PART II. GENERAL MATERIAL CULTURE
CHAPTER V
THE MANÓBO HOME
IN GENERAL
The Manóbo, as a rule builds a house of no great pretensions, because he always remembers that an evil combination of omens or a death in the house or an attack by his enemies, may deprive him in the near future of his home. His best structure is better than the low wall-less Mañgguáñgan home but can not compare with the comparatively solid structure of the Mandáyas of Kati'il and the Debabáons of the Sálug country.
He has no tribal halls, no assembly houses. In fact, with the exception of a rude shack1 on his farm, built to shelter those who are guarding the crops against marauders (monkeys and birds), he builds only one house, where he and usually several of his relatives dwell until such time (usually after a year) as he finds it convenient or necessary to abandon it.
1Pin-ái-ag.
MOTIVES THAT DETERMINE THE SELECTION OF THE SITE
The motives that determine the selection of the site are twofold.
RELIGIOUS MOTIVES
It is obvious that in such an important undertaking the Manóbo must be guided by the omens and oracles that manifest to him the will of the supernal powers. Hence, as he sallies forth to seek the site, he keeps his ear alert for the turtledove's2 prophetic cry. If this is unfavorable, he returns home and resumes his search the following day. It frequently happens that this omen may be unfavorable for two or three successive days, but, however urgent the case may be, this bird's sacred warning must on no account be disregarded, for it would mean failure, disaster, or death, as the Manóbo can prove to you by a host of instances that happened within his memory, or that of his relatives. Once satisfied, however, with this first omen, he proceeds upon his journey and selects, from material motives that will be mentioned later on, a site for the new house, and returns to his people to inform them of the outcome of his journey.
2Li-mo-kon.
Now, the selection of the site is of such serious import to the Manóbo that he must assure himself, by every means in his power, that it is approved by the unseen powers, and for this purpose he has recourse to the egg omen and the suspension oracle. The former I witnessed on several occasions and in every case it proved auspicious. The bu-dá-kan or vine omen is sometimes consulted in selecting a house site, and the significance of the various configurations is the same as that described under "Divination or Omens." I was told that this latter omen is also taken in the forest before the final decision as to the selection of the site is made.
The occurrence of ominous dreams at this juncture, as also the passing of a snake across the trail, are considered of evil import, but the evil is neutralized by the fowl-waving ceremony that will be described later.
MATERIAL MOTIVES
When no further objection is shown by the "powers above" to the selection of the home site, the Manóbo is guided by such motives as fertility of soil, proximity of water, and fishing facilities, and, if he is in a state of vigilance against his enemies, as in remote regions he nearly always is, by desirability of the site for defense. In this latter case he selects a high place difficult of access, frequently a lofty mountain, and chooses the most strategic point upon it.
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES CONNECTED WITH THE ERECTION OF A HOUSE
An invocation to the special deities of the family is made by a priest, usually a relative. After an offering of a betel nut has been made to the local deities of this particular part of the forest, the head of the family, assisted by such of his numerous relatives as are able to help him, proceeds to clear the ground for the new building. When a more influential Manóbo begins to erect a capacious house, usually everyone in the vicinity--men, women, and children--attracted by the prospective conviviality that is sure to accompany the work, throng to lend a helping hand, so that in a few days the clearing is made, cleaned and planted, and the frame of the house with the roof completed.
People belonging to the less influential class may take months to complete the house, depending on the number of relatives who help them and on the leisure that they have. It is of importance to note here that the house must not be completed at once.3
3It is believed that the thatch must be allowed to turn yellow before the house is completed.
When the first post is put into the ground, a sacrifice is frequently made and a part of the victim's blood is poured upon the base of the post. As soon as the roof and floor have been constructed, a formal sacrifice of a chicken is made to the special divinities under whose protection the family is thought to be. The chicken must be of the color that is pleasing to these deities. An interesting feature of this ceremony is that the center of the floor, the place intended for the doorway, and one or more of the posts, are lustrated with the blood of the victim.
STRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE
THE MATERIALS
The materials for the house are taken from the surrounding forest and are generally of a light character. It is only in the erection of a house4 for defense that more substantial materials are employed.
4I-li-hán.
THE DIMENSIONS AND PLAN OF CONSTRUCTION
In height from the ground to the floor the house may vary from 1.50 to 8 meters, though a structure of the latter height is infrequent. In size it may be between 2 by 3 meters and 5 by 8 meters, but as a rule it is nearer to the former than to the latter figures. Rectangular in form, it is built upon light posts varying in number from 4 to 16, the 4 corner ones being larger and extending up to support the roof. Four horizontal pieces attached to these corner posts and, supported by several of the small posts, form, together with a few joints, the support for the floor. In order to give more rigidity to the building and to render the floor stronger, the joints are supported by several posts, these last being propped by braces set at an angle of about 45°. In the case of a house built for defense, the number of supports and crosspieces is such that the enemy would find it impossible to hack it down.
Houses built on trees were rare at the time of my stay among the Manóbos of the Agúsan Valley. In the few cases which I saw, the tree was cut off at a point about 2 meters above the divergence of the main branches from the trunk. Then the house was built in the ordinary way by erecting long auxiliary posts, the trunk of the tree and its main branches forming the principal support. In Baglásan, upper Sálug River, I saw a Debabáon house, belonging to Bagáni pinamailan Lantayúna, built on a tree but without any auxiliary posts.
No nails, and pegs only very occasionally are employed in fastening together the various parts of the structure. Either rattan strips or pieces of a peculiar vine5 are used in lashing the beams and crosspieces to the posts, whereas for the other fastenings, rattan strips are universally employed.
5Hag-nái-a (Stenochlena spp.).
THE FLOOR
The floor consists of laths of bamboo, or of a variety of palm6 laid parallel and running along the length of the house with more or less regular interstices. Almost universally one or both sides of the floor, for a width of 50 centimeters to 1.5 meters, are raised to a height varying from 10 to 50 centimeters above the main floor. This raised portion serves for a sleeping place, but in the poorer classes of houses the height of this platform is so slight that I think that there exists or has existed some superstitious belief connected with it, though I have been unable to elicit any positive information on the point. In houses of the better class one occasionally finds roughhewn boards used for the floor of these platforms, as also for the walls.
6A-ná-nau. Palma brava. (Livistonia sp.).
THE ROOF AND THE THATCH
The roof is of the gable style, but is four-sided, with two smoke vents, as may be seen in Plates 4b and 6a. The four beams that form the main support for the rafters are lashed to the posts of the house at a height varying from 1.5 meters to 2 meters above the floor. Four substantial rafters, resting upon the four beams just mentioned, run up at an angle of 45° from the corner posts. Upon these rafters rests the ridgepole. Numerous light rafters of wood or of bamboo extend from the ridgepole in parallel rows at intervals of 30 to 40 centimeters. They project about 50 centimeters beyond the side beams upon which they rest and serve to support the roofing material.
The thatch consists almost invariably of fronds of rattan gathered in the adjoining forest. This thatch is made by bending back on the midrib every alternate spike till all the spikes lie parallel. Another way is to cut the midrib in the center at the small end and tear the frond into two pieces. These half-fronds are neither so durable nor so serviceable as if the midrib is left entire. Two, three, or four of these fronds, or double that number of half-fronds, are then superimposed, and fastened to the rafters with rattan in shingle fashion.
In localities where sago palm is available an excellent thatch is made in the ordinary Philippine fashion by sewing the spikes of the frond to a slat of bamboo. It is claimed that this thatch will not last much more than a year, as it is a breeding place for a multitude of small cockroaches that seem to thrive upon it.
In the mountainous districts, where up to a few years ago feuds were rife, it was not uncommon to find houses roofed with big strips of bark, or with shingles of flattened bamboo. This style of roofing was employed as a precaution against the burning arrows used by the enemy during an attack.
There is always an extra layer of leaves over the ridgepole as a protection against the rain. Occasionally a long strip or two of bark is placed as a hood on the ridgepole to help prevent the entrance of the rain during the northwest monsoon, when it comes down in indescribable torrents.
A glance at the illustrations will show better than words can describe the peculiar smoke outlets invariably found in Manóbo houses. They not only afford an exit for the smoke, and admit light, but also permit, during storms, the entrance of an amount of rain that does not conduce to comfort.
THE WALLS
The walls are nearly always in the case of better class houses, light poles of wood or of bamboo, laid horizontally one above the other and tied to upright pieces placed at intervals for their support. In poorer houses palm fronds are tied loosely to a few upright pieces. The eaves project down almost as far as the top of the walls. The latter never extend to the roof, but are usually of such a height that a person sitting on the floor can see between the walls and the eaves the space surrounding the house. It is rare to find boards used for the walls, but, if used, they are roughhewn, and are laid horizontally and edgewise, one above the other. They are held in place with rattan strips.
The space, then, between the top of the walls and the roof is open all around the house and serves as one continuous window that affords more ventilation than light. The purpose of this peculiar arrangement seems to be for defense, for no one can approach the house from any side without being seen, and, in time of attack, it affords the inmates of the house an admirable vantage ground from which to ply their arrows.
THE DOORWAY AND THE LADDER
There is no door in a Manóbo house. In the middle of one end of the house a small opening is left scarcely wide enough for two persons to enter at one time. A notched pole leads up to this opening. If the house is high, a certain amount of maneuvering on the part of one not accustomed to it, may be required in climbing the pole, for there is seldon[sic] any rail to aid one and the notches are not of the deepest. This is another of the Manóbo's devices against enemies, for on occasions of attack the inmates of a house can dislodge by a slight movement of this cylindrical ladder any foolhardy enemy who might attempt, under protection of his shield, to make an ascent during a fight.
In the house of a chief or well-to-do Manóbo, one frequently finds a crude ladder for the convenience of the family dogs.
INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS
The internal arrangements of the house are very simple. The one ceilingless square area between the roof and the floor constitutes the house. There is no dining room, no kitchen, no bedroom, no toilet. Even the little stalls erected by Mandáyas for the married couples are very seldom to be found. The owner of the house occupies the part farthest from the door, and nearest the fire, while visitors are relegated to the part near the door.
DECORATIONS
No paint is applied to the house and, with the exception of a rude carving of the ridgepole into the suggestion of a human head with a rudimentary body, there is no decoration in the interior. On the outside, one frequently sees at the ends of the ridgepole, and set upright at right angles to each other, two narrow, thin pieces of wood about 1 meter long. Along the sides of these are cuttings which are intended to represent the crested head of a fowl, as the name given to them indicates.7
7Min-an-úk from mán-uk, a fowl.
THE FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT OF THE HOUSE
The Manóbo house fittings are of the scantiest and most necessary kind. The tenure of the house may be brief, depending, as it does, upon a suspicion of danger or even on a dream. So the Manóbo does not indulge in the luxury of chairs, tables, or similar articles. The upraised portion of the floor, or the floor itself, serves him as a chair and a bench. For a table he uses a small board such as is so universally used throughout Mindanáo by the poorer classes. Yet many are the houses that can not boast of even this simple equipment. He has no bedsteads, for the bamboo floor with a grass mat thrown over it affords him a cool and comfortable resting place. He has a fair abundance of mats, but they are ordinarily short, being made according to the length of the grass he happens to find. By day these mats are rolled up and laid aside on the floor or upon the beams of the house. If left on the floor, they afford the family dogs, who ensconce themselves therein, a convenient refuge from flies.
He dispenses with the use of pillows, unless the handiest piece of wood or of bamboo can be called a pillow. Lacking that, he lays his head upon the mat and enjoys as good a sleep, perhaps, as his more civilized fellowmen.
It is seldom, indeed, that he uses a mosquito bar, though wild abaká is abundant and his wife is a weaver. The mosquito bars which are in use are made out of abaká fiber. As the cloth for them, made on the ordinary loom, is less than a meter wide, and as much as 24 meters long, it must be cut up into strips nearly 2 meters long and sewn together to form the mosquito bar. It must be made of an odd number of pieces of cloth, for an even number is unlucky. A net made of 11 or 13 pieces is considered especially lucky. The use of the mosquito bar is very common among the conquistas of the Lake region.
Pictures and like ornaments are unknown, but in lieu of them may be seen trophies of the chase, such as wild-boar jawbones, deer antlers, and hornbill skulls and beaks. It is not infrequent to see the tail of some large fish fastened to one of the larger beams, under the roof. There is a special significance in the preservation of this trophy.
There is one article, however, which the Manóbo prizes as a mark of wealth and as a venerable relic. It is the sacred jar.8 I have been unable to obtain any information as to the origin of these jars except that they were usually obtained as marriage fees and that they were bought from the Banuáons. Be that as it may, they are a matter of pride in Manóboland, and on every occasion, festive and religious, they are set out, brimful of brew. Not every Manóbo is the proud possessor of one of these, but he who has one is loath to part with it. A glance at Plate 14 k, l, will give an idea of what these jars look like. They are decorated, as a rule, in alto relievo with figures of birds, snakes, etc., and to judge from their appearance are of Chinese workmanship. When given as marriage payments or for other purposes they are valued at about 4 pesos if they have no ears, but when they have ears they are worth as many pesos minus 1 as they have ears.
8Ba-hán-di.
Next to jars the Manóbo values plates and bowls, even those of the cheapest kind, and it is with a gleam of satisfaction on his face that the host sets out an array of old-fashioned plates for his guests. The Manóbo of the middle Agúsan, unlike his Mandáya neighbor, is particularly poor in plateware. I found houses that could not boast of a single plate, but as a rule each house has about four plates, a bowl, and a glass.
Depending from the roof are to be seen baskets of various shapes intended for a variety of uses, fish baskets, rice baskets of several kinds, storage baskets, betel-nut baskets, pack baskets, some of wickerwork and some of plaited rattan. Also, hanging from the rafters are to be seen fish traps, wild chicken traps, religious objects such as oblation trays, a guitar, or a bamboo harp, and if it is a priest's house, a drum and gong.
One sees almost invariably a nest or two up in a corner under the roof. They are for the domestic hens and are ungainly things, made ordinarily out of a piece of old matting. In these the hens lay their eggs, after meandering around the rafters and disturbing the inmates of the house with their cackling. After the eggs are laid, it is frequently necessary to drive the hens from the house.
The fireplace is another very important item in the house. It is usually located on the side of the house away from the door and near the wall. It consists of four roughhewn pieces of wood approximately 1 meter long and about 10 centimeters high, set together on the floor and lashed in the form of a rectangle. A piece of bark is placed on the floor within this rectangle, and the inclosed space is filled with earth. A half dozen stones form supports for the earthen jars. Above the fireplace is a rough frame for firewood, of which there is usually a plentiful supply. Here the wood is dried thoroughly before it is used.
In close proximity to the hearth and scattered around without any regard for tidiness may be seen the rice winnow, the bamboo water tube, the coconut-shell watercup, the rice paddles and ladles, leaves of banana and other plants, and the whetstone, while on the fireplace are seen a variety of earthen pots with their covers, and frequently an imported iron pan for cooking.
Tied up under the roof, but within reach, may be seen bows and arrows, probably a fish spear, or it may be, a fish rod. Spears and other weapons of defense which, when not in use, are unsheathed and put into a rude wooden rack made for the purpose, while the sheaths are hung up close by.
It is not exceptional to find a cage with a turtledove9 or a variety of parrakeet[sic]10 in it. The cage is usually hung from the roof under the eaves outside the wall. The turtledove is kept for religious purposes, whereas the parrakeet[sic] is kept as other people keep a pet bird, though it is occasionally employed by the young folks as a lure to attract its wild fellows to the bird line.
9Li-mó-kon. (Phabitreron brevirostris Tweedale). Generally called fruit dove.
10ku-li-li-si.
THE UNDERPART AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE HOUSE
The space under the fireplace is usually not occupied because of the water and refuse that fall from the kitchen, but to one side of it is the inevitable pigpen, containing a pig or two. It is only the wealthier Manóbos who can boast of more than a few, for the maintenance of many would be a heavy drain on their limited food supply. These few pigs subsist on such scraps and parings as may be thrown or allowed to fall down to them.
To one side of the pigpen, if there is room, is placed the rice mortar, an article of indispensable necessity in every household. In it is hulled with wooden pestles, and frequently in measured time, the daily supply of rice.
At the time when the house is constructed, the forest adjoining is cleared, and camotes,11 a little sugarcane, and a few other things are planted. The house usually overlooks this clearing at least on one side. On the other sides there is usually the grim, silent forest. When the house is built with a view to defense, trees are felled all around in such a way as to make a regular abatis. Ordinarily there are at least two trails, one, a main trail, so tortuous and difficult, in the generality of cases, that it would lead one to imagine that the owner of the house had deliberately selected it for its difficulties, the other, a trail leading to the watering place. In approaching the house the visitor is obliged to climb over fallen logs, the passing of which requires no little maneuvering on the part of a novice. Without a guide it would be often difficult, if not impossible, to locate the houses, even if one had been shown their location from a distance.
11Ipomoea batatas.
ORDER AND CLEANLINESS OF THE HOUSE
As from one to four families may live in a single house, it is needless to say that there is generally a decided appearance of disorder, as well as a tumult that baffles description. In the only room of the house are congregated the married couples, generally a few extra relatives, their children, and their dogs. The Manóbos are naturally very loud talkers, their children, especially the infants, are as noisy as children the world over, and their dogs, which may number from 3 to 15, are so constituted that, when they are not fighting with one another, they may at any moment, without apparent motive or provocation, begin one grand dismal howl which, united to the crying of the babies and to the loud tones of their elders, produces a pandemonium. It is at meal times that the pandemonium waxes loudest, for at that time the half-starved dogs, in their efforts to get a morsel to eat, provoke the inmates to loud yells of "Sida, sida,"12 and to other more forcible actions.
12An exclamation to drive away a dog.
In a large house, with such a conglomeration of human beings, it is obvious that an impression of confusion is made upon the visitor. The performance of the various culinary operations by the women, the various employments in which the men are engaged, making arrows, fish traps, etc., the romping of the children, all these tend to heighten the impression. But the Manóbo goes on with his work, tranquil in the midst of it all, savoring his conversation with incessant quids of betel nut or tobacco.
The Manóbo has not yet come to a knowledge of the various microbes and parasites that are liable to undermine the foundations of health, so that the sanitary condition of his house is not such as would pass a modern inspection. Both men and women are inveterate chewers of betel nut and tobacco, and, instead of using a spittoon, they expectorate the saliva through the interstices of the floor or anywhere that they may find convenient, thereby tinging the floor and walls a bright red. As the Manóbo broom is a most crude affair made out of a few twigs, it does not remove all the remains of the meals as they lie spread over the floor. The peelings of sugarcane, the skin of bananas and of other fruits, the remains of rattan, and such other refuse as may be the result of the various occupations that take place in the house are all strewn around the floor and frequently are not removed for a considerable length of time.
In the preparation and cooking of food a considerable amount of water fails necessairly[sic] under the house which, together with the excreta of the inmates and the other refuse, animal and vegetable, produces a somewhat unfavorable appearance and sometimes an unpleasant odor.
There is no drainage, artificial or natural and no means are provided for the removal of the ordure, unless it be the services of the scavenger pigs, who busy themselves as soon as they become aware of the presence of refuse. The effluvium, however, usually does not reach the inmates unless the house is very low.
As the smoke outlets are comparatively remote from the fireplace, it is obvious that the smoke does not make a rapid exit, but wreathes up among the beams and rafters thereby blackening them out of all semblance to wood. The underside of the thatch, especially those portions above the fire, receives a goodly coating of soot which, mixed with the greasy emanations from the pots, assumes a lustrous black.
Another matter that tends to give the house an air and feeling of uncleanliness is the host of small insects, presumably a species of cockroach, that infest the thatch, and, notwithstanding the volume of smoke that at times almost suffocates the inmates, swarm down into the baskets used for provisions and for other things. These multitudinous insects seem to flourish on the rattan vine especially, and no means are known whereby to exterminate them. Ants, especially the white ant, pay frequent visits to the house, but the worst scourge of all is the ravenous bedbug. This unpleasant insect is found under the joists just beneath the floor laths, but in greatest numbers under those parts of the floor that are continually used as sleeping places, and in the hammocks. Occasionally an effort is made to scrape them out, but they are so cunning in concealing themselves and breed with such rapidity that efforts to get rid of them are unavailing.
The presence of vermin on the bodies of the Manóbos is due to the lack of soap and of washing facilities. But, if questioned, these primitive people will inform you, that the vermin are natural growths or excretions proceeding from the inside.13 It is for this reason that no shame is exhibited in removing publicly the pests from the clothes or from the hair. Owing to the custom of the people of huddling together during the night these insects are propagated from one individual to another, so that it is seldom that the Manóbo is free from them.
13I found this belief to be almost universal in eastern Mindanáo.
CHAPTER VI
DRESS
GENERAL REMARKS.
DELICACY IN EXPOSURE OF THE PERSON
Like all tribes of eastern Mindanáo, Manóbos, both men and women, wear sufficient clothes to cover the private parts of the body. Children up to the age of 5 or 6 years may go without clothes, but female children commonly wear a triangular pubic shield1 of coconut shell, suspended by a waist string. Men, though they may denude themselves completely when bathing, always conceal their pudenda from one another's gaze.
1Pú-ki.
Married and elderly women may occasionally expose the upper part of their persons, but unmarried girls seldom do so. No delicacy is felt in exposing the breasts during the suckling of a babe.
VARIETY IN QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF CLOTHES
The quantity and quality of clothes worn varies slightly in different localities. The farther away from settlements the people live, the poorer and less elaborate is the dress, due to their inability to obtain the imported cloth and cotton yarn, for which they entertain a high preference. On the upper Agúsan, where the Manóbos have adopted a certain amount of Mandáya culture, their apparel partakes of the more gorgeous character of that of the Mandáya. In places where they are of Mañgguáñgan descent, as is often the case on the upper Agúsan, on the Mánat, on the upper Ihawán and tributaries, and on the upper Sálug, their clothes resemble those of their poor progenitors. In the middle Agúsan (including the Wá-wa, Kasilaían, lower Argáwan, lower Umaíam, lower Ihawán, Híbung, and Simúlau Rivers) the dress may be called characteristically Manóbo.
THE USE OF BARK CLOTH
The use of bark cloth2 in a region situated somewhere between the headwaters of the Libagánon and the Sábud, a western tributary of the Ihawán, was reported to me. My informants, both on the Sálug River and on the Umaíam River, spoke of the people of that locality as true Manóbos, very dark in color, and wearing bark clothes. If this report is correct, and I am inclined to give credence to it, it is probably the only case at the present time of the use of bark cloth in Mindanáo, excepting perhaps among the Manánuas[sic].
2A-ga-hán.
DRESS AS AN INDICATION OF RANK
There are no characteristic dresses by which the rank or profession of the wearer is indicated except that of the warrior chief. Female priests very frequently may be distinguished by a prodigality of charms, talismans, and girdle pendants, as also by a profuseness of embroidery on the jacket, but such lavishness is not necessarily an infallible sign of their rank as priestesses but rather of their wealth. Neither is it a mark of their unmarried condition, for in Manóboland, as in other parts of the world, the maiden loves to display her person to good advantage and for that reason decks herself with all the finery of which she may be the possessor.
Slaves may be recognized by the wretchedness of their clothes.
DRESS IN GENERAL
The man's dress invariably consists of long loose trousers or of close-fitting breeches, and of a moderately tight-fitting, buttonless jacket. These two articles of dress are supplemented by a bamboo hat, a betel-nut knapsack, and by such adornments in the shape of beads, and other things, as the man may have been able to acquire.
The woman's dress consists almost invariably of a close-fitting, buttonless jacket with red body and black sleeves. Her skirt is a double sacklike garment made out of abaká fiber. A girdle of braided human hair or of braided vegetable fiber holds this coarse dress in place. A selection of beads, shells, and herbs hang from this girdle at the right side. A comb in the hair, a pair of ear disks in the ears, a few necklets, and frequently leglets, complete the apparel. The children's clothing is a duplicate of that of their respective parents on a smaller and less elaborate scale.
