The Flood Story
Bukidnon (Mindanao)
A long time ago there was a very big crab which crawled into the sea. And when he went in he crowded the water out so that it ran all over the earth and covered all the land.
Now about one moon before this happened, a wise man had told the people that they must build a large raft. They did as he commanded and cut many large trees, until they had enough to make three layers. These they bound tightly together, and when it was done they fastened the raft with a long rattan cord to a big pole in the earth.
Soon after this the floods came. White water poured out of the hills, and the sea rose and covered even the highest mountains. The people and animals on the raft were safe, but all the others drowned.
When waters went down and the raft was again on the ground, it was near their old home, for the rattan cord had held.
But these were the only people left on the whole earth.
Manobo
by: Lydia Mary De Leon
"Manobo" or "Manuvu" means "person" or "people"; it may also have been originally "Mansuba" from man (person or people) and suba (river), hence meaning "river people." A third derivation is from "Banobo," the name of a creek that presently flows to Pulangi River about 2 km below Cotabato City. A fourth is from "man" meaning "first, aboriginal" and "tuvu" meaning "grow, growth." Manobo " is the hispanized form.
The Manobo Belong to the original stock of proto-Philippine or proto-Austronesian people who came from South China thousands of years ago, earlier than the Ifugao and other terrace-building peoples of the northern Luzon. Ethnolinguist Richard Elkins(1966)coined the term "Proto-Manobo" to designate this stock of aboriginal non-Negritoid people of Mindanao. The first Manobo settlers lived in northern Mindanao: Camiguin, Cagayan, and some areas of Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental. Subgroups are: Agusan-Surigao, Ata, Bagobo, Banwaon, Blit, Bukidnon, Cotabato(which include the Arumanen, Kirintekan, and Livunganen), Dibabawon, Higaonon, Ilianon, Kulamanen, Manuvu, Matigsalug, Rajah Kabungsuan, Sarangani, Tboli, Tagabawa, Tigwa, Ubo, Umayamnon, and western Bukidnon. Manobo languages representative of these groups are Agusanon, Banwaon, Binukid of Mindanao, Cagayano of Cagayancillo Island, Cotabato Manobo, Dibabawon Manobo, Eatern Davao Manobo, Ilianon Manobo, Kidapawan, Kinamigin of Camiguin Island, Livunganen, Magahat, Sarangani Manobo, Southern Cotabato and Davao Manobo, Tasaday, Tagabawa, Tigwa Manobo,, Ubo of the Mt Apo region in Davao, western Bukidnon Manobo, and western Cotabato Manobo (Elkins 1966; Olson 1967).
The Manobo have for their neighbors the Talaandig of Bukidnon, the Matigsalug of the middle Davao River area, the Attaw or Jangan of the midland area which is now within the jurisdiction of Davao City, the Tahavawa and Bilaan in the south and southeast, and the Ilianon along the Pulangi river basin . This was the site of barter dealings with the Muslim traders who travelled upriver into the hinterlands.
Most Manobo inhabit the river valleys, hillsides, plateaus, and interiors of Agusan, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Misamis Oriental, and Surigao Del Sur. The whole Manobo population numbers 250,000 (NCCP-PACT 1988). The subgroup Manuvu inhabits a contiguous area along southern Bukidnon, northeastern Cotabato, and northwestern Davao. The Ilianon, Livunganen-Arumanen, and Kirintekan are in northern Cotabato. The Tigwa/Tigwahanon are concentrated in Lindagay and scattered all over the town of San Fernando, Bukidnon, close to the border of Davao Del Norte. Tigwa may have derived from guwa (scattered) or the Tigwa River, whose banks they inhabit. The Umayamnon are scattered around the town of Cabalangsan, Bukidnon, and the interiors of Agusan Del Sur. The western Bukidnon Manobo inhabit the southwestern quarter of Bukidnon province.
The different Manobo languages belong to the Philippine subfamily of the superfamily of the superfamily of languages called Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian in the old literature). Some linguists of the Summer Institute of Linguistics have discovered that the Mindanao languages belong to a subgroup of Philippine languages which they call the proto-Manobo. The protolanguage, however, has not yet been reconstructed or dated.
