Ethnomusicologist David G. Such spent the summer of 1999 video taping and interviewing Beni Sokkong, a prominent member of the Kalinga tribe of northern Luzon in the Philippines. Sokkong and his associates have dedicated themselves to the preservation of the tribes rich tradition of music, including the making of an astonishing array of bamboo instruments. The Kalinga, a fierce warrior society, also has among its traditions the taking of human heads, a practice which was abandoned only in the 1970s.
The Intangible presentation has been assembled from portions of Dr. Such's award winning documentary video and portions of the raw video he brought back from the field. We have tried to provide a sufficient sampling of sounds and sights to do justice to the Kalinga and their culture while not overburdening visitors who may, of necessity, be connecting to our web site via slower modems.