Negritos of Zambales

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In due time we came to a place in the path that was bordered
on either side by small strips of bamboo about 3 feet long with
both points sticking in the ground, resembling croquet arches,
six on either side. When the bride arrived there she squatted and
her maids commenced to robe her in a new gown (a la Filipina)
over the one she already had on. She then continued to another
similar place and donned a new robe over those already on. This
was repeated twice, when she arrived at a triumphal arch. There
she donned a very gaudy dress consisting of red waist and blue
skirt, with a large red handkerchief as a wedding veil.

Rejoicing in her five complete dresses, one over the other, she
passed through the arch and again squatted. Meanwhile a fire was
built midway between the arch and a structure specially prepared
for the couple. All present except those waiting on the groom
and bride joined in a dance around the fire, chanting gleefully
and keeping time with hands and feet.

All at once the circle divided just in front of the arch; two
persons on opposite sides joined bands overhead. The bride now
stood up, immediately her father-in-law caught her in his arms,
ran under the human arch, and deposited her gently in the house
of his son. When the husband, from where he was squatting under
the arch, saw his bride safely laid in his house his joy knew no
bounds. With a yell he leaped up, swinging his unsheathed bolo over
his head, and in a frenzy jumped over the fire, passed through
the human arch, and with a final yell threw his arms around his
wife in a long embrace.

The ceremony as above described contains many details which I did not
meet with in Zambales, but the main feature, the sitting down of the
bride to receive her gifts, is the same.

Polygamy and Divorce

As might be expected among the Negritos, a man may marry as many
wives as he can buy. His inability to provide the necessary things
for her purchase argues against his ability to provide food for
her. Hence it is only the well-to-do that can afford the luxury of
more than one wife. Visually this practice is confined to the capitan
or head man of the tribe, and even he seldom has more than two wives,
but one case was noticed in the village of Tagiltil, where one man
had seven. At Cabayan the capitan had two wives, a curly-haired one,
and a straight-haired one, the latter the daughter of Filipinos who
had taken up their abode with the Negritos. (See Pl. LV.) Polygamy
is allowed throughout the Negrito territory. It is not uncommon for
a man to marry sisters or a widow and her daughter. Marriage between
blood relatives is prohibited.

Divorce is not very common with the Negritos in Zambales. There
seems to be a sentiment against it. If a man is powerful enough he may
divorce his wife, but if he does so for any other reason than desertion
or unfaithfulness her relatives are likely to make a personal matter
of it and cause trouble. A man and his wife may separate by mutual
agreement and that of their families. In such a case whatever property
they may have is divided equally, but the mother takes the children.

A more frequent occurrence than that, however, is the desertion of
her husband by a woman who has found some one of greater attractions
elsewhere, probably in another rancheria, but even these cases are
rare. If it is possible to reach the offender the new husband will
have to pay up, otherwise it is necessary for the woman's parents to
pay back to the injured husband all that he has paid for her. But if
the offender is caught and is found to be unable to pay the necessary
price the penalty is death. In any event the husband's interests are
guarded. Ile can either recover on his investment or get revenge.

Burial

Notwithstanding the repeated statements of travelers that Negritos
bury their dead under their houses, which are then abandoned, nothing
of this kind was met in Zambales, and Mr. Cooke did not see it in
Bataan. He says that in the latter province the body is placed in a
coffin made by hollowing out a tree, and is buried in some high spot,
but there is no regular burying ground. A rude shed and a fence are
built to protect the grave.

In Zambales any spot may be selected. The body is wrapped up in a
mat and buried at a depth of 3 or 4 feet to protect it from dogs
and wild boars. With their few tools such interment constitutes an
arduous labor.

I was unable to learn of any special ceremony performed at a
burial. Montano says they have one, and Mr. Cooke states that all
the relatives of the deceased kneel in a circle around the coffin
and sing a mournful monotone. The Negritos of Zambales repeatedly
affirmed that they had no burial ceremony.

