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| Ganduyan Museum |
Jandy and I were now on our third and final day in Sagada and we still had time to kill before leaving on the 10 AM G.L. bus. After a Filipino breakfast at Ganduyan Inn’s cafe, we decided to visit the next door Ganduyan Museum, managed by Marina Biag’s mom Ms. Christina Aben. Since the early 1970s, Ms. Aben has amassed a spectacular and meticulous collection of tribal artifacts with a passionate curator’s eye for quality and rarity, all detailing the rich but vanishing Cordillera Igorot culture. Wishing to share her passion for unique Igorot art and culture with the world, she placed them all in a one-room, second floor museum which she opened in 1984. Because of the museum’s limited space, Ms. Aben, with a designer’s eye for presentation, carefully chooses what to display and how to display it.
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| Ms. Christina Aben |
The museum closed down in 1986 and it remained so when Jandy and I first visited Sagada in 1998. It was open that morning and we were personally met by Ms. Aben who escorted us up the stairs to the museum, removing our shoes first at the stair’s foot before going up. She’s a cancer survivor and a housewife with a high school education who speaks impeccable English. Ms Aben is also an enthusiastic, erudite and well-informed hostess who loves to share the meaning and importance of every museum piece to anyone willing to listen.
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| Ganduyan Museum – Display |
The museum was a veritable treasure trove of antique basketry, weapons, farm tools, trade beads, jars, wooden items and textiles from the Cordillera region, all offering an insight into the rich culture of the Cordillera Igorots. Ms. Aben gladly explained the history and significance of each individual item on display, starting with her trade bead collection which came at a time when the Igorots traded with the Chinese, Indians, Arabs and other foreigners from the lowlands. Beads include alligator teeth and mother-of-pearl shells not found in the Cordilleras. Beaded necklaces from different tribal groups of the Cordilleras (Kalinga, Nabaloi, Ifugao or Igorot)have beading patterns that differ from one ethnic tribe to another.
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| Ganduyan Museum – Display |
We next moved on to the men’s accessories section. These include a money belt, a warrior’s purse, pipes, caps (used as pillow and water cup), woven g-strings, anklets, armlets, spoons and amulets (including a snake vertebra believed to increase the warrior’s physical and internal prowess). Drinking cups for wine, both for men and women, vary in size and kind. Igorots treated status with utmost importance, from clothing (the rich could wear clothes that the poor could not), kitchenware (made from wood, metal and, sometimes, animal bone, all classified by social class) and even in death. Doors, scarves, table runners, warrior’s shields and other accessories are decorated with the lizard (or gecko), animals said to bring luck and longevity. The many weapons of head hunters of the Cordilleras on display include shields with concave ends (meant to trap the enemy at the neck before the warrior goes for the kill and chops the head off).
Ganduyan Museum: Poblacion, Sagada, Mountain Province. Open daily, 8 AM-7 PM. Admission: PhP25.