Trophy, Trophies

Working Definition:

These terms may appear in several different contexts in U-M collections guides. For one, they may be used to refer to Philippine cultural artifacts taken by Americans as spoils during the Philippine-American War. The terms may also appear in collections guides referring to human remains within the context of “head hunting,” a custom once practiced by some Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines that became synonymous with sensationalized and racist depictions of Indigenous peoples of the Cordillera. These terms should be used with caution and properly historicized since they could potentially minimize or obscure the significance of Philippine cultural artifacts or reinforce exoticized tropes utilized by Westerners to describe cultural practices that they observed.

Related Terms:

• Philippine-American War

Suggestions for Further Reading:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/bells-balangiga-are-returned-philippines-after-more-century-n946346; Mark Rice, Dean Worcester’s Fantasy Islands: Photography, Film, and the Colonial Philippines (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2014); Alvita Akiboh, “The ‘Massacre’ and the Aftermath: Remembering Balangiga and The War in the Philippines,” U.S. History Scene, https://ushistoryscene.com/article/balangiga/.