This document is an early 20th-century anthropological study conducted by Fay Cooper Cole, a field ethnographer for the Field Museum of Natural History, during the American colonial period in the Philippines. The research focuses on the mountainous region of northwestern Luzon, which encompasses parts of Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Apayao, and Kalinga. The study's primary purpose was to correct the vague and often inaccurate classifications of the non-Christian peoples—including the Negritos, Igorots, Tinguians, Apayaos, and Kalingas—that had been previously recorded by Spanish and early American travelers. By providing a systematic classification based on physical characteristics, dress, customs, and house architecture, the work contributed to the American academic and governmental effort to scientifically map and understand the diverse indigenous populations of the new colony. The findings served as essential data for the administration and policies directed at the "Non-Christian Tribes" of the northern Philippine islands.
Distribution of the non-Christian tribes of Northwestern Luzon