The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos From the Philippines to the U.S.A. By Tom Kips November 2010 The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos From the Philippines to the U.S.A. By Tom Kips 3224759 Thesis submitted for the completion of the Master ‘Cultural Anthropology: Multiculturalism in a Comparative Perspective’ Supervisor: Diederick Raven University of Utrecht November 2010 University of Utrecht 1 The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 4 -1- Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Tattoos in a Globalized World ..................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 History of the Region ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 The Word Igorot ........................................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 A short history of Tattooing in Kalinga...................................................................................................... 11 1.5 Globalisation .............................................................................................................................................. 12 1.6 The Spatiality of Tattoos ............................................................................................................................ 14 1.7 Methodology .............................................................................................................................................. 15 1.8 Chapter Outline .......................................................................................................................................... 17 -2- Kalinga Batek ..................................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Understanding Kalinga Batek..................................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Tattooing in Rites of Passage ..................................................................................................................... 20 2.3 Batek in Rites of Separation ....................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Batek in Rites of Transition ........................................................................................................................ 21 2.5 The Kalinga Concept of Beauty ................................................................................................................. 27 2.6 Batek in Rites of Incorporation .................................................................................................................. 32 2.7 Migration and the Change in Tattooing ...................................................................................................... 34 -3- Mobility And The Change In Kalinga Tattooing ............................................................. 39 3.1 The Spanish Period ..................................................................................................................................... 39 3.2 The American Period .................................................................................................................................. 43 3.3 The Americans in Kalinga .......................................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Missionisation ............................................................................................................................................ 48 3.5 The Contemporary Period .......................................................................................................................... 51 3.6 The Mobility Hypothesis ............................................................................................................................ 54 -4- Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon ..................................................................................................... 57 4.1 Tattoos in Contemporary Western Culture ................................................................................................. 57 4.2 Agency ....................................................................................................................................................... 58 4.3 The Commodified Body ............................................................................................................................. 58 4.4 Migration to the United States of America ................................................................................................. 61 4.5 Differential Inclusion and Tribal Tattoos ................................................................................................... 65 University of Utrecht 2 The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos -5- In Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 68 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 70 Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 76 Appendix 1: Maps ............................................................................................................................................ 77 Appendix 2: The Mobility Hypothesis ............................................................................................................. 79 Appendix 3: Kalinga Tattoos ........................................................................................................................... 80 Appendix 4: Tattoos of the Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon ........................................................................................ 82 Appendix 5: Receiving a Tattoo ....................................................................................................................... 84 University of Utrecht 3 The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos Acknowledgements Although I focus on the surface of the body this thesis is more about understanding people and why they do what they do. During my research I’ve met many people, whether tattooed or unmarked, who have been important in finishing this project I started more than a year ago. First of all I would like to thank the great Analyn Salvador-Amores for her feedback and her help in getting me into contact with some valuable people. In the same breath I have to thank the staff of the Cordillera Studies Centre in Baguio for their help, especially Delfin Tolentino who always had time for a chat and a critical eye towards my work. Of course I mustn’t forget the wonderful Aggalao family who opened up their house to me and were patient in answering all the questions I had. Gilbert, thank you for all your help with translations, driving me up and down and enjoying food, drink and cigarettes together! I would also like to thank my supervisor Diederick Raven for his useful feedback. My girlfriend Sandra, who’s moral support has always been a driving force in concluding this research and without whom none of these papers would have ever been filled with words. Lastly I need to thank all the people of Tulgao who have helped me with this project. Many thank to all the folks I’ve interviewed, bored with dumb questions or annoyed with stupid stories. Salamat! Tom Kips December 2010 . University of Utrecht 4 The Globalization of Kalinga Tattoos -1- Introduction ‘’Globalization’ is not about what we all, or at least the most resourceful and enterprising among us, wish or hope to do. It is about what is happening to us all.’ Zygmunt Bauman (1998; p. 60) 1.1 Tattoos in a Globalized World Snapshot 1: Modern Day Headhunters In 1998, in the midst of the Polynesian tattoo revival, a group of young Filipino-Americans from California embarked on a journey to the islands of Hawaii. There they met Hawaiians who were busy researching their past and their Hawaiian tattoo tradition. The Filipino’s learned about Polynesian oral history and folklore, and upon returning to the U.S. mainland set out to revive their own tattoo heritage. They started researching the history of the Philippines and its people and established the Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon tribe. The Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon (translated as mark of the four waves, referring to the popular notion that the Philippines archipelago experienced four ‘waves’ of immigrants) is an organization dedicated to the revival of traditional culture and tattoos of the Philippine islands. For the tribe members in California tattoos are an important way of maintaining their culture and identifying themselves with their Filipino roots. Many of the Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon tribe have traditional tattoos combined with more modern designs, describing their situation best; traditional aspects of their identity combined with the modern values of the United States. Christian 1, one of the co-founders of the tribe is a short, stocky built man in his mid-thirties. His hair is short on the sides but very long in the back, reaching past his shoulders.