The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao | Page 2

plan I went to Davao in
July, nineteen hundred and ten.
All information to be secured from publications, settlers, or natives was
to the effect that there were at least fourteen distinct tribes to be met
with in the Gulf region. The preliminary reconnaissance of the field

made it plain that the earlier classifications were greatly at fault.
Several divisions recognized as tribes were found to be only dialect
groups, while others differing in no essential respects from one another
secured names from the districts in which they resided. It was also
found that in recent years there had been a considerable movement of
the hill people toward the coast, and that in some places they had
penetrated and established themselves in the territory formerly held by
other tribes.
The capture of slaves, intermarriage, and trade between the groups have
been powerful influences in obliterating tribal lines, thus adding further
confusion to the classification of the people.
The field offered so much of interest that I determined to make detailed
studies of the various tribes encountered. The work progressed
satisfactorily for seven months, when a severe illness caused me to
leave the tropics for a time, at least. As a result the work with the Gulf
tribes is still far from complete. The tribes living on or near the upper
waters of the Agusan river and north of Compostela were not visited,
and, hence, will not be mentioned here, while certain other divisions
received only scant attention. No attempt is here made to treat of the
Christianized or Mohammedanized people, who inhabit a considerable
part of the coast and the Samal Islands, further than to indicate their
influence on the wild tribes. Both have settled in Davao District in
historic times, and have taken many native converts into their villages.
From these settlements new ideas, types of garments, and industries
have spread toward the interior, while the extensive slave trade carried
on by the Moro has had a marked effect on all the tribes with whom
they have come in contact.
In the preparation of this paper I have, so far as possible, drawn on the
knowledge of others to fill in the gaps in my own notes. In spite of this
the information on certain groups is still so scanty that this can be, at
best, only a sketch. It is offered at this time in the hope that it may
serve as a help to other anthropologists who may plan to visit this most
interesting field.
I wish here to extend my thanks to the various civil and military

authorities who gave me valuable assistance; also to Captain James
Burchfield, H. S. Wilson, James Irwin, Otto Hanson, William Gohn,
Henry Hubbell, and Juan de la Cruz, planters, whose wide knowledge
of, and acquaintance with the interior tribes made possible my work in
many localities.
It is a pleasure and a duty to acknowledge the assistance rendered by
my wife, who accompanied me throughout my Philippine work. Her
presence made it possible to secure the complete confidence of the hill
people, and thus to gain an insight into their home life which otherwise
would have been impossible. A large part of the material here presented,
particularly that relating to the women, was gathered by her and many
of the photographs are from her camera.
The dialects spoken by the tribes of central and southern Mindanao are
to be dealt with in a separate publication, so that at this time I shall
merely give a brief description of the characters appearing in the native
names used in this paper. The consonants are pronounced as in English,
except r which is as in Spanish. c is used as ch in church, ~n, which
occurs frequently, is a palatal nasal. There is no clear articulation and
the stop is not present, but the back of the tongue is well up on the soft
palate.
The vowels are used as follows: -a like a in father -e like a in fate -i
like i in ravine -o like o in note -u like u in flute a, e, i, o, u, short of the
above.
E is a sound between the obscure vowel e, as e in sun, and the ur in
burrow.
The dipthongs[sic] are ai like ai in aisle, au like ou in mouse, or final
Spanish ao as in carabao,
ei like ei in eight, oi as in boy, also Eu, eu_,
etc.
FAY-COOPER COLE, Assistant Curator of Malayan Ethnology.
CHICAGO, September, 1913.

I. THE BAGOBO.
SYNONYMS:
(a) GUIANGA, GUANGA, GULANGA
(b) OBO
(c) TIGDAPAYA
(d) ETO
HABITAT.
The west coast of Davao Gulf between Daliao and Digos is dotted with
small villages, the inhabitants of which are largely Bagobo who have
been converted to the Christian faith and have been induced to