Bagobo

“ Baloey, a Kagan living at Padada, claims to have seen a Bila-an sacrifice at Ma-al, about ten years ago, while Bagobo Datu Ansig of Talun, and Tongkaling of Cibolan claim to have witnessed several of these events. As their accounts agree in most particulars with the two just recorded, it seems probable that we have here a fairly accurate account of a rite which no white man has seen or can hope to see.
In studying the decorative art of this people a person encounters the same difficulties as with the Bagobo. ”

“ The Buso-Child
Datu Ayo was a great man among the Bagobo, well known throughout the mountain-country for his bravery and his riches. He had gathered in his house many products of Bagobo workmanship in textiles and brass and fine weapons. At his death, human sacrifices of slaves were offered up for him. It was not many years ago that he went down to the great city of the dead, and many of his children and grandchildren are living now. His sons like to think about their father's renown ”

“ The most important thing in the life of the Bagobo is the care of the rice, for on this crop he depends for the greater part of his food supply, and by its condition he can ascertain with what favor he is looked upon by the spirits. ”

“ Of these the most influential are the Bagobo who dwell on the lower slopes of Mt. Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines. They are very industrious, forging excellent knives, casting fine articles in brass, and weaving beautiful hemp cloth which they make into elaborate garments decorated with beads and shell disks.
The men are great warriors, each gaining distinction among his people according to the number of human lives he has taken. A number of them dress in dark red suits and peculiar headbands which they are permitted to wear only after they have taken six lives. ”

“ The workers in the various crafts are under the guidance and protection of special spirits, but there is no bar against other members of the tribe entering those professions.
Apparently then, Bagobo society is divided into several classes or divisions, but with the exception of a few individuals in the slave class, there is a possibility or an opportunity for each member of the tribe to enter any class open to his or her sex. Even a slave woman may become the wife of a datu, and her son may assume the leadership of the tribe. ”

“ There seems to be no trace of clan or totemic grouping among the Bagobo. Blood relationship is traced as far as the second cousin and is a bar to marriage. The suggestion that a man might marry his mother-in-law was received with horror, but whether this was due to local mother-in-law stories or to an idea of relationship could not be ascertained. However, a man may marry the sister of his wife.
Each district has its head man, or petty datu who is supposed to be subject to the datu of Cibolan. ”

“ While in Malilla the writer met with a party of thirty Bila-an traders who lived three days' march to the east. The influence of capture, intermarriage, and looting, in carrying the artifacts of one tribe into the territory of another has previously been mentioned.
WARFARE.
The offensive weapons used by the Bagobo are spears, knives (Fig. 15 and Plate XXXII) , and at times bows and arrows (Fig. 17) . For defense they carry shields, either round or oblong (Figs. 31-32) , and cover the body with so many strips of hemp cloth that a knife thrust is warded off. ”

“ Warriors [141n] who have taken thirty human lives are permitted to wear a peculiar crown-shaped headdress with upstanding points.
11 See note 1, p. 23.
12 This is a good example of the way in which people at a certain stage try to account for their surroundings. Nearly all consider themselves the original people. We find the Bagobo no exception to this. In this tale, which is evidently very old, they account for themselves and their neighbors, and then, to meet present needs, they adapt the story to include the white people whom they have known for not more than two hundred years. ”

“ The greatest of all Bagobo ceremonies—the GinEm—may be given by the datu within three or four months after the appearance of the constellation Balatik, when the moon is new or full. Its object is to thank the spirits for success in war or domestic affairs, to ward off sickness and other dangers, to drive away the buso, and finally to so gratify the spirits that they will be pleased to increase the wealth of all the people. Datu Tongkaling expressed a belief that this ceremony is in a way related to the rice harvest, "for it is always made when there is plenty of rice in the granaries." ”

“ In the ornamentation of their garments certain groups have specialized until the bead work of the Bagobo excels all such work found in the Philippines. The same can be said of the intricate and beautifully embroidered designs seen in the garments of the Bila-an or the oversewed fabrics of the Kulaman, while the crudely embroidered patterns of the Mandaya are wonderfully effective. ”

“ He looks after the welfare of the bagani, or warriors, and is in many respects similar to Mandarangan of the Bagobo. [117] He is described as a gigantic man who always shows his teeth and is otherwise of ferocious aspect. A warrior seeing him is at once filled with a desire to kill. By making occasional offerings of pigs and rice it is usually possible to keep him from doing injury to a settlement, but at times these gifts fail of their purpose and many people are slain by those who serve him. ”

“ There seems never to have been a time when this tribe was organized under a single leader as was the case with the Bagobo. Each district is so isolated from the others and the population so scattering that any such development has been barred, and hence the people of each river valley or highland plain have their local ruler. The power of this ruler is real only so far as his personal influence can make it so. He receives no pay for his services, but his position makes it possible for him to secure the help of his fellows when he is in need of workers or warriors. ”

“ Aside from the gimokod the Bagobo believe that there exists a great company of powerful spirits who make their homes in the sky above, in the space beneath the world, or in the sea, in streams, cliffs, mountains, or trees. The following is the list related by Datu Tongkaling, a number of mabalian, and others supposed to have special knowledge concerning these superior beings.
I. Eugpamolak Manobo, also called Manama and Kalayágan. The first and greatest of the spirits, and the creator of all that is. His home is in the sky from whence he can observe the doings of men. ”

“ Hostile raids against the neighboring Bila-an, Tagakaolo, and Ata seem to have been common from the most ancient times. After the arrival of the Spaniards there were many minor conflicts with the Moro, and the tribal history takes note of several serious feuds between Bagobo villages. Single warriors, usually those desiring to become magani, sometimes enter hostile territory and there lie in wait for an opportunity to spear a passing foe. ”

