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.