History
Oral tradition and records about the introduction of Islam into Mindanao give us a clue to the history of pre-Spanish Manobo. Their ancestors inhabited the lowervalley of the Pulangi River in central Mindanao. In the 14th century, Sharif Kabungsuan, a muslim missionary, arrived from Johore, to convert the people. According to oral tradition, the Manobo's leaders were two borthers:Tabunaway and Mumalu. They lived by a creek, Banobo , which flowed into the Mindanao River near the present site of Cotabato City. Tabunaway rejected Islam but advised his younger brother to submit to conversion. Tabunaway and his followers fled up the Pulangi River to the interior and, at a certain stop, they decided to part ways. Tabunaway and his group who went to Livungan became the Livunganen. Others became the Kirinteken, Mulitaan, Kulamanen, and Tenenenen. The Kulamanen split into the Pulangian and Metidsalug/Matigsalug. Branches of the Tenenenen were the Keretanen, Lundugbatneg, and Rangiranen. A group stayed along the river in Lanuan and built an ilian (fort) and so became the Ilianon. Those who went to divava (downriver), Became the Dibabawon, some of whom branched into the Kidapawanen. But because ali these groups retained their indigenous beliefs and practices, they retained the name of their original site, Banobo, which eventually became Manobo. On the other hand, Mamalu's descendant's became the Maguindanao.
Magellan landed in Butuan in 1521 and planted a cross at the mouth of the Agusan River to commemorate the first mass celebrated there. By 1591 Butuan had become an encomienda and tributes were collected. However, Spanish garrison towns and forts had to be erected because of Moro and Manobo resistance to colonization. In 1648, a rebellion that caused the death of many Spaniards was led by a Manobo chieftain named Dabao, a historical figure who became a hero of legends recounting his fantastic feats by a giant. Records of Christian conversion probably refer to the Visayan lowlanders, since all attempts made by the Spaniards to make Manobo conform to the pueblo or town system was futile. Christianized Manobo towns were established bye 1877, but these would shortly after be abandoned and razed to the ground bye the converted Manobo themselves, who would then flee to the mountains and revert to their old ways. By 1896, at the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution in other parts of the archipelago, the missionaries and troops had already withdrawn from the hinterlands because the Manobo constantly engaged them in warfare.
It was during the American colonial period that significant changes occurred in the Manobo way of life. Patrols of Philippine Constabulary with American officers in command aimed to put a stop to the intertribal raids and feuding among the Manobo. AT the same time, the civil government tried to persuade the people, through their datu, to live in villages instead of dispersed settlements, and to send their children to school. Consequently, more or less permanent Manobo barrios began to be established in the lower areas.
WWII hastened acculturation because lowlanders evacuated to the mountains to escape the Japanese. After the war, government homestead program encouraged families from the northern islands to settle in Mindanao. Each homesteader was offered "a farm plot of 16 acres for the first year, farming materials, a carabao, and farm implements" (Elken 1966:163). Although the Manobo themselves were offered the same privileges, their elders initially ignored the offer and, thorugh their council of datu forbade their people from cooperating. However, the younger ones, especially those who had been educated, joined the program in defiance of their elders. Furthermore, logging companies caused roads to be built in the mountains, and this facilitated interaction with the lowlanders, especially since the trucks of these companies usually offered them free rides.
A typical Manobo settlement that underwent rapid change is Barrio Salangsang of the municipality of Lebak, Cotabato. For generations, the Manobo way of life was intact here until 1950s, when it was opened to Tiruray setlers. A Protestant church was built in 1959 and an elementary public school in 1951. By 1966, out of a total of 510 households, 143 were Tiruray, all living in the village center. Out of the barrio's 11 sari-sari stores or corner shops, nine belonged to the Tiruray.
Economy
The upland Manobo practise swidden or slash-burn farming whereas those inhabiting the valleys practise wet-rice farming. Rice culture is so central to the Manobo way of life that there are more than 60 different names for rice varieties, and all agricultural rituals center around it. In the late 190s, however many Manobo groups shifted to corn culture because of the gradual disappearance of swidden sites. Besides corn grit, other supplementary foods are sweet potatoes and cassava. In times of famine, emergency foods are unripe bananas and wild yam. Other major means of subsistence are fishing, hunting, bee hunting, and trapping. Because of these occupations, the Manobo live a seminomadic life. However, some Manobo villages that have established permanent settlements have shifted to the cultivation of coconut for copra export.
A typical village engaged in swidden farming begins the agricultural cycle in February, when rice and corn are planted. The corn is harvested in July but rice takes longer to grow and is harvested in November. During the summer, while the people are waiting to harvest these two crops, sweet potatoes and cassava are the staple food. Abaca is raised and sold to Chinese traders or their agents, who take them to the urban centers.
An occupation that figures as entertainment for the Manobo is bee hunting, the procedure for which the basis of the comic bee-hunting dance. Bees appear during the season when the tress start to bloom. The hunter waits for them along the creek banks and trails them to their hive. If he catches a bee, he ties a fluff of cotton to it and then releases it. When the bee reaches the hive, the other bees raise such a buzzing noise, that a hunter is led to the location of their hive. He builds a fire to smoke out the bees and then climbs the tree to get the empty bee hive. However, the hunter faces hazards, such as the tree catching fire or the bees attacking him.
