The photo was part of a photo-essay titled "Madonnas of Many Lands" which featured matriarchal figures from around the world.
The photo of the Ifugao mother and child was accompanied by the following caption:
[𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.]
MOTHERHOOD IN THE PHILIPPINES
He doesn't know that, after his mother, Uncle Sam is his best friend. Had he belonged to an earlier generation his childhood would have been spent at work in the fields until he was old enough to join father in head-hunting. Under American direction, the future probably holds for him an education and a respectable career as a farmer or as a member of the native police. At present he is just a healthy little Ifugao; mother's back is a warm and comfortable reality—and “Who is Uncle Sam, anyway?”
[𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.]
This woman and her child would be among the first Ifugaos/Igorots to appear im the pages of the esteemed magazine.
Note 1: The photo in this Facebook post is not from the 1917 issue of the National Geographic where it originally appeared. It's from a compilation book celebrating the magazine's 125-year history.
Note 2: Small coin placed to cover a sensitive part of the woman on the book to avoid flagging or deletion of this post by Facebook. As much as I want to show Igorot history as is, we have to play by the rules of the platform we use in these instances.
