RESEARCH DATA:

The name of the pinuh’ha bag is said to have come from the root word puh’ha and the infix “-in”, which refers to a “big bellied” bag or bag with a wide body (Lambrecht, 1958, 29). This wide body is adorned with two variants of black and red stripe designs: the bagi’t and the kinaba’ong. The former is composed of simple bands with thin outlines; the latter, which is found near the base of the bag, appears like “bulging” oval-lattice-like patterns. According to Lambrecht (1958), the kinaba’ong has a resemblance to the kaba’ong leaf, a flowering plant shrub that becomes black when dried (p. 29). At the center, red and yellow threads were used as a “decorative seam finishing” called the boo’ng, and a funnel-shaped embroidery called the kinalu’gu. Meanwhile, the white braided fringes that hang on the bottom edge of the bag are called the ngu’me (Lambrecht 1958, 31).

Pinuh’ha is one of the hipbags (bu’tong) used by Ifugao men to carry their essentials such as “betelnuts, leaves, lime container, small knife (kotti’wong), wooden spoon, and amulets” (Lambrecht, 1958,31). Tucked in between their body and their loincloth, the pinuh’ha hipbag securely hangs on the hips of the wearer, making its mouth or opening (toko’na) ”close by themselves” which makes it a practical vessel to bring along anywhere (Lambrecht, 1958, 31). It has a white plain cotton handle that connects to its body. At times, and in other variants of the pinuh’ha, the handle contains brass or copper coils (doy’om) that suggest the wealth and status of the owner and act as a “counterweight” for the bag (Fanged, 2018).

REFERENCES:

Lambrecht, F. (1958). Ifugao Weaving, 17, 1-53. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177377

Fanged, N. (2018). Catalogue of objects in the Feast of Merit Exhibition. In D. Tolentino, Jr. (ed), Feast of Merit Wealth, Status and feasting in the Luzon Cordillera (pp. 119-198). Baguio City: Museo Kordilyera, University of the Philippines Baguio.