PREFERENTIAL COLORS IN DRESS
In the matter of color a decided preference is shown for red, yellow, white, and dark blue. This is not so exacting in the case of beads, which are purchased indiscriminately, but even in these I am of the opinion that if there were a choice in the supply, the above-mentioned colors would be preferred.
The Manóbo, then, is not encumbered with all the weight and variety of modern modes and fashions. Shoes, slippers, and hose are not a part of his apparel. Blankets and other articles for protection against cold are not to be found in his wardrobe. In the house and out of the house, by night and by day, in peace and in war, his dress is the same, one suit for every day usage and one for festal occasions and for visits.
THE MAN'S DRESS
HATS AND HEADKERCHIEFS
The hat worn on the Ihawán, upper Agúsan, and upper Simúlau resembles that worn by Mandáyas. It is made out of two pieces of bamboo,3 dried over the fire into the desired shape, and is held together by two slender strips of rattan running around and stitched to the edges of the headpiece proper. These pieces project backward and overlap to form the tail of the hat. The upper surface of the whole hat is then painted with beeswax. The sustaining pieces of rattan around the rim and the under surface of the back part receive a heavy coating of this same material mixed with pot black. Odd tracings and dottings of beeswax and soot or of the juice of a certain tree4 serve to decorate the whole upper surface; small seed beads, usually white, are often sewed around the rim in a single row and at slight intervals, or are sewed on the top, especially around the conical peak. Little tufts of cotton are sometimes dotted over the top, and occasionally one finds the emerald green wings of a beetle5 placed in the seams on top. All of these devices serve to enhance the beauty of the headpiece.
3Caña bojo.
4Ka-yú-ti.
5Called dú-yau.
A notable feature of the hat is five or six tail plumes of a domestic rooster. These are set upright in small holes in the back part of the hat and are held in place by lumps of beeswax placed at the ends of the quills, which protrude through the bamboo. It is needless to say that the most gaudy plumes are selected for this purpose. They enhance in no small degree the elegant appearance of the hat. These plumes curve very gracefully indeed, and nod in unison with every movement of the wearer.
The hat is held on the head by two strings made either of braided imported cotton of the typical colors, of abaká fiber of the same colors, of vegetable fiber, or of slender slips of rattan. These two strings, often strung with beads, are attached at both ends of the hat and are sufficiently loose to permit the head of the wearer to be inserted between them. A further adornment may consist of two or more beaded pendants that may be tipped with tassels of imported cotton of the preferential colors.
The hat, on the whole, is serviceable, economical, and cool, and serves to set off its wearer to good advantage and to protect his hair from the rain. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the decorative tracings and appanages on the hat have no other significance than that of personal adornment.
A second form of head covering, in use in the parts of the Agúsan River Valley not mentioned above, as also among the Manóbos of the Pacific coast,6 is circular. It is made of the sago palm or of bamboo. It varies in diameter between 25 and 35 centimeters and has the shape of a low broad cone. The edges, like those of the hat already described, are reinforced with rattan painted with a mixture of beeswax and pot black for preserving the rattan against atmospheric influences. No paint is applied to the sago sheath, but the beeswax is applied to the bamboo as a preservative against cracking. Neither are any decorative incisions or tracings used in this form of hat, it being primarily and essentially for protection against sun and rain. Two parallel strips of rattan fastened at the ends of a diagonal serve to hold the hat in position on the head.
6The Manóbos of the Pacific coast inhabit the upper waters of the Kantílan, Tándag, Tágo, Marihátag, Húbo, Bislig, and Liñgig Rivers.
A noteworthy feature of this hat is that within the area mentioned above, it is frequently worn by women. I know of no other headdress that is employed by the female members of the Manóbo, Mandáya, and Debabáon tribes.7
7The Manóbos of the lower Agúsan, inhabiting the towns of San Vicente, Amparo, San Mateo, Las Nieves, and surrounding regions are not referred to here. The Debabáons are looked upon as forming a separate tribe till further investigation.
Besides the headkerchief,8 worn universally by warrior chiefs9 and recognized warriors10 throughout all tribes in eastern Mindanáo, a kerchief11 bound round the head is very often worn by Manóbos of the Argáwan and Umaíam Rivers.
8Tá-bang.
9Ba-gá-ni.
10Man-ík-i-ad.
11Pó-dung.
THE JACKET
In general the jacket is close-fitting, square-cut, and closed. It has long sleeves and a tongue-shaped opening for the head extending from the neck downward in front. Ordinarily the jacket is scarcely long enough to reach the top of the trousers. It is not rare to find a narrow strip of cloth of a color different from the rest of the jacket inserted between the sleeves and body of the garment or running down the waist between the two pieces that form the body. This sidepiece in the jacket of men and women serves to give the desired width to the garment and the variation in color secured by it is regarded as an addition to the general ornamental effect. The jacket is embroidered more or less elaborately according to the skill of the embroiderer and the amount of imported cotton yarn available. This embroidery is done on the back from shoulder to shoulder in a band from 4 to 6 centimeters broad, and in continuous narrow lines around the neck opening, along the seams between the sleeves and body of the garment, on the lower parts of the sleeves, around the waist at the bottom of the garment, and down the arm at the joining of the sleeves; in a word, over all seams.
In the central portion of the Agúsan Valley and on the Pacific coast, the most common form of jacket is made of unstained abaká fiber cut like the one just described. It has, however, inwoven in the cloth, horizontal parallel lines of dark-blue yarn on the back and the upper part of the front. These dark-blue bands are set at intervals from each other and usually amount to from six to nine lines in number. Tufts of cotton in a continuous recurrence of red, yellow, and dark blue, without any interstices, cover all the seams. If there is any embroidery, it is upon the lower part of the sleeves, on that part of the jacket that covers the back of the neck, and along the seams between the sleeves and the body of the jacket. The distribution of this style of garment is very wide. I have seen it on the Tágo River (Pacific coast), on the upper Umaíam, Argáwan, Kasilaían, and Simúlau Rivers.
On the upper Agúsan, including the upper Bahaí-an, Ihawán, and Baóbo Rivers, a style that resembles the Mandáya is most frequently to be seen. The jacket is made of a gauze-like abaká cloth dyed black, or preferably of black or blue imported cloth. One frequently finds, for ornamental purposes, just above the wrists or between the sleeves and the body of the jacket, or down the waist between the main pieces of the garment, thin strips of white cloth inserted. Usually there is no embroidery as such, the previously described alternating tufts of cotton yarn covering all, or nearly all, the seams. When, however, it is desired and it is feasible to adorn the garment with embroidery, the back-of the jacket from shoulder to shoulder, the space along the shoulder seams and the back and front of the sleeves are selected for this prupose[sic]. Bands 5 to 7 centimeters in breadth of more or less intricate pattern are embroidered in these places, with much patient labor and no little skill. It is needless to say that the ordinary colors, with a predominance of red, are used.
THE LOWER GARMENT
The lower garment is of two kinds, one being a short, close-fitting garment made out of either undyed abaká fiber with a woof of native cotton or of imported blue cloth. This garment resembles closely the ordinary bathing tights. It is the working breeches of the Manóbo and makes no pretense of being ornamental. The white or undyed form is the more common.
The other kind of lower garment worn by the men may be called trousers, though they reach only about halfway between the knees and the ankles. They are square-legged and baggy, made of undyed abaká fiber or of abaká fiber with a woof of cotton, both undyed. Whenever it is obtainable, imported blue cloth is used. The two legs of the trousers are each about 65 centimeters long by 24 centimeters broad and are joined together by a triangular piece of cloth. These trousers are worn on festive and other occasions that require a display of personal dignity.
The decoration of the trousers consists usually of fringes of imported cotton attached to all the seams except those around the waist. When it is considered desirable to make a more showy garment, embroidery of cotton yarn is added to the ends of the legs and to the part that covers the sides of the calves. The designs used depend on whether the wearer is of the central or of the upper Agúsan group.
THE GIRDLE
Around the waist of the garment is a hem through which passes a drawstring or girdle usually of braided abaká fiber dyed in the usual colors, with dependent extremities and tassels of imported cotton, also in the preferential colors. On the upper Agúsan one finds at times beads and even small bells added to the tassels. These are allowed to hang down in front.
The method of fastening the girdle is by the ordinary method of tieing[sic], or by another simple method, which consists in attaching near one end of the drawstring the operculum of a shell said to be found in the forests. At the other end of the girdle is a loop large enough to admit the operculum, which on being slipped into this loop retains the garment in position.
THE BETEL-NUT KNAPSACK12
12Pú-yó.
The knapsack is such an omnipresent, indispensable object that it may be considered a part of Manóbo raiment. It is a rectangular bag, on an average approximately 30 by 25 centimeters, with a drawstring for closing it. This string is nearly always of multicolored braided abaká fiber, and is a continuation of the strings by which the knapsack is suspended on the back from the shoulders, so that when it is carried in that position the mouth of it is always closed. The cloth of which it is made is the usual undyed abaká cloth, though among the upper Agúsan group one finds in use blue imported cloth or, perhaps more frequently, Mandáya cloth,13 imported especially for knapsacks.
13Called gú-au.
The decoration consists of embroidery, more or less extensive, of the type that is characteristic of the wearer's group and which corresponds to that of his dress, if the dress is decorated. Tassels of imported cotton at the extremities of the drawstrings, and perhaps pendants of small seeds, or beads, usually white, together with cotton fringes in proper colors, enhance the beauty of the knapsack. As a rule, however, among the Manóbos of regions remote from Christian settlements, one finds little attempt at decoration, either of the dress or of the knapsack. A few fringes of cotton yarn and a little ornamental stitchwork are about the only display attempted. This lack of decoration is due not only to the fact that they have little cotton yarn, but also to lack of ability on the part of the women. The latter fact might lead the observer to conclude that the art of embroidery and cloth decoration originated outside the tribe.
THE WOMAN'S DRESS
THE JACKET
The great distinguishing mark of a woman's dress is the difference in color between the body of the upper garment, which is almost invariably red, and the sleeves, which must always be of a different color. Should the body be made of black cloth, then the sleeves are always of red. And if the sleeves are of black, blue, or white, then the body must be of red.
Another differentiating feature of the woman's jacket is that the cuffs, if they may be so called, are generally of the color of the body of the garment, and that the pieces often inserted between the main parts of the body and extending vertically down the sides from the armpits are of the same color, and, if possible, of the same material as the upper parts of the sleeves. These two points, together with the more extensive and elaborate embroidery, serve to distinguish the woman's upper garment from the man's.
In the regions which I visited the styles of jackets may be reduced to two, the more elaborate types of which are as follows:
The upper Agúsan style.--On the upper Agúsan, on the Ihawán (excepting on its western tributaries), and on the Bahaían, the woman's jacket partakes of the style and characteristics of that of the Mandáya. In shape it is not different from that of the man, but is more close-fitting, especially the sleeves, which may be compared to a long cylinder. Lines of cotton yarn in alternating colors cover and adorn the seams and the oval-shaped opening for the neck, but are not found on the bottom of the jacket. Embroidery of skillful and intricate design, in bands about 5 or 6 centimeters wide, adorns the garment on the back from shoulder to shoulder and around the seam at which the sleeves are joined to the body of the jacket.
This garment is made out of either gauzelike abaká cloth of native weaving, dyed either red or black, or it is of imported European cloth obtained by barter. Sometimes it is a combination of the two, when enough imported cloth has not been obtained.
The style of the central group.--The main differences between this style and that just described are that the latter is more loosely cut in the body and sleeves, is more profusely embroidered, and has a longitudinal cut in the cuffs for the admission of the hands. One finds, too, but only very occasionally, a type of jacket in which the sleeves are white and the body black.
The embroidery may be so profuse that it covers not only the lower halves of the sleeves and the back of the neck, but the whole front of the garment.
THE GIRDLE AND ITS PENDANTS
The girdle may be a mere braided cord of abaká fiber often mixed with strands of cotton yarn, but more commonly it is a series of braided cords of nito,14 or of human hair. The girdle is made by braiding the nito or the hair into circular cords, each about 45 centimeters in length and about 2 millimeters in width. Anywhere from 10 to 20 of these braids are fastened together by involving the ends in small pieces of cloth wrapped with cotton yarn of the preferential colors.
14Lygodium circinnatum sp.
To one end of this girdle is attached a numerous array of beads, shells, and charms. To the other is attached a braided abaká cord, also variegated with the proper colors, which enables the wearer to fasten and tighten the girdle. One frequently sees white seed beads in greater or less quantity strung on each cord of this form of belt.
The pendants are a very noticeable feature of the girdle. Hung from the right side they present to the eye anything but a pleasing effect. Bundles of white scented grass, about 5 centimeters long by 1 centimeter in diameter, that have dried to a semblance of hay, detract most from the appearance of the wearer. The whole mass of pendants is a tangle of divers objects, the quantity of which depends upon the good fortune of the wearer. The following are the objects that may be found among these pendants: Large hawk bells, seldom exceeding six in number and ordinarily not more than three; bunches of odorous grass, amounting sometimes to as much as eight in number; the red seed of the ma-gu-hai tree; small shells, especially cowry shells, picked up, it is said, in the forest; the pods of the ta-bí-gi tree, one or more, used for carrying incense15 for religious purposes; odoriferous seeds and roots16 cut up small and strung on abaká filaments with such beads as the wearer may not desire to use, because of their color or shape, for the ornamentation of other parts of his body.
15Called pa-lí-na. It is obtained by tapping the ma-gu-baí tree.
16The following are the native names of the roots and plants seen by the writer: ta-bó, the seed of a plant which looks like a sweet potato; sá-i, a helmet-shaped seed of a tree of the same name; kú-su, the root of a leguminous plant; ma-gu-baí, the bright red seed of a tree of the same name. It is interesting to note that this same seed is used for the eyes of sacred images. Ka-bis-da' and ko-múd-la are also made use of.
The purpose of these various objects is, to all appearances, to ornament the person and to impart a fragrance to the wearer. In this last respect the redolent herbs and seeds admirably fulfill their purpose. But many of these objects serve other ends, medicinal and religious. I took no little pains in investigating this point, but the replies to my inquiries were at times so indeterminate, at others so varied, and so contradictory that I can not make any definite statement; but I am strongly inclined to believe, for sundry reasons, that both medicinal and magic powers are attributed to many of the innocent-looking objects that go to make up the girdle pendants.
THE SKIRT
The Manóbo woman is not encumbered with all the wearing apparel of more cultured tribes. She vests herself with the simple sacklike skirt of good strong abaká cloth, durable, and admirably suited to her manner of life.
As the cloth comes from the loom it is in one long rectangular piece (3.6 meters by 90 centimeters more or less). It is cut in two and the ends of each of the two pieces are sewed together, so that two bottomless sacks are made. These two sacks are then joined together, thus forming one long rectangular garment, which by night serves for blanket, sheet, and frequently mosquito bar, and by day for a skirt. When used as a skirt, it is folded over in such a way that it resembles two sacks, one inside the other. As it is considerably larger than the person of the wearer it must be drawn to one side, always the left, and tucked in. The lower part of the garment on the left side bulges out so far that it makes the woman's figure ungraceful in appearance.
From the dimensions given above it follows that the dress does not reach much below the knees, a salutary arrangement, indeed, for one whose occupations lead her through the slush of forest trails and the grime of farming life.
There are two types of skirt in common use; first, the type that is of purely Manóbo manufacture, and, second, the type that is imported from the Mandáyas of southeastern Mindanáo.
The purely Manóbo type is distinguished by its simplicity and absence of elaborate design. Alternating bands of red and black, with dividing lines of white, all running longitudinally along the warp, and inwoven, are the only effort at beauty of design.
The second form of skirt is that imported from the Mandáyas or purchased, whenever obtainable, from Bisáya traders or, on the upper Agúsan, from trafficking intermediaries. It is striking with what appreciation the Manóbo regards this article. A Manóbo from the Argáwan and Umaíam will travel over to Hinatuán, a journey of three or four days, to procure a piece of Mandáya skirt cloth. He values it above the costliest pieces of European fabric that he has seen. The Manóbo woman upon seeing a fine specimen dances with joy, and is long and loud in her praise of it. No value is too high for such a specimen and no sacrifice too great to purchase it.
The explanation of this high regard in which Mandáya cloth is held is simple. The cloth is made, I was habitually assured by Manóbos, by enchantment, under the direction of the priestesses in the lofty mountain fastnesses of Mandáyaland.17 No other explanation will satisfy the credulous Manóbo. He can not possibly understand how the fanciful and elegant designs on Mandáya cloth can be produced by other than supernatural means.
17I have covered nearly the whole of the Mandáya country and can testify to the numerous religious practices and restrictions connected with the fabrication of the cloth.
The cloth as it comes from the loom is of practically the same size as Manóbo cloth and it is made into the form of a skirt in identically the same way. The only difference is that the Mandáya fabric is heavier and has a beautiful inwoven pattern.
A minute description of the patterns would be needlessly lengthy and necessarily deficient. In general, it may be said that the designs are executed in longitudinal panels, of which there are several lateral and one central, all of which run parallel and warpwise. The main figures are four, two grotesquely suggestive of a crocodile but more nearly portraying a turtle, and two that delineate the fanciful figure of a woman. The intermediate parts of the panels consist of reticulations whose general design depends upon the skill and whim of the weaver.18
18The cloth is classified (1) according to the color of the woof threads (pu-gáu-a) into kan-aí-yum (black) and lin-í-ba (red); (2) according to the design on the central panel--ím-pis no laí-ag if it is 25 centimeters wide, bin-a-ga-kís if the central panel is no wider than the lateral ones; (3) according to the use of narrow (sin-ák-lit) or of broad (pin-al-áw-an) white stripes; (4) according to the locality in which the cloth is manufactured, the most famous and most prized cloth being called ban-a-háw-an, which proceeds from the Banaháwan district in the Kasaúman River Valley in the southeastern part of Mindanáo. The Mañg-á-gan type is highly esteemed for being very similar in design and dye effects to the Banaháwan. It is made by the Tagabuztai group of Mandáyas in the Karága River Valley.
CHAPTER VII
PERSONAL ADORNMENT
GENERAL REMARKS
The adornment of the person is confined almost exclusively to women so that the following observations apply principally to them. In the discussion of bodily mutilations reference will be made to such permanent adornment as tattooing, perforation and elongation of the ear lobes, superciliary and axillary depilation, grinding of the teeth, and the blackening of the teeth and lips--all of which, with the exception of the elongation of the ear lobes, are common to both men and women.
The finger nails of both sexes are sedulously clipped, not even thumb-nails being allowed to grow long. This may be due to the fact that these latter are not required for playing the guitar, nor for gambling with cards, in which occupations they prove a valuable aid to the Bisáya of the Agúsan Valley.
HAIR AND HEAD ADORNMENT
CARE AND ORNAMENTATION OF THE HEAD
With the exception of the Manóbos of the far upper reaches of the Argáwan, Umaíam, and Sábud Rivers, whom I did not visit, and of Manóbos who live in settlements and may have adopted the hairdressing methods of Bisáyas, one mode of dressing the hair is almost invariably in use by both men and women. The hair is parted in a straight line over the cranium from ear to ear. The front division is then combed forward over the forehead where it is banged square from ear to ear in the plane of and parallel to the superciliary ridges. The back division is combed back, and after being twisted into a compact mass, is tied in a chignon upon the crown of the head. The knot is a single bow, which from our standpoint is not very prepossessing.
In men the chignon is usually lower, being about half way between the crown and the nape of the neck.
One occasionally sees two locks of hair left hanging down in front of the ears to the level of the jaws. This fashion is not very prevalent even on the upper Agúsan, and is probably adopted from the Mandáyas.
No fillets, flowers, garlands nor any other ornamentation are ever used on the hair. Coconut oil, if obtainable, is used, but the meat of the coconut, rasped or chopped into small particles, is preferred, whenever it can be obtained. As a wash for the hair, wild lemons, the seed of an uncommon tree whose name has escaped my memory, and the bark of a tree, are used sporadically. I can not laud the condition of the hair. Notwithstanding the fact that a crude bamboo comb with close-set teeth is made use of, the vermin are never eliminated.
On occasions the hair of children is cut for the purpose of promoting its growth, and the hair of female slaves is often cut as a punishment. With these exceptions, the hair is never cut, being left with all the profusion which nature gives it.
COMBS
An ornamental comb is always worn by women. It consists of a segment of bamboo, 7 or 8 centimeters long and 5 centimeters high, curved while still green and made to retain its shape by a slip of bamboo fastened into two holes on the concave side. The teeth are whittled out and the upper part and sides are cut into the characteristic shape seen in Plate 9. On the front or convex side of the comb are ornamental incisions the style and variety of which depend upon the caprice and adeptness of the fashioner. Skeat and Blagden1 quote an authority who asserts that the tribes of the Malay Peninsula attribute magic properties to the decorative incisions on their combs. Following out this idea, the writer made numerous inquiries in the Agúsan Valley as to the existence of a similar or of an analogous attribution but found none. According to all reports these patterns are purely esthetic in their character, with no magic or other attributes. The fact that among the Manóbos of the upper Agúsan in the vicinity of Veruéla, one finds combs without incised work and among the Manóbos of Argáwan, Umaíam, and Kasilaían one occasionally sees combs with circular, square, and triangular pieces of mother-of-pearl inlaid, is an indication of the absence of the aforesaid belief. In fact, combs of the last-mentioned type seem to be more highly prized than the plain incised bamboo ones, a fact due probably to the scarcity of mother-of-pearl. Another point that goes to bear out the above statement is the fact that no reluctance is displayed in parting with a comb, no matter how intricate or unusual may be its incisions.
1Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula.
On the upper Agúsan it is not rare to find combs that have a band of beaten silver with a fretwork pattern laid across the convex part above the teeth. These combs, however, are imported from the Debabáons of Moncáyo or from the composite group living farther up the river. The writer knows of no Manóbo silversmith.
No hairpins nor other means of fastening the hair are made use of, neither are any dyes nor other materials used to alter its color.
EAR DISKS
Another ornament found on the Manóbo woman's head is the ear disk. This is a disk of wood2 about 3 centimeters in diameter, and 6 millimeters wide, with a small groove around the edge in which rests the edge of the ear perforation. When the wearer has been lucky enough to get a thin lamina of silver or of gold3 it is fastened on the outside of the wooden disk by means of a few strands of imported cotton yarn nearly always red. The yarn passes through a hole in the lamina and in the disk, a little tuft being left over the hole. These metal plates have usually stellate edges and are often decorated with a simple chiseled pattern. They are rare except on the upper Agúsan where there are Debabáon and Mandáya smiths. In lieu of gold and silver, a lamina made out of beaten brass wire answers the purpose.
2Usually of ku-li-pá-pa.
3Gold laminae are very rare and are seldom parted with. They are highly valued heirlooms. The silver lamina is beaten out of a piece of silver money.
On the upper Agúsan both men and women suspend four strings of beads from each ear, when the dignity of the occasion requires it. These strings are about 30 centimeters long and have colored cotton tassels at the ends. Both these tassels and the strings of beads are of the preferred colors, red, white, black, and yellow. I am inclined to think that this custom is also of Mandáya origin. Occasionally one or two buttons4 are worn in the ear lobes of men on the upper Agúsan. This practice seems to have been adopted from the Mandáyas.
4Ordinary undershirt buttons.
NECK AND BREAST ORNAMENTS
The number of necklets and necklaces worn depends on the wealth of the wearer or on her good fortune in having been able to secure a supply of beads. The components of the necklace are principally beads with alternating odoriferous seeds or pieces of seeds. Here and there a small shell may be added, or a larger bead, or a crocodile tooth. The writer has seen worn coils of beads with small shells, seeds, and crocodile teeth, that must have weighed at least 2 kilograms. Such an array as this is not worn every day but is reserved for occasions of religious or secular festivity and for times when the possessor feels bound to make an unusual display. The seeds worn are the same as those that form part of the girdle--pendants, above described.
It may not be out of place here to note the fondness displayed by the feminine portion of the tribe for perfumes. This is characteristic of all the peoples of eastern Mindanáo with whom I have been in contact. Though medicinal and magic virtues are attributed, perhaps, to these odorous seeds, yet their fragrance is also undoubtedly a determining factor in the choice of them.