“ Although Bagobo songs are often designated as men's songs and women's songs, in the case of the stories I have found as yet no monopoly by either sex of any special type. The ulit, however, is often told by a young woman just after she leaves the loom, when darkness drops. She sits on the floor, or lies on her back with hands clasped behind her head, and pours out her story in an unbroken flow to the eager young men and girls who gather to listen. ”

“ Mr. Gohn, a planter of Santa Cruz who has witnessed a number of these ceremonies, says that with the Bagobo of that place it was customary for the datu to baptize the women prior to the day of GinEm. On the second day, a mabalian provided a long palm leaf, and a number of betel nut buds which, she said, represented streams, rivers, tribes, and individuals. Taking up a bud she swung the palm leaf above it, chanting meanwhile, and, as she finished, handed it to the datu who opened it and read the signs sent by the spirits. At the conclusion of this act, all the women went to the river to bathe. ”

“ Taking the Bagobo as a starting point, we find a highly developed culture which, with a few minor changes, holds good for the tribes immediately surrounding. These in turn differ little from their neighbors, although from time to time some new forms appear. The Cibolan type of dwelling, with its raised platform at one end and box-like enclosures along the side walls, is met with until the Mandaya territory is approached, while, with little variation, the house furnishings and utensils in daily use are the same throughout the District. ”

“ When the first white men visited the tribe they found that the neighboring Moro were making frequent raids on their villages and were carrying away women and children whom they sold to the Bagobo and other tribes of the Gulf. ”

“ There is some variance, in different parts of the Bagobo area, in the beliefs concerning the spirits or souls of a man. In Cibolan each man and woman is supposed to have eight spirits or gimokod, which dwell in the head, the right and left hands and feet, and other parts not specified. ”

“ The Bagobo, also in the Gulf of Davao, claim they came to their present home in a few boats generations ago. They purposely left their former land to flee from head-hunting, a practice in Page 19their earlier home, but one they do not follow in Mindanao. What per cent of the people coming originally to the Archipelago was castaway, nomadic, or immigrant it is impossible to judge, but there have doubtless also been many systematic and prolonged migrations from nearby lands, as from Borneo, Celebes, Sangir, etc. ”

“ At death these gimokod part, four from the right side of the body, going up to a place called palakalángit, and four descending to a region known as karonaronawan.These places differ in no respects from the present home of the Bagobo, except that in the region above it is always day, and all useful plants grow in abundance. In these places the gimokod are met by the spirits, Toglái and Tigyama, and by them are assigned to their future homes. If a man has been a datu on earth, his spirits have like rank in the other life, but go to the same place as those of common people. ”

“ Bamboo Jew's-harps and mouth flutes are played by the men, but the nose flute, so common in most parts of the Philippines, was not seen in use here.
The ceremonies and dances are so closely associated with every day affairs that in the description of the life of the people up to this point we have left only a few still to be discussed. These are, in the main, very similar throughout the Bagobo belt, but to avoid confusion the description here given of the two greatest events of the year—the GinEm ceremony and the human sacrifice—deals with Cibolan, unless expressly stated to the contrary. ”

“ Father Gisbert gives a short Bagobo genealogy. They have indulged in human sacrifice for many years. Human sacrifices prove, though it seems a paradox, a lucrative and real business, and [21] not only Bagobos, but Moros and others traffic in them. Various details of a human sacrifice are given. The fifth letter of December 24, relates the results of a visit to the island of Sámal. There the Moros of the Dávao district, afraid that the Christian conversion is about to prevail, machinate to keep control, and oppose missionary efforts. ”

“ The hardest work in the fields falls to the men; they also strip the hemp needed in weaving, while a few of them are skilled workers in brass and copper and turn out bells and other ornaments not at all inferior to those of the coast natives. Their methods of casting as well as their manufactures are identical with those of the Bagobo from whom they probably learned the art. So far as could be learned no iron work is done by members of this tribe, and the few spears and knives possessed by the warriors seem to be trade articles. ”

“ Summing up our present information we can say: first, that the Bagobo makes use of certain realistic designs which in some cases have become conventionalized but still retain their former significance; second, that the greater part of decoration in beads, shell disks, embroidery or applique, as well as the incised designs in lime boxes and the like, have no meaning to the people of the present day, and are added only to make the objects more beautiful in the eyes of the owners. In this work there are no set patterns and each artist gives full reign to the fancy in producing these figures. ”

“ The genealogy of the Bagobo rulers is traced back through ten generations. The first ruler of whom there is record was Salingolop, during whose reign, it seems, the Spaniards first came to the Philippines. According to the tale [4] "Salingolop was a man of great and prodigious force, and as tall as the Lauan, which is the tallest tree in these forests. He had three sons called Bato, Sipongos, and Calisquisan, and a daughter named Panugutan. When the Spaniards arrived at Manila, and found that there existed a man so tall and powerful, they sent a battalion of soldiers. ”

“ INFLUENCE OF NEIGHBORS:—HISTORY.
The influence of the neighboring tribes and of the white man on the Bagobo has been considerable. The desire for women, slaves, and loot, as well as the eagerness of individual warriors for distinction, has caused many hostile raids to be made against neighboring tribes. Similar motives have led others to attack them and thus there has been, through a long period, a certain exchange of blood, customs, and artifacts. Peaceful exchange of commodities has also been carried on for many years along the borders of their territory. ”