Cole The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe

1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-7364-0813-5
Verlag: anboco
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 500 Seiten

It seems desirable, at the outset, to set forth certain general conclusions regarding the Tinguian and their neighbors. Probably no pagan tribe of the Philippines has received more frequent notice in literature, or has been the subject of more theories regarding its origin, despite the fact that information concerning it has been exceedingly scanty, and careful observations on the language and physical types have been totally lacking. According to various writers, these people are descended from Chinese, Japanese, or Arabs; are typical Malay; are identical with the Igorot; are pacific, hospitable, and industrious; are inveterate head-hunters, inhospitable, lazy, and dirty. The detailed discussion of these assertions will follow later in the volume, but at this point I wish to state briefly the racial and cultural situation, as I believe it to exist in northwestern Luzon. AUTHOR

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cole, Fay-Cooper

Leseproben

Geographical Relations and History

The Tinguian are a pagan Philippine people who inhabit chiefly the mountain province of Abra in northwestern Luzon. From this center their settlements radiate in all directions. To the north and west, they extend into Ilocos Sur and Norte as far as Kabittaoran. Manabo, on the south, is their last settlement; but Barit, Amtuagan, Gayaman, and Luluno are Tinguian mixed with Igorot from Agawa and Sagada. Villaviciosa is an Igorot settlement from Sagada, but Bulilising, still farther south, is predominantly Tinguian. Sigay in Amburayan is said to be made up of emigrants from Abra, while a few rancherias in Lepanto are likewise much influenced. The non-Christian population of Ilocos Sur, south of Vigan, is commonly called Tinguian, but only seven villages are properly so classed;1 four others are inhabited by a mixed population, while the balance are Igorot colonies from Titipan, Sagada, and Fidilisan. Along the Cordillera Central, from the head-waters of the Saltan (Malokbot) river as far south as Balatok, is found a population of mixed Tinguian, Kalinga, and Igorot blood. Kalinga predominates north of Balbalasang and along the Gobang river, while the Igorot is dominant in Guina-an, Lubuagan, and Balatok. Tinguian intermarriage has not extended far beyond Balbalasang, but their culture and dress have affected the whole region.2 From this belt there have been extensive migrations into Abra, the newcomers for the most part marrying with the Tinguian, but in the Ikmin river valley emigrants from Balatok formed the towns of Danok, Amti, and Doa-angan, which have remained quite isolated up to the present time. Agsimao and other towns of the Tineg group, in the extreme northern end of Abra, are made up chiefly of Apayao mixed with Kalinga, while all the villages on the headwaters of the Binongan have received emigrants from the Kagayan side. The population of the towns properly classed as Tinguian is approximately twenty thousand individuals.3

From the foregoing it is seen that, with the exception of a few villages of mixed descent, all their territory lies on the western side of the Cordillera Central,4 the great mountain range which runs from north to south through northern Luzon.

As one emerges from the jungle, which covers the eastern slopes of these mountains, and looks down over the province of Abra, he sees an exceedingly broken land (Plates I and II), the subordinate ranges succeeding one another like the waves of the sea. The first impression is one of barrenness. The forest vanishes, and in its place are long grassy slopes, broken here and there by scattered pines and lower down by dense growths of the graceful, feathery bamboo. But this lack of trees is more fancied than real, for as one proceeds down any of the valleys he meets with side canyons, where the tropical jungle still holds sway, while many a mountain side is covered with a dense undergrowth of shrubs, plants, and vines. It seems probable that the forest once covered the western slopes of the mountains, but accident and intention on the part of man has cleared broad sections. As soon as the shade is removed, the land is invaded by a coarse grass (the cogon), and this is burned over each year in order to provide feed for the stock and to make good hunting grounds. The young trees are killed off and reforesting prevented.

Numerous streams plunge from the high mountains toward the coast. In places they rush through deep gorges between high mountains, again they pass peacefully through mountain valleys. Everywhere they are fed by minor streams and waterfalls until at last, as they emerge into the broader valleys of the Abra and its tributaries, they are rivers of respectable size.