Political System
Manobo settlements are either dispersed or relatively compact, depending on the terrain, the agricultural system practised, and the degree of acculturation. Compact villages traditionally have three or fourdatu or timuay (chieftains), but dispersed settlements have none. Some Manobo groups did not have a fromal system of chieftainship until the present century. In 1910, the Agusanon Manobo, for example, did not have a title for chief. He was simplu a bagani (warrior) a title that he shared with other members of the bagani class. The term "datu" was used by the Visayan traders for this chief but not by the Manobo. The Spaniards called him masikampo (derived from maestre de campo) and the Moro called him kuyano/kulano. The subgroup Manuvu did not develop a datuship system until the middlle of the 20th century.
On the other hand, one western Bukidnon Manobo recounts the elaborate rites that used to be held to install the chosen datu or bai (famale datu). A great number of people would converge at a place called the center of the earth for ceremonies that involved several aspiring datu who represented four directions: the "Upstream direction" (Cotabato of the Maggindanao), : "eastward" (Davao of Matigsalug), and "westward" (Lanao Lake of the Maranao). The people of these four directions recognized a ruler, whom they chose by a common agreement called the lantung (literally, a wooden beam that functions as a divider at the center of the house).
The position of chieftainship ca be passed on to a datu's offspring, as long as the person has the qualifications necessary for the position: wisdom, knowledge of traditional lore and mythology, eloquence, skill in euphemistic language, fairness in judging or arbitrating disputes, and possession of some wealth and property that the person must be willing to share with the whole community. However, young village member who show promise can be chosen and trained to be chiefs, gradually earning the status of datu/bai as they prove their ability to settle disputes, which involves three factors: speaking, negotiating a settlement, and providing the settlement themselves.
In olden times, the datu must also have proven his bravery and leadership in battle as a bagani. The datu/ bai is traditionally also the head of a kinship group.
At the installation of the datu and bai, they are reminded to be good judges. The old datu conferring the position upon them says: "You hold the comb and oil represent the act of smoothing and disentangling and are therefore symbols of peace and order. Betel chew offering is laid out and prayers are addressed to the gods Likebeb, Mensigew, Reguwen, Unluwa, Makeyvakey, and Miyugbiyug, the spirits who guide and confer wisdom upon the datu. Gifts of money and any article such as cloth, dagger, or water buffalo are given to each datu or bai. Then a series of acts symbolizing the breaking of one's vow is performed: they break an egg, blow out a lamp, smash a cooking pot, tear down a fence, break aplate, and cut a length of rattan in two.
The datu was advised by a council of elders composed of datu and family heads. Today this council of elders may still be highly influential in choosing the village datu and the members of the barrio council, composed of the barrio captain, the captain's assistant, the councilor for education, the councilor for health and sanitation. The barrio council, which is formally elected by the village people under the influence of the council of elders, is usually composed of young educated people who are familiar with the lowland culture, especially the language of trade. Actually, however, the barrio council still defers to the authority of the council of elders, whose jurisdiction covers matters involving batasan or adat (custom law), marriage arrangements, penalty for taboo breaking, and settlement of interfamily quarrels. The barrio council handles law enforcement, matters concerning civil law, community improvement, and questions over land onwership.
In September 1959 the Bukidnon datu revived the lantung in an attempt to keep the Manobo culture intact, especially for the younger generation. A high datu was chosen to act as a mediator between the various cultural groups.
Social Organization and Customs
The traditional social structure consists of four classes: the bagani, the baylan, commoner, and slave. The bagani class, now gone, defended the community and went to battle. The baylan, who can still be found, is a male or female priest and healer. The commoners were farmers; and the slaves, who had been seized in raids, belonged to the ruler and were usually given away as part of the bridewealth. Village members could also become enslaved if they could not pay the penalty for a crime they had committed, such as thievery, destruction of property, adultery, or verbal offense. Slaves, however could win their freedom through diligence in the fulfillment of their duties, faithfulness to their master, or payment of their debt through servitude. Slaves who were treated like members of the family although still in servitude are bilew, and it was considered an insult if they were referred to as slaves. One who did so was committing tempela, ridiculing someone for their low status physical handicap.
Intervillage relationship is based on upakat or reciprocity. Village members, usually belonging to kinship group or groups allied by marriage, expect assistance from each other in matters of subsistent labor, defense, and support in crises.
