author
Roy Franklin Barton
1883–1947
An American ethnographer, teacher, and writer, he is best remembered for his close study of the Ifugao people of the northern Philippines and for books that brought their law, religion, and daily life to a wider audience.
1 Audiobook
Ifugao Law (In American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 15, No. 1)
by Roy Franklin Barton
About the author
Born in 1883, he became known for firsthand research in the Philippines, especially among the Ifugao. Sources consistently describe him as an American ethnographer and anthropologist, and several also note his training and work in other fields, including teaching and dentistry.
He spent many years studying Ifugao society and published influential works on topics such as law, religion, and economics, as well as more general writing about life in the Philippines. His work is still cited for its detailed record of Indigenous communities in northern Luzon.
He died in 1947. Even though some parts of his career were unusual and took him beyond the United States, his lasting reputation rests on the depth of his fieldwork and the vivid way he documented the people he lived among.