150 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. XII. 



against the hill tribes that the Tagakaolo were, for a time, partially 

 under their rule. 



When the Spaniards arrived and undertook to subdue the Moro, 

 the Kulaman cast their lot with their Mohammedan allies, and even 

 after the power of the Moro was broken, they remained irreconcilable and 

 frequently raided the settlements under the care of the Spanish priests. 



The recent history of the tribe, as told by Datu Bongkalasan of 

 Padada, as is follows : "About a hundred years ago when Gogo became 

 datu, he left Kulaman and settled at Piapi, not far from Padada, and 

 planted the cocoanut trees which can still be seen there. He was a 

 man with a very small head, but his arms were as large as a man's 

 legs. He lived until very old, and during his lifetime never did any 

 work but was always a great warrior. Under him the tribe became 

 strong and all the other datu 'feared him. When he died his son Kolatau 

 my uncle, succeeded him. Like his father, he was a great warrior and 

 all the neighboring tribes paid him slaves and other tribute. His 

 two sons died during his lifetime; so upon his death the leadership fell 

 to me, Bongkalasan." 



By the time Bongkalasan became ruler, the influence of the Span- 

 iards was strong enough to break the power of any coast datu, and after 

 a hostile demonstration by the new ruler his town was destroyed and 

 his following scattered. A part of the people took to the hills while 

 others migrated to the east side of the Gulf and settled near Sigaboy. 

 It is not believed that any members of this tribe were in that vicinity 

 prior to this time. A further migration took place shortly after the 

 arrival of the Americans, when a brother of Bongkalasan took a number 

 of the Kulaman over to Sigaboy. A certain amount of communication 

 is kept up between the people on both sides of the Gulf and the dialects 

 are still so similar that it is certain the separation has not been for any 

 great period of time. • 



Upon the establishment of American rule a number of hemp planters 

 settled along the coast and soon their inducements to laborers began 

 to scatter the people, until today members of this tribe can be found 

 as far north as Santa Cruz. The power and influence of the datu has 

 waned until he now has a following of less than two hundred people. 

 Only that portion of the tribe which retired to the hills still maintains 

 any semblance of their old prowess and even those groups are growing 

 smaller year by year. 



At the height of their power the men of the tribe were noted as boat- 

 builders 1 and fishermen. Fighting also took up a considerable portion 



1 This art is now practically lost and their boats are secured from the Moro. 



