Part 12

The writer did no intensive work with them, and the following notes make no pretense of being first-hand knowledge. I have drawn on all possible sources for this scanty information, but am mostly indebted to the letters and reports of the late Governor Bolton, who, without doubt, knew more of this people than any other white man.

I am thus compelled to make my descriptions vague; indeed, my one excuse for dealing with the Ata is to bring together such information as we possess in the hope that it may be of value to some other worker who may later take up the task of studying this little known people.

According to Governor Bolton, the Ata inhabit the regions west and northwest of Mt. Apo, the headwaters of the Davao river--north and west of the Guianga--as well as the headwaters of the Lasan, Tuganay, and Libagawan rivers. In all these regions they extend over the watershed, converging toward the center of the island at the headwaters of the Pulangi river.

It should be noted at the outset that the Eto or Ata, living between the Guianga and Bagobo, should not be included in this division.

In the region about Mt. Apo they are closely allied to the Obo and Tigdapaya,[95] while in the region adjoining the Guianga they have intermarried with that people and have adopted many of their customs as well as dress. On the headwaters of the Lasan river we are told that they are known as Dugbatang or Dugbatung; that they are a timid degenerate branch having no fixed habitations and very little clothing; they are small, with crispy hair, and often decorate their bodies with tattooed designs. About twenty miles up the Tuganay river Governor Bolton encountered a similar group of Ata whom he describes as being very wild. From the headwaters of this river he crossed over near to the source of the river Libagawan where he discovered a hitherto unknown people--the Tugauanum. These he believed were mixed Malay and Negrito, with crispy or curly hair and sharp features.

[95] See p. 128.

While in the central part of Mindanao, on the headwaters of the Pulangi river, the writer saw about fifty people known as Tugauanum who came over the mountains to trade. They were certainly of mixed ancestry, showing a distinct infusion of Negrito blood, and in other respects conforming to the description of Governor Bolton. Among articles of barter carried by them were the typical knives and hemp cloth of the west side of the Davao gulf region, showing that they are at least in the line of trade with the tribes we have already studied.

According to their own stories, the original home of the tribe was along the river Mapula which flows into the Tuganay near its source. Governor Bolton tells of hearing, while in this section, of a people called Dedaanum "who were small and black and had curly hair," but who had all been killed by the Tugauanum. He was also informed that a numerous tribe of very small black people called Tugniah lived on the headwaters of the river Omiern, which flows north of the Libagawan. They were said to live in trees, to plant nothing, and to subsist on sago flour. "Their bolos are like sabers and they use lances, bows, and arrows."

The Governor classes the Tugauanum as Ata "since they speak the same language" but he adds "they are probably the same race as the Libabaoan." This latter people are elsewhere in his notes referred to as Guibabauon or Dibabaoan. They live along the headwaters of the Tagum river and are, he believes, a mixture of Ata and Mandaya.[96]

[96] The writer believes that the Libabaoan are probably the same as the Divavaoan who are classed as a branch of the Mandaya. See p. 165.

From one source we learn that the Ata are small, in many respects resembling the Negrito; that they are timid and are either nomads or build their houses high in the branches of trees. Another writer tells us that they are a superior type, with aquiline noses, thick beards, and are tall. "They are very brave and hold their own with the Moro." We are also told that they cultivate the soil and build good houses.

The estimates concerning their numbers are equally conflicting. Governor Bolton gives the population as six thousand; the report of the Philippine Commission for 1900 credits them with eight thousand, while Father Gisbert believed that they aggregated "not less than twenty thousand souls."

The divergent reports are due to the fact that up to the year 1886 only one village of this people had been visited,[97] and since that time only a few hasty trips have been made into their territory.

[97] BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol. XLIII, pp. 242-3.

From our present information it seems probable that the Ata are descendants of an early invading people who intermarried first with the early Negrito inhabitants, and later with other tribes with which they came in contact. They have been free borrowers from their neighbors in all respects, and hence we find them occupying all the steps from the nomad condition of the pygmy blacks to the highly specialized life of the Guianga.

The following account of their beliefs was extracted from letters written by Governor Bolton. He fails to designate the section from which the information was gathered, but its similarity to Bagobo and Guianga makes it probable that the account comes from the Ata dwelling near those people. Considerable variation will doubtless be found in other districts.

"The greatest of all the spirits is Manama[98] who made the first men from blades of grass, weaving them together until they resembled a human form. In this manner he made eight persons--male and female--who later became the ancestors of the Ata and all the neighboring tribes. Long after this the water covered the whole earth and all the Ata were drowned except two men and a woman. The waters carried them far away and they would have perished had not a large eagle come to their aid. This bird offered to carry them to their homes on its back. One man refused, but the other two accepted its help and returned to Mapula.

[98] See page 106.

