CHAPTER XXI. Political organization: Intertribal and other relations

Intertribal relations

Interclan relations

External commercial relations

Exploitation by Christian natives

Exploitation by falsification

Defraudation by usury and excessive prices

Exploitation by the system of commutation

Wheedling or the _puának_ system

Bartering transactions

General conditions of trading

Internal commercial relations

Money and substitutes for it

Prevailing Manóbo prices

Weights and measures

Slave trade and slaves

Slave trade

Classes of slaves

Delivery and treatment of slaves

PART IV. RELIGION

CHAPTER XXII. General principles of Manóbo religion and nature and

classification of Manobo deities

Introductory

General principles of religion

Sincerity of belief

Basis of religious belief

Means of detecting supernatural evil

Belief in an hierarchy of beneficent and malignant deities

Other tenets of Manobo faith

Spirit companions of man

General character of the deities

Classification of deities and spirits

Benevolent deities

Gods of gore and rage

Malignant and dangerous spirits

Agricultural goddesses

Giant spirits

Gods of lust and consanguineous love

Spirits of celestial phenomena

Other spirits

Nature of the various divinities in detail,

The primary deities

The secondary order of deities

The gods of gore, and kindred spirits

CHAPTER XXIII. Maleficent spirits

The origin and nature of malignant demons

Methods of frustrating their evil designs

Through priests

By various material means

By propitiation

The _tagbánua_, or local forest spirits

Their characteristics and method of living

Definite localities tenanted by forest spirits

Worship of the forest spirits

CHAPTER XXIV. Priests, their prerogatives and functions

The _bailán_ or ordinary Manobo priests

Their general character

Their prerogatives,

Sincerity of the priests

Their influence

Their dress and functions

The _bagáni_, or priests of war and blood

CHAPTER XXV. Ceremonial accessories and religious rites

General remarks

The paraphernalia of the priest

The religious shed and the _bailán's_ house

Equipment for ceremonies

Ceremonial decorations

Sacred images

Ceremonial offerings

Religious rites

Classification

Method of performance

The betel-nut tribute

The offering of incense

Invocation

Prophylactic fowl waving

Blood lustration

Lustration by water

CHAPTER XXVI. Sacrifices and war rites

The sacrifice of a pig

Rites peculiar to the war priests

The betel-nut offering to the souls of the enemies

Various forms of divination

The betel-nut cast

Divination from the _báguñg_ vine

Divination from _báya_ squares,

Invocation of the omen bird

The _tagbúsau's_ feast

Human sacrifice

CHAPTER XXVII. Divination and omens

In general

Miscellaneous casual omens

Divination by dreams

Divination by geometrical figures

The vine omen

The rattan omen

Divination by suspension and other methods

The suspension omen

The omen from eggs

Divination by sacrificial appearances

The blood omen

The neck omen

The omen from the gall

The omen from the liver

The omen from a fowl's intestinal appendix

Ornithoscopy

In general

Respect toward the omen bird

Interpretation of the omen bird's call

Birds of evil omen

CHAPTER XXVIII. Mythological and kindred beliefs

The creation of the world

Celestial phenomena

The rainbow

Thunder and lightning

Eclipse of the moon

Origin of the stars and the explanation of sunset and sunrise

The story of the _Ikúgan_, or tailed men, and of the resettlement of the

Agúsan Valley

Giants

Peculiar animal beliefs

The petrified craft and crew of Kagbubátañg

Angó, the petrified Manóbo

CHAPTER XXIX. The great religious movement of 1908-1910

The extent of the movement

Reported origin and character of the revival

Spread of the movement

Its exterior character and general features

The principal tenets of the movement

New order of deities

Observances prescribed by the founder

Religious rites

The real nature of the movement and means used to carry on the fraud

The sacred traffic

Religious tours

The whistling scheme

Pretended chastity and austerity

The end of the movement

Similar movements in former years

APPENDIX

Historical references to the Manóbos of eastern Mindanao

Early history up to 1875

From 1875 to 1910

Methods adopted by the missionaries in the Christianization of the

Manóbos

The secret of missionary success

Explanation of plates

PART I. DESCRIPTIVE

CHAPTER I

CLASSIFICATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF MANÓBOS AND OTHER

PEOPLES IN EASTERN MINDANÁO

EXPLANATION OF TERMS

Throughout this monograph I have used the term "eastern Mindanáo" to

include that part of Mindanáo that is east of the central Cordillera as

far south as the headwaters of the River Libagánon, east of the River

Tágum and its influent the Libagánon, and east of the gulf of Davao.

THE TERM "TRIBE"

The word "tribe" is used in the sense in which Dean C. Worcester defines

and uses it in his article on The non-Christian Tribes of Northern

Luzon:[1]

A division of a race composed of an aggregate of individuals of a kind

and of a common origin, agreeing among themselves in, and distinguished

from their congeners by physical characteristics, dress, and ornaments;

the nature of the communities which they form; peculiarities of house

architecture; methods of hunting, fishing, and carrying on agriculture;

character and importance of manufacture; practices relative to war and

the taking of heads of enemies; arms used in warfare; music and dancing,

and marriage and burial customs; but not constituting a political unit

subject to the control of any single individual nor necessarily speaking

the same dialect.

[1] Philip. Journ. Sci., 1: 803, 1906.

PRESENT USE OF THE WORD "MANÓBO"

The word "Manóbo" seems to be a generic name for people of greatly

divergent culture, physical type, and language. Thus it is applied to

the people that dwell in the mountains of the lower half of Point San

Agustin as well as to those people whose habitat is on the southern part

of the Sarangani Peninsula. Those, again, that occupy the _hinterland_

of Tuna Bay[2] come under the same designation. So it might seem that

the word was originally used to designate the pagan as distinguished

from the Mohammedanized people of Mindanáo, much as the name _Harafóras_

or _Alfúros_ was applied by the early writers to the pagans to

distinguish them from the Moros.

[2] Tuna Bay is on the southern coast of Mindanáo, about halfway between

Sarangani Bay and Parang Bay.

In the Agúsan Valley the term _manóbo_ is used very frequently by

Christian and by Christianized peoples, and sometimes by pagans

themselves, to denote that the individual in question is still

_unbaptized_, whether he be tribally a Mandáya, a Mañgguáñgan, or of

some other group. I have been told by Mandáyas on several occasions that

they were still _manóbo_, that is, still unbaptized.

Then, again, the word is frequently used by those who are really Manóbos

as a term of contempt for their fellow tribesmen who live in remoter

regions and who are not as well off in a worldly or a culture[sic] way

as they are. Thus I have heard Manóbos of the upper Agúsan refer to

their fellow-tribesmen of Libagánon as _Manóbos_, with evident contempt

in the voice. I asked them what they themselves were, and in answer was

informed that they were _Agusánon_--that is, upper Agúsan people--not

_Manóbos_.

THE DERIVATION AND ORIGINAL APPLICATION OF THE WORD "MANÓBO"

One of the earliest references that I find to the Manóbos of the Agúsan

Valley is in the General History of the Discalced Augustinian Fathers

(1661-1699) by Father Pedro de San Francisco de Assis.[3] The author

says that "the mountains of that territory[4] are inhabited by a nation

of Indians, heathens for the greater part, called Manóbos, a word

signifying in that language, as if we should say here, _robust or very

numerous people._" I have so far found no word in the Manóbo dialect

that verifies the correctness of the above statement. It may be said,

however, in favor of this derivation that _manúsia_ is the word for

"man" or "mankind" in the Malay, Moro (Magindanáo), and Tirurái

languages. In Bagóbo, a dialect that shows very close resemblance to

Manóbo, the word _Manóbo_ means "man," and in Magindanáo Moro it means

"mountain people,"[5] and is applied by the Moros to all the mountain

people of Mindanáo. It might be maintained, therefore, with some

semblance of reason that the word _Manóbo_ means simply "people." Some

of the early historians use the words _Manóbo_, _Mansúba_, _Manúbo_.

These three forms indicate the derivation to be from a prefix _man_,

signifying "people" or "dweller," and _súba_, a river. From the form

_Manúbo_, however, we might conclude that the word is made up of _man_

("people"), and _húbo_ ("naked"), therefore meaning the "naked people."

The former derivation, however, appears to be more consonant with the

principles upon which Mindanáo tribal names, both general and local, are

formed. Thus _Mansáka_, _Mandáya_, _Mañgguáñgan_ are derived, the first

part of each, from _man_ ("people" or "dwellers"), and the remainder of

the words, respectively, from _sáka_ ("interior"), _dáya_ ("up the

river"), _guáñgan_ ("forest"). These names then mean "people of the

interior," "people that dwell on the upper reaches of the river," and

"people that dwell in the forest." Other tribal designations of Mindanáo

races and tribes are almost without exception derived from words that

denote the relative geographic position of the tribe in question. The

_Banuáon_ and _Mamánua_ are derived from _banuá_, the "country," as

distinguished from settlements near the main or settled part of the

river. The Bukídnon are the mountain people (_bukid_, mountain);

_Súbanun_, the river people (_súba_, river); _Tirurái_, the mountain

people (_túduk_, mountain, _etéu_, man);[6] _Tagakaólo_, the people at

the very source of a river (_tága_, inhabitant, _ólo_, head or source).

[3] Blair and Robertson, 41: 153, 1906.

[4] The author refers to the mountains in the vicinity of Líano, a town

that stood down the river from the present Veruéla and which was

abandoned when the region subsided.

[5] Fr. Jacinto Juanmarti's Diccionario Moro Magindanáo-Español (Manila,

1892), 125.

[6] My authority for this derivation is a work by Dr. T. H. Pardo de

Tavera on The Origin of Philippine Tribal Names.

The derivation of the above tribal designations leads us to the opinion

that the word _Manóbo_ means by derivation a "river-man," and not a

"naked man."

A further alternative derivation has been suggested by Dr. N. M.

Saleeby,[7] from the word _túbo_, "to grow"; the word _Manóbo_,

according to this derivation, would mean the people that grew up on the

island, that is the original settlers or autochthons. The word _túbo_,

"to grow," is not, however, a Manóbo word, and it is found only in a few

Mindanáo dialects.

[7] Origin of Malayan Filipinos, a paper read before the Philippine

Academy, Manila, Nov. 1, 1911.

Father F. Combes, S. J.,[8] says that the owners, that is, the

autochthonic natives of Mindanáo, were called Manóbos and Mananápes.[9]

In a footnote referring to Mananápes, it is stated, and appears very

reasonable and probable, that the above-mentioned term is not a tribal

designation but merely an appellation of contempt used on account of the

low culture possessed by the autochthons at that time.

[8] Historia de Mindanáo y Jolo (Madrid, 1664). Ed. Retana (Madrid,

1897).

[9] The word _mananáp_ is the word for _animal_, _beast_ in the Cebu

Bisáya, Bagóbo, Tirurái, and Magindanáo Moro languages. Among some of

the tribes of eastern Mindanáo, the word is applied to a class of evil

forest spirits of apparently indeterminate character. It is noteworthy

that these spirits seem to correspond to the _Manubu_ spirits of the

Súbanuns as described by Mr. Emerson B. Christie in his Súbanuns of

Sindangan Bay (_Pub. Bur. Sci., Div. Eth._, 88, 1909).

Hence there seems to be some little ground for supposing that the word

_Manóbo_ was originally applied to all the people that formerly occupied

the coast and that later fled to the interior, and settled along the

rivers, yielding the seashore to the more civilized invaders.

The following extract from Dr. N. M. Saleeby[10] bears out the above

opinion:

[10] The Origin of the Malayan Filipinos, a paper read before the

Philippine Academy on Nov. 1, 1911.

