Where did our Igorot ancestors get their salt? Salt was a very valuable commodity in the olden days mostly because of its rarity. Igorot communities that were near the lowlands where salt were readily available often go down there to trade and acquire salt.
But what about the Igorots who were deep in the interior of the Cordillera mountains? They were hundreds of miles away from the lowlands. Where did they get their supply of the much-coveted salt?
Well, one major source of salt for these interior Igorots were natural hot springs. A great example were the Igorots in Bontoc especially those who lived in or near the village of Mainit where hot springs were plentiful. They found a way to extract salt from the hot springs using a long and complicated process.
How did they do it?
Here's an excerpt from an article published in 1966 and written by Augustus Ulat Saboy that detailed the salt-making process of the Igorots in Mainit:
[Beginning of excerpt.] "A suitable hot spring is selected from among the hundreds of thermal springs spurting all over the village. Moderately warm mineral springs usually are chosen.
The surrounding area is cleared of grass, rocks and dirt, and the hot spring is impounded into a small puddle by ringing it with small rocks. The floor of impounded mineral water is leveled to allow the water to rise about six inches from the floor of the puddle.
Stones Planted
Stones as big as man’s fist are gathered and “planted” at even distances on the water pool. An outlet is opened with a small stone used as value. This serves to regulate the flow of water so that the top of each stone on the floor of the puddle is left dry.
A conical shelter is then constructed over the puddle, with its caves reaching the ground edge of the hot spring pool. The sides of the ground are left open to let the air in.
Condensation
Through the natural process of condensation, which takes place in the sheltered pool, salt in the water vapor settles on the planted stones. In one week, the stones are thick with encrusted snow-white salt particles.
The salt is scraped off after it thickens to about an inch on top of the stones. The work, exclusively a woman’s job, is done with a bladed bamboo stick. Then the salt is winnowed into a vat on fresh water where it is dissolved.
Boiling
The vat, now full of salt solution, is boiled to extract the salt. Before it cools off, the salt in the vat is ladled into prepared base for wrapping into cakes.
The wrapped salt is “toasted” over charcoal fire until it hardens. The salt is now ready for long storage." [End of excerpt.]
Many of the folks in Mainit turned salt-making into a profession. "Mainit salt" reportedly travelled as far as Kalinga and Abra.
Salt-making in natural hot springs is no longer practical these days. Commercial salt is easily accessible and very cheap.
Photos: Images from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (Website)
