The Origin of Sagada

Generations ago, the town of Sagada did not exist. There were only hills and valleys around, but no town.

In one of these hills there dwelt a huge white dog that gave birth to a baby boy. The dog nursed the child and he grew up to be a sturdy boy. When the boy was about ten, he wandered off from their mountain home and got lost. He looked and looked for his dog mother but couldn't find her. When night came, he lay down on the soft grass under a tree and went to sleep. The next day, he renewed his search but in vain. At the end of the second day he came upon the opening of a cave and there he decided to spend the night. As he was looking for a nice snug place to sleep, he heard a voice. He turned around and saw a beautiful woman standing before him.

"What are you doing here?” she asked.

The boy told her the whole story, his dog-mother, how he got lost, and his fruitless search.

The woman, being kind-hearted, comforted the boy and said that he could sleep with her. She told him that she had a child too, a girl, and that she was probably asleep.

The next day, the boy wanted to go away and continue his search for his mother, but the woman bade him to stay, saying that he should stay in their cave with them because his mother had probably, in her anger over his absence gone off to another mountain to live. The boy was persuaded and so he stayed and lived with the woman and her child.

Years later, when the boy and the woman's child grew up to be a young man and woman, the woman told thay they must marry. They consented, married, and went to another cave to live. It so happened that this place was what is now known as Demang. Here, the first woman and man of Sagada dwelt. They begot many children, and thse in turn multiplied. They came out of their cave and built huts to live in.

That is how Sagada came to be.

(As told by Justo Dongail, Jr.)