The traditions and legends of the primitive tribes of the Philippine

Archipelago show very clearly that they believe that their forefathers

arose in this land and that they have been here ever since their

creation. They further say that the coast tribes and foreigners came

later and fought them and took possession of the land which the latter

occupy at present. When Masha'ika, the earliest recorded immigrant,

reached Súlu Island, the aborigines had already developed to such a

stage of culture as to have large settlements and rajas or _datus_.

These aborigines are often referred to in Súlu and Mindanáo as Manubus,

the original inhabitants of Súlu Islands, the Budanuns, were called

Manubus also. So were the forefathers of the Magindanáo Moros. The most

aboriginal hill tribes of Mindanáo, who number about 60,000 souls or

more, are called Manubus.

[Transcriber's note: Both of the above paragraphs comprise the

quotation.]

The idea that the original owners were called Manóbos is the opinion of

San Antonio also, as expressed in his Cronicas.[11] Such a supposition

might serve also to explain the wide distribution of the different

Manóbo people in Mindanáo, for, besides occupying the regions

above-mentioned, they are found on the main tributaries of the Rio

Grande de Kotabáto--the Batañgan, the Biktósa, the Luan, the Narkanitan,

etc., and especially on the River Pulañgi--on nearly all the influents

of the last-named stream, and on the Hiñgoog River in the Province of

Misamis. As we shall see later on, even in the Agúsan Valley, the

Manóbos were gradually split on the west side of the river by the

ingress, as of some huge wedge, of the Banuáons. Crossing the eastern

Cordillera, a tremendous mass of towering pinnacles--the home of the

Mamánuas--we find Manóbos occupying the upper reaches of the Rivers

Hubo, Marihátag, Kagwáit, Tágo, Tándag, and Kantílan, on the Pacific

coast. I questioned the Manóbos of the rivers Tágo and Hubo as to their

genealogy and former habitat and found that their parents, and even some

of themselves, had lived on the river Kasilaían, but that, owing to the

hostility of the Banuáons, they had fled to the river Wá-Wa. At the time

of the coming of the Catholic missionaries in 1875, these Manóbos made

their way across the lofty eastern Cordillera in an attempt to escape

from the missionary activities. These two migrations are a forcible

example of what may have taken place in the rest of Mindanáo to bring

about such a wide distribution of what was, perhaps, originally one

people. Each migration led to the formation of a new group from which,

as from a new nucleus, a new tribe may have developed in the course of

time.

[11] Blair and Robertson, 40: 315, 1906.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE MANÓBOS IN EASTERN MINDANÁO[12] IN THE

AGÚSAN VALLEY

[12] See tribal map.

The Manóbos occupy the whole Agúsan Valley as far as the town of Buai on

the upper Agúsan _with the following exceptions_:

1. The upper parts of the rivers Lamiñga, Kandiisan, Hawilian, and Óhut,

and the whole of the river Maásam, together with the mountainous region

beyond the headwaters of these rivers, and probably the territory beyond

in the district of Misamis, as far over as the habitat of the Bukídnon

tribe.[13]

[13] The reason for the insertion of this last clause is that the people

inhabiting the mountains at the headwaters of the above rivers have the

same physical types, dress, and weapons as the Bukídnons, if I may judge

from my slight acquaintance with the latter.

2. The towns of Butuán, Talakógon, Bunáwan, Veruéla, and Prosperidad.

3. The town of Tagusab and the headwaters of the Tutui and Binuñgñgaan

Rivers.

ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE PACIFIC CORDILLERA

In this region I include the upper waters of the Liañga, Hubo, Oteiza,

Marihátag, Kagwáit, Tágo, Tándag, and Kantílan Rivers.

ON THE PENINSULA OF SAN AGUSTIN

I desire to call the reader's attention to the fact that _this monograph

has no reference to the Manóbos of Port San Agustin nor to the Manóbos

of the Libagánon River and its tributaries, nor to the Manóbos that

occupy the hinterland above Nasipit as far as the Bugábus River_. I had

only cursory dealings with the inhabitants of the last-named region but

both from my own scant observations and from the reports of others more

familiar with them, I am inclined to believe that there may be

differences great enough to distinguish them from the other peoples of

the Agúsan Valley as a distinct tribe.

As to the Manóbos of Libagánon, it is probable that they have more or

less the same cultural and linguistic characteristics as the Manóbos

that form the subject matter of this paper, but, as I did not visit them

nor get satisfactory information regarding them, I prefer to leave them

untouched until further investigation.

Of the Manóbos of the lower half of the peninsula of San Agustin, I know

absolutely nothing except that they are known as Manóbos. I noted,

however, in perusing the Jesuit letters[14] that there were in the year

1891 not only Manóbos but Moros, Biláns, and Tagakaólos in that region.

[14] Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía de Jesús, 9: 335, _et seq_., 1892.

THE MAMÁNUAS, OR NEGRITOS, AND NEGRITO-MANÓBO HALF-BREEDS

The Mamánuas, or Negritos, and Negrito-Manóbo half-breeds of Mindanáo

occupy the mountains from Anao-aon near Surigao down to the break in the

eastern Cordillera, northwest of Liañga. They also inhabit a small range

that extends in a northeasterly direction from the Cordillera to Point

Kawit on the east coast.

I heard three trustworthy reports of the existence of Negritos in

eastern Mindanáo. The first report I heard on the Umaíam River (Walo,

August, 1909). It was given to me by a Manóbo chief from the River

Ihawán. He assured and reassured me that on the Lañgilañg River, near

the Libagánon River exists a group of what he called Manóbos but who

were very small, _black as an earthen pot_, kinky-haired, without

clothes except bark-cloth, very peaceable and harmless, but very timid.

I interrogated him over and over as to the bark-cloth that he said these

people wore. He said in answer that it was called _agahan_ and that it

was made out of the bark of a tree whose name I can not recall. He

described the process of beating the bark and promised to bring me, 60

days from the date of our conference, a loin cloth of one of these

people. I inquired as to their manner of life, and was assured that they

were _tau-batañg_; that is, people who slept under logs or up in trees.

He said that he and his people had killed many of them, but that he was

still on terms of friendship with some of them.

The second report as to the existence of Negritos I heard on the

Baglásan River, a tributary of the Sálug River. The chiefs whom I

questioned had never visited the Negritos but had purchased from the

Tugawanons[15] many Negrito slaves whom they had sold to the Mandáyas of

the Kati'il and Karága Rivers. This statement was probably true, for I

saw one slave, a full-blooded Negrito girl, on the upper Karága during

my last trip and received from her my third and most convincing report

of the existence of Negritos other than the Mamánuas of the eastern

Cordillera. She had been captured, she said, by the Manóbos of Libagánon

and sold to the Debabáons (upper Sálug people). She could not describe

the place where her people live, but she gave me the following

information about them. They are all like herself, and they have no

houses nor crops, because they are afraid of the Manóbos that surround

them. Their food is the core[16] of the green rattan and of fishtail

palm,[17] the flesh of wild boar, deer, and python, and such fish and

grubs, etc., as they find in their wanderings. They sleep anywhere;

sometimes even in trees, if they have seen strange footprints.

[15] The Tugawanons were described by my Sálug authorities as a people

that lived at the headwaters of the River Libagánon on a tributary

called Tugawan. They were described as a people of medium stature, as

fair as the Mansákas, very warlike, enemies of the reported Negritos,

very numerous, and speaking an Atás dialect. Perhaps the term Tugawanon

is only a local name for a branch of the Atás tribe.

[16] _O-bud_.

[17] _Ba-hi_ (_Caryota_ sp.).

Their weapons are bows and arrows, lances, daggers, and bolos. According

to her description, the bolos are long and thin, straight on one side

and curved on the other. The men purchase them from the Atás in exchange

for beeswax. The people are numerous, but they live far apart, roaming

through the forests and mountains, and meeting one another only

occasionally.

The statements of this slave girl correspond in every particular with

the report that I received on the upper Sálug, except that the Sálug

people called these Negritos Tugmaya and said that they live beyond a

mountain that is at the headwaters of the Libagánon River.

Putting together these three reports and assuming the truth of them, the

habitat of these Negritos must be the slopes of Mount Panombaian, which

is situated between, and is probably the source of, the Rivers Tigwa (an

important tributary of the Rio Grande de Kotabáto), Sábud (the main

western tributary of the Ihawán River), and Libagánon (the great western

influent of the Tágum River).

Montano states that during his visit to the Philippines (1880-81) there

were on the island of Samal a class of half-blood _Ata'_ with distinctly

Negroid physical characteristics. Treating of _Ata'_ he says that it is

a term applied in the south of Mindanáo by Bisáyas to Negritos "that

exist (or existed not long ago) in the interior toward the northwest of

the gulf of Davao."[18] A careful distinction must be made between the

term Atás[19] and the racial designation _Ata'_, for the former are,

according to Doctor Montano, a tribe of a superior type, of advanced

culture, and of great reputation as warriors. They dwell on the

northwestern slope of Mount Apo, hence their name Atás, _hatáas_, or

_atáas_, being a very common word in Mindanáo for "high." They are,

therefore, the people that dwell on the heights. I heard of one branch

of them called Tugawanons, but this is probably only a local name like

Agúsanons, etc.

[18] Une Mission aux Philippines, 346, 1887.

[19] Called also Itás.

I found reports of the former existence of Negritos in the Karága River

Valley at a place called Sukipin, where the river has worn its way

through the Cordillera. An old man there told me that his grandfather

used to hunt the Negritos. The Mandáyas both of that region and of

Tagdauñg-duñg, a district situated on the Karága River, five days' march

from the mouth, on the western side of the Cordillera, show here and

there characteristics, physical and cultural, that they could have

inherited only from Negrito ancestors. One interesting trait of this

particular group is the use of blowpipes for killing small birds. In the

use of the bow and arrow, too, they are quite expert. These people are

called _taga-butái_--that is, mountain dwellers--and live in places on

the slopes of high mountains difficult of access, their watering-place

being frequently a little hole on the side of the mountain.

THE BANUÁONS

The Banuáons,[20] probably an extension of the Bukídnons of the Bukídnon

subprovince. They occupy the upper parts of the Rivers Lamiñga,

Kandiisan, Hawilian, and Óhut, and the whole of the River Maásam,

together with the mountainous region beyond the headwaters of these

rivers, and probably extend over to the Bukídnons.

[20] Also called Higaunon or Higagaun, probably "the Hadgaguanes--a

people untamed and ferocious"--to whom the Jesuits preached shortly

after the year 1596. (Jesuit Mission, Blair and Robertson, 44:60, 1906.)

These may be the people whom Pigaffetta, in his First Voyage Around the

World (1519-1522) calls Benaian (Banuáon ?) and whom he describes as

"shaggy and living at a cape near a river in the islands of Butuán and

Karága--great fighters and archers--eating only raw human hearts with

the juice of oranges or lemons" (Blair and Robertson, 30:243, 1906).

THE MAÑGGUÁÑGANS

This tribe occupies the towns of Tagusab and Pilar on the upper Agúsan,

the range between the Sálug and the Agúsan, the headwaters of the Mánat

River, and the water-shed between the Mánat and the Mawab. The physical

type of many of them bespeaks an admixture of Negrito blood, and their

timidity and, on occasions, their utter lack of good judgment, brand

them as the lowest people, after the Mamánuas, in eastern Mindanáo. One

authority, a Jesuit missionary, I think, estimated their number at

30,000. An estimate, based on the reports of the people of Compostela,

places their number at 10,000 just before my departure from the Agúsan

Valley in 1910. The decrease, if the two estimates are correct, is

probably due to intertribal and interclan wars.

