When I ended "Part 3" I had just concluded the American ethnologist/anthropologist Fay Cooper Cole's take on Bagobo housing at the beginning of the 20th Century. I beging this entry, "Part 4," with his take on a Bagobo Datu, or chief's home.
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In each settlement or district will be found one large house built on the same general plan as the smaller dwellings, but capable of housing several hundred people. This is the home of the local datu, or ruler. All great ceremonies are held here, and it is the place to which all hasten when danger threatens. It is the social center of the community, and all who desire go there at any time and remain as long as they wish, accepting meanwhile the food and hospitality of the ruler.
A brief description of the house of Datu Tongkaling will give a good idea of this type of structure. Except for size, the dimensions being 44 x 20 ft.- the exterior does not differ greatly from the houses already described. A long, partially covered porch leading to the doorway is provided with benches which are always occupied by men and boys, loitering or engaged in the absorbing task of lousing one another. At the far end of the room is an elevated platform, but this one is much wider than is customary, and is intended as the sleeping place for the warriors, or illustrious guests. As the writer and his wife were considered, by the datu, as belonging to the latter class, they were favored with this vantage spot, from which they could view and be viewed by the whole household. Along the sides of the room are elevated, box like enclosures in which the datu and some of his wives and daughters sleep and keep their belongings. At night the balance of the family, including men, women, children, dogs, occupy the floor. Midway between the sidewalls and near the elevated platform are two decorated bamboo poles, which are raised in honor of the patron spirits of the warriors; while in other parts of the room are baskets, hanging altars, and other devices intended for the spirits. In addition to the customary furnishings are hundreds of objects testifying to the wealth of the datu. Clothes, boxes, dozens of huge copper gongs, drums, ancient Chinese jars and plates, spears and shields, beaded clothing, baskets, and last but not least- in the estimation of the datu- a huge enameled advertisement of an American brewery.
In the Western part of the Bagobo District is a village known as Bansalan. Recently its people have been inducted to leave the old settlement and build in a new location, midway between the mountains and the sea. Here the writer found a very different type of house. Small trees formed the uprights to which cross beams were tied to make the roof supports, and on these rested a final covering of nipa palm. A few feet above the ground other supports were lashed and on them strips of Palma Brava were laid as flooring. In the few cases where the houses were fitted with sides, strips of Nipa Palm fastened together with rattan were used. There seemed to be no uniform type of dwelling, each house differing from its neighbor in the number of rooms, floor levels, or in other respects. Only one feature, the elevated sleeping platform at one end of the house, was always found. A few miles further inland, in the old settlement, the houses are of the type already described in detail. The people have been practically forced to their new location by governmental action. The new careless type of structures seen in Bansalan probably represents, to them, temporary structures in which they expect to remain only until a change of governors will furnish an excuse for returning to the old location.
Other Buildings
Near to each farm house or settlement will be seen one or more granaries, where rice is stored. Four poles form the support for a rectangular base from which the sides of the structure slope out at an angle of about 25 degrees from the perpendicular until they meet the roof. The sides and roof are of bamboo beaten flat, the latter covered with a topping of straw.
In the hemp fields is an occasional shed where the fiber is sometimes stripped, but more often these buildings, thus hidden from the public gaze, house the forges in which the smiths fashion knives and spears, or cast the bells and betel nut boxes so dear to the heart of each Bagobo.
Aside from the shrines or altars, which we shall describe later, the Bagobo erects no other buildings. He sometimes encloses a rice or a cornfield with a fence, but this requires no special skill in building, since it consists of two parallel lines of uprights, between which bamboo tubes are laid to the desired height.
Food and its Preparation.
It is impossible, without including about everything edible in a vegetable line to be found in the district, to give a full list of foods; hence no such attempt will be made. Chief of all is the rice, many varieties of which are grown in the mountainside clearings.
Back of the coast there are no irrigated fields to be found in the Davao District.
Next in importance is the camote, or sweet potato, and then follow in the order of their importance: corn, banana, sago, and coconut.
Fish, eels, crabs, grasshoppers, monkeys (some people refuse to eat monkey meat), deer, pigs, and chickens form part of the food supply; in fact, the people seem to draw the line at nothing but crows, snakes, mice, rats, goats, horses, dogs, and cats. Despite the assertion of a number of worthy informants that the last three are on the prohibited list, it is the opinion of the writer that it is the scarcity of the supply rather than any feeling of prejudice which causes them to be included.