In the color of the beads used the Manóbo is restricted by the character of the supply, but it may be said that where he has his choice he selects red, yellow, black, and white. He prefers the small seed bead, but likes to have a few large beads to place at recurring intervals.
Necklets are occasionally worn. They consist of bands of beads, arranged symmetrically according to color in geometrical figures--a triangle of yellow beads, a rectangle of black ones, or other patterns. This necklet is usually about 2 centimeters broad and long enough to fit the neck tightly. It is fastened at the back by a button and usually has a single string of beads depending from it and lying upon the back. Men may wear this necklet, but its use by them is very infrequent. They, however, occasionally wear a necklace from which to suspend the hair eradicator. I observed this only on the upper Agúsan, and, as it is an ordinary Mandáya practice I suppose that the custom is borrowed--another indication of the influence of Mandáya culture on the Manóbos of the upper Agúsan. The eradicator is a small pair of tweezers made, ordinarily, out of a piece of beaten brass wire bent double and having inturned edges.
The only breast ornament, besides tattooing on the skin and embroidery on the jacket, is the silver plaque or disk worn nearly always by unmarried women and frequently by others. The wearing of these disks is a custom practiced only on the upper Agúsan, Ihawán, and Simúlau Rivers, and is without doubt of Mandáya origin. The plaque is a large thin sheet of beaten silver varying from 7 to 10 centimeters in diameter. It is of Debabáon or of Mandáya workmanship. It has a pattern of concentric circles and other symmetrical figures traced upon it, together with a fretwork of small triangular holes. The more elaborate ones display an amount of artistic skill that gives the Mandáya5 the high reputation that he has in eastern Mindanáo as a man of superior attainments.
5Mandáyaland produces nearly all the lances, spears, bolos, daggers, and artistic cloth used by the Manóbos throughout eastern Mindanáo. Outside of a few silversmiths among the Debabáons, and a few among the hybrid group occupying the upper Agúsan from Gerona to Tagaúnud, the Mandáya smiths are the only ones that are skilled in silverwork.
ARM AND HAND ORNAMENTATION
Men wear on one or both upper arms black bands of braided nito. These are about 1.5 centimeters in breadth and are braided into one continuous piece of such a size as to fit the arm tightly. The writer has seen many that fitted so closely that they caused sores. They are, besides being distinctly ornamental, designed to serve another purpose, for they are supposed to impart strength to the muscles.
Men often wear, on one or both wrists, one or more vegetable ligatures plaited in one continuous piece. These are of a jet black glossy color when made of the ág-sam6 vine. They are rectangular in cross section, being about 6 millimeters by 6 millimeters. They must be moistened to make the filaments expand so that the wearer can pass them over his hands on the wrist. On drying they contract to the size of the wrist, Women often wear a few of these with their forearm ornaments.
6Both pug-nút and ág-sam are species of nito (Lygodium sp.).
Crude rings, round or flat, more commonly beaten out of brass wire or of copper money, but occasionally made of silver money and still less occasionally of carabao horn, adorn in greater or less number the fingers of both men and women.
The forearm adornments of women are more numerous and elaborate than those of men. Besides the vegetable circlets described above, segments of the black coral plant,7 cut into palm lengths and bent into rings by heating, are worn on either or both arms, though, in case of an insufficient supply, the left arm is adorned in preference to the right. These marine ringlets are not solely for purposes of ornamentation, for a magic influence is attributed to them, at least by the Manóbos of the upper Agúsan. They are thought to contract and grip, as it were, the wearer's arm on the approach and in the presence of danger. Hence they are greatly prized but are comparatively rare. This is due to the difficulty of obtaining the plant as it grows in deep water where the danger from sharks deters the native divers.
7Called sag-ai-ság-ai in Manóbo and baná-ug in Bisáya (Antipatharia sp.).
The whorl of a sea shell,8 ground and polished into white heavy rings, whose cross section is an isosceles triangle, form a very common forearm adornment for women on the upper Agúsan. Sometimes as many as five of these are worn, ordinarily on the left arm. The weight of a full equipment of shell bracelets may amount to at least a kilo. The use of such cumbrous adornments is confined to festal occasions except in the case of unmarried maidens, who nearly always wear them. These shell bracelets with the black alternating rings of sea coral are very becoming indeed, as they tend, by the contrast of jet black and marble white, to set off the color of the skin to advantage.
8Tak-lo-bo (Tridacna gigas).
It is noticeable that as one approaches the Mandáya country, the similarity in dress and personal adornment to that of the Mandáyas becomes more apparent. This is true on the upper Simúlau, Agúsan, and Ihawán, another indication of the influence of Mandáya culture on the Manóbo. Hence in those regions one finds forms of bracelets that are typical of Mandáya adornment. Thus bands of beaten brass wire, 1 centimeter broad approximately, are seen occasionally. Also flat braided bands of jungle fiber covered with white beads are sometimes used. On one occasion the writer saw a hollow circular brass bangle into which a piece of lead had been inserted, and which with every movement of the arm produced a tinkling sound.
In the central Agúsan region and among the Manóbos of the Pacific coast, one finds the use of a small whorl of a sea shell9 as a Bracelet but its use is uncommon, especially on the Pacific side. This is due to the fact that only an occasional shell has made its way into the country. In these regions the Manóbo is particularly poor in arm adornments.
9Called lá-gang.
KNEE AND ANKLE ADORNMENTS
Men, especially unmarried ones, often wear on one or both legs just below the knee a ligature similar in every respect to that worn on the upper arms. Its purpose, too, is twofold, to strengthen, and, at the same time, to adorn the legs. On the upper Agúsan one sees beads sewn on these bands.
Women have similar ligatures on one or both legs just above the ankles. They are worn for decorative purposes, but it is said by some that they are a sign of virginity and that upon marriage it costs the husband the value of one slave to remove them. But the fact that married women occasionally wear them seems to contradict this statement.
Women wear at festal periods and especially during dances a few rings10 of stout brass wire some 6 millimeters in diameter. The rings are large enough to allow the foot to be passed through them, hence they hang loosely at the ankles. In number they rarely exceed two to each leg. During a dance they tintillate to the jingling of the hawk bells that depend from the girdle and are considered highly ornamental.
10Dú-tus.
BODY MUTILATIONS
GENERAL REMARKS
The purpose of most body mutilations among the Manóbos is ornamentation. The one exception is circumcision which will be discussed later.
Scarification is nowhere practiced in eastern Mindanáo except among the Mamánuas. In 1905 I came in contact with several Mamánuas of the upper Tágo River (within the jurisdiction of Tándag, Province of Surigáo) and noticed that they had cicatrices on the breast and arms. I concluded that the scars were due to the practice of scarification. Inquiries since that time made among both Manóbos and Bisáyas have confirmed these conclusions. Head deformation is not practiced in eastern Mindanáo.
No painting of the body is resorted to other than the blackening of the lips with soot. To effect this a pot is taken from the fireplace and the bottom of it is dexterously passed across the lips, leaving a black coating that, with the fluid from the chewing quid made up of tobacco, lime, and máu-mau frequently becomes permanent till moistened by drinking. It is a strange sight to see a handsome Manóbo belle, decked out with beads and bells, or a dapper Manóbo dandy, take the olla, and darken the lips.
No religious or magic significance is attributed to any of the following mutilations, nor are any religious or other celebrations performed in connection with them.
MUTILATION OF THE TEETH11
11Há-sa-to-únto.
As the age of puberty approaches, both boys and girls have their teeth ground. The process is very simple but extremely painful, so much so that the operation can not be completed at one sitting. I think, however, that the painfulness of the process depends on the quality of the stone used, for the Mandáyas of the upper Karága River claim that there is a species of stone that does not cause much pain.
A piece of wood is inserted between the teeth to keep them apart. The operator, usually the father, then inserts a small flat piece of sandstone, such as is used for sharpening bolos, into the mouth and with a moderate motion grinds the upper and lower incisors to the gums. It is only the difficulty of reaching the molars that saves them, as the writer was informed. In all, 10 front teeth disappear, and a portion of 4 others. After filing, the teeth of the upper jaw appear convex and those of the lower, concave.
I estimate the minimum time necessary to grind the teeth to be from 3 to 6 hours, spread over a period varying from 3 to 10 days.
The patient displays more or less evidence of pain, according to his powers of endurance but is continually exhorted to be patient so that his mouth will not look like a dog's. This is the reason universally asserted for their objection to white, sharp teeth: "They look like a dog's."
After each grinding, the subject experiences sensitiveness in the gums and can not masticate hard food. When this sensitiveness is no longer felt, usually the following day, the grinding is resumed.
Blackening of the teeth is effected principally by the use of a plant called máu-mau which, besides being used as a narcotic, has the property of giving the teeth a rather black appearance. After being chewed, it is rubbed across the teeth. The juice of the skin is expressed into a quid of tobacco mixed with lime and pot black, the whole forming the inseparable companion of the Manóbo man, woman, and even child. It is a compound about the size of a small marble and is carried, until it loses its strength and flavor, between the upper lip and the upper gum, but projecting forward between the lips.
It is to be noted here that the primary object in the use of this combination is not the discoloration of the teeth. The compound is used mainly for the stimulating effects it produces, the pot-black being added as an ingredient in order to blacken the lips and so improve the personal appearance of the user of it. The quid is frequently carried behind the ear when circumstances require the use of the mouth for other purposes.
Another means that helps to stain the teeth is the constant use of betel nut and betel leaf mixed with lime, and, in certain localities, with tobacco.
MUTILATION OF THE EAR LOBES
The practice of mutilating the ear lobes12 is universal and is not confined to either sex. It consists in piercing the ear lobes in one, two, or three places. This is done usually at an early age, with a needle. A thread of abaká fiber is then inserted and prevented from coining out by putting a tiny pellet of beeswax at each end. As soon as the wound heals, the perforation is enlarged in the case of a woman in the following manner: Small pieces of the rib of the rattan leaf are inserted at intervals of a couple of days until the hole is opened enough to receive larger pieces. When it has expanded sufficiently, a small spiral of grass, usually of pandanus13 is inserted. This, by its natural tendency to expand, increases the size of the aperture until a larger spiral can be inserted.
12Ti-dáng.
13Bá-ui (Bisáya, ba-ló-oi).
The opening is considered of sufficient size and beauty when it is about 2.5 centimeters in diameter. In addition to this large aperture, which is located on the lower part of the lobulus, there may be two other small perforations about 1.5 centimeters further up. These latter serve both in men and women for the attachment of small buttons, while the former is confined exclusively to women and serves for the insertion of ornamental ear disks.
DEPILATION
A beardless face is considered a thing of beauty, so that a systematic and constant eradication of the face hair is carried on by the Manóbo from the first moment that hair begins to appear upon his face. For this purpose he often has a pair of tweezers,14 ordinarily made out of beaten brass wire, with which he systematically plucks out such straggling hairs as he may find upon his upper lip and on the chin, as well as the axillary hair. The pubic hair is not always eradicated. A small knife15 is frequently employed as a razor, not only on the chin and upper lip but also for shaving the eyebrows. The removal of the last mentioned is a universal practice, for hair on the eyebrows is considered very ungraceful. Hence both sexes shave the eyebrows, leaving only a pencil line, or, in some districts, not even a trace of hair.
14Pan-úm-pa'.
15Called ba-di' or kám-pit.
The hair on other parts of the body is not abundant and it is not customary to remove it.
TATTOOING16
16Pang-o-túb.
After making an infinity of inquiries, I learned that tattooing is merely for the purpose of ornamentation. By a few I was given to understand that under the Spanish regime, when killing and capturing was rife, the tattooing was for the purpose of the identification of a captive. It was customary to change the name of a captive, and as he was sold and resold, the only way to identify him was by his tattoo marks.
Be that as it may, the practice seems to have at present no further significance than that of ornamentation. No therapeutic nor magical nor ceremonial effects are associated with it. Neither is it symbolic of prowess, nor distinctive of family, place, nor person, for two persons from different localities and groups may have the same designs.
No particular age is required for the inception of the process, but from my observation, corroborated by general testimony, I believe it is performed usually from the age of puberty onwards.
The operator is nearly always a woman, or a so-called hermaphrodite,17 who has acquired a certain amount of skill in embroidering. These professionals are not numerous, due, possibly, to the natural aversion felt by women for the sight of blood, as also to the fact that no remuneration is made for their services, though this last reason alone would not explain the paucity.
17One meets occasionally among the peoples of eastern Mindanáo certain individuals who are known by a special name and who are reputed to be incapable of sexual intercourse. The individuals whom I saw were most feminine in their ways, preferring to keep the company of women and to indulge in womanly work rather than to associate with men.
The process is very simple. A pigment is prepared by holding a plate or an olla, over a burning torch18 made of resin until enough soot has collected. Then without any previous drawing, the operator punctures, to a depth of approximately 2 millimeters, the part of the body that is to be tattooed. The blood that flows from these punctures is wiped off, usually with a bunch of leaves, and a portion of the soot from the resin is rubbed vigorously into the wounds with the hand of the operator.
18Saí-yung (Canarium villosum).
The process occupies a variable length of time, depending on the skill of the operator and on the endurance and patience of the subject. It is painful, but no such manifestations of pain are made as in teeth grinding. The portion tattooed is sensitive for about 24 hours, but no other evil consequences, such as festering, etc., follow as far as my observations go.
Without the aid of diagrams or pictures it is difficult to describe in an intelligible and comprehensive manner the numerous designs that are used in tattooing. Each locality may have its own distinct fashion, differing from the fashion prevalent in another region. And as the designs seem to be the result of individual whim and fancy it would be an almost endless task to describe all of them in detail. Suffice it to say in general that they follow in both nomenclature and in general appearance the figures embroidered on jackets, with the important addition of figures of a crocodile, and of stars and leaves, as is indicated by the names.19
19Bin-u-á-ja, (from bu-wá-ja, crocodile), gin-í-bang (from gí-bang, iguana) and bin-úyo (from bú-jo', the betel leaf).
The figures are neither intricate nor grotesque, but simple and plain, displaying a certain amount of artistic merit for so primitive and so remote a people. On close inspection they show up in good clear lines, but at a distance they appear as nothing but dim blue spots or blotches. For durability they can not be surpassed. No means are known whereby to eradicate them. I compared tattoo marks on old men with those on young men and I could not discern any difference in the brightness nor in the preservation of the design.
In men the portions of the body tattooed are the whole chest, the upper arms, the forearms, and the fingers. Women on the other hand, in addition to tattooings on those parts, receive an elaborate design on the calves, and sometimes on the whole leg.
CIRCUMCISION20
20Tú-li'.
Unlike the four mutilations already described, circumcision is not for ornamental purposes. According to the Manóbo's way of thinking it serves a more utilitarian purpose, for it is supposed to be essential to the procreation of children. How such a belief first originated I have been unable to learn, but nevertheless the belief is universal, strong, and abiding. To be called uncircumcised is one of the greatest reproaches that can be thrown at a Manóbo, and it is said that he would stand no chance for marriage unless the operation had been performed; the womenfolk would laugh and jeer at him. So it may be said that the custom is obligatory.
The operation is performed a year or two before puberty. No ceremonies or feasts are held in connection with it. The father, or a male relative of the child, takes the small knife (ba-dí) and placing it lengthwise over the lower part of the prepuce, makes a slit by hitting the back of the knife with a piece of wood or any convenient object at hand. It thus appears that it is not circumcision in the full meaning of the word but rather an incision. This operation is confined to males and is the only sexual mutilation practiced.
CHAPTER VIII
ALIMENTATION
FIRE AND ITS PRODUCTION
The Manóbo is unable to explain the nature of fire, but he has two very primitive but effective ways of producing it, namely, the fire-saw, and the flint and steel. Owing to the sale of Manila and Japanese matches to such of the Manóbos as come in contact with traders or with trading posts, the ancient methods of making fire are falling into disuse.
THE FIRE-SAW1
1Gut-gút-an.
This might be more properly called the friction method, for the fire is obtained by rubbing edgewise one piece of bamboo at right angles to, and over the back of, another.
The "saw," as it is usually called, or upper piece, must be long enough, say 30 centimeters, to enable one to hold it firmly with both hands. The breadth is immaterial, provided it be broad enough to resist the pressure. One edge must be cut sharp.
The "horse," or lower piece, ought to be at least 10 centimeters broad and of any length. It is essential that the under surface be sufficiently convex to admit the free passage of air when the bamboo is placed upon a solid resting place. In the center of this bamboo is made a hole at least 1 millimeter in diameter. All is now ready for the operation.
The "horse" is set down upon some clean solid piece of wood or stone with its inner or concave side downwards, in such a way that it can not move. The "saw" is placed transversely across the "horse," the sharp edge being right over the hole. Holding it firmly with a hand at each end, it is worked steadily, rapidly and with great pressure across the "horse," precisely as if it were desired to saw it in two. After some 15 strokes, there appears a little smoke, and the operator increases the rapidity of his movement, until he thinks that there is sufficient fire underneath the bamboo. Then he blows down through the hole in order to separate any such bamboo dust as may still remain in or around it. He removes the "horse" applying at once a little lint or other tinder to the glowing particles of bamboo. He then transfers his fire to a piece of good dry wood, preferably to an old firebrand, and in a few seconds has a permanent fire.
For the process it is essential that the bamboo selected be dry and well seasoned, for otherwise the dust produced by the rubbing will not ignite. There are a few varieties of wood that answer the same purpose, but I am unable to give the names though I have seen them used.
THE STEEL AND FLINT PROCESS2
2Ti'-ti.
The Manóbo method of making fire with flint and steel differs in no wise from that used by our own forbears. The tinder used is a fluff obtained from the sugar palm.3 It is found around the frond bases and after being thoroughly dried, is kept with the flint and steel in a special bamboo or rattan receptacle.
3Arenga saccharifera. It is called hi-juíp or hi-diúp in Manóbo.
CONTINUATION OF THE FIRE
Once lighted, the fire in the house is kept up, ordinarily not for any ceremonial reason, as far as I have been able to ascertain, but because it is the custom. It is commonly used to furnish light and is kept burning during the night for that purpose. In the mountainous districts, where there is always the possibility of an attack, the fire is sedulously maintained both for light and heat. On occasions fraught with danger from malignant spirits, fire is kept burning for ceremonial reasons as a safeguard against the stealthy approach of the spirits.
Should the fire become extinguished, a fire brand is borrowed from another house, if there is one in the vicinity, but, if there are no neighbors recourse is had to one of the above-described methods.
LIGHTING
Fire is ordinarily the principal, and not infrequently the only source of light. It is only in districts in close proximity to the settlements of Christianized Manóbos that the luxury of coal oil is enjoyed.
The only source of light in the house, other than that from the fire, is a species of resin which is collected from a tree that is found in great abundance in eastern Mindanáo.4 The method of obtaining the resin is to make a good cut in the tree about 1 millimeter above the ground and to catch the resin in a bark or leaf receptacle. This is usually done overnight. Broken pieces of the resin are then placed in a conical receptacle, made of green leaves, usually of the rattan, bound with rattan strips or other vegetable fastening. When needed, the larger end of this bundle of resin is lighted at the fire and the torch is set upon the floor supported in a tilted position by the most convenient object at hand, frequently the whetstone.
4Called sai'-gung or saung. (Oanarium villosum).
This torch is a good and economical illuminant. It has, however, two defects: First, the ugly habit of spitting out occasional sparks, which cause a somewhat painful sore if they happen to hit the flesh; and, second, a tendency to extinguish itself at intervals on account of the burnt residue that gradually covers the resin. The ash may be easily removed with a stick and then the light blazes out at once, casting a bright glare on the brown and naked figures of the inmates.
When a light is needed for outdoor purposes, a piece of seasoned bamboo, split at one end, or a firebrand of wood, is carried in lieu of the resin. It is an invariable custom to carry a firebrand, while outdoors at night, not only for the purpose of lighting the way but for daunting the evil spirits that are thought to roam about in the gloom of night.
CULINARY AND TABLE EQUIPMENT
The Manóbo is particularly poor in cooking utensils. With the exception of a very occasional iron pot, and a much less frequent pan, he has none of the kitchen apparatus of more civilized peoples.
The earthen pot of his own manufacture is his mainstay. It resembles the ollas or earthen pots used so universally throughout the Philippines. In addition to this there is used, though very rarely among the remote Manóbos, an imported cast-iron pan.5 It is from 5 centimeters to 10 centimeters in depth and from 25 centimeters to 40 centimeters in diameter, concave, and of the poorest material. It is used for general cooking, for dyeing, and for making a sugar-cane beverage. As it is not provided with a cover, the leaves of the bamboo are used to keep the soot and dirt out and to keep the heat in, especially in steaming camotes and taro.
5Called ki-ú-ja.
When there are not enough pots for the cooking, as on some exceptional occasion, green bamboo internodes with one end open are brought into requisition. Bamboo of the variety known as bo or bóho, is preferred, for it gives an extra delicate savor to the contents, as I can testify. Even upon ordinary occasions, fish or meat is sometimes cooked in bamboo for the same reason. The pieces of bamboo are put into the fire in a slanting position, the open end being stopped with leaves. They are turned around occasionally till they are burnt nearly through. The contents are removed by splitting the charred joint into strips. These strips are usually given to the expectant children who scrape and lick them clean.
I once saw the bark of a tree used for cooking rice, but without success. I was assured that for cooking meat or fish it would answer admirably.
A ladle, with a handle of wood or bamboo and a head of coconut shell, is about the only article that the Manóbo ordinarily has to serve the purpose of spoons and forks. In the absence of the coconut ladle, he employs the bottom of a bamboo internode to which has been left attached a strip that serves as a handle. For stirring the rice he uses a little paddle made out of a flat piece of wood, or if he has no paddle he uses the handle of his coconut. A coconut shell is used for a water cup, though, if he has an imported glass, he will offer it to visitors.
No rags are employed in the cleaning of plates and other dishes. At times a few leaves are required to clean out the iron pan, but for plates and bowls and other utensils a little cold water and a little rubbing with the hand are sufficient.
The Manóbo uses no tablecloth nor has he any of the appurtenances that equip a modern table, except plates, bowls, and, perhaps, a glass.
Of plates he frequently has too few for his family. Bowls are still scarcer. Many and many are the houses which I have visited that could not boast of a single bowl; the same may be said of glasses. This is due to the exorbitant prices charged for them.
As a substitute for plates, the Manóbo uses platters of bark from the sago6 and other palm trees. It may happen on the occasion of some big festivity that he still finds himself short of plates and platters, so he utilizes his low panlike weaving baskets by lining them with banana or other leaves and putting them on the table loaded with rice. Should all these not be sufficient for the number of his guests, he spreads out a few banana leaves in the center of the table, or on the floor, and lays the rice upon them.
6Lúm-bia.
A piece of bamboo serves for cup and glass as auxiliary to, or a substitute for, the coconut-shell cup mentioned above.
VARIOUS KINDS OF FOOD
The great staple of Manóboland is the camote.7 During harvest time and for several weeks ensuing rice may constitute the bulk of his daily food, but after that he reserves for feasts, for friends, and for the sick what he does not sell, or part with in payment of debts. Should his camote crop fail he falls back upon the sago8 that abounds in the central Agúsan; or, when sago is not available, he seeks the wild fishtail palm,9 that affords him as pleasant and nutritious a food as any sago palm that ever grew. In the upper Agúsan the Manóbo plants a fair quantity of taro, and in the middle Agúsan, a small amount of maize in season, or even some beans,10 so that it is seldom he has to have recourse to the forest for his maintenance. But the mountain Manóbo is occasionally compelled to draw his sustenance from the various palm trees and vines that are found in such luxuriance throughout his forest domain. I have seen poisonous tubers gathered in time of famine by the Manóbos of the upper Wá-wa region and eaten, after they had been scraped on a prickly rattan branch, and the poison had been removed by a series of washings and dryings.
7Ipomoea batatas Poir.
8Lúm-bia.
9Bá-hi' (Caryota sp.)
10Called bá-tung.
He nearly always has a little sugar cane on the farm but, when it is not intended for making an inebriating drink, it is planted only in sufficient quantity to furnish occasionally a few pieces to the members of the household.
