The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao Part 17

Deer and pig are sometimes hunted by large parties with the aid of dogs.

In such cases an attempt is made to drive the animals past concealed hunters, or to dispatch them with spears when brought to bay by the dogs. The more successful method, however, is by means of traps several types of which were seen by the writer. The first and most common is a dead fall consisting of a heavy log so arranged in the runway of the game that a pa.s.sing animal will cause it to fall. Next in favor with the hunters is the _bayatik_. One end of a sapling is tied horizontally to a tree and is then bent back like a spring. It is held in place by means of a trigger which is released when an animal disturbs a vine stretched across the runway. Against the free end of the spring a long bamboo spear or arrow is placed in such a manner that it is thrown with great force against the animal which has released the trigger. This trap is frequently used in warfare to protect the retreat of a war party, or to surprise an enemy.

Sharpened bamboo sticks, two or three feet long, planted at points where animals are accustomed to jump or run down steep inclines, are wonderfully efficient in securing game. Sticks and leaves cover pits in which sharpened poles are planted and into these unsuspecting animals or members of a hostile party often fall. All these last named devices are exceedingly dangerous and it is unadvisable for a traveler in the jungle to try to penetrate a strange region unless accompanied by a native who knows the position of the traps and pits.

Fish are secured by means of bamboo traps through which a part of the water of a stream is diverted. These traps do not differ in any respect from those shown in Fig. 19. Along the coast metal fishhooks and dip and throw nets are in common use, but these are at present largely obtained from the Moro. The easiest and hence the most popular method of securing fish is to mash together the poisonous roots of the _tobli_ tree and the fruit of the _oliskEb_. The pulp is then sunk into still pools of water and in a short time, the stupified[sic] fish begin to float to the surface, where they are quickly seized by the fishermen.

WARFARE

Mention has already been made of the use of pits and traps in warfare.

In addition to these it is customary for a returning war party to conceal in the trail many _saonag_, small stiletto-shaped bamboo sticks, which pierce the feet of those in pursuit. A night camp is effectively protected in the same manner against barefooted enemies.

The arms used are spears, fighting knives with wide bellied blades, daggers, narrow s.h.i.+elds with which weapons are defected (Fig. 52), and in some sections bows and arrows. The fighting knives and daggers (Plates LXXV-LXXVI) deserve more than casual notice. The heavy bellied blades of the knives are highly tempered, and not infrequently are bored through and inlaid with silver, in which instances they are known as _binuta_,--blind (Plate LXXVa). The sheaths, with their sharply upturned ends, are made of light wood on which are carved decorations, attached or inlaid bands of silver, or stained designs. The handles of the weapons are also decorated with incised silver bands.

FIG. 52. WOODEN s.h.i.+ELDS.

Much as the fighting knives are prized, the dagger, _bayadau_ or _badau_, is in even greater favor. It is worn on the front left-hand part of the body in ready reach of the right hand, and is never removed unless the owner is in the company of trusted relatives. A light thread, easily broken, holds the dagger in its sheath and the slightest disturbance is enough to cause the owner to draw his weapon.

The older warriors claim that it formerly was their custom to protect themselves with strips of hemp cloth, _limbotung_, which they wound many times around their bodies in order to ward off knife thrusts, but this method of protection seems to have fallen into disuse.[133]

[133] This type of protective armor is still used by the Bukidnon of Central Mindanao.

Individual warriors lie in ambush for their foes, but when a great raid is planned the party is under the command of a _bagani_. These attacks are arranged to take place during the full moon and the warriors usually a.s.sault a settlement which they think can be taken by surprise, and hence unprepared. It is very seldom that these people fight in the open, and invaders do not attempt a combat unless they feel sure of the outcome. If they find a house well protected they may attempt to fire it by attaching a torch to an arrow and shooting it into the gra.s.s roof, the occupants being slaughtered as they rush out. If one of the enemy puts up an especially good fight his body is opened and the warriors eat a portion of his heart and liver, thinking thus to gain in valor.

Mr. Maxey mentions the use of poisoned weapons in the neighborhood of Cateel, but the Mandaya of the south seem to be entirely ignorant of this custom, Maxey's account of the preparation of the poison is as follows:

"The poison is, according to the writer's informant, prepared as follows: A long bamboo is cut and carried to a tree called _camandag_.[134] The bamboo must be long enough to reach to the limit of the shadow cast by the tree to the trunk of the same, as the tree is so poisonous that it even affects those who stand beneath it. The bamboo has a sharp point which is stuck into the tree and receives the milk which exudes from the cut. After several days the bamboo is removed and the contents emptied into another bamboo which serves for a sheath or quiver for the arrows, these being placed in it point down. The slightest scratch will cause death. A peculiar thing about the tree from which the poison is extracted, is that the person extracting must not only not get under the tree, but must approach it from the windward, as the effects of even the odor are unpleasant and dangerous."