A pregnant woman observes several taboon protect the infant's life and health. She stays indoors when the sky is red at sunset, for the bloodthirst busaw (ghouls) are around. She must never run or even just stubbing her toe will cause a miscarriage. After bathing, she must not come out of the water she has adjusted the position of the baby in her womb.
At childbirth, the midwife ties a birthcharm herbs, stones, and other items given to her by the spirit guardian, around the mother's waist. The umbilical cord is cut some distance away from the naval that the baby's breath will not escape. The cord is wrapped in an old mat and buried under the ladder of house. The busaw is attracted by the blood of childbirth, so the midwife washes all the clothing used during delivery. Because the midwife has been stained with the uncleanness of childbirth, she must be paid the following items: a small knife to clean her fingernails; a plate to catch a sacrificial chicken's blood; a malong (barrel skirt) to enable her to change into fresh clothing; and some cash to prevent her uttering a mureka (curse).
Until the child can turn on its stomach, the mother is in danger of hemorrhaging. So the husband does all the house and field chores normally assigned to her, and he must provide her with the nourishment she needs. Postnatal taboos must be observed by the parents or else both mother and child will be afflicted with lagak, a skin disease. The mother cannot eat liver, carabao meat, eel, lima beans, and sticky rice or corn. If the parents have sexual relations shortly after delivery, the baby will be stricken with lagak.
Marriage is traditionally by parental arrangement, which begins when each of two families chooses a spokesperson, preferably a datu or bai, who is known for eloquence and knowledge of custom law. The ginsa ("asking") begins with the girl's representative offering betel chew, which the boy's representative politely refuses until negotiations for the kagun (bridewealth) begin. All the groom's relatives, especially the datu/bai related to the groom's family, will contribute to the kagun. The wedding date is determined by the length of the groom's family will need to raise the kagun. In the meantime, the bride's relatives are preparing the apa (wedding feast), consisting of rice, meat, fish, and rice wine.
On the wedding day, the groom - wearing a white handkerchief - and his party walk to the bride's home. The bride is kept hidden behind a curtain in another room with someone guarding her. The groom's party knocked at the doorway y the ed-ipal, two or more of the bride's relatives who may ask the groom's party for a gift, such as clothing or money. After the feast, the elders sit on a large mat for the edteltagan he rirey, to display the symbols for the bride's value. Ten piles of corn kernels each are laid out in rows. Each pile symbolizes remuneration for the pains taken by the bride's family in rearing her. For example, one pile represents the purangan (to keep awake at night), the sleepless nights the parents spent over her; another pile represents the tugenan (viand), the nourishment they have given her. Then the groom's family presents the items of the kagun which may consist of a house, a piece of land, clothing, money, articles made of iron, brass, and animals. These items are distributed to members of the bride's extended family, especially her aunts and uncles and those who contributed to the bridewealth given by her father when he married the bride's mother.
The negotiations over, the groom's family presents the tenges (headcloth), which symbolizes that the arrangements must be wrapped up tightly to ensure a happy life for the young couple. The seru ritual follows: the bride and groom sit before a dish of rice. Each of the spokespersons takes a fistful of rice, molds it into a ball, and gives it to the couple, who feed each other. Then the guests join in the eating, with much revelry. The bride's mother prepares betel chew and hands it to her daughter, who offers it to the groom. This gesture symbolizes her tasks and duties as a wife. The couple are then given advice by the elders while the guests leave for home. The groom's parents stay for three more days, during which a purification ritual of chickens and rice is performed for the couple's gimukod (soul-spirit), whose approval of the marriage is sought. The groom goes home with his parents to call his gimukod in case it stayed there while he was away. He does not stay away too long from his bride's home because, for every day that he is gone, he must gift his in-laws with an article of clothing.
Marriage is an alliance system in which reciprocity and mutual obligation between the groom's and bride's kinship groups are expected. It is, therefore, a means of maintaining peace and oder, for the Manobo's practice of retaliation does not extend to one's kindred or allies. Incest taboo is strictly followed up to a common great-great-great grandparent on both the mother's and father's side.
Polygamy, although rarely practised, was allowed. A datu might resort to it, usually for economic and political reasons. Several wives allowed for more fields that could be cultivated, since the Manobo women did all the work in the fields. Polygyny also multiplied one's alliances and expanded them to several communities. However, the man could take another wife only if the first wife and her parents consented. The fist wife remained the head wife.
