The Inhabitants of the Philippines Part 51

Mandayas (4).

The Mandayas live on the Eastern Cordillera of Mindanao which runs parallel to the coast, and their territory extends from the 7th to the 9th parallel. They occupy the country down to the River Salug. They are remarkable for their light colour, some having quite fair complexions. Their faces are wide, the cheek-bones being very prominent; yet their appearance is not unpleasing, for they have large dark eyes shaded by long eye-lashes.

They are much respected by other tribes as an ancient and aristocratic race, and the war-like Man.o.bos eagerly seek, by fair means or foul, to obtain Mandaya women for wives.

They usually shave off their beards, and also their eyebrows, wearing their hair long, tied in a knot at the back.

They are powerfully built, and of good stature. The men wear short drawers, and on grand occasions don an embroidered jacket. Both men and women wear large ear-ornaments. The women are clad in a bodice and patadion with ornaments of sh.e.l.ls, beads, or small bells. The men are of a bold and warlike disposition, ready to fight against other villages of their tribe when not at war with the Man.o.bos, the Guiangas, or the Manguangas, their neighbours. They have a language of their own which has a great affinity to the Visaya.

Their houses, four or five forming a village, are built on lofty piles thirty or forty, or even fifty feet above the ground. The floor is of thick planks and has a parapet all round pierced with loop-holes for defence. Above this parapet the house is open all round up to the eaves, but this s.p.a.ce can be closed in by hanging shutters in bad weather. The construction of dwellings at such a height must involve an enormous amount of labour. Each group of houses forming a village is usually surrounded by a strong palisade of sharp-pointed posts, and further defended by pits lined with sharp stakes, which are lightly covered over with twigs and leaves.

Several families live in one house, after the custom of the Dayaks of Borneo, to provide a garrison for defence. An ample supply of arms is kept in the house, bows and arrows, spears, swords and knives. They are liable to be attacked in the night, either by the Man.o.bos, the Moros, or by the sacopes of some neighbouring datto, who shoot flaming arrows covered with resin into the roof to set it on fire, or covering themselves with their shields from the arrows of the defenders, make a determined attempt to cut down the piles so that the house will fall. The attacking party is most often victorious, and the defenders, driven out by fire, or bruised and entangled amongst the fallen timbers, are easily killed, the women and children, with the other booty, being carried off by the a.s.sailants. Under this reign of terror the population is diminishing. These people not only kill for booty, but also for the honour and glory of it. Each warrior is anxious to become a bagani, and to be allowed to wear the honourable insignia of that rank. The dress of a bagani indicates approximately the number of murders he has committed. A scarlet head-cloth shows that he has killed from five to ten men; a red shirt, in addition, from ten to twenty, whilst a complete suit of red shows that he has murdered more than twenty persons, and is a much-desired and very honourable distinction, a sort of D.S.O. or K.C.B. amongst them.

All the dattos are baganis; they could hardly possess enough prestige to govern their sacopes without this t.i.tle.

The Mandayas are superst.i.tious, and much attached to their own beliefs, and on this account it is difficult to convert them to Christianity. The devotion of the Jesuits, however, has not been in vain, and several pueblos on the east coast round about Bislig, Caraga, and Cateel-Baganga are now inhabited by Christian Mandayas, some of whom have intermarried with the Visayas, or "old Christians." These Mandayas are now safe from attack. They give their attention to cultivation, and are increasing in numbers and rising in the scale of civilisation.

Ancestral-worship is their religion, and their Dinatas, or wooden idols, are stained red with the sap of the narra tree. They have priestesses whom they call Bailanes, and they are said to occasionally make human sacrifices.

As amongst other tribes in Mindanao, the Limbucun, or turtle-dove, is a sacred bird, and rice and fruit is placed for its use on a small raised platform, and it is never molested.

They are organised in a strict feudal system, the headman or datto of each village is in fact the only free man of his clan. The others are Sacopes--that is, followers or va.s.sals who, as well as the datto, possess slaves. A Mandaya datto can seldom raise more than fifty spears; sometimes two or three federate, but expeditions on a large scale cannot be undertaken, for it would be impossible to feed several hundred men in their country, such is the poverty of the inhabitants.

Sometimes a small group of Mandaya dattos recognises as suzerain some neighbouring datto of the piratical Moros, who always tries to keep them isolated and to prevent any intercourse or trade with the Christians, unless through themselves.

The Mandayas have canoes and bamboo rafts on the streams and rivers running through their territory. They catch a good many fish.

Their agriculture is on a very reduced scale, and is limited to small plantations of rice and sweet potatoes near their villages; they keep poultry. They do not dare to travel far from their houses for fear they might be seized for slaves, or even sold to be sacrificed on the death of a datto. Sometimes when a man has been condemned to death for some crime his datto sells him to some person requiring a victim for the death-vengeance, if he is a.s.sured that it is intended to kill him. The datto thus combines the execution of justice with a due regard to his own profit.

