The Isneg are a tribe living in Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

, the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. The Isneg and other ethnic groups of the Cordillera Administrative Region

Cordillera Administrative Region

The Cordillera Administrative Region is a region in the Philippines composed of the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province, as well as Baguio City, the regional center. The Cordillera Administrative Region encompasses most of the areas within the Cordillera...

 are collectively known as Cordillerans. They speak the Isnag language

Isnag language

The Isnag language is a language spoken by around 55,000 Isnags of the Apayao Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the northern Philippines. Around 85% of Isnags are capable of reading the Isnag language...

.

Early accounts of the Isneg

The Isneg are distinguished from the other Cordillerans by the fine construction of their houses, resembling that of the lowland Filipinos, and they are particularly conspicuous about cleanliness. Their houses are set on four large and strong straight posts of incoruptible wood resistant to humidity, driven into the earth; instead of being made of bamboo cut in long narrow strips joined by rattan, as the lowland Filipinos do. Their houses are airy and bigger, and they do everything to decorate it the best way they can. They barter for products from their mountains, such as beeswax, cacao, and tobacco.

Jean Mallat, a French adventurer in the Philippines during the 1800s.

Isnegs today

Today, there are about 55,000 Isnegs living in Apayao Province. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=isd Approximately 9% of the population are Christians. As of 2006, the entire New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

, along with the books of Genesis and Exodus, had been translated into Isnag by SIL

SIL International

SIL International is a U.S.-based, worldwide, Christian non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy, translate the Christian Bible into local languages,...

. Many Isnags are still animists

Animism

Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....

.

See also

• Dibagat
• Isnag language
  Isnag language
  The Isnag language is a language spoken by around 55,000 Isnags of the Apayao Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the northern Philippines. Around 85% of Isnags are capable of reading the Isnag language...
  
  
• Isnag Ymandaya of Northern part of Calanasan
• snag Ymallod of southern part of Calanasan and All parts of APAYAO