"The other deities are Mandarangan, Malalayug, god of agriculture; Mabalian, the spirit who presides over childbirth; Tarasyub and Taratuan, the guardian spirits of the brass and iron workers; Boypandi--the spirit who guards over the weavers."

While in the Ata country the Governor observed certain customs of the people. As his party approached the palisaded house of Madundun they stopped for twenty minutes to perform a ceremony called _anting-anting_. "An old man waved his shield and a cloth, meanwhile repeating mysterious words. Then each man was given a chew of betel-nut and was well rubbed with a charm." "At Tuli a swarm of bees passed over the house just as the party was ready to start. This was taken as a sign that some of the party would be killed by the arrows of the enemy, hence they refused to go." "Likewise, if the dove _limokan_ calls on the left side of the trail the party will refuse to proceed, unless another _limokan_ answers the call from the right side of the path."

VI. MANDAYA.

("Inhabitants of the Uplands").

SYNONYMS.

(a) MANSAKA ("Inhabitants of the mountain clearings"). This name is applied to those Mandaya who formerly dwelt far back in the mountains. Many of this division have recently emigrated to the coast and are now found at the north and east part of Davao Gulf.

(b) PAGSUPAN. The appellation by which the members of this tribe, living near the Tagum and Hijo rivers, are known.

(c) MANGWANGA or MANGRANGAN ("Dwellers in the forests"). A name by which are designated those Mandaya who live in the heavily forested mountains skirting the coast.

(d) MANAGOSAN or MAGOSAN. The members of the tribe living on the headwaters of the Agusan river bear this name.

(e) DIVAVAOAN. A division which inhabits a small district to the south and west of Compostela. Very little is known of this people, but from the information now at hand it seems that they should be classed as a branch of the Mandaya.

HABITAT.

This tribe occupies both slopes of the mountain range which borders the Pacific ocean, from about 9 degrees of North latitude south nearly to Cape San Agustin. Its members are also found in considerable numbers from the head of the Agusan drainage nearly to the town of Compostela, and several settlements of this people are to be found along the Hijo and Tagum rivers, while in recent years a number have established themselves on the eastern side of Davao Gulf.

Generally speaking, this whole region is extremely mountainous and at the same time heavily wooded. It is only when the Agusan, Hijo, and Tagum rivers are approached that the country becomes more open. On the Pacific coast there are few harbors, for the mountains extend down almost to the water's edge forming high sheer cliffs. Aside from the three rivers mentioned the water courses are, for the greater part, small and unnavigable and a short distance back from the coast appear as tiny rivulets at the bottom of deep cañons.

There is no organization of the tribe as a whole, since each district has its local ruler who is subject to no other authority. These divisions I are seldom on good terms, and are frequently in open warfare with one another or with neighboring tribes.

Despite this lack of unity and the great area they inhabit, their dialects are mutually intelligible, and in other respects they are so similar that I believe we are justified in regarding them as one group linguistically, physically, and culturally.

DESCRIPTION.

Measurements made on fifteen men and five women gave the following results:

Height--Men: Maximum 161.3 cm., minimum 145.1 cm., average 153.9 cm.

Women: Maximum 152.3 cm., minimum 144.1 cm., average 146.8 cm.

Cephalic index--Men: Maximum 89.1, minimum 76.3, average 84.6.

Women: Maximum 84.8, minimum 75.2, average 81.3.

Length-height index--Men: maximum 78.7, minimum 64.5, average 74.2.

Women: Maximum 81.8, minimum 75.0, average 77.4.

From these figures it appears that there is considerable variation between individuals, but a closer study of the charts shows that the majority of those measured come closer to the averages than do the members of any other group here mentioned (Plates LXIV-LXIX).

Both sexes wear the hair long and comb it to a knot at the back of the head. The women generally bang the hair over the forehead, while the men allow a lock to fall in front of each ear. The hair is brown-black and generally slightly wavy, although four individuals with straight hair were seen.

The forehead is high, and in about half the persons observed somewhat retreating; however, full, vaulted foreheads are by no means uncommon. The distance from the vertex to the tragus is uniformly great.

The cheek bones are quite prominent, while the whole face tapers from above so as to be somewhat angular. In twenty per cent of the men the root of the nose seemed to be continuous with the supra-orbital ridge, which, in such cases, was strongly marked. In general the root of the nose is broad, low, and depressed, and there is a tendency for the ridge to be somewhat concave. The lips are thick and bowed, but there is little or no prognathism.

The skin of the body is not tattooed or mutilated in any other way, but the eyebrows are often shaved to a thin line, and the teeth are filed and blackened. Filing was formerly done with small stones but imported files are now used for this purpose. The coloring is effected by chewing the roots of the _anmon_ vine and applying to the teeth the "sweat" caught on a steel blade, held above burning bark of the _magawan_ tree. This practice seems to have no significance other than that of beautifying the person and saving the youth from the ridicule of his fellows. To keep the teeth black, tobacco treated with lemon juice which has stood on rusty iron is chewed frequently.

