They accounted for the tide by saying that in a far-distant sea there lived a gigantic crab: when he went into his hole the water was forced out, and the tide rose; when he came out the water rushed in, and the tide fell. The thing was simplicity itself.
I asked them why the monkey looked so much like a man. They said because he was once a man, who was very lazy when he should have been planting rice. Vexed at his indolence, a companion threw a stick at him which stuck into him; whereupon he assumed his present form, the stick forming his tail.
From the foregoing, it is evident that the Tagbanwa beliefs are not highly developed. However, several items are of interest for comparison with the beliefs of the more cultured tribes to be later described. Of these items, those most to be kept in mind are the idea of a seven-storied underworld, and the name of the chief deity of that underworld, Taliákud. This name comes from the stem tákud, túkud, or tókod, which is common to many Philippine dialects and means “post” or “support.” It is generally applied to the four legs or posts of the common Philippine house. Now, the belief in an Atlas, or god who supports the earth world, is widespread in the Philippines, and the name applied to this god is nearly always derived from this same stem túkud. The Ifugao Atlas is Tinúkud of the underworld, and I suspect that the Tagbanwa Taliákud of the underworld is a deity of the same character.
Beliefs of the Pagan Tribes of Mindanao
The interior of Mindanao is occupied by some ten pagan tribes, the most important being the Manóbos, Mandayas, Atás, Bagóbos, Biláns, Tirurais, and Subánuns. These tribes are all remarkably alike in culture; much more so, in fact, than any other similar group of peoples in the Philippines; and this culture shows a close resemblance to that of the tribes in the interior of Borneo. In the development of their myths and of their religious beliefs, these peoples occupy a middle position between the more primitive and the highest developed types of the Philippines. John M. Garvan has recently completed a very extensive study of the Manóbo peoples of the Agúsan Valley, in eastern Mindanao, and the following beliefs and myths are quoted from his unpublished notes.
Origin of the Earth and its Inhabitants
The story of the creation of the world is variable throughout the whole Agúsan Valley. In the district surrounding Talakógon, the creation is attributed to Makalídun͠g, the first great Manóbo. The details of his great work are very meager. He set it up on posts (some say iron posts) with one in the center. At the central post he has his abode, in company with a python, according to the version of some, and whenever he feels displeasure toward men, he shakes the post, thereby producing an earthquake, and at the same time intimating to man his anger. It is believed that, should the trembling continue, the world would be destroyed.
In the same district it is believed that the sky is round and that its extremities are at the limits of the sea. Somewhat near these limits is an enormous hole called the navel of the sea through which the waters descend.
It is said that in the early days of creation the sky was low, but that one day a woman, while pounding rice, hit it with her pestle and it ascended to its present position.