Igorot once in Europe’s human zoo now symbol of anti-trafficking

Mountain Province’s annual observance of Timicheg Day intends to contribute ‘to the global movement against trafficking in persons, especially in indigenous and migrant-sending communities’

BAGUIO, Philippines – In 1913, a 28-year-old Bontoc man named Timicheg was among 60 Igorots taken to Belgium to be exhibited at the Ghent International Exposition, where they were forced to simulate tribal life in a fabricated “Igorot Village” for European audiences.

What began as a colonial spectacle ended in tragedy. Media reports from the time described their desperate conditions after they were left to roam the streets of Ghent. The United States government eventually repatriated the group, but Timicheg did not make it home. He died in a foreign land – ill, cold, and abandoned.

The US colonial period in the Philippines lasted from 1898 to 1946.

More than a century later, his home province honored his story by designating July 30 as “Timicheg Day against trafficking in persons,” recognizing the colonial-era trafficking of Igorots.

The local annual observance also intends to contribute “to the global movement against trafficking in persons, especially in indigenous and migrant-sending communities.”

An executive order signed by Mountain Province Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan on July 21 formalized the annual commemoration, which coincides with the United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

“(R)ectification is long overdue, not only for the grave injustices suffered by Timicheg, but for many other Igorots who were trafficked, displayed, and dehumanized during colonial expositions, and whose stories have been erased or ignored in official narratives of our nation’s past,” Lacwasan stated.

The order marked a formal recognition in the Philippines linking the colonial-era exploitation of Igorots with present-day concepts of human trafficking. It aims to deepen public understanding of historical injustices while promoting vigilance against ongoing recruitment and trafficking abuses, particularly among indigenous and rural communities.

Trafficked and exploited

Lawyer Cheryl Daytec-Yangot, head of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) in the Cordillera Administrative Region, proposed the annual celebration. She learned about Timicheg’s story when she was invited to speak at a gathering of Igorots in Europe.

“This story might have remained hidden if not for the City of Ghent’s act of remembrance,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “His name now stands as a solemn reminder of the many untold stories of exploitation suffered by Indigenous Peoples, stories often left out of our schoolbooks.”

Ghent passed a resolution in 2007 naming a tunnel in honor of Timicheg, which was formally inaugurated four years later. While the provincial government acknowledged the gesture of symbolic remembrance, it also noted the need for historical accountability and education.

In her research, Daytec-Yangot found that Richard Schneidewind, an American and veteran of the Philippine-American War, recruited Timicheg and his companions for the exposition and later abandoned them, fleeing with the profits.

She noted in her letter to the provincial board that under current Philippine laws, the group would be regarded as overseas Filipino workers and victims of human trafficking.

“They were transported through deception and coercion for the purpose of labor exploitation, among others,” she wrote. “This historical fact, though painful, must be made known not only to honor our past but to sharpen our present-day commitment to protecting those in vulnerable situations, especially among our Indigenous and migrant communities.”

“By honoring Timicheg in this way, we give voice to those forgotten by history. We take a stand not just against exploitation, but against erasure. We also strengthen our identity as a people who protect the dignity of Indigenous Peoples, past and present,” Daytec-Yangot added.

Historical exploitation

The case of Timicheg was one of several instances in which indigenous peoples from the Cordillera were taken abroad and exploited for entertainment under colonial rule.

In 1904, around 400 indigenous Filipinos, including many from Bontoc, were sent to the Saint Louis World’s Fair in the US. A similar display followed in Seattle in 1909.

The events involved the forced transport and public exhibition of indigenous Filipinos, particularly Igorots, as part of colonial “human zoos” that portrayed them as primitive. They were designed to simulate village life as part of large-scale displays intended to promote US colonial rule in the Philippines.

Lacwasan’s executive order described the early 20th century exhibitions as dehumanizing and noted that the suffering of Igorots like Timicheg had been excluded from official historical narratives. It also directs educational institutions to teach the history of Igorot participation in these expositions.

Lacwasan said his executive order was an act of historical rectification.

“The memory of Timicheg and other Indigenous Filipinos who were trafficked and exploited during colonial expositions must not be relegated to silence. Through public education, cultural recognition, and community mobilization, we reaffirm our collective dignity and our commitment to truth, memory, and justice,” he added. – Rappler.com