88 The Philippine Journal of Science wu 



They accounted for the tide by saying that in a far-distant sea there 

 lived a gigantic crab: when he went into his hole the water was forced 

 out, and the tide rose; when he came out the water rushed in, and the tide 

 fell. The thing was simplicity itself. 



I asked them why the monkey looked so much like a man. They said 

 because he was once a man, who was very lazy when he should have been 

 planting rice. Vexed at his indolence, a companion threw a stick at him 

 which stuck into him; whereupon he assumed his present form, the stick 

 forming his tail. 



From the foregoing, it is evident that the Tagbanwa beliefs 

 are not highly developed. However, several items are of interest 

 for comparison with the beliefs of the more cultured tribes to 

 be later described. Of these items, those most to be kept in 

 mind are the idea of a seven-storied underworld, and the name 

 of the chief deity of that underworld, Taliakud. This name 

 comes from the stem tdkud, tukud, or tokod, which is common to 

 many Philippine dialects and means "post" or "support." It is__ 

 generally applied to the four legs or posts of the common Phil- 

 ippine house. Now, the belief in an Atlas, or god who supports 

 the earth world, is widespread in the Philippines, and the name 

 applied to this god is nearly always derived from this same stem 

 tukud. The Ifugao Atlas is Tiniikud of the underworld, and I 

 suspect that the Tagbanwa Taliakud of the underworld is a deity 

 of the same character. 



BELIEFS OF THE PAGAN TRIBES OF MINDANAO 



The interior of Mindanao is occupied by some ten pagan tribes, 

 the most important being the Manobos, Mandayas, Atas, Ba- 

 gobos, Bilans, Tirurais, and Subanuns. These tribes are all 

 remarkably alike in culture; much more so, in fact, than any 

 other similar group of peoples in the Philippines; and this 

 culture shows a close resemblance to that of the tribes in the 

 interior of Borneo. In the development of their myths and of 

 their religious beliefs, these peoples occupy a middle position 

 between the more primitive and the highest developed types of 

 the Philippines. John M. Garvan has recently completed a very 

 extensive study of the Manobo peoples of the Agusan Valley, in 

 eastern Mindanao, and the following beliefs and mjiihs are 

 quoted from his unpublished notes. 



ORIGIN OF THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS 



The story of the creation of the world is variable throughout the whole 

 Agusan Valley. In the district surrounding Talakogon, the creation is 

 attributed to MakaliduiTg, the first great Manobo. The details of his great 

 work are very meager. He set it up on posts (some say iron posts) with 

 one in the center. At the central post he has his abode, in company with 



