{{Short description|Headgear worn by Ivatan women}} {{Title language|ivv}} [[File:Ivatan Woman.png|thumb|An Ivatan woman wearing a {{Lang|ivv|vakul}}]] [[File:Corazon Aquino wearing a vakul.jpg|thumb|Philippine President Corazon Aquino wearing a {{Lang|ivv|vakul}} in 1989 during a visit to Batanes]]
A {{Lang|ivv|'''vakul'''}} (called a {{Lang|ivv|'''suot'''}} or {{Lang|ivv|'''soot'''}} when worn by men)<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Hornedo |first=Florentino H. |title=Taming the Wind: Ethno-Cultural History on the Ivatan of the Batanes Isles |publisher=University of Santo Tomas Publishing House |year=2000 |isbn=9715061230 |location=Manila |pages=18, 129}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Peters |first=Jens |title=Philippinen: Reise-Handbuch |date=2019 |publisher=JPP |isbn=978-3-923821-41-9 |edition=22. aktualisierte Auflage |location=Bremen}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Citation |last1=マドゥリッド |first1=ドミンゴ A. |title=Notes on the economic plants of Batanes : Citrus species and Phoenix loureiroi var. loureiroi |date=2009-10-30 |url=https://doi.org/10.15021/00003920 |access-date=2025-08-21 |publisher=国立民族学博物館 |language=en |doi=10.15021/00003920 |id=1 |last2=アゴー |first2=エスペランサ マリベル G. |last3=Domingo A. |first3=Madulid |last4=Esperanza Maribel G. |first4=Agoo |journal=国立民族学博物館研究報告 = Bulletin of National Museum of Ethnology |volume=34 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv23wf366 |title=The missing woodland resources: Archaeobotanical studies of the use of plant raw materials |date=2021 |publisher=Barkhuis |isbn=978-94-93194-35-9 |volume=6 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv23wf366 |jstor=j.ctv23wf366 }}</ref> is a protective headdress made and typically worn by Ivatan women of the Philippine Batanes and Babuyan Islands.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Ayeng |first=Raffy |date=2025-03-28 |title=Batanes resuscitates dying artisans' craftsmanship |url=https://tribune.net.ph/2025/03/28/batanes-resuscitates-dying-artisans-craftsmanship |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=Daily Tribune |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> It is woven from strands of abacá and vuyavuy palm fiber, and is designed to shield the wearer from excessive sun, wind, and rain.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Rowthorn |first1=Chris |title=Lonely Planet Philippines |last2=Choy |first2=Monique |last3=Grosberg |first3=Michael |last4=Martin |first4=Steven |last5=Orchard |first5=Sonia |date=June 2003 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |edition=8th revised |pages=203 |ol=8906497M }}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Pahimnayan-Pagador |first1=Sarah Jane S. |last2=Suizo |first2=John Dence S. |last3=Sanchez |first3=Carl Lorenzo O. |chapter=Rising from the Ruins: Proposed Policies and Intervention Plans to Revitalize and Conserve the Historic Village of Savidug |series=Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation |date=2025 |editor-last=Alberti |editor-first=Francesco |editor2-last=Bibri |editor2-first=Simon Elias |editor3-last=Piselli |editor3-first=Cristina |editor4-last=Gallo |editor4-first=Paola |editor5-last=Matamanda |editor5-first=Abraham R. |editor6-last=Rabiei |editor6-first=Hamid |editor7-last=Romano |editor7-first=Rosa |editor8-last=Ozcan Buckley |editor8-first=Ayse |title=Urban and Transit Planning (Vol 1): Strategies, Innovations and Climate Management |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-76096-9_23 |language=en |location=Cham |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland |pages=273–291 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-76096-9_23 |isbn=978-3-031-76096-9}}</ref> It can also serve as a mat for babies or as a pillow for farmers resting in their fields.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Mundo |first=Ida Anita Q. del |date=14 May 2006 |title=Vakul: Symbol of survival |url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/travel-and-tourism/2016/05/14/1583166/vakul-symbol-survival |access-date=2025-08-21 |website=Philstar.com}}</ref> The headgear consists of a hood going around the head and a cape down the back.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
To make {{Lang|ivv|vakul}}, collected vuyavuy leaves are first shredded with a metal brush, leaving the leaf's central rachis (central spine) intact, and then hung to air-dry for three days before being cut lengthwise along the rachis. Higher-quality {{Lang|ivv|vakul}} have a strip of abacá banana leaf string (made by quickly rolling abacá fiber between one's palm and leg)<ref name=":2" /> wrapped around the rachis. This makes the headdress more comfortable on the skin. Approximately fifty of these half-fronds are laid out overlapping in horizontal rows, which are then fastened together from top to bottom using plastic or abacá string. Each row of leaves is bound at the edges of the cape to abacá fiber. The fibers around the head are then trimmed above eye level. The hood is made waterproof by two pieces of abacá stem tissue covering the central eye of the hood. The headdress is then hung to air-dry for three days, during which it goes from green to straw-yellow.<ref name=":1" /> {{Lang|ivv|Vakul}} made entirely from abacá are called {{Lang|ivv|vakul abacá}}.<ref name=":2" />
{{Lang|ivv|Vakul}} take weeks to make, but are expected to last a lifetime, and are passed on between generations. Only women may weave {{Lang|ivv|vakul}}, and the handicraft is transmitted orally rather than in schools.<ref name=":3" /><ref>BENEDEK, DEZSO. ''A Comparative Study Of The Bashiic Cultures Of Irala, Ivatan, And Itbayat (yami; Batanes Islanders)'', The Pennsylvania State University, United States -- Pennsylvania, 1987''. ProQuest'', <nowiki>https://search.proquest.com/openview/6a47e779dec0fe3d796e37306e6a14db</nowiki></ref><ref name=":7" /> They are kept in the house and combed for maintenance.<ref name=":4" />
The {{Lang|ivv|vakul}} predates the arrival of the Spanish to the Philippines, outlasting the traditional bark clothing, which was replaced by handwoven cotton during the Spanish era.<ref name=":7" /> ''The Philippine Star'' describes the {{Lang|ivv|vakul}} as "an image synonymous with Batanes".<ref name=":6" /> A festival dedicated to the {{Lang|ivv|vakul}} and its male counterpart, a jacket called the {{Lang|ivv|kanayi}} or talugong, takes place annually in Sabtang.<ref name=":6" /> Some women in Sabtang earn a living from {{Lang|ivv|vakul}}-weaving, including for souvenirs.<ref name=":5" /> Sir Anril Tiatco writes that Sabtang "takes pride in being the home of the finest {{Lang|ivv|vakul}} and {{Lang|ivv|talugong}} weavers."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tiatco |first=Sir Anril Pineda |date=2023-01-29 |title=Performing the Traditional Fiesta in Batanes: Pistang Chavayan in Sabtang Island, Philippines |url=https://www.asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ_56_1_2020/Performing_Traditional_Fiesta_Batanes_Pistang_Chavayan_Sabtang_Philippines_Tiatco.pdf |journal=Asian Studies Journal |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=114–125}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Philippine headgear Category:Philippine handicrafts Category:Weaving