Protestantism, Cargo, and Treasure: The Acquisition of Wealth among the the Bugkalot (Ilongot) of Northern Luzon, Philippines

• In Event: Indigenous Christianity in Southeast Asia and the Wider Pacific Region

Abstract

Since Weber’s classic study, the relationship between the Protestant ethic and the accumulation of wealth has been a much debated issue in the social sciences. The notion that Protestantism gives rise to a particular economic morality and involves a certain dematerialization of the human world has inspired subsequent studies on subjectification, objectification and agency. These issues find different expressions in societies where encounters with Christianity and capitalism are a relatively recent phenomenon. The Bugkalot, or Ilongot, who converted to Fundamentalist Christianity en masse in the 1960s and the 1970s and were brought into the orbit of capitalist economy in roughly the same period, demonstrate an intense desire for wealth and a strong obsession with treasure hunting. Treasure tales must be examined in the light of the religious and economic worldviews. The Bugkalot’s conviction that abundant treasure was buried in the mountainous areas where they inhabit by the Japanese during World War II is a historical result of their incorporation into the Philippine state and the growing influence of the lowland cultures, and can be approached as a question of how Southeast Asian egalitarian societies perceive wealth after coming into contact with hierarchical societies and the lowland state where wealth, especially in the form of heirlooms, exemplify power or spiritual potency. However, the millenarian aspect of treasure hunting and the centrally significant role played by the missionary force us to revisit the relationship between Protestantism and the acquisition of wealth.

Author

• Shu-Yuan Yang, Academia Sinica