Preserving Threatened Wisdom in Indigenous Houses as Living Archives: An Ethnographic Study of Spatial, Gendered Knowledge, and Community-Based Preservation Strategies in the Philippines

This qualitative study explores how Indigenous houses function as living archives of identity, ecological wisdom, and gendered knowledge in Kalinga communities in the Cordillera region of the Philippines. Using an ethnographic design grounded in prolonged engagement and reflexive practice, the research documents how historical experience, social and cultural meanings, environmental adaptation, and community‑based preservation strategies are materially and symbolically embedded in Indigenous house construction and use. Data were generated through participant observation of everyday life and rituals in and around traditional square and octagonal houses; semi‑structured interviews with elders, women, builders, youth, and community leaders; focus group discussions in local languages; document review; and visual documentation of house forms and interior arrangements. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to identify patterns across talk, practice, and space. Overall, the study argues that Indigenous houses in Kalinga are not simply “old architecture” but living archives through which communities remember, adapt, and preserve who they are. It suggests implications for heritage policy, education, and community practice, and offers a conceptual and methodological framework that may be relevant to other Indigenous and vernacular housing traditions.