Besides the above-mentioned plants, he has probably only a few banana plants, a few ginger plants, some semiwild tomatoes, a little mint11 and, perchance, a few other plants intended for seasoning. He is not accustomed to plant more than will supply the bare necessities of life.
11Called labwéna probably from the Spanish yerba buena.
As a concomitant of his rice or camotes, he must have his is-da12 which he procures from the forest13 or from the river.14
12This word in its present usage corresponds to the Spanish vianda, to the Bisáya súdan, and the Tagalog úlam. Note that the generic word for is-da, "fish," has received a still more general application among the Manóbos and Bisáyas of the middle Agúsan. Originally, no doubt, it meant simply "fish," but as the háu-an is almost the only fish in the middle Agúsan that is caught with frequency and in numbers, the generic term for fish was narrowed down to this one particular fish. Thence the application of the word expanded and it now corresponds to the Tagalog úlam and the Cebu-Bisáya sú-dan.
13See under "Hunting."
14See under "Fishing."
It is not essential that the meat or fish should be fresh. I have seen pig meat eaten after three days' decomposition. Neither is the rawness an impediment, for it is customary in certain localities to eat pork absolutely raw, for ceremonial reasons. Besides pork, venison, and fish, an occasional wild chicken or other bird snared in the forest, or a hornbill killed with an arrow, helps to keep his larder supplied.
When no fish or meat has been procured, and this is more often the rule than the exception, he may have found on his rambles some mushroomlike fungi,15 or even mushrooms,16 or he may have taken a notion to cut down some palm tree, and get a fine palm 17 or rattan core 18 or even young bamboo shoots.19 While straying along the river bank he may pick some fern tops of an edible variety.20 Any of these things affords as fair supplement to his rice, as butter does to bread. The palm-tree cores are full of big luscious larvae.21 He may have a chance to kill an iguana22 or monarch lizard.23 The killing of a monkey with his bow and arrow, or in his traps, affords him a choice piece of meat. And when he has the good fortune to kill a python, he has enough ís-da for himself, his relatives, and his neighbors for at least one meal. Occasionally, during the proper season, he locates a bees' nest and therefrom procures an amount of honey, larvae, and beebread that proves an uncommon treat for himself and his family. Again, on the river at certain periods he has nothing else to do except to scoop into his dugout (if he has one) the exhausted "water-skimmers,"24 or while passing near some sand bank to spy the spot where the water lizard buried her delicious eggs. In the little side streams he may catch a few frogs and go on his way rejoicing.
15Ta-líng-a bá-tang.
16Líg-bus, sa-gíng-sá-ging.
17Ó-bud.
18Pá-san.
19Da-búng.
20Pá-ko' (Asplenium esculentum)
21A-bá-tud.
22Gí-bang.
23Ibíd.
24These are a variety of insect called dá-li, of a whitish color about 2 centimeters long, and having two threadlike appendages extending from the posterior part. They are eaten raw, usually with vinegar and salt. This insect is said to be, probably, one of the Neuroptera or Pseudoneuroptera.
With these random finds, with wild boar and deer that come from an occasional chase, with such salted and dried fish, including jerked crocodile, as he may purchase directly or indirectly from Bisáya traders or from Christianized Manóbos, and with a casual pig or fowl killed on ceremonial or festival occasions, he manages to keep his family fairly well supplied with an accompaniment for the mess of rice or other staple food.
Salt, the native red pepper,25 and at times ginger constitute a very important part of the meal, if they are obtainable. The first mentioned article is far from being abundant, especially in certain localities, such as the Baóbo River and the upper parts of the Ihawán, Umaíam, and Bahaían Rivers. In such places as these the writer found such an intense craving for it that it was eaten ravenously and declared to be "sweet."
There is such an inordinate desire for salt, especially the rock salt made out of salt water and ash lye, that the Manóbo will submit sometimes to tyranny and to the most exorbitant rates in order to obtain it. This craving for salt will explain the general preference that is felt for salted food as against fresh meat. The small salted fish, peddled in such quantities by Bisáya traders, are prized above the choicest pieces of venison and jerked crocodile, presumably for the salt that they contain. It may be wondered why the Manóbo does not salt his own meat and fish, but this is explained by the fact that such an operation is strictly tabooed.
Red pepper is a sine qua non. It is eaten much as we eat salt, and is said to impart courage. In the regions near the Mandáyas it is put up in a special form,26 this being nothing more than the dried pepper pounded, mixed with salt, and preserved in bamboo joints in a dry place, usually in the smoke above the hearth. In this condition it acquires an extraordinary strength that makes the plain red pepper taste mild. This is explained, perhaps, by the fact that in the pounding the seeds of the pepper are triturated.
25Ka-tum-bä (Capsicum sp.).
26Dú-mang.
THE PREPARATION AND COOKING OF FOOD
PREPARING THE FOOD
The remote preparation consists in getting a supply of sweet potatoes or rice from the farm. This may be a mile or more from the house, so that once a day at least the women, with baskets on their heads and paddles in their hands, if they live on navigable water, leave for the farm. In localities where an ambush is a possible contingency, a few men with lance and shield, and hunting dogs accompany the women as a guard, for the camote field is a favorite spot for the enemy to wreak his vengeance, according to the recognized laws of Manóboland. The women and girls dig up the camotes with a bolo or with a small pointed stick, and get a little rice from the granary.27 After performing any necessary work such as weeding and planting, they return and prepare the meal, the men taking no part except to clean and quarter the game or other meat that may have been selected for it.
27Tam-bó-bung.
The preparation of pigs and fowls is such a frequent occurrence in Manóboland, as also among Bisáyas, Mañgguáñgans, Debabáons, and Mandáyas of the Agúsan Valley, that it merits a detailed description.
In preparing a pig, wild boar, or deer, a rough support, consisting of four vertical pieces of wood and a few horizontal parallel pieces, is erected outside the house, if the weather permits. A fire is built beneath the frame and the whole animal, minus the entrails, is laid upon it. Two men or more then set to work with pieces of wood, sharpened lengthwise, and scrape off the hair as fast as it becomes well singed. The operation lasts only about 15 minutes in the case of a large animal. When the hair has been removed the carcass is given a washing more or less thorough, according to the amount of water conveniently available, and the quartering begins.
The game is laid upon leaves; the four legs are removed in order; the head is chopped off; the ribs and remaining parts are hacked crossbone. During this operation the family dogs usually cause an infinite amount of trouble by their incessant attempts to secure a piece of the meat.
If the meat is for distribution, as it always is, except on occasions of festivity or of sacrifice, it is scrupulously divided at this moment. If it is for a feast, it is hacked up into small pieces and loaded into earthen pots, iron pans, and bamboo joints. The dogs are then allowed to lick the blood-stained leaves and to clean the floor.
The preparation of a domestic fowl is also left to the men and deserves a few words. When the fowl is not killed sacrificially, it is burnt to death. Catching the chicken firmly by the feet and wings with one hand and by the head and neck with the other, the owner singes it over the fire till it shows no more signs of life. It may be thought that this is a cruel way of killing an animal, for it kicks and twists and flutters unless firmly held, but the Manóbo is not allowed by his tribal institutions to kill the fowl as other peoples do. To cut off the head is strictly tabooed, a cruel and unbecoming procedure, for there is no one "to revenge the deed," he will tell you. So he chokes and burns it to death. All signs of life being extinct, he pulls out a few of the tail and wing feathers. I can give no reason for this procedure, but as the custom is so universal, I think it has a peculiar significance of its own.
As the singeing proceeds, the feather ends are plucked out and a. cursory washing given the fowl. The entrails, even the intestines with the exception of the gall bladder, are removed and utilized. Finally the head, the ends of the wings, and the lower parts of the legs are cut off, and ordinarily are given to the children who have been anxiously awaiting such delicacies.
The pounding and winnowing of the rice is such a common and important operation in the whole of eastern Mindanáo that it deserves special mention.
As the rice used by the mountain Manóbos is exclusively of their own harvesting, it must be hulled, a process that is performed just before every meal wherein it is used. The implements are a wooden mortar and a few heavy wooden pestles. The mortar is a piece of wood of varying dimensions, in the center of which is hollowed out, by burning and cutting, a conical hole, whose depth averages 24 centimeters in height and whose diameter is about 20 centimeters. One sees from time to time a mortar with two holes, or one on which there is evidence of an attempt at artistic effect by means of primitive carving, but, in the main, the mortar is a rough-hewn log with a conical hole in it and with the upper surface so cut that the paddy or rice will have a tendency to fall back into the hole.
The pestle is a pole, preferably and usually of heavy hardwood, about 1.5 meters long and 20 centimeters in circumference. It is a marked exception to find pestles decorated in any way. On the Umaíam River I saw one the end of which had been carved in open fretwork with a round loose piece of wood within the fretwork, a device that was as useful as it was ornamental, for the wooden ball by its rattling within the fretwork cage served to animate the holder and her companions to vigorous and constant strokes.
The following is the process of hulling: The mortar is more than half filled with unhulled rice. One or more women or girls grasp the pestles in the middle with one hand. One begins by driving down her pestle with force upon the paddy. Then another, and still another, if there be three. It stands to reason that, since the hole in the mortar is small, the most exact time must be kept, otherwise the pestles would interfere with one another. The sound made by the falling pestles often resembles that general but strange beat so prevalent in Manóbo drum rhythm. A visitor who has once seen three Manóbo women dressed in gala attire, with coils of beads and necklets, ply their pestles in response to the animated tattoo on the drum will never forget the scene. The pestles are tossed from one hand to the other to afford an instant's rest. They bob up and down with indescribable rapidity and in perfect rhythm as if they were being plied on some imaginary drum.
In a few minutes, from 5 to 15, the hull is shattered from the rice and one of the women bends down and with her hands removes the contents of the mortar to the winnowing tray. After winnowing, they repeat the process till all the husk has been separated from the grain. They then pound a new supply until there is enough rice for the purpose in view. The husk has been shattered from the grain as perfectly, though not as quickly, as if it had been done by a machine.
The winnowing tray is a round shallow tray, 40 centimeters in diameter and usually of plaited rattan strips with a rim of thicker rattan. It is held in both hands and by a series of shuffling motions, which are better seen than described, accompained[sic] by a peculiar movement of the thumb of the left hand, the chaff and the little broken fragments of rice are thrown off into another receptacle for the family pigs.
COOKING THE FOOD
Rice is not usually washed before cooking. It is put into a homemade earthen pot,28 which is often lined with sugarcane leaves, not only to prevent the rice from burning, but to impart to it a finer flavor. It is covered with water, the rice being about 5 centimeters below the surface of the water. The pot is set on a hot fire until the water evaporates to the level of the surface of the rice, whereupon the greater part of the fire is removed and the rice is allowed to steam dry. These remarks also apply to the cooking of a variety of millet,29 which is sown sparingly with the rice.
28Kó-don.
29Daú-wa.
Another method of cooking rice, especially when on the trail, is in green bamboo. Joints of green bamboo are filled with rice and water, or rice is wrapped in rattan leaves and then packages are put into the water. Rice cooked in this latter way will keep for three days.
There are two orthodox methods of cooking fish and meat and no other is admissible, under penalty of infringing a very important taboo. One method consists of boiling them in water, with a little seasoning of red pepper, ginger, and possibly lemon grass and one or two other ingredients. The second method consists of broiling the pieces of meat and fish in or over the fire. Meat and fish already cooked are thrown into the fire in order to heat them. The fact that they may be burnt and covered with ashes does not detract from the flavor. The most usual method of broiling, however, is to put the meat on skewers of wood or bamboo a few inches above the fire.
When large game has been secured at such a distance from the house that it must be cooked in the forest, it is cut into quarters, and broiled over a heaping fire. This is the invariable method of cooking the heads even of domestic pigs. Chicken heads, legs, and wing ends are invariably broiled, while the intestines are wrapped up in leaves and cooked better than might be supposed, though the flavor, to my taste, is not the most delicate. They seem, however, to be a choice morsel to the majority of my Manóbo friends. Monkeys, frogs, and the forest carrion lizard are always broiled.
Camotes and taro are usually cooked unpeeled in the common earthen pot. About a half a liter of water is used in an ordinary pot, so that the process is practically one of steaming. If the pot has no cover, or if the imported pan be used, leaves are employed to confine the heat.
A favorite dish of the Manóbo and an indispensable one of the Mandáya is the famous á-pai.30 This consists of taro tops (stem and leaves) cut up fine and cooked with water, red pepper, mint, semiwild tomatoes, and any other vegetable seasoning which may be on hand. This makes a very palatable and wholesome dish.
30Mandáya, ug-bús.
FOOD RESTRICTIONS AND TABOOS
Certain birds such as the hornbill, wild chicken, varieties of wild pigeons, and a few others, must not be divided and given to anyone else before eating. They must be cooked by the broiling method 31 and not in water. After cooking, these birds can not be partaken of by anyone who is not a relative or a member of the household. Neither should a part of a bird belonging to a stranger be accepted or partaken of. The whole bird or nothing must be offered. An infringement of these restrictions would lead, it is believed, to serious results,32 such as ill luck to the hunting dogs, tangling of the snares, and other misfortunes.33
31Dáng-dang.
32Ma-ko-lí-hi.
33In the upper Agúsan the partition of such small birds would lead, I was told, to a dismemberment of the family.
An unmarried man who has ever made indecent suggestions to a woman is prohibited from eating wild-boar meat. The guilty one must free himself from this restriction by making a small present to a priestess. A violation of this taboo would be prejudicial to the success of the hunting dogs.
The use of lard in cooking is interdicted, but it may be eaten raw, even when its smell is not the most wholesome.
On a few occasions, I noticed that some individuals abstained from rice or from chicken. I was unable to elicit any other reason for the abstinence than the good pleasure of the persons concerned. As they admitted that they had been accustomed to use these foods and would use them again after certain periods, I suspect religious motives for the abstinence.
MEALS
ORDINARY MEALS
Though it may be said that three meals a day are not the rule among the Manóbos, yet they eat the equivalent of three or more, for between pieces of sugarcane and munchings of wild fruit,34 they keep replenishing the inner man pretty constantly. They eat breakfast at about 9 o'clock in the morning, dinner about 1 p. m., and supper at any hour between 6 and 9 p. m.
34There are many wild fruits in the Agúsan Valley, the most common of which are: The famous durian (Durio zibethinus), the jackfruit, lanka (Artocarpus integrifolia l. f.), lanzones (Lansium domesticum Jack.), makópa (Eugenia javanica Lam.), mámbug, támbis, kandíis, kátom (Dillenia sp.), and the fruit of the rattan (kápi). Most of these are of a sour acid nature but for this reason seem to be relished all the more.
All being ready for the meal, the inmates of the house squat down upon the floor, the husband with his wife and children apart, male visitors and the unmarried portion of the house eating together. Slaves eat when all have finished, and get what is left in the pots.
Just before beginning to eat, the host and, in fact, everybody except the women, tenders to visitors and others who have come in an invitation to join in the meal and nobody will begin to eat till everybody else has squatted down and is ready. Once the meal is begun, no one leaves, nor is it good etiquette to call anyone from his meal.
The hands are washed by pouring a little water upon them from a bowl, tumbler, coconut shell, or piece of bamboo; the mouth is rinsed, the water being ejected, frequently with force, through the interstices of the floor. Then all begin to eat. It is the invariable rule for men to eat with the left hand, and where others than relatives are present, to wear a weapon of defense, the right hand resting upon it in anticipation of a possible attack.
The various articles of food have already been set on the floor in the various receptacles heretofore described. Each one falls to with an appetite that can hardly be described. One or more of the womenfolk keep the wants of the diners supplied. The method of eating rice among the mountain Manóbos differs from that prevalent among the Christian tribes. A good-sized mass of rice is pressed together between the five fingers of the left hand and pushed up into the palm where it is made into a ball. Thence it is conveyed to the mouth. At intervals the rice (or camote) is flavored with a little accompaniment of meat or fish, and all is washed down with the soup of the meat or fish.
The custom of sipping, with a sucking sound, the scalding soup from a plate or bowl and of then passing it on to one's neighbor is almost universal. Great predilection is shown for this soup, even though it be, as happens in a great many instances, practically nothing but hot water. In the upper Agúsan, the taro-top soup previously mentioned is the ordinary soup and substitute for meat and fish.
Another peculiar feature in eating is the method of cutting meat from the bone. The carver, who is in a squatting position with his feet close to the body, holds the bolo with the handle between the big first toe in a vertical position, the back of it being toward him. He draws the meat over the edge, thereby doing the carving in a quicker, more convenient, and more effective manner than do a great many more civilized men.
No one may retire from the meal without giving notice to his neighbors. A violation of this custom constitutes a gross breach of Manóbo etiquette. The reason for this custom is that the chances for a sudden attack are thereby lessened.
It is not polite to remain seated in the same place after a meal. If the place can not be changed, it is necessary to rise and then sit down again. I can give no explanation for the practice, unless it be a precaution against treachery.
FESTIVE MEALS
Festive meals are indulged in more especially on the occurrence of the great religious and social celebrations that recur with such frequency in the Manóbo world. The arrival of a visitor, or even an unusual catch of fish, is also an occasion for such enjoyments. I have had ample opportunities of witnessing them, because during a trading expedition I was frequently honored with invitations, the reason for which was, of course, to secure from me good bargains, or credit.
Before the meal the house is a scene of indescribable animation. The guests, together with the members of the household, rarely number less than 20 and may reach 100 or more. The pig is cooked in bamboo joints, earthern[sic] pots and iron pans, both in the host's house and, if necessary, in neighboring houses. The same may be said of the rice and camotes. If the host has enough drink, and if there is a little meat or fish to serve as a lunch, he has the food brought out and orders a part of the drink to be distributed to the guests according to their importance. Joyous laughter and loud conversation, together with chewing of tobacco and betel nut, fill up the interval before the meal.
When all is ready, the available number of plates, bowls, glasses, bark platters, and leaves are set out and the boiled meat is apportioned in small pieces, with great exactitude as to size and quality, to the several plates. The same thing is done for the broiled meat after it has been hacked into suitable sizes. No one is forgotten, not even the children of the guests, nor the slaves. The rice is then brought along in bamboo joints, in pots, and even in baskets lined with leaves, and to each person is assigned a heaping portion. When all has been impartially and equally distributed, the guests are bidden to take their places on the floor, each one at his appointed plate, for where visitors other than relatives are present, no precaution is omitted to safeguard the guests against trouble. Experience has proved that the festive board may be tinged with blood before the end. This even distribution of the food and the collocation of the guests often occupies the better part of an hour. If these duties are not properly performed envious feelings and a quarrel might ensue before the end of the meal. The guest of honor is always given preference and the host may also especially favor others whom he may have reason to honor but he always makes public the reason for his partiality.
All being seated the meal begins with a goodly quaff of homemade brew. Then all begin to eat. As the feasters warm under the kindling influence of the drink, they express their good will by giving material tokens, each one to his friend or to one whose friendship he desires to gain. These tokens consist of handfuls of meat--lean, fat, bone, gristle, or anything--smeared with salt and pepper, and bestowed by one friend into the mouth of another without any consideration of the proportion existing between the size of the mouth and the size of the gift. It is not good etiquette to refuse this gift or to remove it from the mouth. This offering is followed probably by a bamboo jointful of beverage which must be received in the same friendly spirit and is gulped down with a mumbled expression corresponding to our "Here goes." The recipient of these favors returns the courtesy in kind, and so the meal goes on in mutual goodfellowship[sic] and congeniality till the food has completely disappeared, for it is against the conventionalities of Manóbodom to leave a scrap on the plate. Indeed the Manóbo loves a good eater and drinker. It is an honor to gorge and a glory to get drunk. Now it happens at times at a Manóbo banquet, as it does in all drinking bouts the world over, that a quarrel ensues and recourse is had to the ever present bolo to settle an argument that wild shouts and frantic gestures can not decide. For this reason the Manóbo eats with his left hand and rolls his eyes from side to side in constant vigilance.
These remarks do not apply to the women and children, who sit apart in little groups of their own, and, while feasting one another in their own gentle way, attend to the shouts for more food when they are heard above the din of the revellers.
During the course of a feast of this kind an observer is struck with the hearty appetite exhibited by these primitive people. Man vies with man in holding out. Friend honors friend with plenteous bestowals of food and drink and the host strives to induce his guests to eat to their utmost capacity. Rarely does one see a Manóbo troubled with nausea but, if he is, he returns later to the feast, to finish his appointed portion. I have seen this happen on occasions.
CHAPTER IX
NARCOTIC AND STIMULATING ENJOYMENTS
DRINKS USED BY THE MANÓBOS
Intoxicating drinks are of four kinds: Sugar-palm wine,1 bá-hi toddy,2 sugarcane brew,3 and mead.4
1Tuba or sai-yan or san, the sap of the hi-di-up (Arenga saccharifera) commonly known in the Philippines as cabo negro.
2The fishtail palm (Caryota sp.). The extracted sap is called túng-gang.
3Ín-tus.
4Bá-is or bi-aí-lis.
SUGAR-PALM WINE
Sugar-palm wine is obtained by tapping the fruit stem of the cabo negro palm. The process is very simple. At the time of efflorescence the spadix is cut off and the pithy stem is tapped. This operation lasts from 15 to 30 minutes each day and is continued for from 7 to 14 days. After the tapping the stem must be bent into a downward position. This is effected by inclining it downward every day, a piece of rattan or vine being used to retain it in position. The gentlest of force must be used in this operation, as a forcible strain will prevent the sap from flowing. Once the sap begins to flow from the stem, it is caught in a bamboo receptacle, the mouth of which must be carefully covered to prevent the entrance of the myriads of insects that are attracted by the odor and sweetness of the liquid. Day after day the end of the stem must be pared as otherwise the sap would cease to exude. A tree will produce daily anywhere from 10 to 30 liters according to the fertility of the soil and the humidity of the atmosphere. The humidity determines the duration of time that the tree produces toddy. This time varies from one to three months.
The sap has the color and transparency of water to which a little milk has been added. When fresh, it is a sweet, refreshing laxative, but the fermentation is so rapid that after a few hours it acquires the inebriating qualities of ordinary coconut toddy. In order to promote fermentation and to eliminate the laxative quality of the sap, the bark5 of a tree is added. On the third day acetification begins to take place, unless a handful of the ordinary native red pepper is thrown into the beverage, in which case the further fermentation is withheld for a period of about four more days.
5Called la-gúd.
The palm from which this sap is obtained is found in great abundance on the eastern6 side of the lower and middle Agúsan Valley and is universally tapped in this region. On the western side, however, it is not found with such frequency. The Manóbo is therefore obliged to seek other means of satisfying the craving which he, like a good many of his fellowmen the world over, feels for a stimulant.
6In the vicinity of Tudela, Simúlau River, there are groves of sugar-palm. I estimated that they contained 5,000 trees.
BÁHI TODDY
Túng-gang is the sap of the báhi palm. The method of extraction is identical with that of the sugar-palm wine. It is neither as pleasant nor as strong as the previously described drink, but it is not by any manner of means unwholesome. It is employed as a beverage only when no other is obtainable. I have been reliably informed that sometimes the tree is cut down as a preliminary to the extraction of the sap. Incisions are made in the trunk for the purpose of permitting the flow of the sap.
SUGARCANE BREW
In-tus is a beverage made out of the juice of the sugarcane. It is the most common and the most popular drink, so much so that it is deemed worthy of being presented to the spirits on sacrificial and other occasions.
Extraction of the juice.--The sugarcane is first peeled and then crushed, stalk by stalk, or piece by piece, under the li-gi-san. This is a very primitive mill, consisting of a round, smooth, heavy log usually of palma brava7 or of the fishtail palm, set horizontally about 1 meter above the ground on two crude frames. It is provided with a vertical handle, by means of which it can be rolled from side to side over a fiat piece of wood. The cane is introduced gradually between this latter piece and the log, which is kept in constant motion. As soon as the whole or a part of a piece of cane has been crushed, it is doubled up into a mass about 30 centimeters long and is again crushed. By this method about 20 liters of juice are obtained in a day.