Manguangas (5).

According to Blumentritt, this tribe lives in the Cordillera Sagat, and extends as far as the Great Lake Boayan or Magindanao, and an old estimate gives their number as 80,000. On his map he shows, the Lake and River Boayan in dotted lines, the latter is made to fall into the Rio Grande.

On two modern maps of Mindanao which I have, one by Jesuits and the other from Don Jose Nieto Aguilar's book on this Island, neither the river nor the lake appear; but, in their stead, a lofty range of mountains is shown. In each of these maps the Manguanga territory occupies an entirely different location.

As the Jesuits have three reducciones or villages amongst this tribe, I accept their map as constructed according to the latest information. They show in their earlier maps the Manguanga territory at the head of the Bay of Davao, its southern frontier being some twelve miles from the sea, and about the head-waters of the River Salug and the River Agusan.

The reducciones are called Gandia, Pilar, and Compostela. In the general Report of the Jesuit Missions of 1896, the mission station of Jativa is stated to consist of six reducciones of Man.o.bos, Mandayas and Manguangas, with a total population of 1389.

In the general report of the following year the Manguangas and other tribes are not specifically mentioned, and the total population of the mission station of Jativa is given as 1458.

In a later ethnographical map of Mindanao the Manguanga territory appears still more circ.u.mscribed, being limited to a strip of land between the Rivers Julep and Nabo, affluents of the River Agusan; Nieto's map, however, shows them extending over the Eastern Cordillera towards Linguit, which is situated on the coast in about 7 50'

N. lat.i.tude.

Dr. Montano, who went up the Rio Salug in 1880, pa.s.sing through the Manguanga territory, says he found the banks deserted.

There can be no doubt that this once numerous tribe has been reduced to a mere remnant, part settled in the before-mentioned reducciones, and part still wandering in mountains.

Monteses or Buquidnones (6).

The Spanish word Montes, means hill-man. Buquid, in Tagal, means arable land; and Taga-buquid, a countryman. The Tagal equivalent of hill-man is Taga-bundoc, which corresponds to the jungle-wallah of British India. The word Buquidnones may mean cultivators, and their extensive plantations fully justify this designation. It is therefore rather a vague expression, but still designates a particular tribe in Mindanao, whose numbers were estimated to amount to 13,000 ten years ago, and who have probably largely increased since then.

They occupy the valleys through which the Rivers of Cagayan and Tagoloan run, and the hills between them and on both sides.

They hold the country of the head-waters of the Pulangui, and the right bank, as far south as the Man.o.bos extend on the left bank, say to 7 30' N. lat.i.tude. In the north they extend right up into the peninsula between the Bay of Macajalar and the Bay of Lunao, occupying the lofty mountains of Sabrac, Sinalagao, Quimanquil, and the sacred Balatucan, whence the souls of the dead jump from earth to heaven.

Father Clotet, from whose letters to his superiors I have taken these particulars, considers them to be divided into three large groups.

The first consists of those living in the hills and valleys of the rivers Tagoloan, Cagayan, and Iponam; the second, of those bordering on the Man.o.bos of the Agusan between Gingoog and Nasipit, and the third of those who live on the right bank of the Pulangui and on some of its affluents.

They bear some resemblance to their neighbours the Man.o.bos, being of good stature, well-built, even handsome, and are of an affable and friendly disposition; some of them are so smart and well-bred as to be not in the least inferior to the most civilised of the Visayas, and to judge by their free and open address, and the absence of all affectation when settling their business with the old Christians, n.o.body would take them for heathens.

Father Urios said that, from the extent of their intelligence, they were fit to be kings of the Man.o.bos, so much superior were they to these.

In their dress they show a far greater idea of decorum and modesty than any other race in Mindanao, both men and women. The latter wear a white shirt, which is held in at the waist by a long skirt, reaching to the ankles. Over this they wear a very short and tight jacket, to the edges of which they sew strips of cloth of many colours in a pleasing tracery, the short wide sleeves being trimmed in the same way.

They show great taste in choosing the colours and designs with which they ornament their dresses. On the left side at the waist they hang some bead ornaments, small bells, and bunches of scented herbs. On their legs they wear many loose rings of bra.s.s, copper, or silver, which rattle when they walk. Their manner of dressing their hair is singular, and characteristic. They take the bulk of the hair, and without plaiting it they twist and knot it in a high and large coil. All round the head fall curls cut to one length, but on the forehead there is a fringe coming down almost to the eye-brows. They secure the coil with a handsome and showy comb, well made of metal, or precious metals, according to the means of the wearer. Many of them are loaded with bracelets from the wrists to near the elbows, either of metal, of tortoise-sh.e.l.l, or mother-of-pearl. In their ears they wear large ornaments called balaring, made of a plug of soft wood, having on each end a circular plate of bra.s.s, copper, silver, or of engraved gold, one larger than the other. The hole of the ear is greatly stretched to allow the smaller plate to pa.s.s through; the plug then remains in the hole, and is covered at each end by the plates. They wear also necklaces, sometimes of great value. These manufactures seem to be very similar to those of the Igorrotes, which have been detailed at length in the description of that interesting people.

