NOX-CHRISTIAN PEOPLES OF PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



121' 



Agusan River in j\Iindanao ; also the val- 

 ley of the river Salug and the territory 

 between the headwaters of the Agusan 

 and the town of ]\Iati, on the Mindanao 

 east coast. 



Among them are to be seen many fine- 

 looking individuals, with almond-shaped 

 eyes and long, straight lashes, which give 

 them a peculiar appearance. Their skins 

 are light in color and are described by 

 the Jesuits as "ashy gray." Both men 

 and women commonly go fully clothed, 

 the men wearing embroidered cloth trou- 

 sers, with tasseled fringes at the bottoms 

 of the legs, and handsomely embroidered 

 shirts, while the w^omen are clothed in 

 elaborately embroidered long-sleeved up- 

 per garments and peculiar skirts woven 

 of hemp in color patterns which are said 

 to be produced by the manner of dyeing 

 the individual fibers rather than the 

 method of weaving them. A weaver who 

 knows how to produce more than one of 

 the several patterns is a great artist. 



The women often have their arms 

 loaded down Avith ornaments of brass 

 and shell. Their hair is banged squarely 

 across the forehead and worn in a knot 

 on the back of the head, and into this is 

 usually thrust a silver-mounted wooden 

 comb. Bead necklaces are commonly 

 worn. At the waist there hangs a huge 

 mass of ornaments and charms (see page 

 1171). 



Both men and women have long hair, 

 and frequently wear long "beau-catch- 

 ers" hanging down in front of their ears. 

 Their hats, Avith feather ornaments very 

 similar to those worn by the Ilongots, 

 are ingeniously fashioned from bark and 

 have two lateral strings so placed that 

 when they are pulled apart the bark is 

 bent; They are then placed against the 

 sides of the head, and as the bark springs 

 back into position the strings are tight- 

 ened and the hat is thus firmly fastened 

 on (see page 1170). 



The Mandayas use bows and arrows 

 with much skill. ' Their long, slender 

 shields, which are sometimes ornamented 

 with beads, remind one of the shields of 

 the Ilongots, as do their strong^, curved 

 fighting knives, the sheaths of which are 

 in size and form out of all proportion to 

 the blades they contain. 



SKiLivFuiv me:tal-worke;rs and jewi:IvKrs 



Some of the men are very skillful m 

 working metals. They ornament the 

 sheaths of knives with tastefully deco- 

 rated silver bands and even inlay steel 

 blades with silver. They hammer out 

 great circular plates of silver called pati- 

 nas and ornament them with engraved 

 marks arranged in geometric patterns. 

 They also work and temper steel with 

 much skill. 



Some of the Mandaya houses are fairly 

 well built wooden structures, roofed with 

 shingles made out of flattened bamboo. 

 Others are much more primitive and are 

 built in trees. 



The Mandayas have in the past been 

 inveterate fighters and slave takers. As 

 yet they have been only partially brought 

 under government control, and neither 

 inter-tribal warfare nor slave-taking 

 have been entirely checked. I once met 

 a man who was carrying, but not wear- 

 ing, the scarlet coat of a Bagani, or man 

 who has killed six persons. I asked him 

 if he was a Christian and he said he was. 

 I asked him if he was a Bagani and he 

 said not yet; he had killed only five 

 people ! 



The Jesuit Father Pastelo has esti- 

 mated the number of this tribe at ap- 

 proximately 30,000. The Manobos and 

 the Moros are the only two " Mindanao 

 tribes which outnumber them. 



THE) MANGUAGUANS 



The so-called Manguaguans inhabit the 

 territory between that occupied by the 

 Manobos and that occupied by the Man- 

 dayas. Although they are recognized by 

 the Jesuits and others as a distinct tribe, 

 I myself, after observing them for some 

 time, am of the opinion that they are not 

 entitled to such recognition. I consider 

 them to be just the sort of people of 

 mixed descent that one might expect to 

 find in a region between the habitats of 

 two tribes like the Manobos and Man- 

 dayas. These two tribes really imper- 

 ceptibly grade into each other through 

 the so-called Manguaguans. 



THE MANGYANS (SEE PICTURE, P. II78) 



The Mangyans inhabit the interior of 

 the great island of Mindoro. They are 