Salt and pepper are used as condiments. The former is secured in trade with the coast natives and Chinese, while the latter is produced by mashing the fruit of a small wild pepper, locally known as "Katombal."
Rice, after being allowed to dry, is stored without being separated from the straw. When a supply is needed a bundle us laid on a piece of hide and is beaten with a wooden pestle, wielded by a woman or a slave. This separates the grain, which is gathered up and placed in a wooden mortar, where it is again beaten with the pestle until the outer husk has been loosened. To remove the chaff the rice is taken from the mortar, placed on a flat winnowing tray and tossed and caught, until the wind has carried away the lighter husks, thus leaving the grain free. This is placed in a pot, a small quantity of water is added, and the vessel is placed over the fire. Here it is allowed to remain only until it begins to boil, when it is placed in a jar on the ashes, near enough to the fire to keep it hot. From time to time the woman turns the jar until the contents is cooked through, when each grain stands out free from its fellows. This is the usual way of preparing rice throughout the archipelago.
Other vegetable foods are eaten raw, or are cooked with water and salt, with perhaps the addition of a little meat broth or a soup.
Small birds and fish are cooked without other treatment than a hasty cleaning; but the flesh of larger fowls, deer, and pig is generally cut into small cubes and cooked with condiments in a jar or small Chinese caldron. Birds are sometimes prepared by placing them on a spit, covering them with green banana leaves, and suspending them above the fire until roasted. This primitive paper bag cooking yields a most excellent dish.
Grasshoppers are relished, and are secured in the following manner: A clear grass spot is selected and several deep holes are dug in one end. Back of them, and leading towards them, is a high, tight fence made in a "V." By beating the grass with boughs as they walk towards the trap, the people drive the grasshoppers before them until they are finally forced into the pit, from which they are collected by the bushel.
I was told that the meat (of animals) is sometimes salted, dried, and stored away for future use. The climate seems to be absolutely opposed to such foresight, and the one time that I saw the process being used, the odors were such that I beat a hasty retreat and chose to accept, without proof, the verdict of the natives, that venison thus prepared was excellent.
Of almost as much importance as food is the use of the betel or areca nut, which is chewed almost constantly by young and old of both sexes. The nut is divided into quarters and a piece of "Buyo" leaf is wrapped about each bit. To this is added, a little lime and a pinch of tobacco, and it is ready for the mouth. The resultant deep red saliva is distributed indiscriminately on the floor, walls, and furniture where it leaves a permanent stain. To hold the materials necessary for this. Practice brass betel boxes, secured from the Moro or from their own manufacture, as well as plaited glass boxes and pouches are constantly carried. The brass boxes generally have three compartments; the first for nuts, the second for leaves and tobacco, and the third for lime. Lime is also carried in small bamboo tubes in the decoration of which a great deal of lime is consumed. The open end is fitted with a rattan sifter so that the powder is distributed evenly on the nut and leaf.
Aged persons and those whose teeth have been so mutilated that they cannot chew, make use of an outfit which includes a small mortar and pestle. Cutting open green betel nuts, the chewer wraps the pieces in leaves and, after adding a liberal supply of lime, mashes them in the mortar until all are reduced to a soft mass.
Lime is secured by placing snail shells in a fire, from which they are taken while hot and dropped into cold water. They can then be crushed into powder with the fingers.
Although the Bagobo raises a considerable quantity of tobacco he seldom, if ever, smokes it unless the leaf is furnished him, already prepared, by an outsider. Sometimes a small ball made of the green leaves is placed between the teeth and upper lip, where it remains until all the flavor has been extracted.
The outfit for betel nut and tobacco, aside from the brass boxes which fasten at the side, are generally carried in the sacks worn by the women. However, a small waterproof box is frequently seen attached to a man's belt, and in this he carries his betel nut, tobacco, and fire making outfit.
The usual method of making fire is by the use of flint and steel, but when this is not at hand a flame can be quickly obtained by rubbing two pieces of bamboo rapidly together until the friction produces a spark.
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In my next installment of this series, I will transcribe the next section, on the Bagobo Tribe's hunting and fishing practices, weaving, and metal craft.
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