THE MANSÁKAS

The Mansákas do not seem to me to be as distinct tribally as are the

Manóbos and Mandáyas. It would appear from their physical appearance and

other characteristics that they should be classed as Mandáyas, or as a

subtribe of Mandáyas with whom they form one dialect group. I judge them

to be the result of intermarriage between the Mañgguáñgans and the

Mandáyas. They occupy the Mawab River Valley and the region included

between the Hijo, Mawab, and Madawan Rivers. They are probably the

people whom Montano called Tagabawas, but I think that this designation

was perhaps a mistaken form of _Tagabaas_, an appellation given to

Mañgguáñgans who live in the _bá-as_, or prickly swamp-grass, that

abounds at the headwaters of the Mánat River.

THE DEBABÁONS

The Debabáons are probably a hybrid group forming a dialect group with

the Manóbos of the Ihawán and Baóbo, and a culture group in dress and

other features with the Mandáyas. They claim relationship with Manóbos,

and follow Manóbo religious beliefs and practices to a great extent. For

this reason I have retained the name that they apply to themselves,

until their tribal identity can be clearly determined. They inhabit the

upper half of the Sálug River Valley and the country that lies to the

west of it as far as the Baóbo River.

THE MANDÁYAS

These form the greatest and best tribe in eastern Mindanáo.[21] One who

visits the Mandáyas of the middle Kati'il can not fail to be struck with

the fairness of complexion, the brownness of the hair, the

diminutiveness of the hands and feet, and the large eyes with long

lashes that are characteristic of many of these people. Here and there,

too, one finds a distinctly Caucasian type. In psychological

characteristics they stand out still more sharply from any tribe or

group of people that I know in eastern Mindanáo. Shrewd and diplomatic

on the one hand, they are an affectionate, good-natured and

straight-forward people, with little of the timidity and cautiousness of

the Manóbo. Their religious instincts are so highly developed that they

are inclined to be fanatical at times.

[21] It is very interesting to note that the people called

_Taga-baloóyes_ and referred to by so many of the writers on Mindanáo

can be none other than the Mandáyas. Thus San Antonio (Blair and

Robertson, 40: 407, 1906) states that "the Taga-baloóyes take their name

from some mountains which are located in the interior of the

jurisdiction of Caraga. They are not very far distant from and trade

with the villages of (Karága) and some, indeed, live in them who have

become Christians. * * * These people, as has been stated above, are the

descendants of lately arrived Japanese. This is the opinion of all the

religious who have lived there and had intercourse with them and the

same is a tradition among themselves, and they desired to be so

considered. And it would seem that one is convinced of it on seeing

them: for they are light complexioned, well-built, lusty, very reliable

in their dealings, respectful, and very valiant, but not restless. So I

am informed by one who has had much to do with them: and above all these

are the qualities which we find in the Japanese."

In further proof, Father Pedro de San Francisco de Assis (ibid. 41: 138,

_et seq_.) says: "The nearest nation to our village [Bislig] is that of

the Taga-baloóyes who are so named from certain mountains that they call

Balooy. * * * They are a corpulent race, well built, of great courage

and strength, and they are at the same time of good understanding, and

more than halfway industrious. Their nation is faithful in its treaties

and constant in its promises, as they are descendants, so they pride

themselves, of the Japanese, whom they resemble in complexion,

countenance, and manners." The writer describes briefly their houses and

their manner of life, and mentions in particular the device they make

use of in the construction of their ladders. It is interesting to note

that the same device is still made use of by the more well-to-do

Mandáyas on the Karága, Manorigao, and Kati'il Rivers. In other respects

their character, as described, is very similar to that of the present

Mandáyas of the Kati'il River who in physical type present

characteristics that mark them as being a people of a superior race.

In Medina's historia (Blair and Roberston, 24:175, 1906,) we find it

related that Captain Juan Niño de Tabora mistreated the chief of the

Taga-baloóyes in Karága and that as a result the captain, Father Jacinto

Cor, and 12 soldiers were killed. Subsequently four more men of the

religious order were killed and two others wounded and captured by the

_Taga-baloóyes_.

Zuñiga in Estadismo (ibid. 2:71, _et seq_.) notes the fairness of

complexion of the Taga-baloóyes, a tribe living in the mountains of

Balooy in Karága.

Father Manual Buzeta in Diccionario geográfico-estadístico-histórico de

las Islas Filipinas (1: 506, 1905) makes the same observation, but M.

Felix Renouard de Sainte Croix in Voyage commercial et politique aux

Indes Orientales (1803-1809) goes further still by drawing attention to

these people as meriting distinction for superior mentality.

The Jesuit missionary Pastells in 1883 (Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía

de Jesús, 4:212, 1884) writes that the people above Manresa

(southeastern Mindanáo) are perhaps of Moro origin but bettered by a

strain of noble blood, which their very appearance seems to him to

indicate. In support of this view he cites the authority of Santayana,

who claims Japanese descent for them and repudiates the opinion of those

who attribute Hollandish descent. In a footnote, the above celebrated

missionary and scholar adds that the town of Kinablangan (a town on the

east coast of Mindanáo) owes its origin to a party of Europeans who were

shipwrecked on Point Bagoso and took up their abode in that place,

intermarrying with the natives. I was informed by a Bisáya trader, the

only one that ever went among the mountain Mandáyas, that he had seen a

circular, clocklike article with strange letters upon it in a settlement

on the middle Kati'il. The following year I made every effort to see it,

but I could not prevail upon the possessors to show it to me. They

asserted that they had lost it. It is probable that this object was a

ship's compass.

[Transcriber's note: The preceding six paragraphs are all part of

footnote 21.]

On the whole, the impression made upon me in my long and intimate

dealings with the Mandáyas of the Kati'il, Manorigao, and Karága Rivers

is that they are a brave, intelligent, clean, frank people that with

proper handling might be brought to a high state of civilization. They

are looked up to by Manóbos, Mañgguáñgans, Mansákas, and Debabáons as

being a superior and more ancient race, and considered by the Bisáyas of

the Agúsan Valley as a people of much more intelligence and fair-dealing

than any other tribe. The Mandáyas consist of four branches:

THE TÁGUM BRANCH

These occupy the country from near the mouth of the Tágum to the

confluence of the Sálug and Libagánon Rivers, or perhaps a little

farther up both of the last-mentioned rivers. It is probable that the

Debabáons farther up are the issue of Manóbos and Tágum Mandáyas.

THE AGÚSAN VALLEY BRANCH

It is usual for the people of the upper Agúsan from Gerona to Compostela

to call themselves Mandáyas, but this appears to be due to a desire to

be taken for Mandáyas. They have certainly absorbed a great deal of

Mandáya culture and language, but, with the exception of Pilar and

Tagusab, they are of heterogeneous descent--Mandáya, Manóbo,

Mañgguáñgan, Debabáon, and Mansáka.

At the headwaters of the Agúsan and in the mountains that encircle that

region live the Mandáyas that are the terror of Mandáyaland. They are

called by the upper Agúsan people _Kau-ó_, which means the same as

_Tagakaólo_, but are Mandáyas in every feature, physical, cultural, and

linguistic.

THE PACIFIC COAST BRANCH

They occupy the following rivers with their tributaries: the Kati'il,

the Baganga, the Mano-rigao, the Karága, the Manai, the Kasaúman, and

the upper reaches of the Mati. There are several small rivers between

the Kasaúman and the Mati, the upper parts of all which, I think, are

occupied by Mandáyas.

THE GULF OF DAVAO BRANCH

These occupy the upper reaches of all the rivers on the east side of the

gulf of Davao, from Sumlug to the mouth of the Hijo River whose source

is near that of the Agúsan and whose Mandáyas are famous in Mandáyaland.

THE MOROS

Moros or people with a preponderance of Moro blood and culture occupy

the coast towns on the eastern and northern sides of the gulf from

Sumlug to the mouth of the Tágum. Of course they have other settlements

on the north and west sides of the gulf.

In Mati and its vicinity, I believe there are a comparatively large

number of Moros or Mohammedanized Mandáyas.

THE BILÁNS[22]

[22] Called also, I think, _Bi-la-an_.

Biláns were found according to the testimony of the Jesuit

missionaries[23] in Sigaboi, Tikbakawan, and Baksal, on the peninsula of

San Agustin.

[23] Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía de Jesús, 9: 331, _et seq_.,

1889-1891.

THE TAGAKAÓLOS

According to the authorities just cited there were Tagakaólos in

Sigaboi, Uañgen, Kabuaya, and Makambal between the years 1889 and 1891.

It is probable that these people are scattered throughout the whole of

the hinterland to the west of Pujada Bay, and that they are only

Mandáyas who, unable to withstand the stress of war, fled from the

mountains at the headwaters of the Agúsan River. I base this suggestion

on the fact that the Mandáyas at the headwaters of the Agúsan are known

as, and call themselves, Kau-ó[24] and that they were, and are probably

still at the date of this writing, the terror of Mandáyaland. If the

Tagakaólos of Point San Agustin are fugitive _Kau-ó_, according to the

prevailing custom they would have retained their former name; this name,

if _Kau-ó_, would have been changed by Bisáyas and by Spanish

missionaries to _Tagakaólo_.

[24] _Kau-ó_ would be _Ka-ólo_ in Bisáya, from the prefix _ka_, and

_ólo_, head or source.

THE LÓAKS OR LÓAGS

According to the authority of Father Llopart[25] the Lóaks dwell in the

mountains southwest of Pujada Bay. He says that in customs they differ

from other tribes. They dress in black and hide themselves when they see

anyone dressed in a light color. No stranger is permitted to enter their

dwellings. The same writer goes on to state that their food is wholly

vegetable, excluding tubers, roots, and everything that grows under the

ground. Their chief is called _posáka_,[26] "an elder who with his

mysterious words and feigned revelations keeps his people in delusion

and under subjection." It is the opinion of Father Llopart that these

people are only fugitives, as he very justly concludes from the

derivation of their name.[27]

[25] Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía de Jesús, 9: 337-338, 1891.

[26] _Posáka_ means in Malay, and in nearly all known Mindanáo dialects,

an "inheritance" so that in the usage attributed to these Lóaks it would

appear that there may be some idea of an hereditary chieftainship. The

word in Bagóbo, however, means something beloved, etc., so that the

reported Lóak _posáka_ or chief might be so called because of his being

beloved by his people.

[27] He states that _lóak_ is probably from _lóog_, "to flee," "to take

to the mountains." In several dialects of eastern Mindanáo _laag_,

_lag_, means, "to get lost," while _lágui_ is a very common word for

"run" or "run away."

Another writer, Father Pablo Pastells[28] makes mention of these Lóak as

being wild Tagakaólos who are more degraded than the Mamánuas. He

designates the mountains of Hagimitan on the peninsula of San Agustin as

their habitat. I am inclined to think that the authority for this

statement was also a Jesuit missionary.

[28] Ibid., 8: 343, 1887.

THE CONQUISTAS OR RECENTLY CHRISTIANIZED PEOPLES

The work of Christianizing the pagans of eastern Mindanáo was taken up

in earnest in 1877 by the Jesuit missionaries and carried on up to the

time of the revolution in 1898. During that time some 50,000 souls were

led to adopt Christianity. These included Mandáyas, Manóbos, Debabáons,

Mansákas, Mañgguáñgans, and Mamánuas, and members of the other tribes

that live in eastern Mindanáo. For the present, however, we will refer

to the _conquistas_ of the Manóbo, Mandáya, Mamánua, Mañgguáñgan,

Mansáka, and Debabáon tribes.

THE MANÓBO CONQUISTAS

The inhabitants of all the settlements in the Agúsan Valley except

Novela, Rosario, the towns south of Buai, the towns within the Banuáon

habitat, and a few settlements of pagan Manóbos on the upper Umaíam,

Argáwan, and Ihawán, Wá-wa and Maitum are Manobó _conquistas_.

