(a) CULAMANES.
(b) MANOBO.
According to Governor Bolton this tribe numbers about thirty-five
hundred individuals and occupies a considerable portion of the coast,
and adjacent mountains, from the Padada river on the north to Sarangani
Bay on the south. On the east side of Davao Gulf its members are found
along the beach and in the mountains, from Sigaboy to Cape San Agustin,
and also in a few scattered villages on the southeastern Pacific Coast.
By their neighbors they are known as Kulaman or Manobo. The former
designation is translated as "bad man," but it is probable that they
received the name from the town of Kulaman, where they formerly resided.
They are equally well known as Manobo--a word meaning "man." Earlier
writers, misled by these two names, have generally treated this people
as forming two distinct groups, but this is quite incorrect, both names
being applied to a part or to the whole of the tribe. It has also been
customary to describe them as a part of the great Manobo tribe which
inhabits a large portion of Central and Northeastern Mindanao. The
writer is of the opinion that there is not sufficient evidence to
justify such a classification and that for the present we must consider
them as distinct from the Manobo of the northern district as are the
other tribes of Davao Gulf.
According to their own tales, the Kulaman once held all the coast from
the Padada River to Sarangani Bay, but did not extend far back from the
sea, since in the mountains lived the Tagakaolo and Bila-an with whom
they were constantly at war. When the Moro appeared on their coasts and
offered help against the hill tribes in return for land, they were
gladly received and were given several village sites near to the mouths
of various rivers. Aside from a few minor quarrels, the Kulaman have
always lived on friendly terms with these later comers, and not a few of
the tribe have been converted to Mohammedism.
Influenced by their new allies they organized under several petty rulers
who were subservient to the datu at Kulaman, and with this superior
organization they were able to carry on such successful warfare against
the hill tribes that the Tagakaolo were, for a time, partially under
their rule.
When the Spaniards arrived and undertook to subdue the Moro, the Kulaman
cast their lot with their Mohammedan allies, and even after the power of
the Moro was broken, they remained irreconcilable and frequently raided
the settlements under the care of the Spanish priests.
The recent history of the tribe, as told by Datu Bongkalasan of Padada,
as is follows: "About a hundred years ago when Gogo became _datu_, he
left Kulaman and settled at Piapi, not far from Padada, and planted the
cocoanut trees which can still be seen there. He was a man with a very
small head, but his arms were as large as a man's legs. He lived until
very old, and during his lifetime never did any work but was always a
great warrior. Under him the tribe became strong and all the other
_datu_ feared him. When he died his son Kolatau my uncle, succeeded him.
Like his father, he was a great warrior and all the neighboring tribes
paid him slaves and other tribute. His two sons died during his
lifetime; so upon his death the leadership fell to me, Bongkalasan."
By the time Bongkalasan became ruler, the influence of the Spaniards was
strong enough to break the power of any coast _datu_, and after a
hostile demonstration by the new ruler his town was destroyed and his
following scattered. A part of the people took to the hills while others
migrated to the east side of the Gulf and settled near Sigaboy. It is
not believed that any members of this tribe were in that vicinity prior
to this time. A further migration took place shortly after the arrival
of the Americans, when a brother of Bongkalasan took a number of the
Kulaman over to Sigaboy. A certain amount of communication is kept up
between the people on both sides of the Gulf and the dialects are still
so similar that it is certain the separation has not been for any great
period of time.
Upon the establishment of American rule a number of hemp planters
settled along the coast and soon their inducements to laborers began to
scatter the people, until today members of this tribe can be found as
far north as Santa Cruz. The power and influence of the _datu_ has waned
until he now has a following of less than two hundred people. Only that
portion of the tribe which retired to the hills still maintains any
semblance of their old prowess and even those groups are growing smaller
year by year.
At the height of their power the men of the tribe were noted as
boat-builders[73] and fishermen. Fighting also took up a considerable
portion of their time, for added to their desire for loot and slaves was
a demand for victims imposed by the warrior deity. The women cultivated
little patches of corn, camotes, and some cocoanuts, and at certain
seasons all the members of the tribe went to the forest to gather sago,
but aside from this the sea furnished most of their food supply.
According to their own stories they did not cultivate rice until recent
years, and Datu Bongkalasan insists that none of the people planted rice
when he was a boy. It is his belief that all the ceremonies connected
with the rice culture were learned from the Tagakaolo and Bila-an.
[73] This art is now practically lost and their boats are secured from
the Moro.
From the Spanish writers[74] we hear little but evil of this people.
They are spoken of as warlike, superstitious, treacherous, and vengeful
as head-hunters "who expose the heads of their enemies on poles," and as
slavers. From Father GISBERT[75] we learn that in 1886, about twelve
hundred members of the tribe were converted to Christianity; but during
the period following the departure of the Spaniards most of them
deserted the faith and returned to the old life. Since American
occupation they have been among the most troublesome people of Southern
Mindanao, and only as late as 1911 were responsible for the death of a
number of planters and the destruction of the plantations in the
neighborhood of Nuin. They are rapidly breaking up as a tribe, and are
intermarrying with the coast natives and hill tribes, from both of whom
they are adopting artifacts and ideas. Already they have so altered
their dwellings that we cannot refer to a typical Kulaman home; their
house-hold utensils[76] are those of their neighbors, and this is true
also of most of the clothing, although one special type will be
mentioned later on.
[74] BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol. LV, p. 556.
[75] BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol. XLIII, p. 242.
[76] Long narrow hemp cloth pillows (fig. 43) and round waterproof boxes
with infitting, tray-like tops (fig. 44) are found in nearly every
house. The use of these two articles is not confined to this people, but
is typical of them. The same type of box is found among the Manobo of
the Agusan river valley.