academy of scmNc™] SURV EY OF MATERIAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL CULTURE 19 



MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE 



The Man6bo makes his living by farming, fishing, hunting, and trapping. He clears a 

 patch of the primeval forest, and his womenfolk clean off the brush, sow broadcast a little rice, 

 plant camotes, some taro, maize, and sugarcane. As the rice crop seldom is sufficient for the 

 sustenance of his household, the Manobo must rely also on the camote for his maintenance. 



He obtains his supply of fish from the streams and rivers. When the water is deep and the 

 current is not strong, he shoots the fish with a special bow and arrow. When the water is shallow 

 and swift, he makes use of bamboo traps and at times poisons the whole stream. 



To provide himself with meat, he occasionally starts off into the forest with dogs and seldom 

 returns without a deer or a wild boar. He keeps several spring traps set somewhere in the forest 

 but it is only during the rainy season that he may be said to be successful with these. He has 

 a trap for monkeys, a snare for birds, a decoy for wild chickens, and uses his bow and arrow on 

 monkeys and birds. 



With the meat that he procures from the above sources, together with lizards and pythons 

 which he sometimes catches, and fungi, larvae, and palm trees, which he finds in the forest, he 

 manages to fill in the intervals between the ceremonial and the secular celebrations that recur 

 so frequently during the year, and to keep himself fairly well supplied. 



WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS 



The bolo and, in some districts, the dagger, is the inseparable companion of the Manobo. 

 On the trails he always carries a lance and frequently a shield. For war he has an abdkd coat 

 of mail and a bow and arrow. In time of alarm he sets out bamboo caltrops, makes an abatis 

 of fallen trees, and places human spring traps around his lofty house. 



For work he has a bolo and a primitive adze. These, with a rice header, a small knife, a 

 hunting spear, a special arrow for hunting, a fish spear, and perhaps a few fishhooks, serve all 

 the purposes of his primitive fife. With one or the other of these he fells the mighty trees of the 

 primordial forest, performs all the operations of agriculture, of hunting and fishing, builds him- 

 self a house, in certain districts hews out shapely canoes, whittles out handsome bolo sheaths, 

 and makes a variety of other necessary and often artistic articles. They are the sum total of 

 his tools and serve him instead of all the implements of modern civilization. 



INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES 



The burden of toil falls on the woman. The man fells the heavy timber once a year, builds 

 the house, hunts, fishes, traps, and fights. Practically all the rest of the daily labor is the 

 woman's share. The man is the master, and as such he attends to all matters that may arise 

 between his family and that of others. 



Besides the occupations mentioned above, the man may engage, usually under the stress of a 

 contract or of a debt, in canoe making, mining, and basket making. 



The women weave all the clothes of the family except when imported cloth has been ob- 

 tained. Most of the Man6bos' clothes, both for men and women, are made of native-woven 

 cloth. The woman does all the sewing. A needle of brass wire in the absence of an imported 

 needle, and a thread of dbdkd fiber, constitute her sewing outfit. 



Almost all the material employed in weaving is abakd fiber. The dyes are vegetable, their 

 fastness depending upon the duration of the boiling. The Manobo woman, unlike the Mandaya 

 women, and women of most other tribes in Mindanao, has never developed the art of inweaving 

 ornamental figures. The best she can do is to produce warp and weft stripes. 



The making of simple earthen pots is also one of the industries of the woman. Pots are not, 

 however, made in great quantities, the demand being, I think, a little greater than the supply. 



Bed mats and rice bags are made out of various materials such as pandanus and huri in the 

 ordinary Philippine style. The work is done principally by the woman and the supply is not 

 equal, as a rule, to the family needs. 



64858 0-41-3 