On the eastern slope of the Pacific Cordillera in the vicinity of San

Miguel (Tágo River), on the Marihátag and Oteiza Rivers there are

several hundred Manóbo _conquistas_. The towns up the Hinatuán and

Bislig Rivers are made up of both Manóbo and Mandáya _conquistas_.

THE MANDÁYA CONQUISTAS

In the Agúsan Valley the towns on the Sulibáo River and perhaps on the

Adlaian River are made up of Mandáya _conquistas_ for the most part.

These Mandáyas evidently worked in from the Hinatuán River for one

reason or another, perhaps to avoid missionary activity on the east

coast or to escape from Moro raids.

On the Pacific coast we find Mandáya _conquistas_ to a greater or less

extent in nearly all the municipalities and barrios from Tándag to Mati,

with the exception of such towns as have been formed by immigration of

Bisáyas from Bohol and other places. There can be no doubt but that in

former years the Mandáyas covered the whole Pacific slope from Tándag to

Mati, for we still find recently Christianized Mandáyas in Kolon and

Alba on the Tágo River and in Kagwáit and Bakolod on the Kagwáit River.

The inhabitants of these eastern towns are not known by the designation

of _conquistas_, but assume the name and status of Bisáyas and are not

so dependent on the older Christians as are the _conquistas_ of the

Agúsan Valley who are called _conquistas_ and treated as inferiors by

the older Christians.

I think that from Liñgig to Mati all the _barrios_, both of the coast and

in the hinterland, are made up of Mandáyas that have been Christianized

since 1877.

THE MAMÁNUA CONQUISTAS

These Mamánua _conquistas_ live in the vicinity of Anao-aon and

Malimono' on the northeast coast; in San Roque and San Pablo, also on

Lake Maínit; on the River Asiga, a tributary of the River Jabonga; and

somewhere up the Lanusa River on the east coast.

THE MAÑGGUÁÑGAN CONQUISTAS

During my stay on the upper Agúsan, there were only two towns of

Mañgguáñgan _conquistas_--Tagusab and Pilar--and even these were mere

suggestions of towns. It may be, however, that since the appointment of

a deputy governor, the great numbers of Christianized Mañgguáñgans that

had fled from the wrath of their enemies into the swamp region at the

headwaters of the Mánat River have returned and that Mañgguáñgan towns

now exist.

THE MANSÁKA CONQUISTAS

In Compostela, Gandia, and Tagaunud are found a few Mansáka

_conquistas_. The inhabitants of these towns, however, are of such a

heterogeneous blend that it is difficult to assign any tribal place to

them. It may be said, in general, that these towns are still passing

through a formative period, the result of which will probably be their

complete adoption of Mandáya culture and language, if they are left free

to follow their own bent.

THE DEBABÁON CONQUISTAS

The Debabáon _conquistas_ are found in the town of Moncayo and are also

scattered about on the upper Sálug. The missionaries found the Debabáon

people very recalcitrant; the comparatively few converts made evinced,

on the one hand, all the fickleness and instability of the Manóbo and,

on the other, the aggressiveness of the Mandáya.

THE BISÁYAS OR CHRISTIAN FILIPINOS

The Bisáyas or Christian Filipinos in the Agúsan Valley occupy the towns

of Butuán, Talakógon, Veruéla, Bunáwan, and Prosperidad, of which latter

they formed, during my last visit to the Agúsan Valley, a majority.

Outside of the Agúsan Valley, they occupy all the towns on the north

coast except the towns of Tortosa, Maasao, Tamolayag, and Malimono'. On,

and in the vicinity of Lake Maínit, they occupy the towns of Sison,

Timamana, Maínit, Jabonga, Santiago, Santa Ana and several other small

ones. On the east coast they occupy all the coast towns from Surigao to

Bislig. South of Bislig only the towns, of Kati'il, Baganga, Karága,

Santiago, and Mati may be said to be Bisáya, although the Christianized

Mandáyas of the intervening towns call themselves Bisáyas. But even the

above-mentioned towns, with the exception of Santiago, have hardly any

claim to be considered Bisáya in the sense in which that word is applied

to the Bisáyas of the town of Surigao. The same holds true of a great

portion of the inhabitants of Tándag, Tágo, La Paz, and Kagwáit, where

the Mandáya element in language and in superstitious beliefs still holds

sway to a considerable extent among the lower class of the inhabitants.

In the Agúsan Valley a great part of the Bisáyas of Talakógon can not be

considered as Bisáyas in the full sense of the word. Many of them called

Sulibáonon are of no higher culture than the _conquistas_ of the River

Sulibáo from which they come. They are distinctly Mandáya in physical

type and in manner of life except that they have abandoned the ancient

Mandáya religious beliefs and adopted those of Christianity. They are

probably the first group of Mandáya _conquistas_ that were induced to

leave the Sulibáo and take up their abode in Talakógon.

CHAPTER II

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE MANÓBOS OF

EASTERN MINDANÁO

PHYSICAL TYPE

DIVERGENCE OF TYPES

There seem to be differences in physical type between the Manóbos on the

lower part of the Agúsan as far as the Bugábus River and those of the

Ihawán and the upper Agúsan Rivers. On the upper Agúsan the variations

become more noticeable as we approach the confines of the Mandáyas and

the Debabáons, both of whom differ from the Manóbos in physical

characteristics to such an extent that even an ordinary observer can not

fail to notice it. Again, on the upper Agúsan, in the vicinity of

Tagusab, we find types that remind us of the Mañgguáñgan with his

manifestly Negroid characteristics. Over on the Tágo River, too, and on

the far upper Wa-wa, there are groups of so-called Manóbos who are

clearly descendants of Mamánuas. With these exceptions the following

delineation holds good, I think, for the great mass of Manóbos with whom

one comes in contact throughout eastern Mindanáo.

GENERAL PHYSICAL TYPE

In general, the Manóbo man is of athletic build and of strong

constitution, although he is often short of stature. His muscular

development denotes activity, speed, and endurance rather than great

strength. Corpulency and prominence of the abdomen are never present, so

far as I have observed. His skin, as a rule, is of a reddish-brown color

that turns to a somewhat dark brown after long exposure to the sun, as

in the case of those who engage in fishing in the lake region.

The hair is abundant, long, black, straight, and coarse. As we approach

the domains of the Mañgguáñgans and of the Mamánuas, the hair is a

little less abundant and shows traces of curliness. Occasional waviness

may be observed also among those Manóbos who live near the territory of

the Mandáyas, Debabáons, and Mansákas.

Beard and body hair are not abundant. In this respect the Manóbo differs

from the Mandáya and from the Banuáon, both of whom have a more copious

growth (though I can not be definite as regards the latter people), and,

in some cases, beards that are abundant enough to suggest admixture with

white people.

The head appears to be well developed, being rather high and arched, as

compared with that of the average Bisáya.[1] There is no flattening of

the occiput. This roundness of the posterior part of the cranium, due,

as Montano[2] states, to the prominence of the parietal bumps, becomes

very apparent when comparison is made with the heads of Bisáyas of other

islands. The occipital arch of the latter is invariably flattened.

[1] In physical comparisons between Manóbos and Bisáyas no reference is

made to the Bisáyas of eastern Mindanáo, the great majority of whom are

undoubtedly of Manóbo or other pagan origin.

[2] Une Mission aux Philippines, 349,1906.

Owing to the prominence of the jawbones and to the above-mentioned

height of the cranium, the face is decidedly lozenge-shaped, a feature

that distinguishes it, on the one hand, from the long face of the

Mandáya and of the Banuáon and, on the other, from the short, round face

of the Mamánua and of the Mañgguáñgan. Montano[3] says that this

peculiar shape is due to the development of the zygomatic arches or

cheek bones and to the diminution of the minimum frontal line, that is,

the shortest transverse measurement of the forehead.

[3] Loc. cit.

Prognathism is marked but variable according to the testimony of

Montano, who took the anthropometrical measurements of many crania which

he obtained from caves in northeastern Mindanáo.

The forehead is somewhat high and prominent, and the superciliary ridges

are salient. The eyes are brown in color. The palpebral opening is

elongated as compared with that of the Mandáya, whose eye is round.

There is no trace of the Mongolian falciform fold, and the transverse

axis is perfectly horizontal.

The nose is prominent and well-developed but short, and, as a rule,

straight. Toward the confines of the Banuáons we sometimes notice a

slight curve upward at the top. The nostrils are somewhat slender, but

otherwise well developed. They are a little larger than those of

Bisáyas. The ridge is broader than that of Bisáyas, and the root is

lower down.

The lips bear resemblance to those of the Bisáyas except that the upper

lip of the Manóbo is more prominent and more developed, due, it is

suggested, to the universal, incessant practice of carrying a quid of

tobacco partly under it and partly protruding out between it and the

lower lip.

The chin is round and well developed, but is not prominent.

The above statements hold true of the women in all details except that

of stature. The difference between the stature of the male and female

Manóbo is much greater than that between the sexes among Bisáyas and

other civilized people of the Philippines. This difference in the

stature of the sexes is apparent in all the tribes of eastern Mindanáo

with the exception of certain groups of Mandáyas, and may be attributed,

on the one hand, to the excessive burdens carried, and the onerous labor

performed by the women in the discharge of their household and other

duties, and, on the other, to the unencumbered outdoor life pursued by

the men in their hunting, fishing, and trading expeditions.

The other parts of the bodies of both sexes are in good proportions. The

thorax is especially well developed, and the feet are, perhaps,

inordinately large.

The general appearance of the men is somewhat unpleasing and, perhaps,

among the Manóbos of remote regions, might be said to be coarse. This is

especially noticeable among the latter, as their eyes usually bulge out

and give them a somewhat wild and even vindictive air. The blackening of

the teeth and lips, the quid of black tobacco between the lips, the look

of alarm and suspicion, and various other characteristics all tend to

heighten this expression.

The women have a more pleasing expression, but the timid furtive look,

the ungainly gait, and the ungraceful contour of their _abaká_ skirts,

detract from the moderate beauty that they possess in their youth. After

marriage their beauty wanes incredibly fast.

Comparing the Manóbo's physical and general appearance with that of

neighboring peoples, we may say that he stands fifth, the Mandáya,

Mansáka, Debabáon, and Banuáon leading, while below him stand without

any question the Mañgguáñgan and the Mamánua. He has not the height, the

proportions, the fairness, nor the gentility of the first three. He

lacks the nobility, courage, and intelligence of the fourth,[4] but he

maintains his superiority over the Mañgguáñgan, whose repellent

features, sparse hair, scanty clothing, and low intelligence put him

only a little above the Mamánuas. These latter are only poor homeless

forest dwellers like the Negritos of Luzon, and physically, mentally,

and culturally stand lowest in the plane of civilization of all the

people of the eastern Mindanáo.

[4] My acquaintance with Banuáons is so slight that I can not make any

definite physical comparison.

RACIAL AND TRIBAL AFFINITIES

With our present lack of knowledge concerning the great number of tribes

that inhabit not only the island of Mindanáo but Borneo, Sumatra, and

other islands of the Indies, it is impossible to make any definite

statement as to the racial and the tribal affinities of the Manóbo

people.

MONTANO'S INDONESIAN THEORY

Montano proposed the Indonesian theory to explain the origin of the

Samals, Bagóbos, Giangas, Atás, Tagakaólos, Manóbos, and Mandáyas. He

asserts that these peoples are pure Indonesians whose origin can not be

explained otherwise than by supposing them to be the indigenes of all

the islands included under the term Indonesia. Hence he calls the above

tribes Indonesians of Mindanáo.

He claims that these Indonesians are the result of a fusion of three

elements: (1) the Polynesian, (2) the Malay-Bisáya, and (3) the Negrito.