The great central valley of Abra is far from being a level plain. In places, as about Manabo, Bukay, and Bangued, there are stretches of level land; but, for the most part, the country is rough and broken. This valley is cut off from the sea by the Coast Range of mountains which forms the provincial line between Abra and Ilocos Sur, while another heavy spur forms the northern limits of Abra from Ilocos Sur to the Cordillera Central. Two small and rather difficult passes afford entrance from the coastal plain into the valley, but the chief avenue of communication is the cut through which the Abra river reaches the sea. So narrow is this entrance that, at high water, the river completely covers the floor and often raises its waters ten or fifteen feet up the canyon side. In recent years a road has been cut in the rocks above the flood waters, but even to-day most of the traffic between Abra and the coast is carried on by means of rafts which are poled up the river.5

The rainfall averages about one hundred inches, and most of this precipitation takes place between May and the end of September. This, coupled with the lack of forest, causes the rivers to become rushing torrents during the rainy season, while during the balance of the year most of them are mere rivulets. Under these conditions there has been no development of navigation by the mountaineers. On occasion they may construct a bamboo raft, but they possess no boats of any description.

The great fluctuation of the streams makes fishing an uncertain occupation; yet at least a dozen varieties of fish are known, and enough are taken to add materially to the food supply.

Deer and pig are fairly abundant, and a considerable number is killed each year; wild carabao roam the mountain sides and uninhabited valleys, but they are dangerous animals, and can seldom be taken with the primitive weapons of the natives. Wild chickens are plentiful, and many are snared, together with smaller birds. In fact, there is sufficient game and fish to support a considerable population, if the people would turn seriously to their capture, so that the oft repeated statement that the mountaineers of Abra were forced to agriculture is not entirely accurate. It seems much more probable that, at the time of their entrance into the interior valleys, the Tinguian were already acquainted with terraced hillside fields, and that they developed them as needed.

The soil is fairly fertile, the rainfall abundant during the growing season, and the climate warm enough to insure good crops. The thermometer ranges between 80° and 85° during the day, but there is generally a land or sea breeze, so that actual discomfort from the heat is unusual. The nights are somewhat cooler, but a drop of a few degrees is felt so keenly that a person may be uncomfortarble at 70°.

Fogs and cold rains are not uncommon during the wet season, while one or more typhoons can be expected each year. Earthquakes are likewise of occasional occurrence, but the construction of the houses is such that storms and earthquakes do much less damage than along the coast.

There is no doubt that the natural ruggedness of the country and the long rainy season have had a strong influence on the people, but this has been chiefly in isolating them in small groups. The high mountains separating the narrow valleys, the lack of water transportation, the difficulty of maintaining trails, have all tended to keep the people in small communities, while the practice of head-hunting has likewise raised a barrier to free communication. Thus, the settlements within a limited area have become self-sustaining groups; a condition which has existed long enough to allow for the development of five dialects.

The traditions of the Tinguian furnish us with no stories of an earlier home than Luzon, but there are many accounts of migrations from the coast back into the mountains, after the arrival of the Spaniards and the Christianization of the Ilocano. The fact that there is an historical background for these tales is amply proven by fragments of pottery and the like, which the writer has recovered from the reported sites of ancient settlements.

The part played by this people in Philippine history is small indeed, and most of the references to them have been of an incidental nature.

Apparently, they first came in contact with the Spanish in 1572 when Salcedo was entrusted with the task of subduing that part of Luzon now known as the Ilocano provinces. The people he encountered are described as being more barbarous than the Tagalog, not so light complexioned, nor so well clad, but husbandmen who possessed large fields, and whose land abounded in rice and cotton.

Their villages were of considerable size, and each was ruled over by a local headman who owed allegiance to no central authority, There was a uniform, well recognized code of law or custom, and a considerable part of the population could read and write in a native script similar to that of the Tagalog. They also possessed gold, which was reported to have come from rich mines in the interior, and on primitive forges were turning out excellent steel weapons, but the use of fire-arms was unknown. According to Reyes, their weapons consisted of lances, bows and arrows, bolos, great shields which protected them from head to foot, blow guns and poisoned arrows. The newcomers also found a flourishing trade being carried on with Manila and the settlements in Pangasinan, as well as with the Chinese. This trade was of such importance that, as early as 1580 pirate fleets from Japan frequently scoured the coast in search of Chinese vessels and goods, while from time to time Japanese traders visited the Ilocos ports.

Apparently trade relations were not interrupted for a considerable time after the arrival of the Spaniards, for in 1629 Medina states that ships...