The Ibaloi or Nabaloi are a subgroup of the Igorot, the Indigenous People of the Cordillera region, in the Philippines island of Luzon. Other Igorot Peoples include the Balangao, Bontoc, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankana-ey.
The Ibaloi are a mostly an agricultural people who cultivate rice in terraced fields. Many contemporary Ibaloi have integrated into the mainstream Filipino culture. In 1975, the Ibaloi’s population was about 89,000.
The Ibaloi traditionally practised mummification. The process they used involved smoking the corpse for months to completely dehydrate the dead body, which preserved every part of the body including tattoos and internal organs. They would then encase the preserved body within a hollowed out log and place it in caves held sacred by the Ibaloi.