The Bisáya element, he says, is considerable and becomes apparent in the

increase of transverse diameter of the cranium. The Negrito element is

apparent only in the waviness of the hair, the height and prominence of

the forehead, and the darker color of the skin.

He further states that the anatomical characteristics of these tribes

are their superior stature, their muscular development, and the

prominence of the occipital region in contradistinction to the

flattening noticeable in Malays in general, and especially in those of

the Philippines.

KEANE'S VIEW

Keane in his Ethnology[5] notes that--

the term "Indonesian," introduced by Logan to designate the

light-colored non-Malay inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago, is now

used as a convenient collective name for all the peoples of Malaysia and

Polynesia who are neither Malays nor Papuans but of Caucasic type. * * *

Doctor Hamy, who first gave this extension to the term Indonesian,

points out that the Battaks and other pre-Malay peoples of Malaysia so

closely resemble the Eastern Polynesians, that the two groups should be

regarded as two branches of an original non-Malay stock. Although all

speak dialects of a common Malayo-Polynesian language, the physical type

is quite distinct and rather Caucasic than Mongolic, though betraying a

perceptible Papuan (or Negrito) strain especially in New Zealand and

Mikronesia. The true Indonesians are of tall stature (5 feet 10 inches),

muscular frame, rather oval features, high, open forehead, large

straight or curved nose, large full eyes always horizontal and with no

trace of the third lid, light brown complexion (cinnamon or ruddy

brown), long black hair, not lank but slightly curled or wavy, skull

generally brachycephalous like that of the Melanochroic European.

[5] Ethnology, 326 _et seq_., 1901.

Regarding the Indonesians of the Philippine Islands, he says:[6]

Apart from the true Negrito aborigines Blumentritt distinguishes two

separate "Malay" invasions, both prehistoric. Montano also recognizes

these two elements which, however, he more correctly calls Indonesian

and Malay. The Indonesians whom he affiliates to the "Polynesian family"

were the first to arrive, being followed by the Malays and then, in the

sixteenth century, by the Spaniards, who were themselves followed,

perhaps also preceded, by Chinese and others. Thus Blumentritt's Malays

of the first invasion, whom he brings from Borneo, are Montano's

Indonesians, who passed through the Philippines during their eastward

migrations from Borneo and other parts of Malaysia. The result of these

successive movements was that the Negritoes were first driven to the

recesses of the interior by the Indonesians with whom they afterwards

intermingled in various degrees. Then the Indonesians were in their turn

driven by the Malays from the coast lands and open plains, which are

consequently now found occupied mainly by peoples of true Malay stock.

Then with peaceful times fresh blends took place and to previous

crossings are now added Spaniards and Chinese with Malays, there

"quadroons" and "octoroons" with Indonesians, and even here and there

with Negritoes. It has thus become difficult everywhere to distinguish

between the true Malays and the Indonesians, who are also less known,

dwelling in the more remote upland districts, often in association with

the Negritoes and not always standing at a much higher grade of culture.

[6] Op. cit., 332.

THE INDONESIAN THEORY AS APPLIED TO MANÓBOS

Comparing the physical characteristics of the Manóbos with those which

are predicated of the Indonesians by these and other writers, I find

that, in the case of the Manóbos of the Agúsan Valley, in stature,

waviness of the hair, abundance of the beard, and lightness of the skin

color there appears to be a divergence from Keane's Indonesian standard.

Keane requires 1.795 meters as an average for the stature of the

Indonesian, whereas the average of the Manóbo, as I found it from

cursory measurements, is approximately only 1.60 meters and Doctor

Montano found it to be only 1.4667 meters. As to waviness of the hair, I

have observed it rarely among the Manóbos to which this paper refers.

Neither is the beard abundant, and as for fairness in the color of the

skin, a casual glance at the great mass of Manóbos that occupy the

Agúsan and its tributaries will convince one that their color is

decidedly ruddy brown and not light. It is true that in the mountains

children and even young women are found with fair complexions, but this

is probably due to confinement in the house or to protection from the

sun while out of doors.

PHYSICAL TYPE OF CONTIGUOUS PEOPLES

In the first part of this chapter a broad comparison was made between

the Manóbos and the contiguous tribes of eastern Mindanáo, but, in order

to bring out in stronger relief the physical characteristics of the

Manóbo, it is considered expedient to give a brief description of the

contiguous tribes.

THE MAÑGGUÁÑGANS

In stature the Mañgguáñgan is shorter than the Manóbo. His physical

configuration gives one the impression that he is undersized. His

cranium is elongated from the front backward along the antero-posterior

curve, there being formed accordingly an enlargement on the upper part

of the occiput. From this enlargement downward there is a flattening of

the curve. The forehead is large, high, and very prominent, and diverges

backward from the plane of the face at an observable angle. The face is

narrow and flat, the narrowness being due to the prominence of the lower

jaw and to a depression that is formed in the side of the face between

the jaw and the cheek bone. The hair is lank, coarse, and in males,

scant. The beard is very sparse except in elderly men, and even then it

is far from being as abundant as that of the Manóbos and especially that

of the Mandáyas. The nose is broad and conspicuously depressed, while

the nasal orifices are rather large. On the whole, the prognathism is

considerable but is not as variable as that of Manóbos and of Mandáyas.

There can be no doubt as to the Negritic character of the Mañgguáñgan.

Owing to the peculiar circumstances that arose after my arrival on the

upper Agúsan in 1909, I found it impossible to get into communication

with any but the more domesticated Mañgguáñgan in the vicinity of

Compostela, but my observation of their physical and mental

characteristics and of their low degree of culture led me to a strong

conviction of a Negrito origin not far removed.

THE MANDÁYAS

The Mandáya, on the other hand, with the exception of groups on the

upper Karága and perhaps on the upper Kasaúman Rivers, is of superior

stature. Montano found the stature to be only 1.578 meters, but the

number of men measured by him was so small that we can not base any

conclusion on his figures. I did not make any measurements of Mandáyas,

but it is my impression that the male Mandáyas of the Kati'il, Karága,

and Manorigao Rivers are noticeably taller than Manóbos. In fact, one

meets a great number that seem to come up to the Indonesian standard of

Keane.

The Mandáya's cranial conformation differs, according to Montano, from

that of the Manóbo only in one particular, namely, in the straightness

of the middle part of the antero-posterior curve of the cranium. In

other respects his cranium is similar to that of the Manóbo. The face is

oval rather than lozenge-shaped and has a pleasant, sympathetic look,

due no doubt to the greater width of the palpebral opening, the

largeness of the eye, and the length, darkness, and prominence of the

eyelashes.

The nose is straight and prominent, occasionally quite European, and the

nostrils are not depressed nor flattened. Their lower edges, instead of

being horizontal, slant slightly upward from the tip. The nasal

apertures are of medium size.

The superciliary ridges are prominent, but as the hair of the eyebrows

is constantly kept shaved, there is not such an impression of prominence

as in the Christianized Mandáyas of the southeastern seaboard of

Mindanáo.

As to the abundance of beard, it is hard to form a judgment because from

youth it is constantly and conscientiously eradicated. The hair of the

head is long, black, and abundant, often somewhat wavy and not as

coarse, I think, as that of Manóbos.

The most striking characteristic of the Mandáya is his fair color. It is

not my intention to give the impression that he is one of a "lost white

tribe" or that he is entitled to be called white in the sense in which

we use the term when speaking of Europeans. But for a native of the

Philippine Islands he certainly may be denominated white, though his

skin is not tawny white like that of the Japanese or Chinese but has a

peculiar ashy tint. I have seen a few individuals that were very nearly

as white as the average American, but who otherwise were not of a

pronounced Caucasian type.

It is very difficult to explain the prevailing fairness of this tribe

except by presupposing an admixture of some other blood. The Manóbo

lives in as dark forests and on as lofty mountains as those occupied by

Mandáyas. His manner of life is practically the same, and yet the

average tint of his skin is far darker, so much so that the Mandáya, in

speaking not only of him but of Mañgguáñgan and even of Bisáya, spurns

them all as being "black."

THE DEBABÁONS

As to the Debabáons, I have not come in touch with a sufficient number

of them to enable me to make any general statements. The groups that I

met in Moncayo, on the Sálug where the Baglásan River empties into it,

and in the country extending some 10 kilometers to the west of it,

closely resemble the Mandáyas in physical characters, and yet in

language, general culture, and religious belief, and by genealogy, they

belong to the Manóbo tribe. It is probable that they are the result of

intermarriage of Manóbo men of Baóbo and Ihawán origin with Mandáya

women of the lower Sálug and Tágum Rivers.

THE MAMÁNUAS

The Mamánuas need little comment. They are full-blooded Negritos in

every respect, physical and cultural, like the Negritos of Mariveles, as

Montano very explicitly states. The Manóbos of the upper Tágo River

constantly intermarry with Mamánua women, as I had occasion to observe

on several visits which I made to that region. It is probable that the

same thing takes place on the Húbo, Marihátag, Lanusa, and Kantílan

Rivers. In the vicinity of Lake Maínit, a great many Mamánuas are

reported to be half-breeds.

THE BANUÁONS

I visited only one settlement of Banuáons, near the mouth of the Maásam

River. I met members of the tribe here and there along the Agúsan

between San Luis and Las Nieves, but my observations of them were casual

and superficial so that I am not prepared to make any statements as to

their physical characteristics. All reports, both of Manóbos and Bisáyas

and the testimony of the Jesuit missionaries, state that they are a

superior people. It is probable that this group of people, known as

Banuáon in the Agúsan Valley, is a branch of the Bukídnons of whom the

celebrated missionary Urios and others make such commendatory

mention,[7] the former in one place going so far as to make the

statement that the Bukídnons are fit to be kings of the Manóbos.

[7] Cartas de los PP. de la Compañía de Jesús, passim.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AS MODIFIED BY DRESS AND ORNAMENTATION

The upper garment of both sexes among the Manóbos is a closed square-cut

garment with sleeves and with a sufficient opening on top to admit the

head. It fits the body either closely or fairly loosely. It is made of

_abaká_ fiber when imported cloth is not available. It is always adorned

with embroidery of imported red, white, blue, and yellow cotton, on the

cuffs, on the seams of the shoulders and the side, and on the neck and

lower edges. The garment of the man differs from that of the woman in

being all of one color, except that across the back, over the shoulders,

and as far down as the breasts, are horizontal, parallel, equidistant

lines of inwoven blue cotton yarn.

The body and sleeves of the woman's garment are of different colors.

Thus, if the sleeves are black, the body is red and vice versa. Another

distinguishing feature is the profuseness of cotton embroidery on the

front of the garment.

The lower garment of the man is a pair of trousers, generally of native

cotton and _abaká_ fiber, reaching somewhat below the knees, with cotton

embroidery in the above-mentioned colors on the sides and at the bottom.

The ends of the draw string that holds the trousers in place hang down

in front and are ornamented with tassels of the same colors.

The lower garment of the women is a doubled sacklike skirt of _abaká_

fiber, almost invariably of a reddish color, with beautiful designs in

horizontal panels or with a series of horizontal equidistant black

stripes. A girdle of human hair or of plaited vegetable fiber, held in

place with a shell button or with a plaited cord, retains this garment

in place. The consequent gathering of the capacious opening of the skirt

at the waist and the bulging out at the bottom (which is just a little

below the knees), detracts not a little from the gracefulness of the

Manóbo woman's figure. From the girdle hang, in varying number and

quality, beads, hawk bells, redolent, medicinal, and magic seeds, sea

shells, and fragrant herbs.

The hair is worn long by both sexes. It is dressed much like that of a

Chinese woman except that it is twisted and tied up in a chignon on the

crown of the head.

