Cordillera Administrative Region and Mountain Province

Bontoc is derived from the two morphemes “bun” (heap) and “tuk” (top). Together it means mountains. He term “Bontocs” refers to the people of the Mountain Province. During the Spanish era, the Mountain Province consists of the sub provinces of Ifugao, Bontoc, Apayao, Kalinga but in 1966 four new provinces were created out of the original mountain province, namely, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province and Kalinga-Apayao.
The Mountain Province, sits on the cordillera mountain region range, which runs from north to south. Its capital is Bontoc town, which was also the capital of the former Mountain Province.
Bontocs’s skills in fighting discouraged the Spanish missionary work and military penetration until the middle of the 19th century. Lepanto was the first Igorot area on which garrisons were built but was soon abandoned because of frequent Igorot attacks.
Bontoc Igorots also took part in the Philippine revolution against Spain. After the Spanish regime, Americans invaded the regions. When the World War II broke out, Japanese troops occupied Bontoc. Post war rehabilitation caused the development of the town of Bontoc, which had two sections, Poblacion who became the commercial center and, Bontoc Ili inhabited by the traditional Bontoc.
BONTOC’S AGRICLUTURAL LIFE
Rice is their main agricultural product. There are two kinds of their rice, the chinacon(Superior variety) and the pak-ang Other agricultural products * Sweet Potato * Coffee * Beans * Bananas * Cabbages * Carrots * Cauliflowers
They also engage in pottery and weaving, blacksmithing and fishing in the Chico River.
The Bontoc say that their laws were given to them by Lumawig, their culture hero, when he came to live as one of them. There are three social classes in the bontoc community: * Kadangyan/Kachangyan (the Tradional Rich) * Wad-ay ngachana (Middle Class) * Pusi/Lawa( the poor)
They also have tattoo, which used to be a prestige symbol, worn only by