Ethnic Groups of the Philippines

Ga’dang

The Ga’dang are found in the central part of Cagayan Valley and the province of Isabela. The highest concentration is in Cauayan, Isabela; there are scattered populations in the highlands of southeastern Kalinga and Apayao, and eastern Bontoc, and northwestern Nueva Vizcaya, where they blend with the Ibanags and Christian Ilocanos. The Ga’dang are divided into five subgroups: Gaddang proper, Yogad, Maddukayang, Katalangan, and Iraya.

Ga’dangs are famous for their very colorful dress adorned with numerous types of beads of semiprecious stones. They live in near streams. Each community and its cultivated fields are controlled by a leader, who is chosen for his bravery, skills, knowledge of custom law, and economic wealth. Subsistence is based on swidden cultivation of rice and sweet potato, supplemented by tobacco and corn cash crops.

 

Sources
National Commission For Culture And The Arts, http://www.ncca.gov.ph/
Ethnologue, www.ethnologue.com/