The man wears a long narrow bamboo hat which protects only the top of

the head, and which is held on the head by two strings passing from end

to end behind the ears. It usually has a plume of feathers standing up

at right angles to the back part. The woman wears no hat as a general

rule, but in lieu thereof adorns her head with a bamboo comb, at times

inlaid with mother-of-pearl, at others covered with a lamina of beaten

silver, but nearly always ornamented with decorative incisions. A pair

of ear plugs with ornamental metal laminae are placed in the enlarged

ear lobes.

I have seen men who had each ear lobe pierced in one or two places and

small buttons fastened over the orifices, but I never saw a case of a

Manóbo woman with any other perforation in the ears than the great

aperture in each lobe for her ear disks.

Around the neck the woman wears in more or less profusion, according to

her means and opportunities for purchase, necklets of beads, and

necklaces of seeds, beads, shells, and crocodile teeth.

On her forearms she wears one or more sea-shell bracelets, circlets of

black coral or of copper wire, and a close-fitting ringlet of plaited

_nito_. This last adornment is also worn by men, who dispense with the

use of other forms of bracelets, but who usually adorn the upper arm

with a finely plaited ligature made of a dark fibrous vine. Both men and

women frequently wear similar ligatures just below one or both knees. On

solemn and festive occasions the woman decks her ankles with loose coils

of heavy wire.

A square knapsack of hemp, frequently fringed with cotton yarn of many

colors and suspended from the back by strings passing over the shoulders

and under the arms, constitutes the man's receptacle for his chewing

paraphernalia. It may be more or less elaborate in beadwork and

embroidery, but as a rule there is no ornamentation of this kind.

Both sexes blacken the lips with soot black, and continually keep them

more or less in that condition by the use of a large quid of tobacco,

mixed with lime and _máu-mau_ juice, the whole being carried between the

lips. This mixture serves not only as an indispensable and pleasing

narcotic, but also as the principal factor in bringing about the

complete and permanent staining of the teeth.

In order that "they may not look like dogs," both sexes have the upper

and lower incisors ground at an early age. They proceed at once to stain

what is left with frequent applications of the above-mentioned

masticatories.

As white and sharp teeth are doglike, so beard and body hair are

suggestive of the monkey. Hence all straggling hairs are sedulously and

constantly eradicated.

Tattooing by both sexes is universal. It consists of the puncturing of

the skin and the rubbing in of a soot made from a very common variety of

resin. The figures tattooed, often artistic, are representations of

stars, leaves, crocodiles, etc.

Both sexes are tattooed on the breast, arms, and fingers, but it is

customary for women to have an extra design on the calves of the legs

and sometimes on the whole leg.

As to the Christianized Manóbos, it is obvious that the great majority

have adopted the garb of their Bisáya brethren and abandoned the use of

ornaments and mutilations characteristic of their pagan compeers. The

change was enjoined by Spanish missionaries for religious reasons and,

in the case of clothing, was encouraged by Bisáya traders for commercial

motives, but did not benefit the new Christians, as far as my

observation goes, either religiously, financially, or esthetically.

CHAPTER III

A SURVEY OF THE MATERIAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL CULTURE OF THE MANÓBOS OF

EASTERN MINDANÁO

GENERAL MATERIAL CULTURE

DWELLINGS

For a home the Manóbo selects a site that is clearly approved by

supernatural agencies, and that is especially suitable for agricultural

purposes by reason of its fertility, and for defense, because of its

strategic position. Hereon he builds an unpretentious, square,

one-roomed building at a height of from 1.50 meters to 8 meters from the

ground. The house measures ordinarily about 3 meters by 5 meters. Posts,

usually light, and varying in number between 4 and 16, support the

floor, roof, and intervening parts. The materials are all rattan lashed

and seldom consist of anything but light materials taken from the

immediate vicinity. The floor is made of slats of palm or bamboo, the

roof is thatched with palm leaves, and the walls are light, horizontal,

superimposed poles laid to about the height of the shoulders of a person

sitting on the floor. The space between the top of the walls and the

roof constitutes a continuous window. This open space above the low

house wall permits the inmates during a fight to shoot their arrows at

the enemy in any direction.

The one ceilingless room serves for kitchen, bedroom, and reception

room. There is no decoration nor furniture. Scattered around or hung up,

especially in the vicinity of the fireplace, are the simple household

utensils, and the objects that constitute the property of the

owner--weapons, baskets, and sleeping mats. On the floor farthest away

from the door are the hearth frames, one or more, and the stones that

serve as support for the cooking pots. A round log with more or less

equidistant notches, leading from the ground up to the narrow doorway,

admits the visitor into the house.

Under the house is the pigpen. Here the family pigs and the chickens

make a living off such refuse or remnants as fall from above. The

sanitary condition of this part of the establishment is in no wise

praiseworthy. The only redeeming point is that the bad odors do not

reach the house, being carried away by the current of air that is nearly

always passing.

The house itself is far from being perfectly clean. The low,

cockroach-infested thatch, the smoke-begrimed rafters, the unswept,

dirt-bestrewn floor, the bug-infested slats, the smoke-laden atmosphere,

the betel-nut-tinged walls and floor, these and other features of a

small over-populated house make cleanliness almost impossible. The order

and quietude of the home is no more satisfactory. The crying of the

babies, the romping and shouting of the boys, the loud talking of the

elders, the grunting of the pigs below, the whining and growling of the

dogs above, and the noise of the various household occupations produce

in an average house containing a few families a din that baffles

description. But this does not disturb the serenity of the primitive

inmates, who laugh, chew, talk, and work, and enjoy themselves all the

more for the animation of which they form a great part.

ALIMENTATION

In the absence of such a luxury as matches, the fire-saw or friction

method of producing fire is resorted to, although the old steel and

flint method is sometimes employed.

The cooking outfit consists of a few homemade earthen pots, supplemented

by green bamboo joints, bamboo ladles, wooden rice paddles, and nearly

always a coconut shell for receiving water from the long bamboo water

tube.

The various articles of food may be divided into two classes, one of

which we will call the staple part of the meal and the other the

concomitant. It must be remembered that for the Manóbo, as well as for

so many other peoples of the Philippine Islands, rice or _camotes_ or

some other bulky food is the essential part of the meal, whereas fish,

meat, and other things are merely complements to aid in the consumption

of the main food. Under the heading, then, of staples we may classify in

the order of their importance or abundance the following: _Camotes_,

rice, taro, sago, cores of wild palm trees, maize, tubers and roots

(frequently poisonous). Among the concomitant or supplementary foods are

the following, their order being indicative of the average esteem in

which they are held: Fish (especially if salted), domestic pork, wild

boar meat (even though putrefied), venison, iguana, larvae from rotted

palm trees, python, monkey, domestic chicken, wild chicken, birds,

frogs, crocodile, edible fungi, edible fern, and bamboo shoots. As

condiments, salt, _if on hand_, and red pepper are always used, but it

is not at all exceptional that the latter alone is available.

Sweetpotatoes, taro, tubers, and rice are cooked by steaming. Maize and

the cores of palm trees are roasted over the fire.

There are only two orthodox methods of cooking fish, pork, venison,

iguana and chicken: (1) In water without lard; (2) by broiling. Python,

monkey, crocodile, wild chicken, and birds must be prepared by the

latter method.

When the meal is prepared, it is set out on plates, banana leaves, or

bark platters, with the water in glasses or in the coconut-shell dipper.

On ordinary occasions the husband, wife, children and female relatives

of a family eat together, the unmarried men, widowers, and visitors

partaking of their meals alone, but on festive occasions, all the male

members, visitors included, gather in the center of the floor.

The hands and mouth are washed both before and after the meal. All begin

to eat together on the floor. The men eat with their left hands and, on

occasions, when the remotest suspicion of trouble exists, keep their

right hand on their ever-present weapons. It is customary not to leave

one's place after the meal without giving due notice.

NARCOTIC AND STIMULATING ENJOYMENTS

The most common and indispensable source of everyday enjoyment is the

betel-nut quid, It would be an inexcusable breach of propriety to

neglect to offer betel nut to a fellow tribesman. Not to partake of it

when offered would be considered a severance of friendship. The

essential ingredients of the quid are betel leaf, betel nut, and lime,

but it is common to add tobacco, cinnamon, lemon rind, and several other

aromatic elements. At times substitutes may be used for the betel leaf

and the betel nut, if there is a lack of either.

Another important masticatory is the tobacco quid with its ingredients

of lime and _máu-mau_ juice. This is carried constantly between the

lips. Occasionally, however, the men like to smoke a little mixed

tobacco in small pipes or in little leaf cones.

The greatest and the most cherished enjoyment of all is drinking: Men,

women, and children indulge, the last two sparingly. In Manóboland the

fame of a banquet is in direct proportion to the number of those who

became drunk, sobriety being considered effeminate, and a refusal to

drink an affront to the host.

The main drinks are of four kinds: _Cabo negro_ toddy, sugarcane brew,

_bahi_ toddy, and mead. The first and third are nothing but the sap of

the palms that bear their respective names, the sap being gathered in

the same manner as the ordinary coconut _tuba_. The second or sugarcane

brew is a fermented drink made from the juice of the sugarcane boiled

with a variety of the ginger plant. It is the choice drink of Manóbo

deities. The fourth drink mentioned above is mead. It is similar to the

last mentioned except that instead of sugar-cane juice, honey is used in

its preparation.

One feature of the drinking is that it is seldom unaccompanied by meat

or fish. Hence, on every occasion that a supply of these may be

obtained, there is a drinking bout. Religious sacrifices, too, afford

abundant opportunity for indulgence.

Quarrels sometimes ensue as a result of the flowing bowl, and war

expeditions are proposed, but on the whole it may be said that the

Manóbo is a peaceful and a merry drinker.

MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE

The Manóbo makes his living by farming, fishing, hunting, and trapping.

He clears a patch of the primeval forest, and his womenfolk clean off

the brush, sow broadcast a little rice, plant _camotes_, some taro,

maize, and sugarcane. As the rice crop seldom is sufficient for the

sustenance of his household, the Manóbo must rely also on the _camote_

for his maintenance.

He obtains his supply of fish from the streams and rivers. When the

water is deep and the current is not strong, he shoots the fish with a

special bow and arrow. When the water is shallow and swift, he makes use

of bamboo traps and at times poisons the whole stream.

To provide himself with meat, he occasionally starts off into the forest

with dogs and seldom returns without a deer or a wild boar. He keeps

several spring traps set somewhere in the forest but it is only during

the rainy season that he may be said to be successful with these. He has

a trap for monkeys, a snare for birds, a decoy for wild chickens, and

uses his bow and arrow on monkeys and birds.

With the meat that he procures from the above sources, together with

lizards and pythons which he sometimes catches, and fungi, larvae, and

palm trees, which he finds in the forest, he manages to fill in the

intervals between the ceremonial and the secular celebrations that recur

so frequently during the year, and to keep himself fairly well supplied.

WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

The bolo and, in some districts, the dagger, is the inseparable

companion of the Manóbo. On the trails he always carries a lance and

frequently a shield. For war he has an _abaká_ coat of mail and a bow

and arrow. In time of alarm he sets out bamboo caltrops, makes an abatis

of fallen trees, and places human spring traps around his lofty house.

For work he has a bolo and a primitive adze[sic]. These, with a rice

header, a small knife, a hunting spear, a special arrow for hunting, a

fish spear, and perhaps a few fishhooks, serve all the purposes of his

primitive life. With one or the other of these he fells the mighty trees

of the primordial forest, performs all the operations of agriculture, of

hunting and fishing, builds himself a house, in certain districts hews

out shapely canoes, whittles out handsome bolo sheaths, and makes a

variety of other necessary and often artistic articles. They are the sum

total of his tools and serve him instead of all the implements of modern

civilization.

INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES

The burden of toil falls on the woman. The man fells the heavy timber

once a year, builds the house, hunts, fishes, traps, and fights.

