The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe

by Fay-Cooper Cole

It should be noted at the outset that highly developed terrace cultivation is found in Japan and China to the north; in parts of Borneo, in the Nias archipelago, in Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumatra, Burma, and India proper, and it is probable that all within this broad belt developed from a single origin.

When we compare the construction of Igorot and Tinguian terraces and the methods of irrigation, we find them quite similar, although those of the former are somewhat superior and of much greater extent. The planting of the seed rice and the breaking of the soil in the high fields are also much alike, but here the resemblances cease. In the lower fields, the Tinguian employ the carabao, together with the plow and harrow; the Igorot do not. The Igorot fertilize their fields, the Tinguian never. In harvesting, the Tinguian make use of a peculiar crescent-shaped blade to cut the stalk, the Igorot pull each head off separately. The Tinguian and Ilocano granaries are of a distinctive type radically different from the Igorot, while the methods of thrashing in the two groups are entirely different. Finally, the ceremonial observances of the Tinguian, so far as the rice is concerned, are much more extensive and intricate than have been described for the Igorot. In a like manner there are many striking differences between the methods of handling the grain by the Tinguian and those found in Japan and China. On the other hand, when we come to compare the rice culture of this region with the islands to the south, the similarities are very striking. The short description given by Marsden for Sumatra[15] would, with a few modifications, apply to the situation in Abra. The use of the plow and harrow drawn by carabao is found in Java and Sumatra; the common reaping knife of both these islands is identical with the Tinguian, although there is a slight difference in the way it is utilized; the peculiar type of granary found in Abra again appears in Sumatra, while the Tinguian ceremonial acts associated Page 395with the cultivation and care of the rice-recall, in several instances, details of such ceremonies in Java.

If Tinguian rice culture did come from the south, through trade or migration, in comparatively recent times we should expect to find evidences of the same culture distributed along the route by which it must have traveled. We find, however, that few terraces exist in Mindanao and northern Borneo; and the former, at least, are of recent introduction.[16] There is also negative evidence that such fields were rare along the coasts at the time of the Spanish invasion. In the early documents we meet with frequent statements that the people were agriculturists and raised considerable quantities of rice and vegetables in their clearings; but the writer has discovered only two instances in which mention is made of terraced fields.[17] Had extensive terraces existed on the coast, it seems certain that some notice must have been taken of them. Yet in the mountains of central and northwestern Luzon, in districts remote from coast influences, are found some of the most remarkable fields of this type in Malaysia; terraces representing such an expenditure of labor that they argue for a long period of construction.

The proof is not absolute, but, in view of the foregoing, the writer is inclined to the belief that the Igorot and the Tinguian brought their rice culture with them from the south, and that the latter received it from a source common to them and to the people of Java and Sumatra.

Many writers who have discussed the rice culture of the East Indies are inclined to credit its introduction to Indian colonists,[18] but Page 396Campbell[19] holds to the belief that it was practised centuries before the Christian era and prior to the Hindu invasion of Java. There seems to be no dissent, however, among these writers to the belief that its introduction antedated the arrival of the European in the Orient by several centuries. The fact that dry land farming, carried on with planting sticks and the like, is still found among the Igorot and Tinguian, and for that matter all over the Philippines, cannot be advanced as an argument that the irrigated fields are of recent date, for upland fields and primitive tools are still used in Java and Sumatra, where, as we have just seen, the wet field culture is an old possession.

Magical Rites and Ceremonies Connected with the Rice.—The importance of rice to this people is nowhere better evidenced than in the numerous and, in some cases, elaborate rites with which its cultivation and care is attended. Some of these observances appear to be purely magical, while others are associated with the consulting of omens, acts of sacrifice, propitiation, and finally of thanksgiving. All are interwoven with tribal law and custom to such an extent that neglect, on the part of the individual, amounts to a crime against the community, and hence is punished with public indignation and ostracism.

When a new field is to be prepared, or a granary erected, strict watch must be kept for omens, for should the inhabitants of the spirit world be unfavorable to the project, they will indicate their feelings by sending snakes, large lizards, deer, wild hogs, or certain birds to visit the workers. Should any of these appear, as the task is begun, the place is generally abandoned at once, but if doubt still exists, or it is deemed abvisable to try to persuade the spirits to reconsider, a small pig will be sacrificed. Its blood, mixed with rice, is scattered about on the ground as an offering, while the medium recites a proper dīam.[20] After a suitable time has elapsed for the spirits to partake, the liver of the animal is removed, and is carefully examined (cf. p. 307). If the omens are now favorable, the work may be resumed, but should they still be unpropitious, it is folly to proceed, for disaster is certain to follow.

The next anxiety is to secure a lusty growth of plants in the seed beds, and to accomplish this, sticks known as salogᴇgᴇy, are stuck in each plot. The surface of such a stick has been pared so that shavings stand out on it in opposite directions, for such a decoration “is pleasing Page 397to the spirits;” while a piece of charcoal, placed in the notched end, compels the new leaves to turn the dark green of sturdy plants. The first seeds to be planted must always be sowed by the wife of the owner, “so that they will be fertile and yield a good crop.”

When a field has been constructed, or when the terraces are ready to receive the plants, a ceremony known as Dalau,[21] is held. The purpose of this is to secure the good will of the spirits in general, but more particularly to provide a dwelling place for the powerful being Kaiba-an, who guards the crops. A medium, accompanied by the family and any others who may be interested, goes to the field carrying a large bamboo pole, bolo[22] branches, stalks of lono[23] bakoñ, and saklak.[24] The end of the bamboo is split open, and a saloko[25] is constructed to which are attached the other leaves and stalks. The saloko is then placed on the dividing ridge of the field, and all is ready for the ceremony, unless it is considered wise to also construct a small house (baubauwī). If the field is near the village, the latter is generally dispensed with, but if it is distant, the house is erected so that the spirit will accept it as its dwelling, while it is guarding the crop. It is further explained that the spirit then stays in the small house or saloko instead of in the rice stalks, and so they are able to grow.

A female pig is presented to the medium who, after reciting a proper dīam above it, stabs the animal and collects its blood. This is mixed with rice, and a part is at once deposited in the saloko, while the balance is placed on a head-axe, and is carried about the field. When the whole plot has been traversed, this rice and blood is scattered in all directions, while the spirits are besought to come and eat. A part of the company has meanwhile been cooking the flesh of the slain animal, but before any of it is served, a skirt (kīnomayan) is spread at the foot of the saloko, and on it are placed dishes of oil and of cooked rice.