7An-a-hau (Livistona sp.).
Boiling.--The iron cooking pan described in a previous chapter is preferred for preparing the drink, unless an empty kerosene can has been secured. In the absence of both, the ordinary pot answers the purpose. In the center of the cooking utensil is placed a small cylinder made of slats of bamboo to serve for gaging the amount of evaporation. The boiling vessel is filled with small slices of the root of a gingerlike plant8 and sugarcane juice is added to fill the interstices.
8Lan-kwas (Cordeline terminalis Willd.).
The amount of boiling determines the quality of the resulting liquor. If the sap is boiled down only one-fourth, the drink produced is of a sweetish taste and of a whitish appearance and, in my estimation, is not palatable. The more the sap is evaporated, the more it mellows and browns. The Manóbos of the upper Agúsan make a better drink than those of the lake region for the reason that they evaporate the juice one-half, while those of the latter-mentioned district only give it a cursory boiling. It is usual to employ a little gaging rod of bamboo for measuring the amount of evaporation, this being done by inserting it into the bamboo cylinder in the center of the pot, but an old hand at brewing can gage by the smell.
Fermentation.--After cooking, the decoction is unfit for immediate use. It must be left to undergo fermentation for at least three whole days. Five days are sufficient to render it fairly drinkable. The longer the period of fermentation, the liner the quality of the resulting liquor, ceteris paribus. When well-cooked brew has been kept for a few months, it assumes a translucid amber color, smells and tastes strongly of rum, and is highly intoxicating. The liquor during fermentation must be kept in closed jars or earthen pots in a cool moist place. If kept in bamboo joints, it will spoil.
In general, the drink is more intoxicating than coconut toddy, but it is wholesome, and its use is not attended by the after effects that are the result of overindulgence in certain other alcoholic drinks like vino. In this connection it may be well to remark that I have never observed a case of delirium tremens nor of any of the other serious consequences that in other parts of the world frequently afflict the habitual drinker. The only ill effects I have seen are the proverbial headache and thirst, but even these are very rare and usually occur only after periods of long and uninterrupted indulgence. As a rule such effects are at once dispelled by taking hot taro-top soup or by munching sugarcane.
MEAD
This is probably the finest beverage produced in Manóboland, but as the honey season is short and as the honey is consumed, both in the forest after taking the nest and in the house by the members of the family, the drink is scarce.
The preparation of the drink is identical with that of sugarcane brew. The same ferment is used, the same method of cooking is employed, and in general the same remarks apply, with the exception that in place of the sugarcane juice, honey and water are used. The honey is mixed with water in varying proportions. It is the proportion of water to honey that determines the strength, quality, and flavor of the final drink, A mixture of half and half is said to yield the best beverage. If fermentation is allowed to continue for a few months, the resulting liquor is of a clear crystalline color, and will compare both in flavor and strength with those more up to date.
DRINKING
GENERAL REMARKS
Though the Manóbos invariably drink during religious feasts, yet neither during the feast itself, nor in the preparation of the toddy, have I ever observed any religious ceremony nor were any magic or other preternatural means employed. It is true that when the crushing appliance9 is set up, the fowl-waving ceremony, followed by the blood unction, is performed. I witnessed this ceremony myself in several parts of the Agúsan River Valley. But such ceremonies are customary on the erection of houses, smithies, and so forth, and bear no relation to the actual production of the drink.
9Li-gi-san.
During religious ceremonies a bowlful of the brew is set out with the usual viands, such as meat and rice, for the di-u-a-ia, tag-la-nu-a (lords of the hills and the valleys), and for other spirits, for they, too, like to be regaled with the good things of this world.
Drink is taken on the occurrence of all the great religious and social feasts and upon the arrival of a distinguished friend or visitor--also when it is desired to make a good bargain or to secure any other end by convivial means. The acquisition of an unusual amount of fish or of meat is a common occasion for the making of the brew and gives rise to the following practice:
THE SUMSÚM-AN
The sumsúm-an, i. e., the eating of meat or fish with an accompaniment of drink, a universal practice throughout the Agúsan Valley, the Salúg Valley, and the whole Mandáya country, is a thing that appeals especially to the true Mandáya, Manóbo, and Mañgguáñgan. When a man of one of these tribes has secured a good catch of fish, or has trapped a wild boar, he procures a supply of beverage and meets his guests at the appointed place, usually his little farmhouse. As soon as all are assembled, the fish or the meat is broiled on sticks of wood over the fire. When it is cooked, the women lay it out and it is slashed into pieces, usually by the host, and apportioned with great precision as to weight, quality, amount of bone, and quantity of inept. During this operation, a few bamboo jointfuls of brew are brought from some hiding place and a relative of the householder sits down with one under his arm. Before him are set such articles as glasses and bowls, if obtainable, or in lieu thereof, small pieces of bamboo joints, each holding about a tumblerful, and not very different in shape from handleless German steins. These bamboo cups admirably fulfill the purpose. The distributor of the liquor slices a little strip from under the mouth of his bamboo deposit to prevent loss of the liquor during pouring, then he inserts two fingers into the mouth of the bamboo and makes an opening through the leaves for the drink, but not so large as to give free exit to such insects as may have found their way into the liquid. He then fills up the vessels at hand, taking care to give to each an equal amount.
It is to be noted that it is an inviolable custom that the host drinks first. This is because of the widespread belief in secret poisons. After drinking the host passes the cup to those whom he wishes to honor, unless they are already provided, and using some expression corresponding to our English "Here goes," the guest or guests quaff the brew. The bowls or other vessels are returned to the distributor, and the process is repeated until all have had a drink.
DRINKING DURING RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL FEASTS
During religious and social feasts the drinking customs are as above described, except that the beverage is set out in sacred jars, when on hand, and with such an array of bowls as the host may possess. One of these feasts, notably the marriage feast, may be attended by as many as 200 persons and last from 3 to 7 days and nights, so that to hear of 20 jars or 100 bamboo10 jointfuls of sugarcane brew being consumed on the occasion of a great festival is not strange.
10Sugúng.
The amount of drink used, both individually and collectively during one of the feasts, gives one an idea of the great capacity which these primitive peoples enjoy. The average white man in my opinion would be deliriously drunk before the Mandáya or Manóbo would be feeling merry. It is not according to tribal customs to refuse food and drink as long as the host has them to set before his guest. On a few occasions I have seen a tribesman rise, quietly empty the stomach, and calmly return to the feast to finish his appointed portion and wash his hands and his plate as an evidence of that fact.
With regard to women and children, it may be said that they drink little, not from any religious or moral principles, but simply because they do not care to. The men, however, are inveterate drinkers. No disgrace is attached to drunkenness. On the contrary to take the allotted portion is considered a duty and a virtue.
EVIL EFFECTS FROM DRINKING
It goes without saying that quarrels sometimes result from these drinking bouts, though not oftener, I venture to say, than among more highly cultured peoples in other parts of the world. The custom of carrying weapons on all occasions where others than relatives are present has a deterrent effect on quarreling, yet there are occasions when daggers or bolos terminate an argument that wild shouts and frantic gestures can not settle.
With regard to the amount of drink consumed, I could as well venture an approximation as to the number of stars in the firmament. This will be readily understood when one is told, that according to the social institutions of the Manóbos, it is considered no breach of manners to ask a neighbor for any thing of his to which one may take a fancy. A refusal on his part, unless couched in the most diplomatic terms, might give rise to unneighborly feelings and prompt a reprisal in kind on some other occasion. Hence drink is almost invariably kept deposited in the grass outside of the settlement. When it is needed it is brought to the appointed place secretly or at night, for were others than the invited ones aware of the existence of drink in one's possession they, too, would flock to the scene. In view of the secrecy maintained about the possession of drink it is impossible to give an estimate of the amount of liquor consumed in Manóboland. Suffice it to say that the Manóbo drinks on every possible occasion and will travel many a mile to secure a little of the flowing bowl.
TOBACCO PREPARATION AND USE
When the tobacco is ripe, it is gathered, cut fine with a sliver of bamboo, and dried in the sun for a day or two. It is then frequently pounded into bamboo internodes and laid away in a cool, dry place, often in the rice granary, for fermentation. Before using the tobacco it is customary to set it out in the grass for a night or two. This causes a sweating and makes the tobacco fit for chewing.
This is the only form in which tobacco is prepared among the mountain Manóbos. The quantity of tobacco raised is insignificant, being a little more than is sufficient for their personal use. As they dispose of a great deal of it during harvest time, it not infrequently comes to pass that there is a dearth long before the next crop.
No harmful effects are attributed to the use of tobacco, though from childhood to the grave it is made use of by men, women, and children.
Only men and boys smoke. The pipe employed for this purpose is commonly a little cone made out of a piece of imported tin or of a piece of steel. The stem is a piece of small bamboo. One occasionally finds wooden pipes, but they have probably been acquired from Christianized Manóbos or from Bisáyas.
The first-mentioned pipe holds about one thimbleful of tobacco. It is usually lighted with a firebrand, unless it is used when the people are on the trail; at such a time the flint, steel, and tinder are called into requisition.
There are two forms of tobacco chewing: First, the bal-ut method. In this a mixture is made of minced tobacco, lime, the juice of a vine,11 and pot black. This combination, which in bulk may be the size of a large marble, is carried between the upper lip and the upper gums but resting upon the lower lip and projecting out of the mouth, thereby keeping the lips apart. It is made use of principally for its narcotic qualities, but at the same time it serves as an ornament and tends to blacken the teeth. It is carried in the mouth until its strength is exhausted. During meals it is placed behind the ear. When tobacco is scarce, the same quid receives several additions of lime, pot black, and vine juice, so that it may be used for a whole day. The women are more accustomed than the men to the use of this bal-ut, for the reason that the former do not smoke, and also because they usually have hidden away a less limited supply of tobacco than the men. The second method of using tobacco is known as the la-gút. This consists of chewing a little pinch of tobacco in combination with betel nut. Tobacco is seldom chewed alone.
11Maú-mau.
THE BETEL-NUT MASTICATORY
INGREDIENTS AND EFFECT OF THE QUID
The betel-nut quid is to the Manóbo more than the cigarette, cigar, or pipe is to his more civilized fellow man. With him the use of it is a universal, eternal habit. By day and by night, in the house and on the trail, in health and in sickness, he turns for stimulation to the quid of betel nut, betel leaf, and lime. A visitor comes to his house and the first act of hospitality is the offering of the betel-nut quid. He meets an acquaintance upon the trail, and he sits down and offers the soothing chew. He is anxious that his omen be good and he lays a tribute of betel nut upon the trail for the forest deity, and goes on, confident that his desires will be fulfilled. And when he calls upon his gods, the first and most essential offering must be the quid of betel nut, for the fragrance of the nut and the redolence of the blossom are said to be the chief delicacy of the spirits.
The betel nut12 is obtained from the palms found in the forest. These palms were planted either by the Manóbos themselves or by their ancestors. The nuts are found in scarcely sufficient quantity to supply the demand. When they can not be obtained, other plants 13 are used, but they are an inferior substitute. In taste the betel nut is exceedingly astringent and can not be used except in combination with the betel leaf and lime. As a rule the green and tender nut is preferred by the mountain Manóbos, but the ripe nut seems to be the choice of those who have come in contact with Christianized Manóbos or with Bisáyas.
12Areca betel.
13Kan-ín-yag, cinnamon, is one of the substitutes. Also called kanéla.
The betel leaf14 is from a species of pepper, of which there are innumerable species both domestic and wild. A domestic variety is preferred but, since the supply is not always equal to the demand, as in the case of the betel nut, the wild species afford a tolerable substitute. The tender leaves are preferred as being less pungent. For the same reason domestic species are used in preference to the wild ones, these latter possessing a highly acrid taste.
14Betel sp.
The lime is made from the shells of shellfish found in the rivers, streams, and lakes. The shells are burnt in a very hot fire, usually of bamboo strips, the fire being fanned continually. The shells are then slaked with a sprinkling of water and the lime is ready for use.
To prepare the quid, the betel nut, frequently stripped of its fibrous rind, is cut into small slices. One slice is laid upon a piece of betel leaf, and a little lime is shaken upon it from the lime tube. The leaf is then wrapped around the nut and the lime, and the pellet is ready for use. The amount of lime must be such that the saliva will turn red, and depends upon the size of the betel nut and the betel leaf. An excess of lime burns the integuments of the mouth and tongue, but this is avoided by increasing immediately the amount of leaf. A little pinch of tobacco, the stronger the better, completes the ordinary quid.
There are sometimes added to this masticatory certain other aromatic ingredients, such as cinnamon, lemon rind, and other things.
The first and immediate effect of chewing this combination is to promote salivation. Following this is the reddening of the saliva by the chemical action of the lime upon the betel nut and the leaf. However, the most important effect produced by the quid is the soothing sensation that follows its use. In this respect it far exceeds tobacco chewing, both in the Manóbos' opinion and in my own. The sensations which I experienced on my first trials were a feeling of inflation of the head and a transient sensation of weakness, accompanied by a cold sweat upon the forehead. This was followed by a feeling of exhilaration and quickened vitality. It may be said in general that betel-nut chewing acts as an efficacious restorative, especially during a journey, and as a harmless narcotic which it would be hard to replace. The addition of tobacco intensifies this narcotic effect considerably, other additions such as cinnamon serving only to soften the astringency and the piquancy of the leaf and to impart an aroma to the quid.
BETEL CHEWING ACCESSORIES
The Manóbo man carries on his back, in a little bag 15 of abaká or other cloth, all the requisites for betel-nut chewing. The woman deposits them in an open basket unless she is on a journey, in which case she carries them in a little closed basket.
15Pú-yo.
The betel nut and the betel leaf are put into the bottom of the sack for the purpose of concealment, for there is a continual clamor for one or the other, and should it be known that a certain individual has a supply, the Manóbos' social regulations would oblige him to part with it upon request. Hence he keeps it out of view, and is always ready to excuse himself, when asked for one or the other, on the ground that he has no more.
He keeps a few nuts and leaves for immediate use in a Moro brass box,16 if he is so fortunate as to possess one. Otherwise he puts them in a cylindrical receptacle 17 usually made out of a small bamboo internode, or in a little round receptacle 18 of plaited rattan coated with the pulp of the seed of a tree.19 His tobacco for immediate use he keeps in another similar receptacle, the main supply being hidden away in the bottom of the knapsack.
19Ta-bon-tábon (Parinarium mindanaense Perkins).
The lime is invariably kept in a small internode 20 of bamboo. This is open at one end and has a spherical plug of plaited rattan inserted into the mouth for the purpose of preventing an excess of lime from issuing. This spherical network resembles in miniature the football seen so commonly throughout the Philippines. When it is desired to add lime to the quid, the tube is taken in one hand and held in a downward position with the thumb and little finger underneath it and the other fingers above it. The first finger is then made to slide with force from the middle finger down to the tube, thereby tapping out the lime. This tapping motion is similar to that performed when winnowing rice.
20Táng-tang.
The men use their bolos to cut up the betel nut, but the women have a small knife 21 which also answers the purpose of a general utility implement corresponding to our scissors.
21Ba-di' or kam-pit.
When the chewer's teeth have deteriorated from age, the quid is mashed in a small mortar made of hardwood, a piece of steel serving as a pestle. In this way the betel nut and leaf are rendered sufficiently soft for mastication.
In conclusion, it may be said that though the habit seems a dirty one, owing to the discoloration of the mouth and lips of the chewer and to the ruby expectorations that tinge his surroundings, yet on the whole it is a necessary and beneficial practice. From my observation and experience, I believe that the habit eliminates toothache and other disorders of the teeth. Christianized Manóbos and Bisáyas who have relinquished the habit suffer from dental troubles, whereas the inveterate chewer of the mountains is free from them. The Manóbo can not endure the long and frequent hikes, nor carry the heavy loads that he does, without this mild but efficacious restorative.
CHAPTER X
MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE
AGRICULTURE
GENERAL REMARKS
Agriculture is in a very primitive condition. It is true that most of the Christianized Manóbos living in the river settlements have a few hundred abaká plants each, yet the care of them is left practically to nature, their productivity depending upon the soil. But the true mountaineer plants nothing except the bare necessities of life--rice and camotes, some taro,1 a little sugarcane in season, a little patch of maize, and sometimes ginger and other spices.
1In districts close to the Mandáya country the use of taro is more common, but even in the upper Agúsan it is not a permanent crop. The Mandáyas subsist to a great extent on it whenever the soil is adapted to its growth. Taro is the Colocasia antiquorum.
His system of agriculture is in perfect adaptation to his social and political institutions. Living as he does in a state of eternal vigilance, and knowing that the first death in the house or an unlucky combination of omens or the menaces of his enemies may drive him from his home and from his farm, he is content with a small clearing. He builds no embankments, no irrigation ditches, no terraces. He has no plows, nor draft animals. He selects a patch of the virgin forest every year, and with the bolo and rude axe, clears and cultivates the land. For a permanent crop he keeps his camote patch, on which he may plant a few bananas and also invariably a sprinkling of sugarcane. Scattered around this small farm may be found some native tomatoes, more often planted by the birds than by the hand of man, a few ginger and other plants that serve to season the food. A betel-nut palm is planted occasionally, and some betel leaf, but with these exceptions no trees, not even those whose fruit is dearly relished, are planted.
THE TIME AND PLACE FOR PLANTING RICE
The time for planting is at hand when the voice of the bird kuaháu first breaks from the forest and the leaves of lanípau tree begin to fall.2 Then the farmer hies to the woods to select the site for the rice field, calling upon the omen bird to direct him in his choice. Of course he is governed in his selection by reasons of proximity to water, safety from floods, distance from the settlement, etc., but the omen bird's cry must be favorable. Having decided on the location he makes an offering of betel nut to the tagbánua and to such other spirits as may dwell in the neighborhood. This act of homage is performed in order to make friends with these forest lords so that they may not be displeased on account of the usurpation of a part of their domain. Then he selects a spot for the house and clears it, if he has time, but if not, he cuts down a few small trees as a public notice of his proprietorship. Special attention is here called to the fact that the spot selected must be one of virgin forest. The Manóbo never plants his rice in the same place during two successive years, because it would not yield a plentiful harvest.
2Certain trees, such as the ná-to' and the ba-ró-bo', begin to fruit at this season, and are also signs of the approach of the rice-planting season.
The following day, or when all is ready, he and his household begin the work by erecting a small shack sufficiently large to accommodate them. In the middle of the farm3 is erected a small platform for the seed and, near the house, the usual offering house4 and other sacrificial perquisites. Then he is ready to perform the rice-planting sacrifice.
3U-ma'.
4Ka-má-lig.
THE SOWING CEREMONY5
5The täp-hag sacrifice.
Täphágan is a female diuata under whose special superintendence are placed the rice crop and all that pertains to it. She is thought to guard the crop against man and beast, even revealing, it is said, to her chosen ones the names of all trespassers. In return for this she must be frequently feasted from the beginning of the rice season up to the harvest, for at that time her duties cease, and she yields the field to Hakiádan.
The officiant in the rice-planting ceremonies is either one or more family priests. The victim is either a pig or a fowl, sacrificed in a special manner. The invocations consist of the same interminable supplications, promises, and repetitions that are characteristic of all Manóbo prayers. One variation is observed during this ceremony. The fowl, on being killed, is thrown on the ground and left to flutter around, thereby, it is thought, removing from the soil with its blood such evils as might harm the rice or lessen its production. If a pig, however, has been killed the blood lustration is performed in the ordinary way by smearing a near-by log, the priest bidding the evil6 of the earth begone. I have often been told that a special ceremony is necessary at the time of rice planting. This ceremony is called hú-gad to sá-ya or hú-gad to sä which means "to cleanse the sin." I am inclined to think that this rite is a purificatory one, as the name of it indicates. I suppose that it is a secret expiation of such transgressions as might be punished by a failure of the future crop.
6Ka-dú-ut.
As in all undertakings of import, the entrails of the victim are carefully observed. Other forms of divination, especially the egg omen, are employed to determine whether the supernal powers approve the site or not.
Among the offerings to Täphágan is a handful of unhulled rice taken from the last harvesting and now set out in the religious shed. It is customary during this feast to give a little rice to such animals and insects as are liable to harm the crop later on. Among these may be mentioned rats, ricebirds, crows, parrakeets[sic],7 and ants. A little rice is set out on a log for them and they are bidden welcome, and requested not to commit any future depredations. Nor are the omen birds, prophets of plentiful crops, and the kuaháu, harbinger and companion of the rice crop, forgotten.
7Abúkai.
During the growth of the rice the above practices are observed from time to time. No special rule is observed, but it may be said, in general, that the occurrence of ill omens, or the suspicion of danger, urge the owner of the crop to feast Täphágan and thereby obtain immunity from evil. The priest is the best judge as to the necessity of such things.
THE CLEARING OF THE LAND
The omens being favorable, the farmer, assisted by his relatives and friends, begins the clearing without delay. It is essential that at least a little work be done in order to clinch the bargain with the powers above, for should a delay occur the omens might go awry and necessitate a repetition of the ceremonies and even an abandonment of the farm. I heard of several cases where prospective farms were abandoned under these circumstances.
The clearing, like all other agricultural operations, is done on the mutual-help system,8 that is, the farmer's relatives and friends unite to help him clear the land, which favor he and his family is expected to return in kind.
8Pag-a-bai-yús-an.
The average clearing does not comprise more than a few acres, and is completed ordinarily in from two to five days. The first step 9 in the clearing process consists in cutting down the underbrush and small trees. In this the men are assisted by the women and children who gather these into heaps for burning. This may take only a few days, if no inauspicious omens occur, but, according to my observation, it is seldom that some omen or other does not interfere with the work. Thus a dead animal, such as a wild boar, or snake, found on the farm makes blood lustrations necessary. The rumbling of thunder means a temporary discontinuance of the work, and often a purificatory ceremony, of which I can give no details, becomes necessary and delays the work.
9Called gás or gái-as.
The next operation consists in the felling of trees.10 For this purpose, scaffolds, usually of bamboo, are erected around the tree at a height several feet above the buttresses of the tree or at such a point as is considered expedient. Trees are cut down high above the base because the wood at the bottom of the tree is usually exceedingly tough. Standing on his perch at a distance of about 8 feet from the ground, the feller plies his native axe11 until the tree yields and crashes down in its fall such of its fellows as may stand in its way. It may be observed here that the Manóbo as a rule is an expert at tree felling and takes great pleasure in it. Practically all the felling and clearing of Bisáya land in the Agúsan Valley is done by Manóbos of Christian or of pagan persuasion and at a merely nominal cost.
10Gú-ba.
11Hu-wá-siu.
After the trees have been cut down, all branches and parts of the tree that would be too much of an obstruction in the farm are cut12 and mounted into heaps for future burning.13 This burning, of course, can not take place till after the hot weather,14 which comes at this period and lasts about a month. Unless the clearing was exceptionally free from heavy timber, the ground remains encumbered with the larger trunks and branches, even after the burning, but this is no impediment, for the rice and camotes can be planted between the stumps.
12Gú-ang.
13Sáng-ag.
14Gu-yá-bang.
THE SOWING OF THE RICE AND ITS CULTURE
It is essential that the sowing take place between the time of the burning and the next full moon. But the exact date varies according to the locality. Thus, in Umaíam district, the time for sowing is said to be the ninth day after the first waning moon that follows that spell of hot weather, known as guyábang, whereas in the upper Agúsan 12 nights are counted from the first new moon after the guyábang and the sowing takes place the following day. It is thought that this procedure will insure a plentiful crop.
The method of sowing is simple. The owner of the farm takes a handful of rice from the woven-grass15 bag in the center of the clearing and scatters it broadcast. Then the members of the family complete the sowing. There seems to be a knack in so scattering the seed that it may not cover the ground too closely. Once cast upon the surface, the seed is covered16 immediately so as to get it under the ground and away from the ravages of vermin. This is done by breaking the ground slightly with bolos.
15Kam-bu-yaí.
16The process of covering the seed is called hi-la-bón.
