Lumawig on Earth
Igorot
One day when Lumawig,[8] the Great Spirit, looked down from his place in the sky he saw two sisters gathering beans. And he decided to go down to visit them. When he arrived at the place he asked them what they were doing. The younger, whose name was Fukan, answered:
“We are gathering beans, but it takes a long time to get enough, for my sister wants to go bathing all the time.”
Then Lumawig said to the older sister:
“Hand me a single pod of the beans.”
And when she had given it to him, he shelled it into the basket and immediately the basket was full.[9] The younger sister laughed at this, and Lumawig said to her:
“Give me another pod and another basket.”
She did so, and when he had shelled the pod, that basket was full also. Then he said to the younger sister:
“Go home and get three more baskets.”
She went home, but when she asked for three more baskets her mother said that the beans were few and she could not need so many. Then Fukan told her of the young man who could fill a basket from one pod of beans, and the father, who heard her story, said:
“Go bring the young man here, for I think he must be a god.”
So Fukan took the three baskets back to Lumawig, and when he had filled them as he did the other two, he helped the girls carry them to the house. As they reached their home, he stopped outside to cool himself, but the father called to him and he went up into the house and asked for some water. The father brought him a cocoanut shell full, and before drinking Lumawig looked at it and said:
“If I stay here with you, I shall become very strong.”
The next morning Lumawig asked to see their chickens, and when they opened the chicken-coop out came a hen and many little chicks. “Are these all of your chickens?” asked Lumawig; and the father assured him that they were all. He then bade them bring rice meal that he might feed them, and as the chickens ate they all grew rapidly till they were cocks and hens.
Next Lumawig asked how many pigs they had, and the father replied that they had one with some little ones. Then Lumawig bade them fill a pail with sweet potato leaves and he fed the pigs. And as they ate they also grew to full size.
The father was so pleased with all these things that he offered his elder daughter to Lumawig for a wife. But the Great Spirit said he preferred to marry the younger; so that was arranged. Now when his brother-in-law learned that Lumawig desired a feast at his wedding, he was very angry and said:
“Where would you get food for your wedding feast? There is no rice, nor beef, nor pork, nor chicken,”
But Lumawig only answered, “I shall provide our wedding feast.”
In the morning they all set out for Lanao, for Lumawig did not care to stay any longer in the house with his brother-in-law. As soon as they arrived he sent out for some tree trunks, but the trees that the people brought in were so small that Lumawig himself went to the forest and cut two large pine trees which he hurled to Lanao.
When the people had built a fire of the trees he commanded them to bring ten kettles filled with water. Soon the water was boiling hot and the brother-in-law laughed and said:
“Where is your rice? You have the boiling water, but you do not seem to think of the rice.”
In answer to this Lumawig took a small basket of rice and passed it over five kettles and they were full. Then he called “Yishtjau,” and some deer came running out of the forest. These were not what he wanted, however, so he called again and some pigs came. He told the people that they were each to catch one and for his brother-in-law he selected the largest and best.
They all set out in pursuit of the pigs and the others quickly caught theirs, but though the brother-in-law chased his until he was very tired and hot he could not catch it Lumawig laughed at him and said:
“You chase that pig until he is thin and still you cannot catch it, though all the others have theirs.”
Thereupon he grasped the hind legs of the pig and lifted it. All the people laughed and the brother-in-law said:
“Of course you can catch it, because I chased it until it was tired.”
Lumawig then handed it to him and said, “Here, you carry it.” But no sooner had the brother-in-law put it over his shoulder than it cut loose and ran away.
“Why did you let it go?” asked Lumawig. “Do you care nothing for it, even after I caught it for you? Catch it again and bring it here.”
So the brother-in-law started out again, and he chased it up stream and down, but he could not catch it. Finally Lumawig reached down and picked up the pig and carried it to the place where the others were cooking.
