INTRODUCTION

Background of the study.

The curing process involves hanging the sliced meat and drying it under the sun or

placing the meat above steady smoke from a variety of redwood, dried birch or using a

branch of the “alnus” tree.

The elders from Tiagan, San Emilio lived on the mountains and survive by hunting

animals for food they have to preserve the meat using the process in making the etag to allow it

to last longer until the next hunt. During the times of their ancestors, locals said salt was a

precious commodity and was heavily traded with lowlanders. When smoked or dried, some just

leave the meat hanging above a smoke until the time they are cooked. Some keep them in earthen

jars and buried, free from insects, dust and dirt, making the meat’s preservation better while

making it readily available to be eaten raw or used for the pinikpikan. Etag, also known as

“Igorot smoked meat,” “smoked mountain ham” or “smoked bacon” is salted pork, regarded as

part of the life of an etneg who are lived in Tiagan, San Emilio from the time of birth until death.

“Panag-etag” (etag making) is the process whereby the best parts of the freshly butchered pig is

rubbed generously with salt before it is cured. Pinikpikan is a native delicacy using chicken as

main ingredient, added with lots of ginger and chopped etag. To the Ibalois in Benguet, the sun

dried meat is called “kinuday” while for the people of Tiagan, San Emilio and other tribes in the

region, like those from Sagada, the smoked meat is called by its generic name “etag.” Smoking

requires a minimum of three hours to days, until the meat is fully dehydrated. Drying under the

sun is also done to achieve the same purpose. “From birth to death, etag is not just a part of the
diet, but the daily lives of the people in the Cordillera,” Tiagan San Emilio Barangay Captain

Jesus Matthew Foronda said. The mayor said a native ritual for marriage rites serves pinikpikan

and offers it to the gods. When a child is born, the delicacy is also prepared. During birthdays

and even during wakes, the pinikpikan is a regular attendee on the meal table – making etag a

part of the daily lives of the Igorots.

Etag refers to sliced meat, usually pork, salted for preservation for future use in a ritual or for

household consumption, elders explained. In every ritual that they perform, a piece of etag has an

important role. It is cooked and used in elaborate rituals, explained Tigan-o Dugao, an elder of

Ankileng, a southern barangay of Sagada. “This is the very reason why every household has etag

as they have various rituals to perform in their lifetime,” added Tigan-o who sits at the town’s

Sangguniang Bayan as the Indigenous People Representative. “In rituals, etag is solely cooked or

cooked with chicken, known as pinikpikan, then offered in a prayer. This is just one of the rituals

where etag is a key ingredient,” added former SB member Kapon Gomgom-o. An old man said:

“Our attendance in any ritual performed is important, and when we do the ritual, we bring the

etag because it is the one that completes the ritual we perform when we say the prayers that we

offer to our ancestors and unseen spirits.” One of the rituals where etag is used is the “gobbaw,”

that time when the navel of a born infant drops off. With chicken prepared known as pinikpikan,

the etag, prepared by the family or brought by their relatives, will be added to the chicken and

the boiled dish will be shared by the gathered relatives where the child will also be given an

indigenous name, usually from the child’s grandparents. Etag making or processing was known

to be the domain of the old folks in the earlier days. In the earlier period particularly during

merry-making occasions, like community wedding or babayas, where there would be a surplus of

meat for the community. As the newly-weds would have the babayas or indigenous marriage
celebration at the same time or one after the other in a community declared period in the

agricultural cycle, they butcher pigs and other animals for the ritual that they rigidly have to

follow. During these times, the elders who are gathered will be given “bingit”, a slice of meat as

their share and recognition of their presence in the important ritual. Even in any given “senga” or

thanksgiving occasion in the community, the elders usually partake of their bingit from those

engaged with the occasion, added Gomgom-o. Since the elders cannot consume their bingits,

they preserve it by processing these slices of meat into an etag. There are various ways of

processing the etag but the main ingredient is salt; and elders explain and reiterate that even in

the olden days, their ancestors go down to Ilocos to barter for salt as it is important in their

culture. After they applied salt to the meat, the meat would be hanged above their dalikan or

suuban, an indigenous stove fueled with wood. The meat can stay there for at least two weeks to

two months, Tigan-o added. The longer it is hanged in the dalikan, the better quality of etag will

be realized. This system is usually prepared during cold periods and when clouds usually

enveloped the area. The second method is after the meat is salted, the meat will be hanged

outside for drying. This type is usually done during summer where the sun shines fairly for days.

The third method is that the salted meat will be kept in a covered jar which will be kept in the

cool part of the people’s houses. These can take a longer period and some elders do the jarring

when they butcher their pigs in preparation for a scheduled babayas. Due to availability of meat

in the market, the etag-making has become a practice even by the younger ones. It’s delicious

taste when cooked, either with pinikpikan or not, had pushed the younger ones to make etag, if

they cannot have one from their elders they make their own. Since the support of the

Sangguniang Bayan and the local government of Sagada in 2010, they adopted an etag festival as

part of their fiesta. But whether its fiesta or not, etag is now widely sold by the town’s traders. A
visitor says that he cannot complete the visit to Sagada if he does not get to savor the taste of

etag. (By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW)

Objectives of the Study.

This study aims to understand the significants of making etag of IP's in Tiagan, San

Emilio Ilocos Sur. Also, this will help us to sustain the culture of preserving IP's meat of Tiagan,

San Emilion Ilocos Sur.

Statement of the problem

This study aim to explore the process in making etag as the cultural food of the IP’s in

Tiagan,San Emilio, Ilocos sur.

Specifically, it aims to answer the following

1. How is etag made by the the IP’s in Tiagan, San Emilio Ilocos Sur?

2. What is the relevance of etag to the culture of IP’s in Tiagan, San Emilio Ilocos Sur?