As a protection against weeds, camotes, sugarcane, and even maize are planted in places where the rice is not so close, and especially where the weeds have sprung up. These latter must be removed from time to time until the crop is sufficiently tall to shade the ground. This and all subsequent work connected with the farm, except the making of wild-boar traps and the caring for them, falls upon the women and children.
The growth of the rice is carefully observed, and the owner of the farm must be ever ready to counteract evil indications and to feast Täphágan upon their appearance. Thus finding a dead animal, such as a large bird, lizard, or monkey, is considered of ill import and lustration of blood must be resorted to. Again the appearance of certain birds in the vicinity of the farm is looked upon as of evil omen, and it becomes necessary to drive away the impending evil by proper ceremonial means.
Drought, though an uncommon occurrence, is especially feared. I once witnessed a peculiar method of rain making. It was performed under the auspices of Täphágan and in the following manner: The rain makers17 each secured a frond of some palm tree and went to the bank of the stream near by. Here they beat their fronds upon the surface of the water until the leaves were torn. Then each one stuck his frond upon the bank in a vertical position and went his way, certain that rain would follow.
17Mig-pa-áyao.
There are, on the other hand, divers good omens and indications of a plenteous harvest. The swarming of bees on the farm is one of these. So is the continuous cry of kuaháu. There are many other omens both good and evil that render the growing season one of constant question and answer between nature and primitive man. As the time for the harvest approaches, means must be taken to protect the crop against its enemies. Traps and light fences are the principal defense against wild boar. Scarecrows, consisting of pieces of palm frond, tin cans, and other things, are suspended from long rattan cords that diverge in all directions from the watch house 18 in the center of the field. The waving of these rattan strips, when manipulated by the young person on watch, accompanied by loud yells, serve to frighten away the ricebirds,19 parrakeets[sic], and monkeys. A little offering of rice is frequently made by way of gaining the good will and speedy departure of the latter.
18Ban-taí-an.
19Máya.
A final feast, similar to that described in the preceding pages, is given to Täphágan by way of thanksgiving, when the crop is nearly ripe for the harvest, and she then passes out of the Manóbo's memory for another year.
THE RICE HARVEST
The harvest time is the merriest of all the year. It ends, in most cases, the long period of abstinence from rice, and many times terminates a period of actual hunger. It is the season for the celebration of marriages, with their attendant festivals; for hunting and for fishing, especially with poison. And yet it is fraught with religious fear and safeguarded by severe taboos and other restrictions that make it to some extent a season of mystery. In many places it is a time of vigilance against the attacks of the enemy.
The first thing that must be done when the rice is ripe enough to harvest is to close all trails leading to the house and farm. No one may now, under penalty of a fine, enter the precincts, nor may any one but an inmate of the household be present, for otherwise the crop might never come to maturity.20 Should any one trespass upon the farm, it is imperative that work be discontinued until the following day. This gives a good opportunity to collect the fine imposed on the trespasser. I did not care to violate this taboo, and for this reason can offer only second-hand information as to what takes place from the time of the closing of the trails till the harvest feast.
20Makadúya is the term used to express the evil that might befall the crop.
The owner makes solemn invocation to the omen bird and, if the omens are satisfactory, proceeds to cut some of the ripe heads of rice in the center of the farm. These are then put into a grass bag prepared especially for this purpose. This bag is said to have bezoar stones21 placed in it in order that the rice may not only not diminish but may even increase in quantity. For the six following days the women and children reap a little every day and deposit the rice in the above receptacle.
21Mút-ja or mút-da.
The rice thus harvested is carefully preserved as seed for the following year, though a little of it may be employed for ceremonial purposes during the sowing and harvesting celebrations. The new rice must on no account be eaten before the harvest feast is ready, and it must not be given away, for that would certainly result in a mysterious decrease.22 In fine, it has such a sacred character that it must be pounded at night and never in the presence of anyone who is not a member of the household, for should anyone visit the house at this time the rice would be found to have much chaff23 in it.
22Ka-gu-yú-dun, i. e., literally, that it would be pulled away.
23Á-pa.
THE HARVEST FEAST
The harvest feast must take place before the real work of harvesting begins. It usually occurs on the seventh day after the closing of the trails, if everything is in readiness. The importance of this feast is such that he who can not kill a pig for the occasion has no title to aristocracy in the tribe. All being ready, the trails are opened and the drum and gong boom out to announce to relatives and friends that they are welcome to the feast of Hakiádan, the goddess of grain.
The ceremony differs but little from that to Täphágan, as described on previous pages. The invocation to Hakiádan is most elaborate, lasting for several hours in the few instances which I witnessed. It is taken up by one priest after another and every inducement is offered to Hakiádan to prevent the rice from being stolen, or destroyed by their enemies, carried away by floods, wet by rain, raided by rats and ants, or stolen by Dágau, that fickle mischievous spirit whose pleasure seems to be to bring hunger 24 to humankind. The dead, whose final feast25 has not yet been celebrated, are given a betel-nut offering and requested most devoutly not to tamper with the rice. Even the greedy parrakeets[sic], the gregarious ricebirds, and other enemies of the rice have portions of the first fruits set out for them in little leaf packages. Hakiádan is asked to instruct these creatures to behave themselves during this delicate season.
24Ma-ka-bun-tas-úi.
25Ka-ta-pús-an.
The pig is killed in the ordinary way, and the feast ends with the usual revels. When the farmer is unable to procure a pig, a chicken is substituted, specious excuses being made for the failure to provide a larger victim.
After the celebration the women and children of the household, assisted by such of their friends and relatives, women and children, as have agreed to harvest the rice, begin the work in real earnest. Each one starts out with her basket hanging upon her back, supported by the string which passes over her head. In her hand she carries the harvesting knife, which is a clamshell set at right angles in a palm's length of rattan, or in lieu of the shell a similarly shaped piece of tin. With this she snips off a ripe ear with a few inches of the stalk and throws it into her basket, which now hangs from her shoulder. When her basket is full she returns to the place where a larger basket26 has been set and deposits her load in it. Thus the process goes on for the few days (three to five) necessary to harvest the crop.
26Diwítan.
The men in the meantime make the granary 27 somewhere in the clearing, usually in the center. It is ordinarily a crude structure consisting of four small posts, upon which rests a roof of rattan leaf thatch. Intermediate between the roof and the ground is a floor either of bamboo slats or of bark, upon which are set the cylindrical bark or grass receptacles for the rice. Sometimes wooden disks or inverted cones of bamboo slatwork are attached to the posts of the rice granary to prevent the entrance of rats and mice.
27Tam-bó-bung.
The rice in the larger baskets is brought to the granary and in the course of a few days is put on coarse mats of grass and threshed with hands and feet. It is then spread out thinly on these same mats and dried in the sun for one day. After it is dried it is cleaned of chaff by being tossed into the air from the winnowing tray. It is then ready for permanent deposit in the granary, to be disposed of later either by sale or by home consumption.
A field 1 hectare in area will yield, at a low estimate, 25 sacks, but where the soil is particularly well adapted for rice culture, as it is on the upper parts of nearly every river in the Agúsan Valley, 50 sacks are not considered an extraordinary yield.
THE CULTURE OF OTHER CROPS
The rice straw that stands upon the field is burnt down, and sweet potatoes, some maize, a score or more of sugarcane plants, a patch of taro, and sometimes a few banana plants are put in at intervals after the harvest entertainments. The time selected for the planting of sugarcane and bananas is around noon. It is thought that, if planted then, they will grow taller and bigger than if planted at any other hour. Taro and corn, on the contrary, must be planted during the morning hours, probably for some reason analogous to the above. If the rumbling of thunder is heard during the planting of these crops, it is an intimation that the planting should be discontinued till the following day, or, in case of urgency, till proper omens be taken to ascertain the attitude of the powers above.
Fruit trees of divers kinds are found scattered throughout the broad expanse of forest that covers eastern Mindanáo, but they are not of man's sowing nor does the Manóbo ever lay claim to them. He takes the fruit, frequently branch and all, eats it, throws the seed away and goes his way rejoicing.
HUNTING
The Manóbos are excellent hunters, keen, clever, determined, and enduring, but by no means incessant. In fact, it is only under the stress of hunger or when a few of them rally together that they start off with hunting spears and dogs. Occasionally one meets a professional who takes pride in the business, as may be observed by the trophies of wild-boar tusks and jaws hung in his house.
HUNTING WITH DOGS
The dogs used are of the usual type seen throughout the Philippines, except that only the better and pluckier or luckier ones are chosen for hunting. These are recognized by the size and relative position of the nipples on the breast. It is said that from these and other marks the fate of the dog can be foreseen. I was frequently instructed in these signs, but found it impossible to master them for the simple reason that no two experts seemed to agree. Thus in one case, where I consulted those versed in this matter, they respectively informed me that a certain dog would be mangled 28 by a wild boar, swallowed by an alligator,29 and devoured by a cobra, and advised me not to purchase it. Good hunting dogs are often valued as highly as a human life (30 pesos) and sometimes more so. I have seen dogs that seldom returned without having run down a deer or wild boar.
28Pan-ii-gón-on.
29Si-bad-ón-on to bu-a-ja (budáa).
The ordinary Manóbo house has at least a few dogs, and these are allowed the liberty of the house. They share the family mats, and sometimes have a special ladder provided for their ascent and descent. Their food at the best is somewhat scanty. They have names such as "Diguim,"30 "Sápas,"31 and are addressed by their masters with the greatest familiarity. A dog, however, that howls in its sleep, is thought to forebode the death of its master or of some inmate of the house. It must be sold, else the owner or one of his family might die. Dogs are supposed to be messengers of the blood spirits 32 and to be under the protection of the god of hunting,33 for whom the following ceremony must be made by the hunter if he desires continued success in the chase and the safety of his dogs from the perils thereof.
30"Black."
31"Cotton."
32Tagbú-sau.
33Sugúdun.
OFFERING TO SUGÚDUN, THE SPIRIT OF HUNTERS
A triangular tray of bayug or of ilang-ilang wood decorated with palm fronds is made and suspended from the rafters of the house. The owner of the dogs then calls upon Sugúdun, offers him a quid of betel nut, and promises to kill a fowl if only he will be so kind as to assist in getting a wild boar or a deer the following day. The fowl must be a male and of a red color. This invocation occupies the better part of an hour, and, when the hunter is satisfied that he has convinced Sugúdun of the necessity and expediency of being propitious, he slays the red fowl in his honor. The blood is caught in a sacred saucer 34 and placed upon the oblation tray35 for the special entertainment of the hunting deity. In one case I saw the blood anointment36 made on the principal dog in order to remove from him some evil influence that he was thought to possess. After the fowl is cooked, a piece of the meat, a little cooked rice, and a few eggs are put upon the sacrificial tray and left there.
34Apú-gan.
35Su-gú-gan.
36Lím-pas.
THE HUNT
On one of the ensuing days, provided he has observed no ill omen, the hunter starts off, usually with one or more companions, for the selected hunting grounds. As the forests of the Agúsan Valley teem with wild boar and deer, the hunters usually do not have to travel far before the dogs get on the scent. This they announce by their continuous yelping. The hunt then begins. The game strives to elude its pursuers by constantly doubling on its path, so that the hunters do not have such a long run as might be imagined. They never cease to encourage their dogs with a peculiar monotonous cry that resembles a long-drawn u sound. The dogs keep on the heels of their prey and worry and harass it with repeated snaps and bites till it finally comes to bay with its back to a tree. The hunters at once become aware of this by the change in the cry of the dogs, and, accordingly, hasten their steps. Upon arriving at the scene, they cautiously steal up behind the game and put it to death with their spears.
Accidents are uncommon during the hunt, but I have seen several in which both men and dogs were mangled by some fierce wild boar that on being wounded had proved a dangerous enemy.
Where several hunters have participated in the hunt, the game is divided in the forest according to the number of dogs engaged. If the hunters are relatives of the same household, as generally happens, the distribution is made after they reach home. The game is carried back by one of the party, and, if there are other relatives in the settlement, they, too, receive a share. Thus a wild boar or a deer is sufficient for just about one meal.
HUNTING TABOOS AND BELIEFS
The following taboos in connection with hunting are of interest:
(1) The mention of such things as are displeasing to the local forest deities must be positively avoided, such as the mention of salt, of fish that are not found in the region, and of the name of the quarry.
(2) The meat must not be cooked with lard, garlic, or in any other way except in the orthodox Manóbo manner of broiling it, or cooking it in water.
(3) The meat must not be salted and dried.
(4) The game must not be skinned, but singed, for the former act would be one of rashness that would incur divine displeasure and result in lack of success on the part of the dogs during all ensuing hunts.
(5) The bones of the game must not be rapped on the floor to remove the marrow. They must be broken with a bolo.
(6) During the process of boiling the water in which the meat has been placed must be allowed to run over.
(7) The bones of the game must not be thrown into water. Such an act would, it is thought, bring sickness on the transgressor or on a member of his family.
(8) An unmarried man, who has had clandestine relations with a woman, may not partake of the meat before he has made an expiatory offering to the owner of the dogs. This offering need not be of any great value and is usually given in an informal way. The infringement of this taboo is said to be attended with the same baneful effects on the hunting dogs as that mentioned above.
(9) For the same reason a married man must make a compensatory offering of some little thing to his wife in case he has been unfaithful to her. However, the majority of those whom I questioned knew of no such counteracting practice.
A consideration of the above restrictions will explain the reluctance that the Manóbo feels in dividing his game with those who are not of his persuasion. He is afraid that the meat may be cooked in lard or that some other regulation may be broken, thereby bringing down upon himself the displeasure of the spirit owner of the game and upon his dogs ill luck or total lack of success in future hunts.
There are various traditional accounts of people who have been charmed 37 by deer and never heard of again. It seems that, at first, they were approached by a circling herd of deer, which they did not fear and allowed to come close. But among the deer was a transformed búsau or demon that advanced and devoured the solitary hunter. It is said that a dog will not follow a deer of this description.38
37Pag-u-sa-hán.
38Called ma-paí-yag.
OTHER METHODS OF OBTAINING GAME
The ordinary bow is used but the arrow frequently varies from the regular fighting arrow in being heavier, thicker, and not provided with feathering. An arrow with a forked point is occasionally used for small birds, while for hornbills sharp spikes of palma brava are used at times to perforate their tough skins. Dart arrows are favorite for monkeys. The blowpipe (sum-pí-tan)39 is not used. Little game is obtained by the bow and arrow, except when the hunter builds a shelter in a fruit tree and picks off, unseen, such birds as come to feast themselves.
39I found a long slender blowpipe all over Mandáyaland used for shooting birds, but it is not a very successful weapon, nor is it used in fighting.
"Birdlime," made out of the viscid sap of certain trees, is occasionally used to capture small birds.
TRAPPING
TRAPPING CEREMONIES AND TABOOS
As on all occasions, the invocation to the turtledove, the consultation of its cry, and the betel-nut offering to the forest deities of the locality are performed at the outset by the prospective trapper. The omission of the last ceremony might expose him to the danger of being speared by his own trap.
I observed in several districts the use of an ordinary toy magnet,40 as a charm 41 to insure success in trapping, but I suspect that belief in the efficacy of the magnet was inspired by some inventive trader who wanted to dispose of his magnets with more dispatch and at a bigger gain. The use, however, of magic herbs 42 is said to have been learned from the Mamánuas and is resorted to in the eastern parts of the middle and lower Agúsan. I was afforded no information either as to the names or the nature of the herbs used. They are carried around the neck carefully concealed.
40Bá-to báni.
41Súm-pa'.
42Sin-lá-ub.
The male priests and the warrior priests invoke their respective tutelaries before a trapping expedition and the manikiad43 calls upon the emissary44 of the war deities. The trapper sets a sign 45near his house upon his departure. This consists of a bunch of grass or twigs ti'ed to a stick, and is an intimation to passers-by of his absence and of the reason for it. He then sets out for his trapping grounds, but if on the route he meets anyone he must return to the house at least temporarily,46 for otherwise he would catch nothing in the traps.
43A title conferred upon a man who has one or two deaths to his credit. The number depends upon the locality.
44This class of spirits is called pan-aí-yang.
45Ba-li-úg.
46Manóbos claim that the violation of this taboo would bring about a condition that is expressed by the word ma-ka-dú-ya; I can not state definitely what this condition is. I never have had a satisfactory explanation.
In his absence the following are a few of the taboos that must be observed:
(1) The trapper's wife must neither do work nor leave the house until his return, or, in case of protracted absence, until sunset.
(2) No one, not even a dog, may enter the trapper's home unless the visitor leaves, or unless there is left for him 011 his departure, an object of personal use, such as his bolo. This is intended as a deposit and will be returned. The dog must be tied till sunset or a similar deposit made for it.
(3) The mention of the words pig and deer must be sedulously avoided, and no one must refer to the purpose of the hunter unless it be in a periphrastic way.
I observed on several trapping expeditions in which I took part, that the trapper built a little offering house 47 near his shelter house, and at first was very regular in his offerings and prayers to the spirit lord of the forest. His religious fervor, however, decreased in direct proportion to the bountifulness with which heaven rewarded his prayers. When he found game becoming scarce, he decided that probably the local forest spirit was displeased, and tried his luck in other parts.
47Baí-yui-baí-yui, literally, a little house.
THE BAMBOO SPEAR TRAP 48
48Ba-tik.
A common method of trapping among the Manóbos, more especially practiced during the rainy season, is by the use of the bamboo spear trap that is in very common use throughout the Philippine Islands. Without entering into details, it may be described as a trap in which a spring of bent wood, upon being released, drives a bamboo spear that has been attached to it into the side of a passing pig or deer. The whole apparatus is laid horizontally about 1 foot above the ground, and is carefully concealed. It is a simple contrivance, speedily and cheaply made, and in the rainy season very successful. Accidents to human beings from these traps are rare, due to the keen sight and forest instinct with which the Manóbo is endowed. As the pig or deer passes along the trail, it releases the spring and is speared in the side. It is seldom that a wild boar dies on the spot or in the vicinity. It usually has to be tracked for hours and sometimes is never found.
OTHER VARIETIES OF TRAPS
Bamboo caltrops are sharp bamboo slats49 between 2 and 3 feet long set in the ground, usually at an angle of about 45° in places where the wild boar have to make a descent. It is not a very successful contrivance, as these animals are endowed with such extraordinary sight and scent.
49Pa-dúg-pa.
The pa-yu-pa-yu trap consists of a set of bamboo slats as described above, set on each side of a pig trail, and of a good-sized log held in a slanting position by a trigger. When released by the boar, the log falls down behind him, and, by the sudden noise, frightens him and causes him to jump into the bamboo spikes.
The pitfall50 is little used. It consists of a hole large enough for a wild boar or deer, carefully covered so as to deceive the animal. The bottom bristles with sharp bamboo stakes.
50Tu-kí-bung.
The monkey spring trap51 is on the style of the bamboo spear trap described above but is much smaller, being set on the branch of a tree without any attempt at concealment. The poor, simple-minded monkey, on catching sight of the bait, walks up innocently, seizes it, and is wounded by the spear. He does not travel far after that, for monkeys succumb quickly to a wound.
51Pú-kis.
An ordinary noose trap 52 consists of a string with a piece of wood bent back and held in position by a trigger. When the trigger is released, the bent piece of wood draws up the noose tight on the bird's leg. It is used for catching wild pigeons, jungle fowl, and other birds.
52Lít'-ag.
The circle of nooses 53 is a series of rattan nooses placed around a decoy cock. This bird, by his lusty crowing, challenges his wild fellows to fight. When the fight begins the champion of the woods soon finds his feet enmeshed in the nooses, and within a short time his whole body safely lodged in the trapper's carrying basket.
53Ka-lí-as.
FISHING
The Manóbo fishes more than he hunts, yet he can by no manner of means be said to be an incessant fisherman. The following are the methods commonly employed for catching fish.
SHOOTING WITH BOW AND ARROW
In shooting fish an arrow54 that has a detachable head is used. The fisherman conceals himself in a tree or on the bank of a stream or lake, and upon spying the fish lets fly a two-pronged arrow which has a steel or iron point.
54Bág'-ai.
This method is in universal use in the lake region of the Agúsan Valley and in rivers which are too deep for other methods, especially during floods, when the fish roam around over the inundated land. It is ordinarily not attended with great success, three or four fish being an average day's catch. The common catfish, called dalág in Manila, is the ordinary victim, other species being rare victims to the arrow.
FISHING WITH HOOK AND LINE
The hook55 is a stout one and is made out of the iron handle of the ordinary kerosene can or out of a piece of brass wire of similar size. It is attached to a substantial abaká cord,56 45 meters long, more or less. A piece of lead or a stone for sinker and a suitable bait complete the outfit. The fish caught with this apparatus are the swordfish57 and the sawfish. The fisherman seats himself in his boat or on a sand bank, and with the line tied to his foot or to his arm awaits a bite. He immediately pulls in his victim, never giving him a chance to tire himself out as our fishermen do; Of course the fish is always pulled upstream.
55Kaúad.
56Ha-pón.
57Ta-gá-han.
FISH POISONING58
58Pag-tu-bá-han.
Poisoning is a common and successful method of fishing, practiced more frequently on the upper reaches of a river. There are four methods, all of which I have witnessed frequently throughout Manóboland.
The túba59 method.--A quantity of túba varying from one-half to two sacksful is put into a dugout and brought to the spot selected. Everybody comes provided with a fish spear, fishing bow, bolo, boat or raft, and conical traps60 made for the occasion. The túba is then pounded as it lies in the boat, a little water being added. This process occupies the greater part of an hour, and is a very animated one, everybody being in high hopes of a grand feast. Where there are no boats, the túba is pounded in the rice mortars and brought in bamboo joints to the selected spot.
59Túba is the Croton Tiglium or croton-oil tree.
60Sán-au.
At a point possibly a mile or more down the stream from the place in which it is decided to cast the poison, the women and girls, aided by a few men, fix their conical traps across the stream so that no large fish may escape. When all is ready the túba is thrown into the river, and everyone dashes downstream with loud exclamations, some in boats, some on rafts, or; where the water is shallow, wading or jumping from rock to rock.
It is some 15 minutes before the poison begins to take effect and then the women and children at the traps may have a busy time removing the fish in order to keep their traps free for the entrance of more. During this time the men and boys scurry around jabbing, hitting, missing, and rushing from side to side with mad shouts of joy and exultation, sometimes two or three after some fine big dazed fish of extra size. Thus they may continue for a few hours if the river is a good sized one and the fish plentiful, for at the beginning a great number of fish probably dart up side creeks, thus escaping from the effects of the poison, and when all the fish in the main stream have fallen a prey, these lurkers must be sought out.
Túba has a deleterious effect on man, producing colic and diarrhea, if taken in fairly strong solution. Yet the fish that die from the effects of it are perfectly harmless in that respect. The famous ís-da of the Agúsan Valley is the only fish that does not succumb to the effects of this poison.
The túbli method.--The root of the túbli plant is used for poisoning. It is a quicker-acting poison and more universal than the preceding, in the sense that nothing, not even shellfish, escapes its baneful effects. As the plant has to be cultivated, it is obvious that it is not obtainable in large quantities, and for this reason is not used as a rule on the main streams, the quantity available not being sufficient to have an effect. It is used in the same manner as túba.
The lágtañg method.--The lágtañg is the seed of a tree that is not found in the middle and upper Agúsan Valley. I never witnessed the use of this poison on a large scale, due undoubtedly to the absence of it in the middle and upper Agúsan. The following was the procedure followed in using it as witnessed by me.
A few handfuls of the seeds are toasted in a frying pan and then pounded in a rice mortar. Then ordinary earthworms, or even the intestines of a bird, are cut into small bits and mixed with the poison. A deep quiet pool in a river or a likely place in a lake is selected and the mixture of worms and lágtañg dropped into the water at the edge of the pool. In less than five minutes the minnows and small fish rise to the surface, and begin to circle around giddily. These are followed by the larger ones but it is not an easy undertaking to catch them till they have exhausted themselves in their giddy circles or die in the tall runo grass that grows along the banks.
This poison affects only such fish as eat the worms. People who eat fish caught in this way seem to suffer no ill effects.