After they had all eaten and drunk and made their offerings to the spirits, Lumawig said:
“Come, let us go to the mountain to consult the omen concerning the northern tribes.”
So they consulted the omen, but it was not favorable, and they were starting home when the brother-in-law asked Lumawig to create some water, as the people were hot and thirsty.
“Why do you not create water, Lumawig?” he repeated as Lumawig paid no attention to him. “You care nothing that the people are thirsty and in need of drink.”
Then they quarreled and were very angry and Lumawig said to the people, “Let us sit down and rest.”
While they rested, Lumawig struck the rock with his spear and water came out.[10] The brother-in-law jumped up to get a drink first, but Lumawig held him back and said he must be the last to drink. So they all drank, and when they had finished, the brother-in-law stepped up, but Lumawig gave him a push which sent him into the rock and water came from his body.
“You must stay there,” said Lumawig, “because you have troubled me a great deal.” And they went home, leaving him in the rock.
Some time after this Lumawig decided to go back to the sky to live, but before he went he took care that his wife should have a home. He made a coffin of wood[11] and placed her in it with a dog at her feet and a cock at her head. And as he set it floating on the water,[12] he told it not to stop until it reached Tinglayen. Then, if the foot end struck first, the dog should bark; and if the head end was the first to strike, the cock should crow. So it floated away, and on and on, until it came to Tinglayen.
Now a widower was sharpening his ax on the bank of the river, and when he saw the coffin stop, he went to fish it out of the water. On shore he started to open it, but Fugan cried out, “Do not drive a wedge, for I am here,” So the widower opened it carefully and took Fugan up to the town, and then as he had no wife of his own, he married her.
How the First Head was Taken[13]
Igorot
One day the Moon, who was a woman named Kabigat, sat out in the yard making a large copper pot. The copper was still soft and pliable like clay, and the woman squatted on the ground with the heavy pot against her knees while she patted and shaped it.[14]
Now while she was working a son of Chal-chal, the Sun, came by and stopped to watch her mould the form. Against the inside of the jar she pressed a stone, while on the outside with a wooden paddle dripping with water she pounded and slapped until she had worked down the bulges and formed a smooth surface.
The boy was greatly interested in seeing the jar grow larger, more beautiful, and smoother with each stroke, and he stood still for some time. Suddenly the Moon looked up and saw him watching her. Instantly she struck him with her paddle, cutting off his head.
Now the Sun was not near, but he knew as soon as the Moon had cut off his son’s head. And hurrying to the spot, he put the boy’s head back on, and he was alive again.
Then the Sun said to the Moon, “You cut off my son’s head, and because you did this ever after on the earth people will cut off each other’s heads.”
The Serpent Eagle[15]
Igorot
Once there lived two boys whose mother sent them every day to the forest to get wood[16] for her fires. Each morning, as they started out, she gave them some food for their trip, but it was always poor and there was little of it, and she would say:
“The wood that you brought yesterday was so poor that I cannot give you much to eat today.”
The boys tried very hard to please her, but if they brought nice pine wood she scolded them, and if they brought large dry reeds she said:
“These are no good for my fire, for they leave too much ashes in the house.”
Try as they would, they failed to satisfy her; and their bodies grew very thin from working hard all day and from want of enough to eat.
One morning when they left for the mountains the mother gave them a bit of dog meat to eat, and the boys were very sad. When they reached the forest one of them said:
“You wait here while I climb the tree and cut off some branches.”
Type of Mandaya tree house
He went up the tree and soon called down, “Here is some wood,” and the bones of his arm dropped to the ground.
“Oh,” cried his brother, “it is your arm!”
“Here is some more wood,” cried the other, and the bones of the other arm dropped to the ground.
Then he called again, and the bones of his leg fell, then those of his other leg, and so on till all the bones of his body lay on the ground.
“Take these home,” he said, “and tell the woman that here is her wood; she only wanted my bones.”
