Burton Holmes Head Hunters

To each travelogue filmmaker his “head hunter”.

Bontoc and the Igorots, Luzon 1913
“It has taken us a six-day hike to get here to beautiful Bontoc–the Igorot metropolis. It lies on a treacherous, capricious river, three thousand feet above the sea. We are amazed to find this remote, chief city of the Igorots, a tribe of head hunters. The old men of Bontoc still preserve with pride, trophies of their youthful prowess in the head-hunting game. It was, so to speak, the National Game of the Igorots. Five skulls, taken only a few years ago, were brought out by the Mayor of the town from the old men’s council house. Today, head-hunting is almost obsolete, punishable with life imprisonment.There is more murder today in New York City or Chicago than head-hunting in all the the primitive wildernesses of Luzon!”
In Genoa Caldwell’s book The Man Who Photographed the World, , 1892-1952.- Taschen, 2006 – permission granted by the author.