There are other vegetable poisons used in killing fish, but I remember only the name of the tree called tigaú.
DRY SEASON LAKE FISHING61
61Língig.
The mass of lakes and channels in the central Agúsan dries up into mere pools once a year, or once in a few years, and affords an admirable opportunity for fishing on a large scale. Thousands of people from as far south as Lankiláan, and from as far north as Guadalupe, from Los Arcos on the east and from Walo on the west, troop to the lake region in their boats. They bring with them their entire families, a supply of salt, a little rice, if they have it, or the usual substitute (sago and bananas), their earthen pots and pans, and their bolos. Upon arriving at a suitable place, they erect a rude shack and start to work. Wading into the mud and water now half-boiling under a torrid sun, they slash at every fish that by his hurried dash makes known his presence. After the fish have been chased in this manner for some time, some of them bury themselves in the mud, whence they are easily removed with the hand. In this manner a few men may secure hundreds of fish in a few hours, but these are only of two species.62 Other varieties of fish do not remain in places that dry up to mere ponds. The haú-an are known to leave the torrid water by wriggling up on land and making their way to other water. The fish after being caught are taken to the temporary shack and placed in water63 until such time as the owners are ready for the cleaning and salting operations.
62The ís-da or haú-an and pu-yo'-pu-yo.
63It is believed that the flesh of fish will harden if they are left in water after being caught.
The heads, except such few as are used for the family meals, are discarded, but the roe and the intestines are carefully preserved as a delicacy. The body is so cut that it can be spread out into one thin piece and then salted, usually in a rather stingy way, about 3.5 liters of salt being used for as many as 90 fish. The fish are then set up on an elevated bamboo frame and left to dry for a whole day or more, according to the strength of the sun.
Though the fishing season is one of the merriest of the year, yet it is a time of work and of stench. It is no unusual thing for the whole family to work till the late hours of the night in order to prevent the fish from putrefying. The odor that prevails where thousands of fish heads--that have not been consumed by the crocodiles that infest the main channels--are rotting under a blazing sun is left to the reader's imagination. The season may last as much as one month and one family may have thousands of dried fish.64 Ordinarily the lack of salt makes it impossible for any of the Manóbos, except those of the better class, to remain long, unless they choose to work for the Bisáyas.
64Dá-ing.
FISHING WITH NETS, TRAPS, AND TORCHES
Fishing with nets is not practiced except by a few Manóbos on the seacoast or by the Christianized Manóbos who have learned the practice from Bisáyas, though I have seen cast nets used on the upper Tágo, upper Simúlao, and upper Agúsan.
The búbo is a cigar-shaped trap made of slats of rattan, from 0.5 to 1 meter in length. The swifter the current, the smaller the trap used. The large end has a cone with its apex pointing inward. It is made of bamboo slats which are left unfastened at the apex of the cone so that the fish may enter but not get out. This trap is set with its mouth facing either up or down stream.
Another form of this trap65 is cylindrical and not conical like the búbo. It is set in swamps with an evil-smelling bait and quickly becomes filled with a very savory mudfish.66
65Bág-yas.
66Pán-tat.
The hí-pon, u-yáp, and u-yáp tá-na are varieties of small fish that at fixed intervals make their way up the Agúsan to a distance of from 20 to 30 miles in innumerable quantities. It is said that they arrive at the expected date and hour. They are scooped into dugouts with scoop nets in immense quantities and salted for sale. This method of fishing is confined practically to Bisáyas, but a goodly number of Christianized Manóbos who live in the vicinity of Butuán take part in it.
A fairly common method of fishing among the Christianized Manóbos, as also among the pagan Manóbos who do not live in too warlike a country, is by the use of a spear and torch. Going along the banks of the stream, the fisherman lures the fish with the light and secures them with a jab of his three-pronged spear. In this way he may secure enough for a meal or two. Where the water is deep enough, this method of fishing is attended with great danger from crocodiles, especially in the lake region where they abound in numbers beyond conception.
CHAPTER XI
WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
There is no knowledge of a former use of stone implements in Manóboland. During my peregrinations throughout eastern Mindanáo I saw no stone implements except the ordinary whetstone, so universally used for sharpening steel weapons and knives, the cooking stones upon which the pots are placed, and the flint used in the production of fire. It is true that there is a common rumor as to the existence of stone missiles hurled in wrath by Anítan1 at irreverent mortals, but I have never seen these tokens of divine anger.
1One of the powerful spirits of the sky world.
Weapons and implements will be subdivided, the former into offensive and defensive weapons, and the latter into agricultural, hunting, and fishing implements.
OFFENSIVE WEAPONS
THE BOW AND ARROW
As the use of the bow and arrow in the Philippines is generally considered by ethnologists to indicate Negrito influence, the subject requires more than passing notice, especially as the geographical distribution of this primitive weapon extends to not only every non-Christian tribe and group east of the central Cordillera of Mindanáo, except perhaps the Banuáons,2 but, according to various rumors, to the Manóbos occupying the central portion of Mindanáo in the subprovince of Bukídnon.
2I am very much inclined to think that it exists among them as well.
The bow is a piece of palma brava,3 or less frequently of bamboo4 varying in length between 1.2 and 2 meters and in thickness between 7 and 12 millimeters. In the center it is about 30 millimeters broad and gradually tapers to a breadth of about 12 millimeters at each end. Except on the upper Agúsan5 no means are taken to strengthen this stock by winding rattan around it, unless the bamboo or wood shows indications of splitting, in which case a girdle of plaited rattan obviates the danger. No attempt at ornamentation is made except the smoothing and polishing of the wood. In the case of bamboo stocks, the projecting pieces of the joints are not removed on the proximal side of the bow. At about 2 or 3 centimeters from the extremities, two notches are made to hold the string. At the extremity, which we will call the upper one, from its being held up during use, one often sees a few concentric incised circles in one of which is set a little ring of steel, iron, or brass wire. The object of this is to increase the twang of the bow upon the release of the arrow.
3An-á-hau.
4Of the species called pa-túng.
5Mandáya and Mañgguáñgan bows are smaller and neater than Manóbo bows. They are made commonly of a piece of betel-nut palm and have graceful lashings of rattan strips on the stock for the purpose of imparting strength thereto.
The bowstring is nearly always a strip of rattan about 3 millimeters broad. This is attached to the lower end of the stock by a simple series of loops. To the upper extremity it is attached by a loop that slips along the stock into the upper notch when the bow is strung for shooting. It is needless to remark that the bowstring is about 2 or 3 centimeters shorter than the stock, which in the moment of stringing must be bent to enable the upper extremity of the string to reach the upper notch and thereby acquire a sufficient tension to propel the arrow.
Arrows are of several kinds according to the purpose for which they are used, such as hunting, fishing, and fighting. Those intended for hunting and fishing will be described in their proper places. The following description applies exclusively to the offensive arrow used in fighting.
The shaft of this arrow consists of a reed of bamboo6 about 8 millimeters in diameter and somewhat over a meter long, with a bamboo head. The head is a sliver of bamboo7 varying in length from 20 to 36 centimeters. On the upper Agúsan, where the Manóbos seem to have assimilated much from the Mandáyas, both the head and the shaft of the arrow are much shorter, much neater, and, in general, much handier. The arrowhead is broadest at about two-thirds of its distance from the point. From this broad part, or shoulder, as we might call it, the head tapers to a sharp point at one end and to such a size at the other that it can be inserted into the natural socket of the shaft. In this socket it is retained by a lashing of fine rattan, which serves at once to retain it in place and to prevent the frail bamboo shaft from splitting. A coating of tabon-tábon8 seed pulp over the lashing prevents it from loosening or slipping and at the same time preserves it from atmospheric action. Occasionally one sees arrowheads with square shoulders that act as barbs. I have never seen steel arrowheads in use among Manóbos, though it is certain that they are used by Mañgguáñgans between the Agúsan and the Sálug.9 It is not unlikely, moreover, that they are used by the people of the Ihawán and Baóbo Rivers.
6Of the species known as la-hí'.
7Da-mu-án species.
8Parinarium mindanaense (Rosaceae).
9I purchased for the Bureau of Science Museum a unique specimen which, besides having a steel head, is provided with an ugly spur. The owner claimed that it was one of the arrows that had been shot at him and the party that accompanied him by the people of a Mañgguáñgan settlement. I was one of his party.
A very important feature from an ethnological standpoint is the feathering of the arrow. The object of this is to steady the arrow in its flight and thereby prevent windage. The method of feathering is as follows: The quills of the wing feathers of a hornbill, or sometimes of a fish eagle, are parted down the middle. Then three, or sometimes only two, of these parted quills with their adhering vanes are placed longitudinally at equal distances along the arrow shaft so that their extremities are about 6 centimeters from the butt of the shaft and their webs stand straight out from the surface of the reed, forming equal obtuse angles to one another. These vanes are retained in this position by windings of very light, flexible rattan at their extremities. As a security against slipping or change of relative position, a coating of the above-mentioned fruit pulp, often mixed with pot black, is applied. The final preparation of the arrow consists in chopping off with a bolo or small knife the outer edges of the vanes. This is done in a slightly slanting direction within about 1 centimeter of the butt end of the vanes, at which point they are cut in a direction transverse to the length of the arrow shaft.
The feathering of the arrow is always done with precision, as the accuracy of its flight, the uniformity of its rotation, the length of its trajectory, and the consequent penetrative power are known to depend upon proper care in this respect.
Unlike other bowmen, the Manóbo makes a notch in the butt end of his arrow, but as far as my observations go, there are never any decorative incisions and tracings on Manóbo arrows.10
10Among the Mandáyas arrow shafts frequently have ornamental wavy lines and concentric circles incised along the length of the shaft, but this decoration has been observed among no other tribe that I know of in eastern Mindanáo.
There seem to be no special arrow makers. Nearly every adult Manóbo, who has not relinquished the use of the bow and arrow, with no other tool than his bolo and perhaps a small knife, can complete a bow and a bunch of arrows in a relatively short time.
In stringing the bow it is grasped by the center of the stock with the left hand and the top, where the loose loop of the bowstring is placed, is held with the right hand. The bottom of the bow rests upon the ground and is supported by the right foot. The right hand then, by a movement toward the person, bends the stock sufficiently to allow the loop of the bowstring to reach and slip into its notch, the left hand and foot retaining the bow in a bent position. The bowman then grasps the central part of the stock between the thumb and the four fingers of the left hand and seizing the feathered part of the arrow between the first and middle fingers of the right, he places the end of it at right angles to, and in contact with, the center, or thereabouts, of the string. The part of the arrow in front of the feathering rests upon the thumb and middle finger and under the index finger of the left hand. Raising up the bow and holding it inclined at an angle of about 20° from the vertical, the top being toward the right, the string, with the arrow butt always pressed against it, is drawn back sufficiently (about 30 centimeters) to give the requisite tension. The string is then allowed to fly back, while at the same time the bowman releases his hold upon the arrow butt, and thus the arrow speeds on its way. When ready to be released the end of the arrow points to the bowman's right shoulder.
The greatest range of a good arrow is about 75 meters. Its effective range, however, is only about one-third of that.
I can not laud the expertness of the Manóbo as a bowman. Here and there one meets a really good shot, but the average man can not score 50 per cent at close range.
No quivers worthy of the name are used. When a war raid is undertaken, the arrows are placed in a bamboo internode, which is carried in a horizontal position at the bowman's side. Arrows are never poisoned. The bamboo of which the spearhead is made seems to have a somewhat poisonous effect as a wound caused by it is very painful and hard to cure.
THE BOLO AND ITS SHEATH
The next important offensive weapon used by the Manóbo is the bolo. It is his inseparable companion by day and, in regions where the influence of civil or military authority is not strongly felt, also by night.
As there are but two Manóbo blacksmiths that I know of, all bolos used are imported, either from the Mandáyas or from the Banuáons, though one sees from time to time a weapon that has made its way from the Bagóbos. The prevailing bolo is of Mandáya workmanship and merits a more detailed description.
It is a substantial steel blade varying in length from 30 to 45 centimeters. At its juncture with the handle it is about as broad as the handle but narrows gradually on top, and less so on the lower edge, to a breadth of 25 millimeters11 at a point one-sixth of the length of the blade from the handle. At this point the back of the bolo changes its direction, running off at an angle to its previous direction of 15°. The lower part or edge of the weapon gradually bellies out until the blade, at a point one-fourth of its entire length from the tip attains its maximum breadth (7 to 10 centimeters) whence it curves like the segment of a circle to the point of the weapon.
11Figures given are approximate only. They vary in different bolos.
The type of bolo that is considered more pretentious, and that is more common on the upper Agúsan, has a thin straight back12 up to within 6 or 7 centimeters from the handle, at which point the direction of the back is slightly changed. In other respects this bolo is similar to the one described above.
12Hence it is called li-kúd-li-kud.
At the narrowest part of the bolo and on the underside there is occasionally a serrated decoration in the steel, the significance of which I do not know.
The handle is occasionally of ebony, but more commonly of some other wood. The grasp for the hand is cylindrical. The handle is often bound with a braid of rattan, or a band or two of steel or of brass, to prevent splitting, or less commonly with silver bands for ornament's sake. Curving downward beyond the grasp is a carved ornamentation that suggests remotely the head of a bird with an upturned curving bill. This is one continuous piece with the grasp. It is rare to find brass ferrules and hand guards at the juncture of the blade with the handle.
The sheath, which is of Manóbo production, consists of two pieces of thin light wood a little broader than the bolo. It is almost rectangular in form for a distance equal to the length of the blade, and then the edges become gradually narrower up to a point that is about 3 centimeters from the end; at this point they expand into a small square with incurving sides.
The two pieces are held together closely by bands of rattan coiled around them at equal intervals. A coating of beeswax serves to preserve the wood and at the same time to impart a finished appearance to the sheath. Frequently pot black is mixed with the beeswax, and on the upper and central parts, and on the ends and edges, symmetrical bands of this black paint are applied according to the fancy of the wearer. Other decorations of beads, cotton tassels, and strips of a yellow parasitic plant, are not at all infrequent.
The girdle, which is nearly always of braided abaká fiber, frequently multicolored, and which holds the weapon to the left side of the wearer, passes through a hole on the outer side of the sheath. This hole is made through the central embossed part of the outer piece of the sheath.
A noteworthy feature of the sheath is that it is so made that by pushing the handle to the lower side of the aperture of the sheath, the weapon remains locked and can not fall out or be withdrawn until the handle is pushed back to the upper side of the aperture.
A MAGIC TEST FOR THE EFFICIENCY OF A BOLO
It is very interesting to observe the method pursued in determining the value of the bolo. A piece of rattan the length of the weapon is cut into small pieces, each one, excepting perhaps the last, exactly as long as the maximum width of the bolo. These pieces are then placed in the following positions and in the order indicated by the number. (See fig. 1.) It is obvious that, as a rule, there is one piece of rattan that is not as long as the others. This piece is always set down last, and its position is the determining factor of the test.
In Figure 1 a all the pieces of rattan happen to be equal, there being no short piece. Moreover, there are enough pieces to complete the figure. This combination is not inauspicious in so far as it does not augur evil, but it is thought to be a sure indication of a failure to kill.13
13This combination is called lí-mut.
In Figure 1 b all the pieces are of equal length, but there are not enough to complete the figure as in figure 1 a. This is a doubtful con-figuration. On the one hand the weapon may or may not kill, on the other it will prove efficient to the owner in matters not connected with fighting.
In Figure 1 c we have only four pieces of rattan, three of which are equal to the maximum width of the bolo and one of which is short. This is a good combination. It indicates that in a fight the enemy will suffer loss.14
14This formation is called sá-kab.
In Figure 1 d we have the best conformation possible. The fact that the short section falls, as it were, inside, indicates that a short fight and speedy death may be expected. The owner of a weapon that passes this test is reluctant to part with it unless very advantageous offers are made to him.
A form of divination in which a suspended bolo, especially a consecrated one, takes the part of the deus ex machina is described in the chapter on divination.
THE LANCE
The lance, like the bolo, is imported. It is of two kinds: (1) The Mandáya lance, which is found everywhere except on the lower Agúsan and on the upper reaches of the Umaíam, Argáwan, and Kasilaían, and in the eastern Cordillera; (2) a lance, probably of Moro production, which is said to come from the Pulángi River, and which is used in the regions just mentioned where the Mandáya lance is not considered lucky or effective. In general, lances consist of a steel head and a long shaft, usually of palma brava, but rarely of some other species.15 The head is firmly attached to the shaft with a viscous substance.
15Wood of the tree ku-li-pá-pa is used occasionally.
The lance is the inseparable companion of the Manóbo in his travels through dangerous places, of which there are not a few in remote regions. When he arrives at a house he sticks the lance in the ground, head up, near the ladder. In traveling he carries it upon his right shoulder, head forward, in a horizontal position and is ever ready to throw it if he fears an ambush. I have frequently startled my Manóbo friends while they were engaged in some occupation, such as fishing, just to study their demeanor. The result was always the same--a quick turn and an attitude of offense, with lance poised and defiant eye.
The lance is held during the poise in the upturned right hand under the thumb and over the first and second fingers. The arm is extended in a slight curve just in front of the line of the shoulders. In making a thrust, the lance is darted parallel to the line of the shoulders and on a level with them, the left side of the person being presented to the adversary. The lance is not thrown, but is nearly always retained in the hand.
The Mandáya lance merits most attention, as it is more generally used, and is usually of better mechanical and ornamental workmanship. The shaft is a piece of either palma brava or of kulipápa palm, varying from 1.8 to 2.4 meters in length. It has a uniform diameter of about 16 millimeters for a distance equal to one-half of its length from, the head; the other half tapers very gradually to about one-half of its original thickness, ending in a fairly sharp point, which may be capped with a conical piece of tin or of steel to protect the wood against injury from stones.
The head is a long, slender, pointed blade. From the shoulders, which are from 4 to 7 centimeters apart, it may taper uniformly to a point; much more commonly, however, it tapers gradually to within about 25 millimeters of the extremity. Here its width is about 25 millimeters. At this point the edges converge at an angle of 45° to the axis, until they meet, forming the point of the lance. From the shoulders of the blade the edges likewise slant inward to the neck at an angle of 45°. The neck is a solid cylindrical piece, about 3 centimeters in length, nearly always ornamented with embossed work, and ends in a rod or in a conical socket about 7 centimeters long. It is very common to see ornamental chisel work along the axis near the neck. The general outline of the engraving is that of the spearhead in miniature, within which there are often little leaflike puncturings.
When the lance head has a socket it is attached to the shaft with a resinous substance similar to that used for bolos. When the lance head ends in a solid cylindrical piece and must be inserted in the hollow shaft, the end of the shaft is reinforced with a Moro brass ferrule, if the possessor of the lance has been so lucky as to have acquired one, or with coils of abaká fiber over which has been wound abaká cloth stuck with the above mentioned resin.
Lances of the better style have ornamental rings of beaten silver, sometimes amounting to as many as 15, placed at equal distances along the shaft for a distance of as much as 30 centimeters from the juncture of the head and the shaft.
A lance of another style is common among the highland Manóbos of the central Cordillera, and is not infrequently found among the Manóbos of Kantílan and Tágo. Though not so striking in dimensions and in general appearance, it is preferred by the Manóbo, because it is said to cause a more severe wound and because it is less liable to have the head detached when driven through the floor or wall of a house. Its head is much narrower at its broadest part than the one just described, is not so long, and nearly always tapers to a point. It is without any shoulders. It never has the conical steel socket that the Mandáya lance sometimes has, is always straight edged, and is set into the shaft in identically the same manner as the socketless Mandáya weapon. Another point of distinction is the decorative scallop that runs parallel to the edges of the head on each side. There is very seldom any decorative work within the periphery of these scallops.
THE DAGGER AND ITS SHEATH
A weapon, whose distribution among Manóbos is limited almost exclusively to Manóbos south of the 8° of latitude, is the Mandáya dagger, of Mandáya workmanship, and indicative of Mandáya influence.16
16It is the Mandáya tribal weapon that never leaves its wearer's side by night or by day, on the trail or in the house, whenever there is apprehension of danger.
Its component parts are a thin laminated piece of steel from 15 to 25 centimeters long with a thin, tapering rod somewhat shorter, projecting in the line of the axis, and a hilt of banáti through which the projection of the blade passes. It is carried in a sheath which is held at the wearer's right side by a girdle.
The blade is two-edged, widening from a sharp point to two shoulders from 3 to 4 centimeters apart, whence the edges incurve gradually and finally end in two projecting spurs 3 or 4 centimeters apart. The rod for the reception of the hilt extends from this point along the line of the axis for a distance of from 6 to 8 centimeters.
From time to time one finds a blade that is inlaid with tiny pieces of brass or silver, but there is never any other kind of ornamentation.
The handle is of a type that is unique, as far as I know, in the Philippine Islands. In using the dagger the body of the hilt is seized in the right hand, the index finger is inserted between one horn of the crescent and the central steel tang, and the thumb between the latter and the other point of the crescent, while the other three fingers hold the weapon within the palm. This method seems clumsy, but nevertheless it is the orthodox way of holding it. Fastened to the right side of the wearer in a more or less horizontal position and with the handle projecting forward, it is always at the owner's disposal for prompt and deadly action, especially so as only a mere thread or two of abaká fiber running from the handle to the under part of the sheath retains the weapon in its sheath.
The handle is usually strengthened at the neck with plaited rings of nito fiber and may have ornamental silver work, both at that point and on the horns, or even at times on the whole outer surface of it.
The sheath consists of two pieces of wood of an elongated rectangular shape, spreading out at the extremity. Strips of rattan wound at intervals hold the two pieces together and a paint of blended beeswax and pot black is ordinarily employed to give a finish to it. But occasionally one sees bands of beaten silver at the head of the sheath, and, less frequently, a profusion of beautiful, artistic silverwork set over the whole sheath.17
17The steelwork and silverwork are nearly always the production of Mandáya smiths living in and beyond the southeastern Cordillera, though on the Agúsan there are a few silversmiths.
Manóbos in general, with the exception of those who live on the upper Agúsan, take but little care of their weapons, except to sharpen them. In this respect they are very unlike the Mandáyas and the Debabáons, who are most conscientious and incessant in the care of their bolos, lances, and daggers. They keep these weapons burnished by rubbing them on a board that has been covered with the dust from a pulverized plate, or if they have rusted, by filing them with an imported file. A final touch is given to them by rubbing them with the leaves of what we might call the sandpaper plant.18 Once burnished they are protected from rust by applications of hog fat, a little piece of which is suspended from the roof whenever a pig is killed. Another point of difference between the Manóbos, not including those of the upper Agúsan, and the above-mentioned peoples is the infrequency with which the former make use of racks for their fighting weapons. The Mandáyas and the Debabáons very commonly have ornamental racks in which they keep their weapons.
18Ficus fiskei and Ficus fiskei adorata (moracae).
DEFENSIVE WEAPONS
THE SHIELD
Two varieties of shield are in use, the Mandáya and the Manóbo. The diffusion of the former is limited to the district south of the 8° latitude, not including the Ihawán and Baóbo River district; the latter, to the rest of the Agúsan Valley with the exception of the portion where Banuáon influence is prevalent,19 such as the upper Agúsan and rivers to the north of it, which are the western tributaries of the Agúsan. In general, shields are made of kalántas20 wood, varying from 90 to 100 centimeters in length. In the center is a projecting knob resembling a low truncated cone about 4 centimeters high and varying in width at the base from 8 to 15 centimeters, and at the truncation from 7 to 8.5 centimeters. The inside of this knob is hollowed out in such a way that a longitudinal piece is left on the inside of it for holding the shield. The upper end has a transverse piece of the same material as the rest of the shield dovetailed into the main body, the object being to prevent the body of the shield, whose grain runs longitudinally, from splitting as a result of a blow.
19The Banuáon types of shield seen by the writer were circular in form, concave on the proximal side, and made of plaited rattan painted with tabon-tábon pulp.
20La-níp-ga.
As a further protection against splitting, two strips of palma brava or of bamboo in upper Agúsan types, and in other types three strips as wide as the shield itself are set horizontally on each side, facing each other, and are held in position by sewings of rattan slips passing through perforations in the wood.