Father Clotet mentioned a curious necklace worn by one of these women, formed of ancient silver coins, diminishing in size from the centre to the extremities. In the middle was a silver dollar of Charles III. He considered this to be worth thirty dollars, which was quite a capital to a Montes in a small hamlet.

Even when pressed by necessity they will not sell these ornaments, and they consequently pa.s.s from father to son for many generations. They wear rings of bra.s.s, silver or gold, not only on their fingers, but also on their toes.

The dress of the men on ordinary occasions is quite simple, but on grand occasions they wear long trousers of European cloth, jackets of the same stuff, and fine beaver hats. Their shirts of fine linen are not worn outside the trousers as amongst the Tagals, only the front being shown, which is often beautifully embroidered. Those amongst them who, although heathens, have a frequent intercourse with the Christians, have their hair cut short and take great care of it; but those living amongst the hills let it grow long, and, rolling it into a knot, tie it up in a kerchief like the charros of Aragon. Some of them paint their teeth black, and file them into points. The wealthy men and women cover their teeth with thin gold plates, like the chiefs amongst the Igorrotes, but unlike them they take them off to eat. It would seem to be indecent to show one's teeth to any person of superior rank.

They believe in a future life, and are polytheists. They worship the G.o.ds of the cardinal points: the G.o.d of the north is called Domalongdong; he of the south, Ongli; of the east, Tagolambong; of the west, Magbabaya.

This last G.o.d, Magbabaya, which means Almighty, has, however, two other G.o.ds of equal rank: Ibabasag and Ipamahandi. The first is invoked for the safe delivery of pregnant women; the second takes care of the horses and cattle, and as there is hardly a Buquidnon who does not possess some of these animals to a.s.sist him in his labour, Ipamahandi is constantly called upon to help them when any accident happens.

Tagum-Banua, the G.o.d of the fields, is prayed to for a good harvest, and a feast called the Caliga, corresponding to our harvest festival, is held in his honour. The Tao-sa-sulup, or men of the woods, correspond to the Tic-Balan of the old heathen Tagals, and inhabit the trunks of secular trees, especially the Balete, or rocky crags or caves, intervening in the affairs of mortals to favour them or upset them. Consequently they make sacrifices to these spirits to propitiate them and gain their favour.

Tigbas is a much respected G.o.d, looked upon with special reverence as having come down from heaven. He is represented by stone idols on stone pedestals, only possessed by the princ.i.p.al dattos, who keep them amongst the heir-looms of their ancestors, and only allow their near relations or intimate friends to see them.

Talian is a small idol in the figure of a monkey squatting, usually made from the root of the willow. This they carry about with them, hanging from a cord round its neck. When on a journey, if they fear an ambush, they hold out the cord with the little idol on it like a plumb-line, and let it spin. When it comes to rest, its face is turned in the direction where the enemy is concealed. They then carefully avoid that direction, if they have been following it, by turning off and taking another path. If one of them is ill, they submerge the idol in a cup of water which he immediately drinks. Otherwise, by simply touching the suffering part, they find relief, and even a radical cure.

The Busao, an evil spirit, must be kept in good humour, and to this end they offer to it meat and drink, and sing and dance in its honour, praying to it to deliver them from any calamity they fear.

The elders are charged with the duty of offering fruits and of sacrificing the pigs and fowls to the deities. It will be seen what a strong religious bias prevails amongst these people, who are convinced that all the affairs of life are in the hands of Divine Providence, and of the necessity of prayer and sacrifice.

Marriages amongst them are arranged by the parents or by the head chief of their tribe, the Masalicampo (Maestro de Campo). A house is prepared for the young couple, and an abundant feast is made ready, including an ample supply of a fermented drink called pangasi, which is preserved in large jars. When the guests have a.s.sembled, and everything is ready, the bride and bridegroom exchange a few words, and each receives from their respective fathers a small morsel of cooked rice. This they hold out for a short time on the palms of their hands, and then each places the morsel in the mouth of the other, and this action solemnises the marriage. The Tagbanuas have the same custom.

Immediately an animated conversation bursts out amongst the guests, and a profuse and carefully-cooked feast is served.

To the feast succeeds a prolonged drinking bout, the guests sucking up the liquor through straws or canes from the jars which contain it. Amongst the Monteses it is not considered good form to return home from a wedding ostentatiously sober.

Polygamy is allowed, but little practised, only the dattos having two or perhaps three wives.