Probably no wild tribe in Mindanao has received so much mention in
histories, reports, and books of travel as have the Mandaya, but these
references have been, in the main, so vague and often so misleading that
they are of little value for our purposes. Quite in contrast with this
mass of material are the excellent reports of the late Governor Bolton,
and Mr. Melbourne A. Maxey,[103] who for a number of years has been
closely associated with the members of the tribe residing in the
vicinity of Cateel. In the preparation of this paper frequent use has
been made of the notes gathered by these two gentlemen.
[103] Published in the Mindanao Herald.
When the first white men visited the tribe they found that the
neighboring Moro were making frequent raids on their villages and were
carrying away women and children whom they sold to the Bagobo and other
tribes of the Gulf.[104] At the same time it was learned that they, in
turn, were slave holders and were eager to purchase captives from the
Mohammedan raiders. The great distances traveled by the Moro in their
raids make it possible that slaves from distant islands may thus have
been introduced into the tribe. Later we shall see that it was difficult
for a slave or a descendant of a slave to become a freeman, yet it was
by no means impossible, and it is likely that a considerable part of the
tribe are descendants of people brought to the district through purchase
and capture. Another possible source of outside blood is suggested by
well verified stories of castaways on the east coast of Mindanao and
adjacent islands.[105] While working with the Mandaya in the region of
Mayo bay the writer was frequently told that three times, in the memory
of the present inhabitants, strange boats filled with strange people had
been driven to their coasts by storms. The informants insisted that
these newcomers were not put to death but that such of them as survived
were taken into the tribe. These stories are given strong substantiation
by the fact that only a few months prior to my visit a boat load of
people from the Carolines was driven to the shores of Mayo bay and that
their boat, as well as one survivor, was then at the village of Mali.
(Plate LXXII). I am indebted to Mr. Henry Hubbel for the following
explicit account of these castaways: "One native banca of castaways
arrived at Lucatan, N. E. corner of Mayo Bay, Mindanao, on January 2nd,
1909. The banca left the Island of Uluthi for the Island of Yap, two
days' journey, on December 10th, 1908. They were blown out of their
course and never sighted land until January 2nd, twenty-two days after
setting sail. There were nine persons aboard, six men, two boys, and one
woman, all natives of Yap except one man who was a Visayan from Capiz,
Panay, P. I., who settled on the Island of Yap in 1889. These people
were nineteen days without food or water except what water could be
caught during rain storms. The Visayan, Victor Valenamo, died soon after
his arrival, as a result of starvation. The natives recovered at once
and all traces of their starvation disappeared within two weeks. The men
were powerfully built, nearly six feet high. Their bodies were all
covered with tattoo work. The woman was decorated even more than the
men. Fever soon took hold of these castaways and in a year's time all
died except one small boy who seems to have become acclimated and will
become identified with the natives in Mati. I took care of these people
until they died.
[104] BLAIR and ROBERTSON. The Philippine Islands, Vol. XLIII, p. 203.
[105] FOREMAN. The Philippine Islands, pp. 257-9. JAGOR. Travels in the
Philippines, Ch. XX.
"The clothing worn by the men and woman was nothing but the 'lavalava,'
a scarf of sea-grass fiber about 18 inches wide and five feet long. This
was worn around the loins.
"The banca, which was of very curious construction, was taken to
Zamboanga last year by General Pershing, to be placed in Moro Province
Museum."
After the advent of the Spaniards into their territory a considerable
number of this people were converted to the Christian faith and were
induced to settle in villages. There they met and intermarried with
Visayan and other emigrants who had followed the Spaniards to the South.
During the time of the Spanish rule these settlements were partially
destroyed by Moro raiders, and following the Spanish-American war these
attacks became so frequent that many of the inhabitants deserted their
homes and returning to their mountain kinsmen again took up the old
life. The effect of this return is especially noticeable in the vicinity
of Caraga where as late as 1885 there were 596 Mandaya converts.
Several attempts were also made to colonize the Mandaya near the mouths
of the Tagum and Hijo rivers, but the restlessness of the natives or the
hostility of the Moro was always sufficient to cause the early break up
of the new settlements.
The last great influence on this tribe has come through American
planters who have prevailed upon the more venturesome members to come
down to the coast plantations and there adopt the life of the
Christianized natives. Many of these adventurers have returned to their
mountain homes, carrying with them new ideas and artifacts and, in some
cases, wives from other tribes. With all these influences at work there
has been considerable modification of the life in many districts,
particularly along the Pacific coast. This description will attempt to
give the old life of the tribe as it still exists in the more isolated
districts, or as it was related by older people of the coast
settlements.