Morals

I believe that many of the vices of the Negrito are due to contact
with the Malayan to whom he is, at least in point of truthfulness,
honesty, and temperance, far superior. It is rare that he will tell
a lie unless he thinks he will be greatly benefited by it, and he
seems not to indulge in purposeless lying, as so often do his more
civilized neighbors. So far as my acquaintance with him goes, I never
detected an untruth except one arising from errors of judgment.

In their dealings with each other there seldom occur disputes among the
Negritos, which in itself is an evidence of their natural honesty. With
Filipinos, they are inclined to accept and respect the opinions of
their more knowing, if less honest, patrons, and take what is offered
for their produce with little protest. It is to be feared, however,
that as they realize the duplicity of the Filipinos they themselves
may begin to practice it.

Alcoholism is unknown among them, but they drink willingly of the
native drinks, "tuba" and "anisado," whenever it is offered them. They
do not make these beverages. Nowhere does it seem to have gotten a
hold on them, and there are no drunkards.

The practice of smoking is followed by Negritos of both sexes, old
and young, although they are not such inveterate smokers as are the
Filipinos. The custom prevails of smoking roughly made cigars of
tobacco leaves tied up with a grass string, always with the lighted
end in the mouth. After smoking a few whiffs, the cigar is allowed to
go out, and the stump is tucked away in the breechcloth or behind the
ear for future use. One of these stumps may be seen somewhere about
a Negrito at almost any time. Pipes are never used.

Very few Negritos chew betel nut, and their teeth, although sharpened
as they are, offer a pleasing contrast to the betel-stained teeth of
the average Filipino.

While one can not speak authoritatively in regard to relation of the
sexes without a long and close study of their customs, yet all the
evidence at band goes to show that the Negritos as a race are virtuous,
especially when compared with the Christianized natives. Their
statement that death is their penalty for adultery is generally
accepted as true, and probably is, with some modifications. Montano
mentions it twice, [22] and he asserts further in regard to the
Negritos of Bataan that "sexual relations outside of marriage are
exceedingly rare. A young girl suspected of it must forever renounce
the hope of finding a husband."

In Zambales the Negritos continually assert that adultery is punishable
by death, but closer questioning usually brought out the fact that
the offenders could buy off if they possessed the means. Montano makes
the statement that in case of adultery it is the injured husband who
executes the death sentence. However, the injured husband is satisfied
if he recovers what he paid for his wife in the beginning. In case
of a daughter, the father exacts the payment, and only in case he is
destitute is it likely to go hard with the offender.

It has been asserted also that theft is punishable by death. The
Negritos say that if a man is caught stealing and can not pay
the injured person whatever he considers the value of the stolen
article and the fine that is assessed against him, he will be put to
death. But, as a matter of fact, it is never done. He is given his time
in which to pay his fine or someone else may pay it; and in the latter
case the offender becomes a sort of slave and works for his benefactor.

Murder is punishable by death. The victim is executed in the manner
already described in the torture dance. But murder is so rare as to
be almost unknown. The disposition of the Negrito is peaceable and
seldom leads him into trouble.

Cooke [23] states that as a punishment for lighter offenses the
Negritos of Bataan use an instrument, called "con-de-man," which is
simply a split stick sprung on the neck from six to twenty hours,
according to the degree of the crime, and which is said to be very
painful. Nothing like this was seen in Zambales.

Slavery

Notwithstanding the statements of Montano that the Negritos have no
slaves and know nothing of slavery, the reverse is true, in Zambales
at least; so say the Negritos and also the Filipinos who have spent
several years among them. The word "a-li'-pun" is used among them
to express such social condition. As has been stated, a man caught
stealing may become a slave, as also may a person captured from another
rancheria, a child left without support, a person under death sentence,
or a debtor. It was also stated that if a man committed a crime and
escaped a relative could be seized as a slave. It will take a long
acquaintance with the Negritos and an intimate knowledge of their
customs to get at the truth of these statements.

Intellectual Life

The countenance of the average Negrito is not dull and passive,
as might reasonably be expected, but is fairly bright and keen,
more so than the average Malayan countenance. The Negrito also has
a look of good nature--a look usually lacking in the Malayan. His
knowledge of things other than those pertaining to his environment is,
of course, extremely limited, but he is possessed of an intellect that
is capable of growth under proper conditions. He always manifests
the most lively interest in things which he does not understand,
and he tries to assign causes for them.