[134] _Croton tiglium L_.

INDUSTRIES

In the description of the tribe up to this point we have touched upon those pursuits which engross the greater part of the time. In addition to these, it falls to the lot of the women to manufacture and decorate all the clothing worn by members of the tribe. Some cotton is grown and is used in the manufacture of jackets, but the bulk of the garments are of hemp. In the description of the Decorative Art we shall deal with the decoration of the hemp cloth skirts worn by the women. Here it is only necessary for us to observe that this cloth is produced and colored by exactly the same process as is employed by the Bagobo women.[135]

[135] See p. 79.

A very little bra.s.s casting is done by the Mandaya of one district, but it is evidently a crude copy of Moro work. By far the greater part of the bra.s.s betel boxes, and ornaments of that metal, as well as spear heads, are purchased from the coast Mohammedans.

Iron working is an ancient art with this people and the beauty and temper of their knives and daggers is not excelled by the output of any other Philippine tribe. In the manufacture of these weapons they employ the same methods as their neighbors to the south and west.

No wild tribe in the archipelago has made so much use of silver in the production of ornaments as has the Mandaya. Thin silver plates are rolled into small tubes and are attached to the woman's ear plugs (Fig.

49), finger rings of the same metal are produced in great numbers, but the finest work appears in the large silver ornaments worn on the b.r.e.a.s.t.s by both s.e.xes (Fig. 53). Silver coins are beaten into thin disks, in the center of which a hole is cut. About this opening appear beautiful intricate designs, some engraved, others stamped with metal dies.

FIG. 53. SILVER BREAST ORNAMENTS.

All work in metal is limited to a few skilled men, but many lesser industries, such as shaping tortoise sh.e.l.l rings and sh.e.l.l bracelets, carving of spoons, and making baskets, are carried on by other members of the tribe during their leisure hours.

BIRTH

In each district there are one or two mid wives, known as _managamon_.

They are women past middle life who are versed in the medicines and rites which should be employed at the time of birth. They are not considered as _ballyan_, yet they talk to the spirits upon certain occasions.

When a pregnant woman is about to be delivered the midwife crushes the bark of the _dap-dap_ tree and makes a medicine called _tagaumo_, which she gives to the patient. It is claimed that this causes the muscles to relax so that they allow an easy delivery. The umbilical cord is cut with a bamboo knife and as soon as the child has been bathed it is given to the mother. The afterbirth is placed in a specially prepared basket and is either hung against the side of the house or in a nearby tree.

For a few days the midwife a.s.sists about the house and then, if all is well with the child, she takes her payment of rice, chicken, and fish, and returns to her home. Should the child be ailing she will return, and having placed rice and betel-nut on banana leaves she carries these to the top of the house and there offers them to the _asuang_,[136]

meanwhile asking those spirits to accept the offering and to cease troubling the child. No ceremony takes place at the time of naming or at the age of p.u.b.erty, but at the latter period the teeth are filed and blackened so that the young person may be more beautiful and, therefore, able to contract a suitable marriage.

[136] See p. 176. [Transcriber's note: This is page 192.]

MARRIAGE

Frequently parents arrange matches for their children while they are still very young, but in the majority of cases the matter is left until after the age of p.u.b.erty when the wishes of the young people are taken into consideration. The youth or his father having chosen a suitable girl takes or sends a spear, knife, or other acceptable present to her father. If this offering is accepted it indicates approval of the match, and soon thereafter a feast is prepared to which friends of both families are invited. At this feast the price to be paid for the girl and the time of marriage are agreed upon, and at least partial payment is made. As is the case with the neighboring tribes, a part of the value of this gift is returned. Following the agreement the boy enters the service of his fiancee's father and for a year or more lives as a member of the family. Even after the marriage a considerable amount of service is expected from him at the time of planting, harvesting, or building.

The marriage ceremony proper follows a feast, and consists of the young couple feeding each other with rice and drinking from a common cup.

Should anything occur to prevent the marriage, after the payment for the girl has been made, the gifts must be returned or service equal to their value must be rendered.

Unfaithfulness on the part of the woman seems to be the one cause for a separation and this is uncommon, for unless her admirer purchases her for a sum equal to the amount her husband spent in obtaining her, the divorced woman remains as a slave in the home of her former husband.

Polygamy is permitted and is quite common, but a man may not take a second wife until a child has been born to the first. In addition to his wives a man may have as many concubines as he can afford to purchase.

