According to legend, Sagada was founded as an ili or village by Biag, a man
from Bika in eastern Abra. The people from Bika were forced out of their ili by
raiding headhunters. Biag's family resettled in Candon but when baptism or the
giving of names was enforced, Biag's family chose to move back toward the
mountains in search for a settlement. Along the way, he and his siblings
decided to part ways. A brother, Balay, chose to return to Candon, a sister to
Abra. Another brother settled along the upper Abra River. Biag pushed further
to the east until he came to what is now Sagada.
