Part 14 (2/2)

Vice-Governor Gilbert had a canao, or feast, in front of his house one morning. A line of partly dressed dog-eaters arrived, bowing as they pa.s.sed. They proved to be the chiefs or head men, who had put on what clothes they possessed for this occasion. They were brown, bare-legged men with gee strings, as they call the woven cloth hanging about their waists. Some had coats on, but nothing underneath, and only an old hat to complete the costume.

The Benguet Igorots, or dog-eaters, are small but strong, and remind one of our American Indians. They are peaceful farmers now, but in days gone by they fought their neighbours on the north, and so lances and s.h.i.+elds are still to be found among them. ”The first American civil provincial government established in the Philippines was in Benguet, and governmental control has been continuously exercised there since November 23, 1900. They are gladly availing themselves of the opportunity now afforded for the education of their children, but insist that this education be practical.”

In order to show the progress that had been made in the Philippines, a party of Igorots were brought to the St. Louis Exposition. Part of the exhibit was a model schoolroom. Visitors were amazed at the bright, eager little children, and at their keen interest in their lessons. But they were even more amazed one day to see these same model pupils when a dog suddenly barked outside. For the school simply went to pieces, the children making for the nearest door. The last seen of them, they were in full cry after the unfortunate dog.

Although we found the dog-eaters interesting, there are other tribes of far greater interest, such as the Negritos, the warlike Ilongots and the Tingians, as well as the people of the Bashee rocks of the north, who are hardly ever seen.

The Negritos are diminutive and uncivilized black people who live to-day in a few mountain areas. They are the aborigines of the islands in this part of the world, and are as primitive as the Australian blacks, having no social or political organization but that of the family. They live in hollow trees or under little lean-tos of gra.s.s and brush, and subsist princ.i.p.ally by hunting and fis.h.i.+ng, at which they are very expert. Their weapons are poisoned arrows and the blow gun. The poison, which is made either from the leaf of a tree or from decomposed meat, is placed in the arrow-head of hollow bone. On striking, it injects the poison into the flesh as a hypodermic needle would do, quickly resulting in death.

The only agricultural implement of the Negritos is a pointed stick hardened in the fire. To prepare the ground for cultivation, on the s.p.a.ce they wish to clear they girdle the trees, which will soon die.

They are then set on fire and the ashes distributed over the soil.

Later, holes are made with the pointed sticks, and _camotes_, sugar-cane and tobacco are planted.

These people are very timid, and if their suspicions are aroused in the slightest manner, they immediately disappear into the forest. Very little success has attended any effort to civilize them. Their religion is nature wors.h.i.+p with many local divinities and good and bad spirits of all sorts.

They ornament their bodies with scar patterns, made by cutting the skin with sharp pieces of bamboo and then rubbing dirt into the wounds. In this respect they are like no other tribes in the Islands but resemble the most primitive of the native Africans, who also make scar patterns.

The men often shave the crowns of their heads in order, they say, ”to let the heat out.” The Negritos, like the Bagobos of the south, sometimes point their front teeth, but not by filing them as one might suppose. They are chopped off with a bolo.

Worcester says the Negritos ”believe that each family must take at least one head per year or suffer misfortune in the form of sickness, wounds, starvation or death.” Heads are buried in the ground under the ”houses”

of the men who take them.

In regard to the Tingians of northern Luzon I also quote from Worcester, who has given us the most reliable account of them:

”The women of this tribe ornament their arms with a series of bracelets and armlets, which often extend from wrist to shoulder. They constrict the middle of the forearm during early girlhood and continue to wear tight armlets on the constricted portion throughout life, so that their forearms become somewhat hourgla.s.s-shaped, this being considered a mark of great beauty in spite of the unsightly swelling of the wrists which results....

”Their cooking utensils are taken to the river and scrubbed with sand after every meal. If a wife offers her husband dirty or soggy rice to eat, the offense is said to afford ground for divorce....

”When a man dies, whether his death be natural or due to violence, the other members of his family repair by night to some village of their enemies, cut pieces from their turbans, and throw them down on the ground. This is interpreted as an intimation that they will return and take heads sometime within six months, and they believe that the dead man knows no peace until this is done.”

The Ilongots, who live in the province of Nueva Viscaya, are especially wild and great head-hunters. They are striking figures in their deerskin rain-coats. No young man can take to himself a bride until he has brought back a head to prove his prowess. The favourite time for these gruesome excursions of the tribe is when the blossoms of the fire tree show their red beacons on the mountain sides. As an especial mark of beauty and valour, because a good deal of pain has to be endured in the process, the men cut off the upper front teeth on a line with the gums.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ILONGOT IN RAIN-COAT AND HAT OF DEERSKIN.]

Woe betide the man who rides a white horse into the Ilongot country, for above all things white hair is desired, and unless he stands guard over it, he will find its mane missing and its tail cropped to the skin.

Most of the mountain people still retain their ancient myths and traditions. Even among these Ilongots there are tales of the long ago when they came across a ”great water” to their present abode. This, of course, merely explains the general migration of the Malay tribes. By the way, this Malay migration is still in progress, and is exemplified by the Samal boatmen who come from Borneo and further south in Malaysia to the southern Philippines.

All the wild people have customs of their own, which distinguish them, especially the manner in which they cut their hair and wear their loin cloths. They have slightly different methods of fighting, some fighting singly with a kind of sword, others in pairs with spears and arrows, while the sword is used only to decapitate the fallen enemy. Others display considerable ability in organization and operate large bands, under especially designated chiefs. All are very fond of dancing and have different dances to represent war, love and the chase.

They have their own explanations for everything, and their stories about the creation of the various birds and animals are quite interesting and not unlike those found among some tribes of aborigines in North America.

One of them relates that one day the Creator was making the different birds. Before him lay bodies, wings, necks, heads and feet. He would begin with the body and build it up with appropriate parts, so that it could apply itself to the purpose for which it was intended. In every case, the Creator was particular not to put on the wings before the bird was complete, for fear that it would take flight in an imperfect condition. One day while he was engaged in making an especially fine specimen of the feathered world, the evil spirit approached and engaged the Good Spirit in conversation. Ordinarily he would have attacked the Evil One and quickly put him to flight, but as the bird was nearly finished and already imbued with the spark of life he wished to complete him. But the Creator's anger that the Evil One should overlook his work, became so great that, without thinking, he put on the wings before the legs had been fitted. Instantly the bird flew off. In haste the Creator grabbed the first pair of legs he could lay his hands on and threw them at it. They attached themselves exactly where they struck the bird, near the tail. This is the reason, so the story goes, that the loon's legs are so far back that he cannot walk in an upright position on land. His peculiarly sad cry is a lament because he must stay in the water practically all the time and cannot enjoy himself on land as other good birds do.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ILONGOTS RETURNING FROM THE CHASE.]

Many of the people who live along the foot of the mountain ranges, although Christianized sufficiently to contribute to the Roman Catholic churches, still retain many of their aboriginal customs, especially those pertaining to marriage, birth and death.

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