CHAPTER XII 



INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES 

 DIVISION OF LABOR 



It is to be expected that among a people whose women have been obtained practically by pur- 

 chase the burden of work will fall on the woman. The Manobo man, however, at times performs 

 an amount of heavy, hard work that makes the division somewhat equitable. 



MALE ACTIVITIES 



House building, hunting, fishing, and trapping fall to the lot of the man. When the rice- 

 planting season is at hand, he fells the trees and does the heavier work of clearing. An occasional 

 war raid or an occasional visit to some distant settlement for trading purposes may impose 

 upon him a few days of hard travel. Outside of these occupations his work is comparatively 

 light. He attends to his weapons, makes such objects of wood or of bamboo as may be needed, 

 and decorates them after his style. He splits the rattan and does nearly all the plait work in 

 basket making. All the necessary implements for fishing, hunting, and trapping are made by 

 him, with the exception of steel weapons. He strips the dbdkd for the family clothes and pro- 

 cures the dye plants. In certain districts he is the miner and in others he is the boat builder, 

 and in all districts he conducts trading transactions. 



FEMALE ACTIVITIES 



The Manobo woman certainly has her share of work. She does all the dyeing, weaving, 

 and tailoring, besides attending to the various household duties of providing fuel, food, and water. 

 These latter occupations impose upon her at least one trip daily to the camote field, and several 

 to the watering place, which in the mountainous districts is ordinarily at a considerable distance 

 down steep and rugged trails. She attends to the children and cares for the sick, and day after 

 day dries, pounds, winnows and cooks the rice. When her helpmate has felled the trees for the 

 new farm, she does the looping, fighter clearing, burning, sowing, weeding, tilling, and harvest- 

 ing. In her spare moments she makes mats, rice bags, and earthen vessels, braids an occasional 

 armlet, does the beadwork, and a thousand and one little things according to the exigency of the 

 moment or the requirements of her spouse. 



MALE INDUSTRIES IN DETAIL 



The various operations of fishing, hunting, trapping, house building, agriculture, and 

 trading have been already described so that there remain to be considered only boat building, 

 mining, and plait work. 



BOAT BUILDING 



The art of boat building is known only to Man6bos who have been in contact with Banuaons, 

 so that one would be led to think that the art is of Banuaon origin. It is confined practically 

 to the Kasilaian, Libang, Maasam, Ohut, and Wa-wa Rivers, though one finds a boat builder 

 here and there on the Hlbung River and on the Simulau River, but only an occasional one, if 

 any, on the Argawan, Umaiam, Ihawan, and upper Agiisan. 



The boat is a dugout usually made of magasind', Tcaldntas, or some light durable wood. 

 The tree is selected, hewed down with the simple ax, and by dint of hard chopping hollowed out 

 and shaped. In this way are made nearly all the skiffs, canoes, and boats that ply up the net- 

 work of rivers in the Agusan Valley. It is not uncommon to see a banca, or large boat, 10 meters 



long by 1 meter beam. 



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