Initially, the young couple stay with the wife's family. However, as their family grows, they build their own house, close to the parents of either one. When the husband builds a house, certain taboos must be observed. If he sneezes while looking for a site, he should stop and forego the search for another day. If the cry of the limokon (omen bird/dove) is heard while he is clearing the site, he must look for another site. When he digs holes for the posts, he must avoid unearthing earthworms, termites, or beetles, for these will cause many deaths in the house. The posts must have no disfigurements because these will cause deaths in the family, no vines wrapped around them because this means that the owner will die by hanging, and no broken parts because this means that the wife will die. The roof's gable should face east so that the occupants' life "will be like the shining of the sun" (Polenda 1989:79).
The ladder should be made of indelugung wood, which rimes with rugung (thunder), so that the residents will have a reputation for virtue " that will echo abroad like thunder". Under the ladder should be buried a leaf of the pegul tree, to ward off harmful intentions; a leaf of indelugung tree, to establish a reputation for peace and happiness; a piece of small bamboo called belekayu to frustrate harmful intentions on the family; and a chip from a sharpening stone to induce sharp thinking. Coconut oil is poured on the same spot to ensure good health and happiness.
When the construction is finished, a house warming ritual is held to keep the busaw away. Chickens and pig are slaughtered, and their blood is smeared on the ladder, posts, and the main parts of the house. Blood is mixed with items representing the members of the family so that the busaw will take these in place of the people. The posts are painted with lampblack so that the busaw will not see the people in the darkness.
Illness may be caused by the person's gimukod (soul) wandering away from the body. Or, the gimukod of the sick person has been captured by the gimukod of the dead person and carried away to the latter's new home. A sick person is made to sit facing the east, his/her head covered with black cloth, through which a threaded needle and a fishhook with a long line are stuck. A dish for the patient and another for the gimukod are set before them. A bit of cooked chicken and rice from the dish is placed in a betel chew container. The sick person's gimukod is captured and imprisoned in this container. Everyone present gives the patient a gift to encourage him/her to live longer. The container is placed on patient's head; it is then opened and the patient eats the bit of food that has been placed inside it.
When death occurs, lapuy, death messengers, are sent to inform relatives and friends. The body is washed, dressed in best clothes of the deceased, laid on mat at the exact center of the floor directly underneath the peak of the rooftop, and completely covered with a blanket. Objects, such as a bolo sword that the dead must take with it on its journey to the afterlife, are placed near the body. A clothesline is strung parallel to the body, and the clothes of the family or the dead person's personal possessions are hung there. There is much wailing and shouting, and the agung (gong) is constantly beaten to announce the death to everyone within the hearing distance. The number of beats indicates the dead person's age, status and social position.
After the grave has been dug, someone stands guard by the pit to keep the busaw away. Burial rites begin in the house with the "cutting the strand" ritual: an elder blackens half of a strand of manila hemp. This blackened end is held by the family while the white end is tied to the corpse. The strand is cut to signify the cutting of ties of affection between the family and the dead.
A man is buried facing the east so that the sunrise will signal to him that it is time to work. A woman is buried facing the west so that the sunset will remind her that it is time to cook. As the dirt is thrown back into the pit, all turn their backs to avoid temptation of accompanying the dead person. The grave marker is a low wooden frame. Tree cuttings are stuck around the grave.
After the burial, the mourners go to an unfrequented part to wash themselves and the tools used to dig the grave. When they return to the house, they spit on a burning woo or a fire by the doorway. Everyone takes a small bite from the small meal that has been placed on the mat where the corpse had lain in state. The last person coming in takes the glowing piece of wood and the meal out of the house and throws it in the direction of the grave. Everyone, including the soul of the dead, is invited to eat. A mourning period of 8 to 12 days is set, depending on the stature of the dead person. A baby is mourned only for one day; a datu, seven days. There is singing and dancing but no instrumental music is allowed.
In Salangsang, Cotabato, the mourning period may last 1 to 10 years, during which time the coffin stays at one side of the room. The coffin is made of a hollowed-out tree trunk, which is split lengthwise and it's edges sealed with a mixture of wood ashes, sweet potato leaves, and lime to contain the odor. The coffin is then half buried about 10 m away from the house, so that the sogoy or gimukod can wander in and out of the body.
The betuung feast is held within a year after the burial; some hold it on the third day. The gimukod is entitled to attend and it is persuaded to journey on to the afterworld without taking anyone with it. Early in the morning, a meal is placed at the threshold and ashes are sprinkled at the foot of the ladder. Everyone in the house stays still so as not to frighten the soul away. If the ashes bear footprints, this means that the gimukod has come.
For a widow or widower of marriageable age, the betuung feast is an occasion for the parents and parents-in-law, together with the datu/bai, to discuss the prospect of a new spouse for the new widow/widower.