The younger boy was very sad, for he was alone, and there was no one to go down the mountain with him. He gathered up the bundle of wood, wondering meanwhile what he should do, but just as he finished a serpent eagle called down from the tree tops:
“I will go with you, Brother.”
So the boy put the bundle of wood on his shoulder, and as he was going down the mountain, his brother, who was now a serpent eagle, flew over his head. When he reached the house, he put down the bundle and said to his mother:
“Here is your wood.”
When she looked at it she was very much frightened and ran out of the house.
Then the serpent eagle circled round and round above her head and called:
“Quiukok! quiukok! quiukok! I do not need your food any more.”
Swinging bridge over Padada river
The Tattooed Men[17]
Igorot
Once there were two young men, very good friends, who were unhappy because neither of them had been tattooed.[18] They felt that they were not as beautiful as their friends.
One day they agreed to tattoo each other. One marked the breast and back of the other, his arms and legs, and even his face. And when he had finished, he took soot off the bottom of a cooking-pot and rubbed it into all the marks; and he was tattooed beautifully.
The one who had done the work said to the other:
“Now, my friend, you are very beautiful, and you must tattoo me.”
Then the tattooed one scraped a great pile of black soot off the cooking-pots, and before the other knew what he was about, he had rubbed it all over him from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet; and he was very black and greasy. The one who was covered with soot became very angry and cried:
“Why do you treat me so when I tattooed you so carefully?”
They began to fight, but suddenly the beautifully tattooed one became a great lizard which ran away and hid in the tall grass, while the sooty one became a crow and flew away over the village.[19]
Tilin, The Rice Bird[20]
Igorot
One day when a mother was pounding out rice to cook for supper, her little girl ran up to her and cried:
“Oh, Mother, give me some of the raw rice to eat.”
“No,” said the mother, “it is not good for you to eat until it is cooked. Wait for supper.”
But the little girl persisted until the mother, out of patience, cried:
“Be still. It is not good for you to talk so much!”
When she had finished pounding the rice, the woman poured it into a rice winnower and tossed it many times into the air. As soon as the chaff was removed she emptied the rice into her basket and covered it with the winnower. Then she took the jar upon her head, and started for the spring to get water.
Now the little girl was fond of going to the spring with her mother, for she loved to play in the cool water while her mother filled the jars. But this time she did not go, and as soon as the woman was out of sight, she ran to the basket of rice. She reached down to take a handful of the grain. The cover slipped so that she fell, and was covered up in the basket.
When the mother returned to the house, she heard a bird crying, “King, king, nik! nik! nik!” She listened carefully, and as the sound seemed to come from the basket, she removed the cover. To her surprise, out hopped a little brown rice bird, and as it flew away it kept calling back:
“Goodbye, Mother; goodbye, Mother. You would not give me any rice to eat.”
[1] Lumawig is the greatest of all spirits and now lives in the sky, though for a time his home was in the Igorot village of Bontoc, He married a Bontoc girl, and the stones of their house are still to be seen in the village. It was Lumawig who created the Igorot, and ever since he has taken a great interest in them, teaching them how to overcome the forces of nature, how to plant, to reap and, in fact, everything that they know. Once each month a ceremony is held in his honor in a sacred grove, whose trees are believed to have sprung from the graves of his children. Here prayers are offered for health, good crops, and success in battle. A close resemblance exists between Lumawig of the Igorot and Kaboniyan of the Tinguian, the former being sometimes called Kambun’yan.
[2] The Bukidnon of Mindanao have the following story: During a great drought Mampolompon could grow nothing on his clearing except one bamboo, and during a high wind this was broken. From this bamboo came a dog and a woman, who were the ancestors of the Moro. See “[The White Squash],” [note 1, p. 186].
