In the description of the tribe up to this point we have touched upon those pursuits which engross the greater part of the time. In addition to these, it falls to the lot of the women to manufacture and decorate all the clothing worn by members of the tribe. Some cotton is grown and is used in the manufacture of jackets, but the bulk of the garments are of hemp. In the description of the Decorative Art we shall deal with the decoration of the hemp cloth skirts worn by the women. Here it is only necessary for us to observe that this cloth is produced and colored by exactly the same process as is employed by the Bagobo women.[135]
[135] See p. 79.
A very little brass casting is done by the Mandaya of one district, but it is evidently a crude copy of Moro work. By far the greater part of the brass betel boxes, and ornaments of that metal, as well as spear heads, are purchased from the coast Mohammedans.
Iron working is an ancient art with this people and the beauty and temper of their knives and daggers is not excelled by the output of any other Philippine tribe. In the manufacture of these weapons they employ the same methods as their neighbors to the south and west.
No wild tribe in the archipelago has made so much use of silver in the production of ornaments as has the Mandaya. Thin silver plates are rolled into small tubes and are attached to the woman's ear plugs (Fig. 49), finger rings of the same metal are produced in great numbers, but the finest work appears in the large silver ornaments worn on the breasts by both sexes (Fig. 53). Silver coins are beaten into thin
disks, in the center of which a hole is cut. About this opening appear beautiful intricate designs, some engraved, others stamped with metal dies.
All work in metal is limited to a few skilled men, but many lesser industries, such as shaping tortoise shell rings and shell bracelets, carving of spoons, and making baskets, are carried on by other members of the tribe during their leisure hours.