Despite constant statements to the effect that the members of this tribe are light-colored and the assertion of one writer[99] that at least one division is white, observations made with the V. Luschan color table on more than fifty individuals showed that while certain persons are somewhat lighter than their fellows, as was also the case in other tribes, there is not an appreciable difference in color between this tribe and the others of the Gulf region.

[99] LANDOR, The Gems of the East. It should be noted that the district from which the white tribe was reported is now fairly well known and there seems to be no reason to believe that the people residing there differ materially in color from the other natives of the island.

CLOTHING.

The ordinary man of the tribe wears a loosely fitting shirt and wide trousers made of white or blue cotton cloth. (Plate LXIX-LXX). These garments are frequently decorated with embroidered designs and are finished at the shoulders and knees with a cotton fringe. The trousers are supported at the waist by means of a belt, and below reach nearly to the ankles.[100] An incised silver disk is attached to the front of the jacket, while ornaments of beads, seeds, and alligators' teeth encircle the neck.

[100] Along the coast this type of garment is now seldom seen, for the men are adopting the close-fitting dress of the Moro.

When on the trail the man covers his head with a little palm bark hat (Fig. 47). This is sometimes conical, but more frequently is narrow and turned up at the front and back. Painted designs, betel wings, and chicken feathers make the hat a striking decoration which compensates for its lack of utility.

FIG. 47. MEN'S HATS.

A class of warriors known as _bagam_[101] dress in red and wear turbans of the same hue, while women mediums, _ballyan_,[102] may also make use of red cloth.

[101] See p. 180. [Transcriber's note: This is page 167.]

[102] See p. 174.

Other women wear blue cotton jackets, in the fronts and back of which are many artistic embroidered designs. Their hemp cloth skirts, like those of the Bagobo, are made tube-like and are held at the waist by means of belts. They are very careless about the hang of these garments and one side may be above the calf of the leg while the other drags on the ground (Plate LXVII). No head coverings are worn, but quite elaborate combs (Fig. 48) are thrust into the knots of hair at the back of the head. Wooden ear plugs (Fig. 49) ornamented with incised silver plates and with bead and silver pendants fit into openings in the lobes of the ears. Like the men they wear necklaces of beads, sweet smelling herbs, and seeds. Many of the latter are considered to have medicinal value and are eaten to cure pains in the stomach. One or more silver disks are worn on the chest or over the breasts, while anklets, such as are used by the women of the other tribes, are frequently seen. Both sexes are fond of bracelets of brass, shell, or vines, as well as of finger rings of tortoise shell and silver (Plate LXXI).

FIG. 48. WOMAN'S COMB.

FIG. 49. FAR PLUGS WITH BELL PENDANTS.

None of the garments contain pockets, and in order to make up for this deficiency the men carry bags (Plate LXX) suspended on their backs by means of bands which pass over the shoulders. In these they carry their betel-nut outfits, tobacco, and the like. Small covered waterproof baskets (Plate LXVIII) serve the same purpose for the women and are carried at the back or at the side.

HISTORY.

Probably no wild tribe in Mindanao has received so much mention in histories, reports, and books of travel as have the Mandaya, but these references have been, in the main, so vague and often so misleading that they are of little value for our purposes. Quite in contrast with this mass of material are the excellent reports of the late Governor Bolton, and Mr. Melbourne A. Maxey,[103] who for a number of years has been closely associated with the members of the tribe residing in the vicinity of Cateel. In the preparation of this paper frequent use has been made of the notes gathered by these two gentlemen.

[103] Published in the Mindanao Herald.

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.[104] At the same time it was learned that they, in turn, were slave holders and were eager to purchase captives from the Mohammedan raiders. The great distances traveled by the Moro in their raids make it possible that slaves from distant islands may thus have been introduced into the tribe. Later we shall see that it was difficult for a slave or a descendant of a slave to become a freeman, yet it was by no means impossible, and it is likely that a considerable part of the tribe are descendants of people brought to the district through purchase and capture. Another possible source of outside blood is suggested by well verified stories of castaways on the east coast of Mindanao and adjacent islands.[105] While working with the Mandaya in the region of Mayo bay the writer was frequently told that three times, in the memory of the present inhabitants, strange boats filled with strange people had been driven to their coasts by storms. The informants insisted that these newcomers were not put to death but that such of them as survived were taken into the tribe. These stories are given strong substantiation by the fact that only a few months prior to my visit a boat load of people from the Carolines was driven to the shores of Mayo bay and that their boat, as well as one survivor, was then at the village of Mali. (Plate LXXII). I am indebted to Mr. Henry Hubbel for the following explicit account of these castaways: "One native banca of castaways arrived at Lucatan, N. E. corner of Mayo Bay, Mindanao, on January 2nd, 1909. The banca left the Island of Uluthi for the Island of Yap, two days' journey, on December 10th, 1908. They were blown out of their course and never sighted land until January 2nd, twenty-two days after setting sail. There were nine persons aboard, six men, two boys, and one woman, all natives of Yap except one man who was a Visayan from Capiz, Panay, P. I., who settled on the Island of Yap in 1889. These people were nineteen days without food or water except what water could be caught during rain storms. The Visayan, Victor Valenamo, died soon after his arrival, as a result of starvation. The natives recovered at once and all traces of their starvation disappeared within two weeks. The men were powerfully built, nearly six feet high. Their bodies were all covered with tattoo work. The woman was decorated even more than the men. Fever soon took hold of these castaways and in a year's time all died except one small boy who seems to have become acclimated and will become identified with the natives in Mati. I took care of these people until they died.