[3] At the north end of the village of Mayinit are a number of brackish hot springs, and from these the people secure the salt which has made the spot famous for miles around. Stones are placed in the shallow streams flowing from these springs, and when they have become encrusted with salt (about once a month) they are washed and the water is evaporated by boiling. The salt, which is then a thick paste, is formed into cakes and baked near the fire for about half an hour, when it is ready for use. It is the only salt in this section, and is in great demand. Even hostile tribes come to a hill overlooking the town and call down, then deposit whatever they have for trade and withdraw, while the Igorot take up the salt and leave it in place of the trade articles.
[4] The women of Samoki are known as excellent potters, and their ware is used over a wide area. From a pit on a hillside to the north of the village they dig a reddish-brown clay, which they mix with a bluish mineral gathered on another hillside. When thoroughly mixed, this clay is placed on a board on the ground, and the potter, kneeling before it, begins her moulding. Great patience and skill are required to bring the vessel to the desired shape. When it is completed it is set in the sun to dry for two or three days, after which it is ready for the baking. The new pots are piled tier above tier on the ground and blanketed with grass tied into bundles. Then pine bark is burned beneath and around the pile for about an hour, when the ware is sufficiently fired. It is then glazed with resin and is ready to market.
[5] The mythology of nearly all peoples has a flood story. For the Tinguian account see [note on page 103]. For the Bukidnon story see [p. 125].
[6] A bamboo basket, in which the heads of victims are kept prior to the head-taking celebration.
[7] The folk-lore of all countries has some story accounting for the acquisition of fire. The Tinguian tale is as follows: Once in the very old times Kaboniyan sent a flood which covered all the land. Then there was no place for the fire to stay, so it went into the bamboo, the stones, and iron. That is why one who knows how can still get fire out of bamboo and stones.
[8] See [note 1, p. 99].
[9] The magical increase of food is a popular subject with the Tinguian, appearing in many of their folk-tales. See [note 2, p. 48].
[10] Note the similarity to the story of Moses in this account of Lumawig striking the rock and water coming out. There is a possibility that this incident was added to the story after the advent of the Catholic missionaries.
[11] Usually one or more new coffins can be found in an Igorot village. They are made from a log split in two lengthwise, each half being hollowed out. Since their manufacture requires some days, it is necessary to prepare them ahead of time. After the body is put in, the cover is tied on with rattan and the chinks sealed with mud and lime.
[12] A somewhat similar idea is found among the Kulaman of southern Mindanao. Here when an important man dies he is placed in a coffin, which resembles a small boat, the coffin being then fastened on high poles near the sea. See Cole, Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao, Pub. Field Museum of Nat Hist, Vol. XII, No. 2, 1913.
[13] This story, first recorded by Dr. A.E. Jenks, gives the origin of the custom of head-hunting, which plays such an important part in the life of the Igorot. The Igorot claim to have taken heads ever since Lumawig lived on earth and taught them to go to war, and they declare that it makes them brave and manly. The return of a successful war party is the signal for a great celebration.
[14] This is also the common way of making pottery.
[15] Here we have a story, recorded by Dr. A.E. Jenks, with a twofold value: it is told to the children as a warning against stinginess, and it also explains the origin of the serpent eagle.
[16] There is no jungle in the greater part of the Igorot country, the mountains being covered by cogon grass with occasional pine trees. At a distance these have a strange appearance, for only the bushy tops are left, the lower branches being cut off for fuel.
[17] First recorded by Dr. A.E. Jenks.
[18] Tattooing is a painful process, but Igorot men, women, and children willingly submit to it for the sake of beauty. The design is first drawn on the skin with an ink made of soot and water: then the skin is pricked through the pattern and the soot is rubbed into the wounds. Various designs appear on the face, arms, stomach, and other parts of the body, but the most important of all markings is that on the breast of an Igorot man. This designates him as the taker of at least one human head, and he is thus shown to be worthy of the respect of his tribe.
[19] This story also accounts for the origin of the crow and the lizard, both of which are common in the Igorot country.
[20] This story, first recorded by Dr. A.E. Jenks, while it explain the origin of the little rice bird, also points a moral, namely, that there is punishment for the disobedient child.