ORIGIN MYTHS AMONG THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLES OF THE 



PHILIPPINES^ 



By H. Otley Beyer 

 (From the Division of Ethnology, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I.) 



Four plates 



Beliefs as to the origin of the earth, and of the men, animals, 

 plants, and various topographical features found in it, seem 

 to survive with greater persistence than any other trait of 

 primitive culture. These beliefs lie at the base of nearly all 

 religions, and the myths in which the beliefs are preserved are 

 the foundation of literature. The preservation and study of 

 origin myths is, therefore, of much importance in the recon- 

 struction of the history of mankind which is the chief aim of 

 anthropology. 



The peoples of the Philippines have a rich and varied myth- 

 ology as yet but little explored, but which will one day command 

 much attention. Among the Christianized peoples of the plains 

 the myths are preserved chiefly as folk tales, but in the moun- 

 tains their recitation and preservation is a real and living part 

 of the daily religious life of the people. Very few of these 

 myths are written; the great majority of them are preserved 

 by oral tradition only. 



Until recent years, it has been believed that all ancient records 

 written in the syllabic alphabets which the Filipinos possessed 

 at the time of the Spanish conquest had been lost. It is now 

 known, however, that two of these alphabets are still in use, to 

 a limited extent, by the wild peoples of Palawan and Mindoro; 

 and ancient manuscripts written in the old Bisaya alphabet 

 have been lately discovered in a cave in the Island of Negros. 

 Many of these Negros manuscripts are written myths, and trans- 

 lations of them are shortly to be published. The Bisaya peoples, 

 in general, have preserved their old pagan beliefs to a greater 

 extent than have the other Christian Filipinos, and it is to be 



* Read before The Philippine Academy, October 2, 1912. The paper 

 is intended as an introduction to a series of more complete studies in 

 Philippine mythology and religion. 



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