It is said to be a grave offense for a man to embrace a married woman, or even to touch the b.r.e.a.s.t.s, elbows, or heels of any woman he does not intend to marry. An unmarried woman who permits such familiarities is considered as good as married. Despite this a.s.sertion, the writer knows of several cases where young people openly lived together without being considered married, and later the parents arranged marriages between these girls and other suitors.

According to several informants, incest is punished by the sacrifice of the guilty parties. They are tied to a tree with their hands drawn backward around the trunks and are then speared to death. This seems to be the one and only occasion when human sacrifice is practiced by members of this tribe.

SICKNESS AND DEATH.

When a person is seriously ill a _ballyan_ is summoned and she, after securing prepared rice, betel-nuts, and a live chicken, enters into communication with the spirits. First she converses with the dead father or other deceased relative of the sick person and requests his aid in effecting a cure, next she presents food to Diwata and implores his aid, and finally calls upon the _asuang_ to whom she offers the live fowl on the condition that they will cease trying to injure the patient. Having thus done all in her power to influence the spirits she may administer some simple remedy, after which she begins to dance contra-clockwise, around a bamboo pole on which leaves and betel-nut have been hung.[137]

[137] This ceremony usually takes place in the house, but if the man was taken ill in the forest or in his field it may be conducted there.

If this treatment proves to be of no avail and the patient dies his body is placed in the center of the house and for two days and nights is guarded by relatives and friends. During the time that the body remains in the dwelling the family is required to fast and all the people of the settlement are prohibited from playing on agongs, from singing or indulging in other signs of merriment. Finally, the body is wrapped in a mat and is buried in the forest.[138]

[138] Maxey gives the following account of burial near Cateel: "The dead person is dressed in his best clothes, wrapped in a piece of _abaca_ cloth, and placed in a coffin of bamboo poles, or one hewn from a solid log, if the person was one of means, and buried. If of the poorer cla.s.s he is merely wrapped in a piece of matting-, and either buried or covered over with stones, sticks, and the like. If of high rank, the body is not buried, but after preparation is taken into the forest and placed in a small hut under a _balete_ tree. Food, spears, bolos, hats, s.h.i.+elds, and some articles of furniture are placed on the graves to placate the spirits who might otherwise bring harm to the surviving members of the clan or family. There is no fixed period of mourning, but the members of the family must wear black for some time after the death.

The sick are never abandoned prior to death, but slaves nearing death are sometimes killed to stop their sufferings. The owner, however, must first consult with others of the clan."

Returning from the burial all the people partake of a feast and then set fire to the dwelling "because we do not like the _asuang_ which killed the man in that house." During the ensuing nine days the spouse of the dead dresses in black and for a month following, or until they can purchase a slave, the whole family is barred from merry-making. Two reasons for the purchase of this slave were advanced by members of the tribe. One was that the family could be happy if they were still rich enough to purchase a slave. The second, that they thus replaced the dead man with another, "for the slaves are like members of our own family."

DECORATIVE ART.

The decorative art of the Mandaya is similar in many respects to that of the Bagobo and Bila-an, yet in part it differs greatly from both. As is true with the other tribes, the weavers make use of many figures which they do not a.s.sociate with any living forms, but which, nevertheless, strongly suggest that they may have been derived from realistic designs.

In addition to such patterns they frequently employ figures which are intentional copies of human or animal forms. Of these the most common are those representing a man and a crocodile; these sometimes appear together, sometimes alone. The requirements of the s.p.a.ce to be filled, as well as readiness of the worker to alter any part in order to give a more pleasing effect to the design have resulted in many distorted and conventionalized figures which can only be explained by the artist. The accompanying drawings are taken from articles collected by the writer and now in the Field Museum of Natural History.

Patterns _A_ to _H_ in Fig. 54 appear in hemp cloth skirts. These show the steps in the conventionalization of the human figure,[139] as explained by the weavers. In the first four the forms are so realistic that they need no explanation, but _E_ is more complicated. Here two greatly conventionalized figures have been used, one erect, the other with head down. The size of the head has been increased while the body is represented by a small diamond-shaped pattern with outstretched arms attached. The legs and feet of both figures help to form a pattern similar to a head, except that it lacks the "hair" shown in the end designs. _F_ resembles the preceding quite closely. In it the central head-like pattern does not appear and the legs and feet of one figure help to form the head of the other. This design has been doubled, thus necessitating some alteration of the figures at the points of union. In _G_ and _H_ nearly all the realistic elements have vanished, yet certain resemblance to _D_ and _E_ can be discerned.

[139] One weaver insisted that this figure represents a frog, because of its webbed feet, but none of the others agreed with her.

FIG. 54A TO H. DESIGNS REPRESENTING THE HUMAN FORM.

We have already learned that the crocodile is held in great regard and in some sections there is evidence of its more or less sacred character.