[104] BLAIR and ROBERTSON. The Philippine Islands, Vol. XLIII, p. 203.

[105] FOREMAN. The Philippine Islands, pp. 257-9. JAGOR. Travels in the Philippines, Ch. XX.

"The clothing worn by the men and woman was nothing but the 'lavalava,' a scarf of sea-grass fiber about 18 inches wide and five feet long. This was worn around the loins.

"The banca, which was of very curious construction, was taken to Zamboanga last year by General Pershing, to be placed in Moro Province Museum."

After the advent of the Spaniards into their territory a considerable number of this people were converted to the Christian faith and were induced to settle in villages. There they met and intermarried with Visayan and other emigrants who had followed the Spaniards to the South. During the time of the Spanish rule these settlements were partially destroyed by Moro raiders, and following the Spanish-American war these attacks became so frequent that many of the inhabitants deserted their homes and returning to their mountain kinsmen again took up the old life. The effect of this return is especially noticeable in the vicinity of Caraga where as late as 1885 there were 596 Mandaya converts.

Several attempts were also made to colonize the Mandaya near the mouths of the Tagum and Hijo rivers, but the restlessness of the natives or the hostility of the Moro was always sufficient to cause the early break up of the new settlements.

The last great influence on this tribe has come through American planters who have prevailed upon the more venturesome members to come down to the coast plantations and there adopt the life of the Christianized natives. Many of these adventurers have returned to their mountain homes, carrying with them new ideas and artifacts and, in some cases, wives from other tribes. With all these influences at work there has been considerable modification of the life in many districts, particularly along the Pacific coast. This description will attempt to give the old life of the tribe as it still exists in the more isolated districts, or as it was related by older people of the coast settlements.

MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION.

In order to enter into a full understanding of the social, economic, and aesthetic life we must have some knowledge of the mythology and religious beliefs, for these pervade every activity.

Several stories accounting for natural phenomena and the origin of the tribe were heard. One of these relates that the sun and moon were married and lived happily together until many children had been born to them. At last they quarreled and the moon ran away from her husband who has since been pursuing her through the heavens. After the separation of their parents the children died, and the moon gathering up their bodies cut them into small pieces and threw them into space. Those fragments which fell into water became fish, those which fell on land were converted into snakes and animals, while "those which fell upward" remained in the sky as stars.

A somewhat different version of this tale agrees that the quarrel and subsequent chase occurred, but denies that the children died and were cut up. It states that it is true that the offspring were animals, but they were so from the time of their birth. One of these children is a giant crab named _tambanokaua_ who lives in the sea. When he moves about he causes the tides and high waves; when he opens his eyes lightning appears. For some unknown reason this animal frequently seeks to devour his mother, the moon, and when he nearly succeeds an eclipse occurs. At such a time the people shout, beat on gongs, and in other ways try to frighten the monster so that he can not accomplish his purpose.[106] The phases of the moon are caused by her putting on or taking off her garments. When the moon is full she is thought to be entirely naked.

[106] The writer found almost identical beliefs and practices among the Batak and Tagbanua of Palawan.

According to this tale the stars had quite a different origin than that just related, "In the beginning of things there was only one great star, who was like a man in appearance. He sought to usurp the place of of the sun and the result was a conflict in which the latter was victorious. He cut his rival into small bits and scattered him over the whole sky as a woman sows rice."

The earth was once entirely flat but was pressed up into mountains by a mythical woman, Agusanan. It has always rested on the back of a great eel whose movements cause earthquakes. Sometimes crabs or other small animals annoy him until, in his rage, he attempts to reach them, then the earth is shaken so violently that whole mountains are thrown into the sea.

A great lake exists in the sky and it is the spray from its waves which fall to the earth as rain. When angered the spirits sometimes break the banks of this lake and allow torrents of water to fall on the earth below.