Natural phenomena he is unable to explain. When the sun sets it
goes down behind a precipice so far off that he could not walk to
it, but he does not know how it gets back to the east. Rain comes
from the clouds, but he does not know how it got there except that
thunder and lightning bring it. These things are incomprehensible to
him and he has apparently invented no stories concerning them. While
thunder and lightning are good because they bring rain, yet if they
are exceedingly violent he becomes afraid and tries to stop them by
burning deer's bones, which, he says, are always efficacious.

The mathematical knowledge of the Negritos is naturally small. They
count on their fingers and toes, beginning always with the thumb and
great toe. If the things they are counting are more than twenty they
go through the process again, but never repeat the fingers without
first counting the toes. To add they use rice or small stones. They
have no weights or measures except those of the civilized natives, but
usually compare things to be measured with some known object. Distance
is estimated by the time taken to walk it, but they have no conception
of hours. It may take from sunrise until the sun is directly overhead
to go from a certain rancheria to another, but if asked the number of
hours the Negrito is as likely to say three or eight as six. They have
no division of time by weeks or months, but have periods corresponding
to the phase of the moon, to which they give names. The new moon
is called "bay'-un bu'-an," the full moon "da-a'-na bu'-an," and
the waning moon "may-a'-mo-a bu'-an." They determine years by the
planting or harvesting season. Yet no record of years is kept, and
memory seldom goes back beyond the last season. Hence the Negritos
have no idea of age. They know that they are old enough to have
children or grandchildren, and that is as far as their knowledge of
age goes. To count days ahead they tie knots in a string of bejuco
and each day cut off one knot.

In regard to units of value they are familiar with the peso and other
coins of the Philippines and have vague ideas as to their value. But
one meets persistently the word "tael" in their estimate of the value
of things. A tael is 5 pesos. If asked how much he paid for his wife a
mail may say "luampo fact." Where they got this Chinese term I do not
attempt to say, unless it points to very remote commercial relations
with the Chinese, a thine, which seems incredible. [24]

The Negritos have developed to a high degree a sense of the dramatic,
and they can relate a tale graphically, becoming so interested in their
account as to seem to for get their surroundings. For instance, a head
man was giving me one night an account of their marriage ceremony. He
went through all the motions necessary to depict various actions,
talking faster and louder as if warming up to his theme, his eyes
sparkling and his face and manner eager.

They are much like children in their curiosity to see the white
man's belongings, and are as greatly pleased with the gift of a
trinket. Their expressions and actions on beholding themselves in
a mirror for the first time are extremely ludicrous. One man who
had a goatee gazed at it and stroked it with feelings of pride and
admiration not unmixed with awe.

Superstitions

It will also take a close acquaintance to learn much of the
superstitious beliefs of the Negritos. Some hints have already been
given in regard to feeding the spirits after a hunt and reasons
for changing names of children. Other superstitious were mentioned,
as the wearing of bracelets and leglets of wild boar's skin and the
burning of deer's bones to scare away thunder.

The basis of all the superstitious beliefs of the Negritos, what
might else be termed their religion, is the constant presence of the
spirits of the dead near where they lived when alive. All places are
inhabited by the spirits. All adverse circumstances, sickness, failure
of crops, unsuccessful hunts, are attributed to them. So long as things
go well the spirits are not so much considered. There seems to be no
particular worship or offerings to gain the good will of the spirits,
other than the feeding already noted, except in one particular. On
the Tarlac trail between O'Donnell (Tarlac Province) and Botolan
(Zambales Province) there is a huge black bowlder which the Negritos
believe to be the home of one powerful spirit. So far as I could learn,
the belief is that the spirits of all who die enter this one spirit or
"anito" who has its abiding place in this rock. However that may be,
no Negrito, and in fact no Christianized native of Zambales or Tarlac,
ever passes this rock without leaving a banana, camote, or some other
article of food. If they do, bad luck or accident is sure to attend
the trip.

