baay or baai is a local 2. To identify the herbs that have been used in the term that refers to a leguminous vine which once mummification process based on the accounts of pre-dominated the place. Interestingly, Kabayan is the elders and; popularly known for its fire mummies that remain in burial caves and rock. 3. To test the plants that were identified to help preserve the dead, for their antibacterial potential in The interviews and focused group discussions (FGDs) order to provide scientific bases for their use in the Prior to the conduct of the study, the research mummification process. project was first presented in a meeting with the municipal and barangay officials of Kabayan, Methodology Benguet province. Permit to interview and conduct Site of the study the project was sought from the mayor in consultation with the elders. A semi-structured questionnaire The site of this study is Kabayan, which is one of was used as guide during the interviews of key the 13 municipalities in Benguet Province.

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