Practically all the rest of the daily labor is the woman's share. The

man is the master, and as such he attends to all matters that may arise

between his family and that of others.

Besides the occupations mentioned above, the man may engage, usually

under the stress of a contract or of a debt, in canoe making, mining,

and basket making.

The women weave all the clothes of the family except when imported cloth

has been obtained. Most of the Manóbos' clothes, both for men and women,

are made of native-woven cloth. The woman does all the sewing. A needle

of brass wire in the absence of an imported needle, and a thread of

_abaká_ fiber, constitute her sewing outfit.

Almost all the material employed in weaving is _abaká_ fiber. The dyes

are vegetable, their fastness depending upon the duration of the

boiling. The Manóbo woman, unlike the Mandáya women, and women of most

other tribes in Mindanáo, has never developed the art of inweaving

ornamental figures. The best she can do is to produce warp and weft

stripes.

The making of simple earthen pots is also one of the industries of the

woman. Pots are not, however, made in great quantities, the demand

being, I think, a little greater than the supply.

Bed mats and rice bags are made out of various materials such as

_pandanus_ and _buri_ in the ordinary Philippine style. The work is done

principally by the woman and the supply is not equal, as a rule, to the

family needs.

GENERAL SOCIOLOGICAL CULTURE

DOMESTIC LIFE

_Marital relations_.--In his choice of a wife the man is guided to a

great extent by the wishes of his relatives, but the woman is given no

option. There are no antenuptial relations between the pair, the

marriage contract and all arrangements being made by their respective

relatives. The transactions usually cover years. The woman's relatives

demand for her an amount of worldly goods--slaves, pigs, bolos, and

spears--that is almost impossible of payment. The man's relatives, on

the other hand, strive to comply, but make use of every means to gain

the friendship of the other side and thereby bring about a more

considerate demand.

When, perhaps after years of effort, an agreement is reached, a great

feast is prepared by the two parties. The final payment is made by the

man's relatives, and the following day a reciprocal banquet is given by

the girl's relatives, in the course of which one-half of the value of

the payment made by the man's relatives is returned by the girl's

relatives as an indication that "she has not been sold like a slave."

The marriage ceremony consists in the exchange of rice between the bride

and the bridegroom. This is followed by a religious rite that consists

mainly in determining by divination the fate of the couple.

Marriage is sometimes effected by capture, usually, I think, with the

connivance of the woman. But the procedure involves a heavier payment to

the throng of armed relatives that invariably set out in pursuit of the

captors.

Prenatal marriage contracts are rare, but child marriage without

cohabitation is practiced to a certain extent, especially among the more

influential members of the tribe.

The age for marriage is about the age of puberty for the women and about

the age of 18 for the men. Polygamy is a recognized institution, but is

comparatively rare except among those who have the means to pay for the

luxury of a second, third, or fourth wife. It presupposes the consent of

the first wife, who always retains and maintains her position, there

being no jealously, as far as my observation goes, and few domestic

broils. Polyandry is considered swinish, and concubinage is unknown.

Divorce is not in accord with tribal customs. The same holds true of

prostitution.

There is no evidence of the practice of endogamy which is so widespread

among the Oceanic peoples. As a rule, however, the Manóbo marries within

his own tribe. This is due to his environment, to the hostile relations

he ever holds with surrounding tribes, and to differences of religious

beliefs. The only impediment to marriage is consanguinity, but even this

impediment may be removed in the case of cousins by appropriate

religious ceremonies. Consanguineous marriages are rare.

Upon the death of the husband, the wife is considered to belong to his

relatives. Upon the presentation of a second suitor, she is remarried in

the same manner as on her first marriage, but the payments demanded are

not so high.

Marriages seem to result in reciprocal good understanding and happiness.

The wife goes about her manifold duties day after day without a murmur,

while her master keeps his weapons in good condition, fishes and hunts

occasionally, goes on a trading trip at times, takes part in social

gatherings, lends his voice in time of trouble, and goes off to fight if

there should be occasion for it.

Faithfulness to the marriage tie is one of the most striking features of

Manóboland. Adultery is extremely rare. The husband lives, at least

during the first part of the married life, with his father-in-law, and

displays toward his parents-in-law the same feelings that he entertains

for his own parents. His wife is always under the eyes of her own

parents, so that he is restrained from indulging in any marital

bickerings.

_Pregnancy, birth, and childhood_.--The desire for children is strong.

Hence voluntary abortion and infanticide are unknown. In case of

involuntary abortion, which is comparatively frequent, the fetus is hung

or buried under the house. When the child begins to quicken in the womb,

the mother undergoes a process of massage at the beginning of every

lunar month.

Parturition is effected almost invariably without any difficulty, the

umbilical cord is cut usually with a bamboo sliver, the mother sits up

to prevent a reflux of the afterbirth into the womb, the child is

washed, and the operation is over. If the mother can not suckle her

child it is nourished with rice water, sugar cane juice, and other light

food, but is not given to another to be suckled. In a few days after her

delivery the mother is up and back at her work. A little birth party

takes place soon after the birth in which the midwife receives a slight

guerdon for her services.

The child is named, without any ceremony, after some ancestor or famous

Manóbo, or occasionally receives a name indicative of something which

happened at the time of the birth. He is treated with the greatest

tenderness and lack of restraint. As he grows up he learns the ways of

the forest, and about the age of 14 he is a full-fledged little man. If

the child is a girl, she helps her mother from the first moment that she

is able to be of service.

Birth anomalies are rare. I have seen several albinos and several people

who might be called in a loose sense hermaphrodites.

_Medicine, sickness, and death_.--The Manóbo attributes some twelve

bodily ailments to natural causes, and for the cure of such he believes

in the efficacy of about as many herbs and roots. For wounds, tobacco

juice and the black residue of the smoking pipe are considered a good

remedy. Betel nut and betel leaf are a very common cure for pains in the

stomach. The gall of snakes has a potency of its own for the same

trouble.

As a rule, all natural remedies are applied externally until such time

as they prove unavailing, and the symptoms assume a more serious aspect.

Whenever an ailment is of a lingering character, especially if

accompanied by increasing emaciation and not classifiable as one of the

familiar maladies, it is attributed to magic causes. Certain individuals

may have the reputation of being able to compound various noxious

substances, the taking of which, it is believed, may superinduce

lingering ailments. The pulverized bone from a corpse or the blood of a

woman, dried in the sun and exposed to the light of the moon and then

mixed with finely cut human hair, are example of such compounds. Other

magic medicines exist such as aphrodisiacs, and bezoar stones. When it

is decided that the ailment is due to any of these magic causes,

neutralizing methods must be resorted to, the nature and application of

which are very secret.

Epidemics are attributed to the malignancy of sea demons, and by way of

propitiation, and inducement to these plague spirits to hurry off with

their epidemic, offerings placed on raftlets are launched in the nearest

rivers.

As soon as it is realized that the malady is beyond the power of natural

or of magic resources, recourse is had to the deities or good spirits,

as will be explained under the resume of religion. Upon the occurrence

of a death, wild scenes frequently take place, the relatives being

unable to restrain their grief. Signals, by bamboo horns, are often

boomed out to neighboring settlements to warn them to be on their guard.

War raids to settle old feuds are sometimes decided upon on these

occasions, so all trails leading to the house are closed.

The corpse is washed and laid out on its back in its best apparel. The

coffin is a hexagonal piece of wood made out of a log with a three-faced

lid also hewn out of a log. The body is often wrapped in a grass mat

before being laid in the coffin.

Before decomposition sets in, the coffin is borne away by men amidst

great grief and loud shouts. A high piece of ground is selected in a

remote part of the forest for the last resting place of the deceased. A

shallow grave is dug, a roof of thatch is erected, a potful of boiled

rice is placed over the grave as a last collation for the departed one,

and the burial party hurry back in fear to the settlement. As soon as

they can provide themselves with temporary huts they almost always

abandon the settlement.

_Social and Family enjoyments_.--Music, instrumental and vocal, and

dancing are the two great sources of domestic enjoyment. There are

several kinds of instruments, which I will mention in the order of their

importance and frequency of use. The drum, the gong, four varieties of

flutes, four species of guitars, a violin, and a jew's-harp. With the

exception of the first two, the instruments are made of bamboo and are,

in every sense of the word, of the most primitive kind. The strings are

of vine, bamboo, or _abaká_ fiber.

The drum is the instrument of most frequent use. It is played during all

dancing and at other times when a tribesman feels inclined. It is used

as a signal to give alarm or to call an absent one. During the dance,

religious or secular, it is nearly always accompanied by the gong. The

use of the other instruments seems to depend upon the caprice of the

individuals, though two of them appear to have a religious character.

With the exception of the gong and the Jew's-harp, all of these

instruments can be made to produce varied and pleasing rhythms or music,

according to the knowledge and skill of the performer. Each strain has

its appropriate name, taken frequently from the name of the animal that

it is supposed to imitate.

Instrumental music, in general, is of minor tonality, melancholy, weird,

and suggestive in some ways of Chinese music.

Bamboo stampers are sometimes used to give more animation to a dancing

celebration, and bamboo sounders are attached to looms to draw attention

to the industry of the weaver.

Songs are always sung as solos. They are all extemporaneous and for the

most part legendary. The language is archaic and difficult for an

outsider to understand. The singing is a kind of declamation, with long

slurs, frequent staccatos, and abrupt endings. Of course, there are war

songs that demand loudness and rapidity, but on the whole the song music

is as weird and melancholy as the instrumental. Ceremonial chants do not

differ from secular songs, except that they treat of the doings of a

supernatural world, and are the medium through which supplications are

made to supernatural beings.

Perhaps the greatest of all social enjoyments, both for men and deities,

is the dance. It is performed by one person at a time. Men, women and

children take part. Dressed in a woman's skirt and decked out in all

obtainable finery, the dancer keeps perfect time to the rhythm of the

drum and the clang of the gong.

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

_System of government and social control_.--Manóboland is divided into

districts, more or less extensive, which are the property of the

different clans. Each district is under the nominal leadership of the

warrior chiefs and of the more influential men. In time of peace these

districts are open to everybody, but in time of war--and wars were

formerly very frequent--only persons of tried friendship are permitted

to enter.

A clan consists of a chief whose authority is merely nominal, and of a

number of his relatives varying from 20 to perhaps 200 souls. The whole

system is patriarchal, no coercion being used unless it is sanctioned by

the more influential members, approved by the consensus of opinion of

the people, and in accord with traditional custom.

The authority of the elder people is respected as long as they are

physically and mentally able to participate in public gatherings. Those

who have distinguished themselves by personal prowess always command a

following, but they have a greater influence in time of trouble than in

time of peace.

Perfect equality reigns among the members of the clan, except in the one

respect that the recognized warriors are entitled to the use of a red

headkerchief, jacket, and pantaloons, each of these articles, beginning

with the first, being added as the number of people whom the warrior has

killed is increased.

The chieftainship naturally falls to one who has attained the rank of

_bagáni_--that is, to one who has killed a certain number of

persons--provided he is otherwise sufficiently influential to attract a

following. His duties consist in lending his influence to settle

disputes and in redressing the wrongs of those who care to appeal to

him. As a priest he is thought to be under the protection of a war god

whose desire for blood he must satisfy.

The _bagáni_ also acts as a medicine man, for he is reputed to have

certain magic powers both for good and for evil. The natural

secretiveness of the _bagáni_ made it difficult for me to secure much

information on this point, but his power of harming at a distance and of

making himself invisible are matters of general belief. In his character

as a priest, he performs ceremonies for the cure of diseases in which

fluxes of blood occur.

_Methods of warfare_.--There is no military organization in Manóboland.