Senor Potenciano Lesaca, the present governor of Zambales, when
quite young, once passed the rock and for amusement--and greatly to
the horror of the Negritos with him-spurned it by kicking it with
his foot and eating part of a banana and throwing the rest in the
opposite direction. The Negritos were much concerned and said that
something would happen to him. Sure enough, before he had gone far he
got an arrow through both legs from savage Negritos along the trail
who could have known nothing of the occurrence. Of course this only
strengthened the belief. There is nothing unusual about the shape of
the stone. It is merely a large, round bowlder.

Disease is usually considered a punishment for wrongdoing, the more
serious diseases coming from the supreme anito, the lesser ones
from the lesser anitos. If smallpox visits a rancheria it is because
someone has cut down a tree or killed an animal belonging to a spirit
which has invoked the aid of the supreme spirit in inflicting a more
severe punishment than it can do alone.

For the lesser diseases there are mediquillos or medicine men or women,
called "manga-anito," who are called to exorcise the spirit creating
the disturbance. Anyone who has cured patients or belongs to a family
of mediquillos can follow the profession. There is an aversion to
being a mediquillo, although it pays, because if a patient dies the
medicine man who treated him is held accountable. As a rule they are
treated with respect, and people stand more or less in awe of them,
but they have sometimes been killed when they failed to effect a cure.

Senor Benito Guido, a native of Botolan, who accompanied me to the
barrio of Tagiltil as interpreter, became slightly ill while in a
camp. The Negritos were much worked up over it. They said it was
caused by cutting the bamboo for our camp, the spirits that owned
the bamboo being offended.

In order that we might witness their customs in such cases, an
old woman who practiced as "manga-anito" was called and offered to
relieve the patient for a little money. A peso was given her and she
began. Upon being asked how he was affected Senor Guido said that he
felt as if something was weighing him down. Of course this was the
spirit, which had to be removed before a cure could be effected. The
Manga-anito danced around the patient and bad him dance and turn
somersaults. This was to make the spirit sorry he had chosen such an
unstable abiding place. Finally she took hold of his hands, gave a
mighty tug and then dropped back stiff. The spirit had passed from
the body of the patient into her body.

During all these gymnastics the other Negritos had preserved a most
solemn mien, but at this juncture they set to work to restore the
stricken woman, rubbing and working her arms and legs until the spirit
was gone. All disease is caused by spirits, which must be expelled
from the body before a cure can be effected.

Use is also made of other remedies to supplement the ministrations
of the manga-anito. Attention has been called to the string of dried
berries, called "a-gata," which the Negritos of Pinatubo wear around
their necks for convenience in case of pains in the stomach. In
southern Zambales what seem to be these same berries are used as a
charm against snake bite. Here for pains in the stomach they boil
a piece of iron in water and drink the water hot. Pieces of certain
woods are believed efficacious for rheumatism, and old men especially
may often be seen with them tied around the limbs. This superstition is
not far removed from the belief entertained in certain rural districts
of the United States that rheumatism may be prevented by carrying a
horse chestnut in the pocket. The Negritos also wear such pieces of
wood around the neck for colds and sore throat.

In cases of fever a bed is made from the leaves of a plant called
"sam'-bon," which much resembles mint, and leaves are bound to the
affected parts. The action of these leaves is cooling. For fractures
they use bamboo splints and leaves of a plant called "ta-cum'-ba-o."

A bad cut is also bound up in these leaves or with the sap of a tree
called "pan-da-ko'-kis."

The Negritos do nothing for skin disease, a form of herpes, with
which a great many are afflicted. They probably do not regard it as
a disease. (See Pls. LVI et seq.) In case of centipede bites, if on
a finger, the affected member is thrust in the anus of a chicken,
where, the Negrito affirms, the poison is absorbed, resulting in the
death of the chicken.

Goiter is quite common. It is said to be caused by strain from carrying
a heavy load of camotes or other objects on the head.

Smallpox, as has been said, is believed to be a visitation of the
wrath of the supreme spirit, and if it breaks out in a rancheria
the victim is left with a supply of food and water and the place
is abandoned. After several days have elapsed the people return
cautiously, and if they find the patient is dead they go away again
never to return, but if he has recovered they take up their abode
in the rancheria. A great many of the Negritos seen in Zambales have
scars of smallpox.

