Origin Myths Among the Mountain Peoples of the Philippines

This book captures something precious and vanishing. In 1913, H. Otley Beyer traveled among the Igorot, Ifugao, and Mindanao peoples of the Philippines, recording the creation myths that had been told aloud for generations - myths no one had ever written down. These aren't just stories. They're entire cosmologies: intricate explanations for how the mountains rose from the sea, why death exists, and how the first humans learned to farm rice from the gods themselves. Beyer witnessed these narratives woven into rituals, funeral rites, and daily spiritual life - living knowledge he was determined to preserve before colonial pressures and modernization erased it. Now, over a century later, this text remains invaluable. What we have here are the original versions of tales that shaped how entire civilizations understood their place in the world. For anyone curious about how humans construct meaning through story, about Philippine cultural history, or about the urgent work of saving oral traditions from disappearance, this book is an essential portal.