The greater part of those who form a war party are relatives of the

aggrieved one, though it is usual to induce some others of acknowledged

prowess to take part. No resentment is harbored by the opposing party

toward paid warriors.

Vendettas and debts are the most usual cause of war, and not, as has

been reported, glory and the capture of slaves. There is never wanting

on the part of those who originate the war a reasonable motive. The

vendetta system is not only recognized, but vengeance is considered

incumbent on the relatives of one who has been killed, and, as a

reminder, a piece of green rattan is sometimes strung up in the house.

The rattan suggests that until it rots the wrong will not be forgotten.

If the father is unable to avenge the wrong, he bequeathes[sic] the

revenge to his son as a sacred legacy. Sometimes another person is

deputed to take vengeance, in which case no blame is attached to him.

The peculiar custom prevails of killing a third party who may be

neutral, or of seizing his property, but I have known such an act to be

resented. As a result of this custom a war party returning from an

unsuccessful raid is dangerous.

There is usually no formal declaration of war. In fact, the greatest

secrecy is generally observed, and in urgent cases a body of ambushers

proceed at once to kill the first one of the enemy that happens to pass

their lurking place. As a rule, the enemy's house and his actions are

watched for weeks, perhaps for years, until a favorable opportunity for

attack presents itself.

The usual times for undertaking an expedition are during the rice

harvest and after a death. The preparation consists in acquiring a

thorough knowledge of the enemy's house and of its environment.

Everything being ready, the warriors assemble, a sacrifice is made,

omens are taken, and the band starts out at such an hour as will enable

them to reach the vicinity of the enemy about nightfall. From the last

stopping point a few warriors make a final reconnaissance in the gloom

of the night, release the enemy's traps, and return. The whole band,

numbering anywhere from 10 to 100, advance and, surrounding the house,

await the dawn, for it is at the first blush of the morning that sleep

is supposed to be heaviest. Moreover, there is then sufficient light to

enable the party to make the attack. Hence the peep of dawn is almost

always the hour of attack.

If the enemy's house is within spear reach, it is usually an easy matter

to put the inmates to death, but if it is a high house, and, especially,

if the inmates are well prepared, a warrior climbs up silently under the

house and spears one of them. This, followed by the killing of pigs and

by the battle cry, usually causes consternation. A battle of arrows then

takes place; there is a bandying of fierce threats, taunts, and

challenges, and the attacking party endeavors to set the roof on fire

with burning arrows. If they succeed the inmates flee from the flames,

but only the children, as a rule, escape the bolo and the spear.

It is seldom that the attack is prolonged more than a few hours, and it

is seldom that the attack is unsuccessful, for if other means fail,

hunger and thirst will drive the besieged ones to flight, in which case

they become the victims of the besieging warriors. If one of the latter

is wounded or killed, the attack is abandoned at once, such an

occurrence being considered extremely inauspicious.

Each warrior gets credit for the number of people whom he kills, and is

entitled to the slaves that he may capture. The warrior chiefs open the

breasts of one or more of the headmen of the slain, insert a portion of

their charm collars into the openings, and consume the heart and liver

in honor of their war spirits.

During the return home the successful warriors make the forest resound

with the weird ululation of the battle cry, and adorn their lances with

palm fronds. Upon arrival at their settlement they are welcomed with

drum and song and loud acclaim. A purificatory bath is followed by a

feast in which each one recounts the minutest details of the attack.

After the feast some of the captives may be given to warriors who were

unlucky or who desire to satisfy their vengeance. The captives are

dispatched in the near-by forest.

Ambush is also a very ordinary method of warfare. Several warriors

station themselves in a selected position near the trail and await their

enemy.

Whenever there is open rupture between two parties, it is customary for

each of them to erect a high house in a place remote and difficult of

access, and to surround it with such obstacles as will make it more

dangerous. In these houses, with their immediate relatives and with such

warriors as desire to take their part, they bide their time in a state

of constant watch and ward.

When both parties to a feud are tired, either of fighting constantly or

of taking refuge in flight, a peacemaking may be brought about through

the good services of friendly and influential tribesmen. On the

appointed day, the parties meet, balance up their blood debts and other

obligations and decide on a term within which to pay them. As an

evidence of their sincere desire to preserve peace and to make mutual

restitution, a piece of green rattan is cut by the leaders, and a little

beeswax is burnt, both operations being symbolic of the fate that will

befall the one that breaks his plighted word.

_Intertribal and analogous relations_.--Intertribal relations between

pagan Manóbos and Christtianized[sic] Manóbos, and between the former

and Bisáyas were comparatively pacific during my residence in the Agúsan

Valley. Between Manóbos and other mountain tribes, excepting

Mañgguáñgans, the relations were, with casual exceptions, rather

friendly, due, no doubt, to the lessons learned by the Manóbos in their

long struggles with Mandáyas, Banuáons, and Debabáons up to the advent

of the missionaries about 1877. The Manóbos are inferior to the tribes

mentioned in tribal cohesion and in intellect. Their dealings, however,

with Mañgguáñgans, who are undoubtedly their physical and intellectual

inferiors, present a different aspect. With the Mandáyas and Debabáons,

they have helped to reduce the once extensive Mañgguáñgan tribe to the

remnant that it is to-day.

Manóbos and other mountain tribes have little to do with each other.

Only particular individuals of the various tribes, who have the happy

faculty of avoiding trouble, travel among other tribes. In general,

Manóbos are afraid of the aggressiveness of their neighbors (excluding

the Mañgguáñgans), and their neighbors f ear Manóbo instability and

hot-headedness; hence both sides pursue the prudent policy of avoidance.

Interclan relations have been comparatively peaceful since the

establishment of the special government in the Agúsan Valley. Occasional

killings took place formerly and probably still take place in remote

regions, notably on the upper Baóbo. It is probable that since my

departure from the Agúsan in 1910 these murders take place much less

frequently, as the special government organized in 1907 has made great

headway in getting in contact with the more warlike people of the

interior.

Up to the time of my departure dealings between the various clans were

purely commercial and of a sporadic nature. Old enmities were not

forgotten, and it was considered more prudent to have as little as

possible to do with one another.

On all occasions, when there is any apprehension of danger, arms are

worn. During meals, even of festive occasions, the Manóbo eats with his

left hand, holding his right in readiness for an attack. The guests at a

feast are seated in such a way that an attack may be easily guarded

against. Various other laws of intercourse, such as those governing the

passing of one person behind another and method of unsheathing a bolo,

regulate the dealings of man with man and clan with clan.

Commercial relations between Bisáyas and Manóbos, both pagan and

Christianized, constitute, on the part of the first-mentioned, a system

of deliberate and nefarious spoliation which has been denounced from the

time of the first missionaries and which, by the establishment of

trading posts by the Government, eventually will be suppressed.

Absolutely inadequate values both in buying and selling commodities, use

of false weights and measures, defraudation in accounts, demands of

unspeakably high usury, wheedling by the _puának_ or friendship system,

advancing of merchandise at exorbitant rates, especially just before the

rice harvest, and the system of commutation by which an article not

contracted for was accepted in payment though at a paltry price--these

were the main features of the system. It may be said that the resultant

and final gain amounted to between 500 and 1,000 per cent.

The bartering was carried on in a spirit of dissimulation, the Manóbo

being cozened into the idea that the sale was an act of friendship and

involved a comparative loss on the part of the Bisáya. A period, more or

less extended, was allowed him wherein to complete the payment, with a

promise of further liberal advances.

Since the Manóbo has become aware of the stupendous gain of the Bisáya,

he is not so prompt in his payments and in fact often thwarts his

creditor by deliberate delays. Hence the frequent bickerings, quarrels,

and ill will that are ever a result of these commercial relations.

It is needless to say that throughout the valley there was most undue

fluctuation of prices. Moreover, the Manóbo sold a part of his rice in

harvest time at 50 centavos a sack, and in time of scarcity repurchased

it at as much as 5 pesos.

The internal commerce of the Manóbos presents, on the whole, a very

different spectacle. It consists in simple exchanges. There is no

circulating medium. The units of exchange are slaves (valued at from 15

to 30 pesos each), pigs, and plates, but with the exception of the

first, these units are not constant in value.

The measures used are the _gántang_, a cylindrical wooden vessel with a

capacity of from 10 to 15 liters; the _kabán_,[1] which contains 25

gántang; the yard, measured from the end of the thumb to the middle of

the sternum; the span, the fathom, the finger, and the finger joint.

[1] Called also _bákid_ and _anéga_. A _kabán_ is measured by counting

out 25 _gántang_.

Slavery is a recognized institution, but since the diminution of

intertribal and interclan wars the number of slaves has diminished.

Slaves were originally obtained by capture and then passed from hand to

hand in making marriage payments. It sometimes occurs, in an exigency,

that a man delivers a child, even his own, into captivity.

The slave is generally not ill-treated but has to do all the work that

is assigned to him. He has no rights of any kind, possesses no property

except a threadbare suit, and is usually not allowed to marry. However,

he receives a sufficiency of food and seems to be contented with his lot.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

_General principles and various laws_.--It is frequently stated by

Bisáyas and others that Manóbo justice consists in the oppression of the

weak by the strong, but I have not found this to be true. The Manóbo is

too independent and too much a lover of revenge to brook coercion. He

recognizes a set of customary rules, and any departure from them is

resented by himself and by his relatives.

Nearly all violations of rights are considered as civil and not as

criminal wrongs, and upon due compensation are condoned. Failure on the

part of the offender to make this compensation leads the aggrieved man

and his relatives to take justice into their own hands.

The guilty one in nearly every case is allowed a fair and impartial

hearing in the presence of his own relatives. The matter is argued out,

witnesses are called, and the offender's own relatives generally exert

their influence to make him yield with good will. Hence the feast that

follows nearly every case of successful arbitration.

One of the fundamental customs of the Manóbos is to regard as a duty the

payment of one's debts, and this duty is performed sacredly and often at

a sacrifice. Another fundamental custom is the right of revenge. Revenge

is a sacred duty that is bequeathed from generation to generation, and

from it result the long and terrible feuds that have devastated

Manóboland.

Customary law is based on the intense conservation of the Manóbo,

fostered by the priests and strengthened by a system of religious

injunctions and interdictions. Anyone who violates these taboos or

interdictions becomes liable for all evil consequences that may follow.

Property rights are understood and rigidly upheld, so much so that there

seems to be no conception of a gift as such. Large tracts of land are

considered the property of a clan, but anyone on good terms with the

clan may settle on the land and may have all the rights of a clansman

except those of fishing. Each individual becomes the temporary owner of

the land that he selects and of the crops that he plants thereon. As

soon as he abandons the land it becomes the collective property of the

clan. Land disputes are unknown.

Property that is the result of one's labor or one's purchase belongs to

the individual except in the case of women, children, and slaves. Loss

of and damage to property belonging to another must be made good, no

excuses being admitted.

The law of contracts is stringent, but a certain amount of consideration

is shown in case of a failure to fulfill a contract on time, unless a

definite stipulation to the contrary has been previously made. All

contracts are made in the presence of witnesses, and frequently a

knotted rattan slip, representing the number of items or the number of

days to elapse before payment, is delivered by the one who makes the

contract.

Nearly all transactions are made on a credit basis, hence frequent

disputes arise out of the failure of one party or the other to fulfill

the terms of the contract. The failures are sometimes due to the fact

that one individual man depends on payment from another in order to

satisfy his debt to a third party. Undue delay on the part of a debtor

finally gives the creditor the right to seize the property of the

debtor, or even the property of a third party. Such an action is not

common and is always taken under the stress of exasperation after

repeated efforts to collect have proved unavailing. As a rule the

relatives of the debtor prefer to settle the obligation rather than to

allow matters to become too serious, but it happens at times that they,

too, are obstinate and allow things to take their course.