The practice of blistering the body in case of sickness is very common
in the Pinatubo region. The belief prevails with some individuals that
in the healing up of the sore thus produced the sickness with which
the body is afflicted will go away. Others affirmed that blistering
was done only in case of fevers, and that the pain inflicted caused
the patient to break out in a profuse perspiration which relieved the
fever. This seems a more rational belief. Individuals were seen with
as many as twenty scars produced in this manner.

Aside from the anito belief, the Negritos have other
superstitions. Cries of birds at night are especially unlucky. If a
person is starting out on a journey and someone sneezes just as he is
leaving he will not go then. It is regarded as a sign of disaster,
and delay of an hour or so is necessary in order to allow the spell
to work off.

A certain parasitic plant that much resembles Yellow moss and grows
high up in trees is regarded as a very powerful charm. It is called
"gay-u-ma" and a man who possesses it is called "nanara gayuma." If
his eyes rest on a person during the new moon he will become sick
at the stomach, but he can cure the sickness by laying hands on the
afflicted part.

Senor Benito Guido says that when a young man he was told by Negritos
that this charm would float upstream. And when he offered to give
a carabao for it if that were so, its power was not shown. In spite
of this, however, the Negritos are firm believers in it, and, for
that matter, so also are the Christianized Zambal and Tagalog. It is
likewise thought to be of value in attracting women. If it is rubbed
on a woman or is smoked and the smoke blows on her the conquest
is complete.

CHAPTER VII

SPANISH ATTEMPTS TO ORGANIZE NEGRITOS

The attention of the Spanish Government was early attracted to the
Negritos and other savages in the Philippines, and their subjection and
conversion was the subject of many royal orders, though unfortunately
little was accomplished. One of the first decrees of the Gobierno
Superior relating especially to the Negritos was that of June 12,
1846. It runs substantially as follows:

In my visits to the provinces of these Islands, having noticed,
with the sympathy that they must inspire in all sensitive souls,
the kind of life and the privations that many of the infidel
tribes, and especially the Negritos who inhabit the mountains, are
forced to endure; and persuaded that it is a duty of all civilized
Governments and of humanity itself to better the condition of
men, who, hidden thus from society, will in time become extinct,
victims of their customs, of the unhealthfulness of the rugged
places where they live, and of our negligence in helping them; and
desirous of making them useful, that some day, influenced by the
benefits of social life, they may enter the consoling pale of our
Holy Mother, the Catholic Church, I hereby decree the following:

ARTICLE 1. The alcaldes and military and political governors of
provinces in whose district there may be tribes or rancherias of
the aforesaid Negritos or of other infidels shall proceed with the
consent of the devoted curas parrocos, whose charity I implore for
them, through their head men or capitanes, to induce them to take
the necessary steps to assemble in villages, lands being given
for that purpose, in places not very near to Christian pueblos,
and seeds of grains and vegetables being furnished that they may
cultivate the land.

* * * * * * *

ART. 3. Two years after the pueblo shall have been formed the
inhabitants thereof shall pay a moderate tribute, which shall
not for the present exceed one real per head, the youths and
children being excepted, obtaining in compensation the usufruct
of the lands which they may hold as their own property so long as
they do not abandon the cultivation, being able to sell to others
under the same conditions with the knowledge of the authority of
the district.

ART. 4. Said authorities and also the priests shall maintain
the greatest zeal and vigilance that the Christian pueblos do
not intrude on those of the infidels or Negritos, neither that
individuals live among them nor that they harass or molest them
on any pretext whatsoever under penalty of being punished. * * *

ART. 5. As I have understood that if the Negritos refuse social
life it is on account of their being warned by the Christians
who employ them in cutting wood, bamboo, and bejuco, and in the
collection of other products of the woods which they inhabit,
the chiefs of the provinces and the justices of the peace shall
take care that no one enters into such contracts with the Negritos
without competent authorization, leaving his name in a register
in order that if he fail to pay the true value of the articles
satisfactory to the Negritos or mistreats them it will be possible
to fix the blame on him and to impose the proper penalty.

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