Walking Stick

Pictured is a large staff, which is pointed at one end and appears to have a head at the other end. The head has a unique appearance, with a cylindrical headdress and what appears to be beads for eyes. As there were no roads of wheels in the Igorot homeland, Igorots often used walking sticks like these to help them trek long distances, especially when their loads were light. 

Anitos, like the one depicted in the walking sticks, were very important to Igorot culture and religions. Igorots believed that every single thing around them, both animate and inanimate, had a spirit, which they called its anito. As such, Igorots were careful to treat everything around them with respect, so as to not offend the anitos living in them. Even today, it is common practice to give offerings to anitos on farms and to ask permission from anitos on uninhabited land before starting to farm or harvest there, often through the intercession of a shaman. Today, Igorot religion has evolved to incorporate elements of Catholicism, including some saints, Jesus Christ, and St. Mary. 

Citations

• Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife. (n.d.). In J. Lee & K. Nadeau (Eds.), Igorot Ancestor, Ghost, and Spirit (Vol. 2).