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.