The ornamentation of all shields consists of a coating of beeswax, and of thin scallops painted with beeswax and pot black, passing in a single series around the shield and near its edge, and in a double series longitudinally down the center.
The operculum,21 of a seashell, or very occasionally some bright object, may set off the knob. Not infrequently tufts of human hair secured in some war raid are stuck into holes at distances of about 3 centimeters on both sides of the shield, and are considered highly ornamental and indicative of the valor of the owner of the shield. One might be inclined to think that the employment of human hair is a relic of head-hunting, but I was unable to find a single tradition of its practice in eastern Mindanáo and I doubt if such ever existed.
21Called pas-lí-tan.
The typical Manóbo shield has a straight top about 35 centimeters broad. From the corners the sides gradually curve inward for a distance (measured upon the central longitudinal line of the shield) of about 25 centimeters, at which point they curve out to the original width at a distance of about 10 centimeters farther on, where the strengthening strips are fastened on both the inner and outer surfaces. Thence the sides curve in to form the second segment, in the center of which is situated the knob, and at the end of which are placed two more sustaining crosspieces. Beyond this section, the sides gently curve to the bottom of the shield, which is about 25 centimeters broad and practically straight.
The Mandáya type, as adopted from the Mandáyas by the Agusánon Manóbos22 differs from the Manóbo shield in being generally narrower--about 17 centimeters at the top and about 22 centimeters in the central section. From the top, where the transverse protective piece is placed the sides slope out gently to the first sustaining crosspiece placed at a distance from the end of about one-fourth of the entire length of the shield; thence they run parallel for a distance equal to one-half of the shield length, forming to the eye an elongated rectangle, in the center of which is the knob. The remaining quarter of the shield is hyperbolic in form with a small lozenge-shaped protrusion at the focus. The upper edge of the shield is not quite straight, an ornamental effect being produced by slight curves. In the center of the upper edge is a very small projection or sometimes a round incision, that might serve as an eyehole.
22Also by the Mañgguáñgans and by the Debabáon and Mansáka groups. The Manóbos and other peoples of the upper Agúsan call themselves Agusánon.
Another difference in this type of shield is the addition of ornamental toothlike tracings. These serrations are done with beeswax and pot black, and are ordinarily set in groups of four at right angles to and along the central and the lateral scallops.
The last distinction is the more noticeable longitudinal bend which the Mandáya type has as compared with the Manóbo style, the top and the bottom being inflected uniformly inward at an angle of about 15° to the vertical.
Among the Mandáyas it is interesting to note that a broad shield is looked down upon as indicative of cowardice, and that a narrow shield is considered evidence of valor in its owner.
In using the shield it is held in the left hand by the grasp that is located in the inner part of the hollow knob in the center. It is always held in an upright position, the transverse piece being on top, at the left side of the warrior, who never presents the front of his person to the enemy. To protect the feet and legs he must crouch down.
I was a constant witness of mimic encounters, and occasionally of what appeared to be the preliminaries to more serious affairs, and can bear witness to the skill displayed in the manipulation of the shield. The rapidity with which the warrior can move about, now advancing, now retreating, now thrusting, now parrying, and all the time concealing the whole of his person except a part of the head and one eye, is a marvel.
ARMOR
Another article used for defensive purposes is the abaká armor.23 Whenever the warrior has been able to procure a piece of Mandáya skirt fabric, he sews it into an ordinary coat with sleeves and, in lieu of imported buttons, uses little slivers of bamboo or wood to keep it closed. When, however, the Mandáya cloth is not to be had, his female relatives braid for him a number of multicolored cords of abaká fiber, 6 millimeters broad, which are sewn together in the form of an American or European coat and answer the purpose perhaps better than the Mandáya cloth.
23Lim botung.
This armor is intended to resist arrows, and is said to be efficient when the wearer is at long range. At short range, however, it helps only to lessen the penetration, as I had occasion to observe after an attack on the upper Agúsan, in which one of my warrior friends was wounded on the shoulder by an arrow. A band of Debabáons went to make a demonstration at the house of one of their enemies on the River Nábuk. The particular warrior chief referred to, desiring to initiate his young son into the art of warfare, carried him on his back to the scene of the demonstration. After surrounding the house, the attacking party broke out into the war cry and challenged their foes to a hand-to-hand combat. The surrounded party replied with a shower of arrows, one of which struck the chief on the shoulder. As he explained to me, he was so solicitous about guarding his child that he exposed his person and received the arrow in his shoulder. The point, he said penetrated to a depth of about 3 centimeters.
I once saw another form of protective clothing on the River Argáwan. It was a very long strip of cotton cloth which, it was said, was used for wrapping around and around the body before an attack. This article, as I later ascertained, was of Banuáon manufacture and use.24
24As a further protection in war there is used, it is said, a conical piece of wood on which the hair is bound up. I never saw this device in use and doubt if it is employed commonly by Manóbos. It was reported to me as also being of Banuáon origin and make.
TRAPS AND CALTROPS
The dwellings of Manóbos who live in actual fear of attack are always surrounded by traps and by bamboo caltrops of one or two varieties. These form an efficient and common means of defense.
The trap is of the type described in the chapter on hunting. When this trap is used as a means of defense, the spear is set at such a height that it will wound a human being between the shoulders and the thigh. The traps are set in varying numbers in the immediate vicinity of the house, though if an attack is considered imminent they are set on the trails leading to the house and some distance away. They may be so set that they will not strike the one who releases them but the first or second person following him. It is always prudent for a white man in a hostile country to so safeguard himself and his men that no one will be injured by these traps.
The bamboo caltrops referred to are slivers of sharpened bamboo, about 60 centimeters long, set in the ground at an angle of 45°, and at some point where the enemy has to descend to a lower level. A favorite spot is behind a log or at the descent to a stream. They are carefully concealed and, to a white man not aware of the use of such traps, a dangerous device.
Another form of caltrops very common indeed, and very treacherous in its character, consists of small spikes made of slivers of bamboo, about 18 centimeters long, or of pointed pieces of hardwood. These are set in goodly numbers in the trails that lead from the adjoining forest to the house. The peculiar danger of these is that they protrude only about 2 or 3 centimeters above the ground, the soil being loosened around them so that the pressure of the wayfarer's foot presses down the loose soil, thereby giving the treacherous spike an opportunity to pierce the foot to a considerable depth.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS
Implements of husbandry are few and far between. As there are no draft animals in Manóboland, no plows, harrows, or other implements which require animals are made use of.
THE AX
For felling the larger trees a simple steel ax is used. It is set in a hole in a hardwood handle, usually of guava wood, and is retained in place by a couple of plaits of rattan. The edge of the ax is only 6 or 7 centimeters long and yet it is surprising what the average Manóbo man can accomplish with this insignificant-looking implement. Mounted upon his frail scaffold he attacks the mighty trees of his forest home and with unerring blow brings them down in a surprisingly short time.
THE BOLO
For cutting off the branches, the bolo, which may be at the same time his weapon for attack or defense, is used. The work bolo is in no wise distinguished from the fighting weapon except that the former has a broad straight back. It is more usual to find a bolo of Bisáya manufacture in use by Manóbos of the lower Agúsan. These bolos come from Bohol or from Cebu and, being comparatively cheap and answering the purpose equally well, are readily purchased.
THE RICE HEADER
During the harvest time the rice heads are cut with a header made of a small piece of rattan or wood about 1.5 centimeters in diameter and between 4 and 6 centimeters long. In the center of this and at right angles to it is lashed a piece of tin or one of the valves of a common shellfish.25
25Bi-bi.
FISHING IMPLEMENTS
THE FISHING BOW AND ARROW
The bow and arrow are used for fishing, wherever the Agúsan peoples, Christian and non-Christian, have access to the lakes and pools that abound in the central Agúsan.
The bow used in fishing and its accessories in nowise differs from the more serious article intended for warfare, except that, due to its more frequent use, it may be more dilapidated in appearance.
Fishing arrows, however, are different from those used in fighting. The shaft of the former is a piece of bamboo,26 varying in length from 1.2 to 1.5 meters and in maximum diameter from 7 to 12.5 millimeters.
26Of the variety called lá-hi or da-ga-sá'.
The head is a 2-pronged piece of iron or steel about 17 centimeters long, with barbs on the inner side of each prong, equidistant from the extremity and facing each other. These two prongs unite to form a solid neck that runs into the natural hole in the shaft, a ferrule of brass, or more frequently a winding of rattan coated with tabon-tábon seed pulp, serving to prevent the splitting of the frail bamboo tube. The head is attached to the shaft by a substantial string of abaká fiber, about 1.5 meters long, which is wound about the shaft, but which is unwound by the fish in its frantic efforts to escape, leaving him with the arrowhead in his body, and with the shaft breaking the water and indicating to the fisherman the whereabouts of his victim. On the far upper Agúsan the arrowhead is not of the 2-pronged type but is a thin, laminated steel point that expands gradually to form the two lateral barbs. It is of Mandáya manufacture and origin.
THE FISH SPEAR
The fish spear,27 except on the far upper Agúsan, consists of a long bamboo shaft from 1.5 to 2.25 meters in length with a heavy 3-pronged barbed head set into a node at its larger end and with strengthening girdles of rattan strips serving to reinforce it. The iron head is of Bisáya or of Christian Manóbo workmanship. On the upper Agúsan the head is 2-pronged and the shaft is frequently somewhat longer than that of the spear used on the lower river. In other respects it is identical.
27Sá-pang.
FISHHOOKS
Large hooks are much more commonly used than small ones. Both are made out of either brass wire or of iron, the latter often from the handle of a kerosene can, and in general they resemble ordinary fishhooks such as are made in civilized countries. The method of using the hook has been described already under "Fishing."
For crocodiles a peculiar hook is used. It consists of a piece of palma brava, sharpened at one end, and provided with a spur projecting backward at an angle of about 30°. To this piece of wood is attached a stout rope of abaká fiber, which in its turn is tied to a piece of stout bamboo about 1.8 meters long. The bamboo is then set firmly in the ground, and the bait is allowed to hang within about 60 centimeters of the water. The hungry crocodile, lured by the odor, springs at the bait, and gets the hook between his jaws. It is seldom that by dint of frantic pulling and wriggling he does not free the bamboo and rush off to one of his favorite haunts, where, by the presence of the bamboo float above him, he is discovered and dispatched.
HUNTING IMPLEMENTS
THE SPEAR
The chief weapon used in the chase is the spear. It consists of a stout, wooden shaft between 2.1 and 2.4 meters long, which is set into the hollow conical socket of a spearhead. The blade in general appearance resembles the more serious weapon of war, but it is only about 10 or 12 centimeters long and makes no pretense to beauty, being fashioned solely for utilitarian purposes. As a necessary accessory to the spear the inseparable bolo is carried.
THE BOW AND ARROW
In the chapter on hunting reference has been made already to the hunting bow and arrow. It is an ordinary bow, but the arrow differs in not being feathered and finished like the arrow intended for human game.
A very effective and easily made arrow consists of a piece of bamboo about 85 centimeters long and 3 to 4 millimeters in diameter, with a sharp tapering point. In lieu of feathering, four or five tufts near one extremity, set at a distance of about 2.5 centimeters from each other, are made by scraping the surface so as to form little tufts of shavings. This style of dart arrow is used principally for monkeys, but a supply is always on hand for warlike purposes, when the more finished and efficient arrows become exhausted.
Another difference in the hunting arrow is the 2-pronged bamboo head formed either by splitting a regular bamboo arrow or, more commonly, by lashing together two arrows. I saw on a few occasions palma brava spike heads used by the Manóbos of the far upper Agúsan. These latter forms are used exclusively for hornbills whose tough hide and abundant plumage require something stronger than the ordinary arrow.
THE BLOWGUN
The blowgun28 is used sporadically and perfunctorily on the far upper Agúsan, but I have never seen it anywhere else among Manóbos.29 It is used for shooting small birds, chickens, and mice. It is made of an internode of a variety of bamboo30 about 1.2 meters long and 12.5 millimeters in diameter, to which is joined another internode about 20 centimeters long and of slightly larger diameter. This forms the mouthpiece. I have never seen any 'decorative work on a blowpipe. The dart is a thin tapering piece of bamboo about 35 centimeters long and 1.5 millimeters in diameter at the butt. Enough cotton to fill the bore of the gun is fastened at the butt end of the dart. It is discharged by the breath. The point is never poisoned, nor is there any tradition as to the former use of poison on these darts.
28Sum-pí-tan.
29Its use by the Mandáyas of the Kati'il, Manorígau, and Karága Rivers is very common, but so far as I know it is neither a defensive nor an offensive weapon.
30La-hi'.
The blowgun, when in use, is held to the mouth with the right hand. The maximum range is about 20 meters. I have seen very small birds killed at a distance of about 8 meters.
CHAPTER XII
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES
DIVISION OF LABOR
It is to be expected that among a people whose women have been obtained practically by purchase the burden of work will fall on the woman. The Manóbo man, however, at times performs an amount of heavy, hard work that makes the division somewhat equitable.
MALE ACTIVITIES
House building, hunting, fishing, and trapping fall to the lot of the man. When the rice-planting season is at hand, he fells the trees and does the heavier work of clearing. An occasional war raid or an occasional visit to some distant settlement for trading purposes may impose upon him a few days of hard travel. Outside of these occupations his work is comparatively light. He attends to his weapons, makes such objects of wood or of bamboo as may be needed, and decorates them after his style. He splits the rattan and does nearly all the plait work in basket making. All the necessary implements for fishing, hunting, and trapping are made by him, with the exception of steel weapons. He strips the abaká for the family clothes and procures the dye plants. In certain districts he is the miner and in others he is the boat builder, and in all districts he conducts trading transactions.
FEMALE ACTIVITIES
The Manóbo woman certainly has her share of work. She does all the dyeing, weaving, and tailoring, besides attending to the various household duties of providing fuel, food, and water. These latter occupations impose upon her at least one trip daily to the camote field, and several to the watering place, which in the mountainous districts is ordinarily at a considerable distance down steep and rugged trails. She attends to the children and cares for the sick, and day after day dries, pounds, winnows and cooks the rice. When her helpmate has felled the trees for the new farm, she does the looping, lighter clearing, burning, sowing, weeding, tilling, and harvesting. In her spare moments she makes mats, rice bags, and earthen vessels, braids an occasional armlet, does the beadwork, and a thousand and one little things according to the exigency of the moment or the requirements of her spouse.
MALE INDUSTRIES IN DETAIL
The various operations of fishing, hunting, trapping, house building, agriculture, and trading have been already described so that there remain to be considered only boat building, mining, and plait work.
BOAT BUILDING
The art of boat building is known only to Manóbos who have been in contact with Banuáons, so that one would be led to think that the art is of Banuáon origin. It is confined practically to the Kasilaían, Líbang, Maásam, Óhut, and Wá-wa Rivers, though one finds a boat builder here and there on the Híbung River and on the Simúlau River, but only an occasional one, if any, on the Argáwan, Umaíam, Ihawán, and upper Agúsan.
The boat is a dugout usually made of magasinó', kalántas, or some light durable wood. The tree is selected, hewed down with the simple ax, and by dint of hard chopping hollowed out and shaped. In this way are made nearly all the skiffs, canoes, and boats that ply up the network of rivers in the Agúsan Valley. It is not uncommon to see a banca, or large boat, 10 meters long by 1 meter beam.
MINING
Mining is confined to the Híbung River and its tributaries, to the Wá-wa River, and to the Taligamán district, a few hours' walk to the southeast of Butuán. It is a desultory occupation followed more at the request of Bisáya traders, or in fulfillment of a contract, than out of any desire for gold.
The time selected is usually after a flood. The gold is washed out with a circular, hollow, wooden pan.1 The operation has an established religious procedure which, must be followed if one wishes to be successful in the acquisition of the gold. The theory is as follows: The gold is the property of a gold spirit, whose place in the Manóbo pantheon I can not state. To enter upon his domains and to remove the ore which is his without feasting him and making him a present of a living victim for a future repast would provoke his wrath and result in failure to obtain the object of the search. Hence the leader of the miners upon arrival at the mining ground turns loose a white fowl and kills a white pig in honor of the gold spirit. He also presents to the spirit leaf packages of boiled native rice. The mining operations then begin, but the peculiar feature of the whole procedure is that the rice packages are purchased from the leader at the rate of 1 ku-len-tás-on2 for two packages. Noise and merriment are interdicted during the mining operations as being displeasing to the gold spirit, but if, upon infringement of this taboo, further oblations of rice are made to him he resumes his good humor and permits the gold to be found.
1Bi-ling-án.
2Ku-len-tás-on are said to weigh one-half of the gold piece that was in circulation in the Philippine Islands, in pre-American days, and which was valued at 12.5 cents United States currency.
I found these beliefs to be held as far over as the upper Tágo River, on the eastern side of the Pacific Cordillera.
PLAITING AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
The plaiting and braiding of such objects as arm and leg ligatures out of nito or other vegetable fiber nearly always falls to the lot of the women. The plaiting of baskets out of rattan, as well as the making of fish traps and pack baskets, is generally a male occupation.
The process of basket making is fairly simple. A more or less cylindrical, solid piece of wood with flat bottom and top forms the mold upon which the strips of rattan are interlaced. A circular band of bamboo strengthens the upper rim, a coating of the pulp of the seed of the tabon-tábon fills up the crevices and makes the basket almost perfectly water-tight.
Pack baskets that are used for carrying game and for general utility on long voyages are of the open wickerwork description.
I know of only two Manóbo blacksmiths in the whole of Manóboland. They learned the trade from Bisáyas and produce bolos much like the Bisáya or Bohol type seen in the Agúsan Valley. Here and there one meets a Manóbo who understands how to beat out a fish spear or a fishhook, or to make a crude pipe, but, with these exceptions, the Manóbo knows nothing of steel or iron work.
As to the decoration, it is manifest from what has been said that he can do simple but creditable work. The ornaments on bamboo tubes, combs, baskets, and certain other things are evidences of his skill. So are the tattoo and embroidery designs described in a previous chapter.
FEMALE INDUSTRIES IN DETAIL
WEAVING AND ITS ACCESSORY PROCESSES
Abaká fiber is stripped by men and delivered to the womenfolk. The women pound it for a long time in a wooden mortar to soften it, then patiently tie strand to strand, placing it carefully in small hollow baskets, where it is free from danger of entangling. Sand is often sprinkled on it as a further means of preventing tangling.
Cotton yarn is prepared from the native plant by means of a very primitive spindle, which consists of a small rod of wood at the end of which is a top-shaped piece of the same material which serves to sustain the necessary rotation. A tuft of cotton is attached to the end of this bar, and, as the top rotates the thread is twisted. When the thread is sufficiently long it is wound around the handle and the operation is. repeated. By this slow and tedious process a sufficient amount of yarn is spun for the requirements of the spinner.
The dyeing process consists in boiling the abaká yarn with finely chopped pieces of various woods.3 In order to produce a permanent dye, the process of boiling must be repeated more than once with new dyeing material. As the boiling apparatus consists nearly always of small earthen pots and the boiling is continually interrupted by culinary operations, it is obvious that the process is an inordinately slow and unsatisfactory one. I am of the opinion that to produce a fast red dye on sufficient yarn for about seven skirts, the boiling occupies the better part of two wrecks.
3Si-ká-lig root for red effects, pieces of kanai-yum tree for black and pieces of du-au for yellow effects.
Cotton yarn is never dyed. Whenever colors are desired, imported cotton must be obtained through Christian or Christianized intermediaries.
The weaving is performed on a simple, portable loom, consisting of two internodes of bamboo, one at the back part and one at the front part. The warp threads pass serially around these two pieces of bamboo and between the slits of a primitive comb situated within arm reach of the posterior bamboo internode. The comb consists of an oblong rectangle about 80 by 5 centimeters, having a series of little reeds set parallel at a distance of 1.5 millimeters from each other. Through these interstices pass the warp threads. Just beyond this comb and farther away from the weaver is a hardwood rood[sic], as wide as the weft, around which are single loops of abaká or other fiber. Through these loops pass alternately the warp threads in such a way that when the batten is inserted the upper and lower alternate warp threads are reversed, thereby holding the weft threads in the position to which they have been driven by the batten.
The weft thread is wound upon a bobbin made out of a slender piece of rattan which has two slits at each end, through which the weft thread passes. The bobbin is driven through by the hand from side to side and between the upper and the lower warp threads. The heavy, hardwood, flat, polished batten is then worked by the hand, driving the weft thread into juxtaposition with the part of the fabric finished already. The weaver then inserts the batten between the warp threads at the point where they alternately pass up and down through the previously mentioned loops on the distal side of the comb, and between it and the rod that holds the loops. By pulling the comb back to the finished part of the fabric, the warp threads are reversed and the last weft thread is securely held in place. Thus the process is repeated over and over again until the fabric is finished.
The setting up of a piece of skirt cloth would occupy some two whole days of uninterrupted work and the weaving some three days, but as multitudinous household duties call the woman away constantly, she spends the better part of at least two weeks on one piece, this period not including the preparation of the yarn by tying and dyeing.
In weaving the woman sits upon the floor and keeps the warp threads stretched by a rope that passes round her back from each extremity of the yarn beam. When not in use, the web and the finished fabric are folded up around the beam.
The products of the Manóbo loom are not as numerous and artistic as those of the Mandáyas. The cloth produced is of four kinds: (1) The ordinary skirt or mosquito-bar cloth made out of abaká fiber and having white and black longitudinal warp stripes, alternating with the stripes of the red background; (2) a closely woven but thin cloth of abaká having sometimes, as in the case of men's jackets, straight weft stripes of imported blue cotton; (3) a cloth of the same material, but so thin as to be diaphanous, and not adorned with any stripes; (4) a cloth for trousers made out of an abaká warp and a native cotton woof.
In the chapter on dress reference has been made to the elaborate and beautiful effects produced by the Mandáyas on abaká cloth. The Manóbo woman has no knowledge of the process by which such effects are obtained.
It is interesting to note that the two yarn beams are cut in such a manner as to emit a booming sound at each stroke of the batten. I have seen an additional internode attached to the end yarn beam in a vertical position, with a view to increasing the resonance. The object of these sounders is to call attention to the industry and assiduity of the weaver.
POTTERY
The whole pottery industry consists in the making of rude earthen pots out of clay. It is confined to places near which the proper clay is found. A piece of clay is kneaded and mixed with fine sand till it attains the proper consistency. A piece is then laid over a round stone and beaten gently till it becomes sufficiently dry and rigid to serve for a bottom to which clay is added strip by strip, at first thick but gradually thinned with the fingers, until the pot is completed. It is in the union of these strips that defects are liable to occur. Hence the best workers patiently sit for hours beating their pots with a little wooden mallet. The pots are then put into a hot fire and burnt several times till they become sufficiently brittle to resist the fire, but the manufacturers seem to lack a proper test, because the cracking of a new pot is an ordinary occurrence.
The pot is spherical in shape with a wide mouth and a neck which, by its incurving, makes it possible to hang it up by means of a piece of rattan when it is not in use. There may be a few indentations running around the neck for the purpose of decoration. It is customary to provide the pot with a crude cover, also made of sand and clay.
TAILORING AND MAT MAKING
Tailoring is such a simple affair in Manóboland that it hardly deserves mention. Whenever an imported needle of European or American make is not to be had, a piece of brass wire is filed down and an eye made in it. With the simple utensil and with a thread of abaká fiber, the garment is sewn with a kind of a transverse cross-stitch. When imported cotton is on hand, nearly all seams are covered with either a continuous fringe of cotton in alternate colors or with neat wavy stitches, all of which serve both to conceal the seams and to embellish the garment.
In making a garment the piece of cloth is folded into a rectangle which forms the body of the garment. A piece large enough to make the sleeves remains. No piece is thrown away, there being no superfluous clippings. All cutting is done with a bolo.4
4In the chapter on dress reference has been made to the method of embroidery and to the various designs in common use.
Mats and bags are made out of pandanus. The same methods so commonly used throughout the Philippine Islands are employed by the Manóbos.