The Geography of Imperial Rule

The remote Kallahan/Kalanguya-speaking areas of the southeast Cordillera were for the most part ignored by American officials, and the local residents, largely unsubdued by the Spaniards, had no desire to submit to the new authorities. Some efforts were made in the early years to bring the relatively accessible village of Kayapa into the imperial fold, but the de facto American policy was to leave the entire area alone. In 1934, J. W. Light reported that the Kayapa people were peaceful and industrious, and although they paid no taxes and did not want a school, they presented no problem for the state. The northern Kalanguya (many of whom lived within the Buguias economic sphere) were even less bothered by colonial interference. The American hope was that these "wild" people would be gradually "civilized" through contact with their Benguet neighbors.

The American policy makers hoped to encourage both economic development and social integration in the Cordillera by constructing an extensive system of graded trails (Fry 1983:77). (A trailbuilding program had been initiated by the Spaniards, but as late as 1906, S. C. Simms (1906b) found it necessary to take a detour through Cervantes when traveling from Baguio to Kiangan.) The rationale behind the transportation program was given dramatic expression by Governor Early in 1931 (Early 1931:41): "[to coalesce] the warring mountain tribes into a homogenous society which will have solidarity of interests in the next generation as it has found peace and mutual understanding in this."