Dam-mag

A Time of Passing

The passing of a loved one is always a sad affair among tribal peoples. Just like with other faiths, cultures and societies around the world, death heralds the transition of a soul from his earthly life towards the great beyond. From mortality to the immortal world.

woman playing agung

Among the Bagobo people, there are many practices as well as prohibitions during time of death. Chief among these practices is a musical ritual called “dam-mag”. During wakes, the dam-mag would be played announcing a death in the community. The playing involves the constant tapping of two large gongs usually in the same beat fashion and tempo, with a tapping instrument called ‘tap-tap”.

portrait

In the olden days as it is today, the dam-mag informs the people of the community of a death of a friend, neighbor and to someone even more important, a Chief or a Datu. Furthermore, the musical reverberation of the agung draws people from across mountains, rivers and valleys to congregate during the sad tidings.

a ritualist plays the dammag death ritual

During this time, it is expressly forbidden for the immediate family or any member thereof to take part in the ceremonies, rituals, or in the serving of the relatives and guests. Bagobos believe that should an immediate member of the family of the deceased even take part in the ceremony of the dam-mag, it would be tantamount to a making of a plea for those departed to take him with them in the after-life. This is a taboo that is being enforced among the Davao lumads even today.

agung drummers during a wake

Another common practice during the time of bereavement is the guarding of the physical body of the deceased. It is believed that once a body has been emptied of its rightful owner or soul, evil spirits called “busow” might enter the body and thereby possess it. Extreme care is also taken that the body is not jumped over animals like cats as there is another belief that when these happen, the dead person will suddenly rise.

When a person dies, they believe that his soul or ‘gimokod” travels to the region where the Chief of Souls whom they call Moivuyan resides. This region is named “ingod ni Moivuyan”. Moivuyan is the caretaker of souls who cross from life to death.

In this particular region too, a soul will be bathed in a place called’ “oweg no kolingawan”, in English known as “the water of forgetting”. The being who resides in this place will pour water over the passing soul and thereafter the soul forgets many things and concerns about its former life on earth. It is akin to that being disrobed of one’s garments after a long and arduous journey.

women sing praises and hymns

However it is also believed that from time to time, a soul is allowed to visit the earthly spheres to visit his loved ones and friends and in unusual instances, even permitted to interfere in the affairs of men by way of dreams, miracles or supernatural apparitions.

women folk dance to celebrate the deceased journey into the after life

Warrior Society

Bagobos of Davao region, especially in the olden days are reputed to be fierce warriors. They are very protective about their ancestral lands and boundaries and carry a serious-like demeanor wherever they go. Being uptight about the concept of social respect, they rarely laugh or smile about especially when dealing with outsiders or foreigners. They are diplomatic however and carry about themselves an aura of ancient dignity and power. However, when situations call for a tribal war or pangayao, the Bagobos offer their ritual prayers to their war-deity called Mandarangan, and thereby asked for his protection and victory against their enemies. Mandarangan’s home is supposedly on the mount of the Apo.

Then a war party is thereby commissioned. Led by a Datu or Magani wearing his blood-red suit, young and veteran warriors hasten to the lair of their enemies. A pangayao is impelled by theft, murder or killing of a relative, breaking of a taboo, kidnapping of a wife or child or even trespass to ethnic borders.

To assure a winning outcome of the conflict, Bagobos resort to ambuscades, surprise attacks, poisons or even magic. In their weapon inventory, they have swords called palihuma, krisses, spear, bows and arrows and their kaasag or shields. Thus, the opposing tribe may have to defend themselves in a similar fashion. On occasion of obtaining slaves and women, Bagobos will even conduct hostile raids on Bilaan territories in Davao del Sur. Bilaans are also a group of people found particularly in Malita, Davao del Sur.

Bagobos have also met formidable foes in the past.
The Muslim tribes. There are ancient stories recalling of skirmishes between the Bagobos and their neighboring Muslim brothers.

Maguindanao

Bordering the Davao highlands and North Cotabato where most Bagobo territories are situated, is the landlocked region of Maguindanao. This is the home of the powerful Maguindanao Sultanate. Home of the powerful Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat. Leader of the war campaign waged against the Spanish colonial forces in the mid 1600’s. It is said that there were border skirmishes that involved both people.

In fact, in the work of Historian Heidi K. Gloria, The Bagobos: their Ethno history and Acculturation, 1987, an account was made on an encounter between the two: the Bagobos using a kind of magic as defense against the invading “Muslims”.

Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat

Thus it is quoted, “My Grandfather, Datu Gapao, used to tell me that wars were very common between the Moros and the Bagobos in the past. The Bagobos possessed knowledge of the art and craft of warfare, so that eventually the Moros gave up fighting us. As an example, one of our techniques is called “pagtangka”, a charm which is placed along the path, e.g. a river, of enemies. As soon as the Moros step on the water where the pagtangka has been placed they will begin to feel strange and would not want to travel further. Another art known to us Bagobos is that of the felling all the banana trees of the enemy with just one arrow. Still another is the “kasin”, which is spun around a surface on which a sketch of the enemy territory is drawn. Wherever the kasin falls when it stops spinning, all the Moros found in that direction will die.”

Chieftains of old Davao

Before the Spanish formally launched its conquest of Davao in 1848, the region was governed by tribal leaders called Datus. These Datus were the equivalent of village headmen. They were renowned to be the wisest and the bravest among the people. Aside from leading the defense of his people against foes and raiders, the Datu also dispenses the tribe’s customary laws. Also unlike Muslim tribes in Lanao, Maguindanao and Sulu where a Datu is subject to the rule of the Sultan, Bagobo and Lumad tribal leaders overtly proclaim their independence over any one-man rule. Even if they paid homage to the Sultanate of Mindanao, they fiercely valued their territorial and personal independence. After all, they are many and possess a land and culture of their own.

Chieftains generally wear a blood-red colored head kerchief that proclaim his valor in the battlefield.

 The advent of American military occupation of Davao in the early 1900’s also paved the way for anthropological research and rediscovery of flourishing Mindanao cultures by the West. Such was the case of Datu Tongkaling who was the ruler of Sibulan, Davao during the American period. Sibulan is supposedly the center of the Tagabawa community in Davao del Sur, as it was also recognized by many Bagobos in the neighboring territories. Accordingly, Tongkaling traced his ancestry through ten (10) generations of Datu Chieftains. Above is an image of Datu Tongkaling, photo courtesy of Faye-Cooper Cole who was in Davao during the 40’s

Lumad Spirituality

Lumad spirituality is very deep. At a young age, many lumads regardless of tribal affiliation are being taught by their elders to respect three things; 1. To revere Manama as the God creator of all things, 2. To respect nature and all its forms, 3. And to respect his elders, his community and the customs that have been brought down for generations. The lumad child, while growing up to become an adult is taught by the community through example. Since the relationships of tribal cultures in the east are more cohesive, the education becomes more of a “community instruction”.

There are many spiritual practices among the lumads. But all of these are compartmentalized into one unified system of belief and practice.

For example, during the blessing or pomaas after a harvest, the balian or the priest will offer prayers and give thanks to Manama. The pomaas ritual is characterized with the use of two (2) chickens, one colored white and the other, black feathered, as being offered to appease the creator. After the prayer acknowledging the hierarchy of spirits, the chickens are slaughtered and the liver is utilized by the shaman as a tool to read the omens or messages of the spirits. The pomaas ritual is not limited to harvests or community celebrations but is also an accepted practice on occasions of a house blessing, family gathering or family celebrations.

Another example is that whenever a hunter goes out to hunt, he makes an altar at the side of the balete tree. This altar, otherwise known as tambara contains an offering of food or rice for the guardian spirit to partake. Thus, an acknowledgment from the spirit makes his hunt successful.

It is also not proper, to touch articles belonging to the Datu like his palihuma or sword, spear, kaasag or his shield, his garments or his mat, especially without his permission. Articles belonging to him are considered sacred.

Laughing at other people’s deformities is also considered a serious moral crime. The being of the sky world called Anit may punish a person for commission. But oftentimes, an insult to a reputation of an individual may result to instant death.

An ahung may not be played without permission as the instrument is also protected by a guardian spirit.

At the time of Islamic rule in Mindanao, the Bagobos had generally believed that creation is ruled by a supreme God called Manama. As there are also lesser gods and deities that are under his governance. His afterlife in the sky worlds consists of nine layers, the highest being occupied by the supreme God and the diwata and the lowest, the anitos or spirits. Then, there is Tuwaang, the bagobo folk-hero who defeats his evil enemies and retreats to his sky world riding in his Sinalimba or sky-ship.

Symbiosis is a concept that has been understood by many lumads even before they were taught the word. And before the coming of the formal education, they instinctively knew how it was to violate a centuries-old custom law. Thus, many of them have developed a keen sense of respect towards many things. Respect for them is not a belief. It is part of their greater practice of lumad spirituality.

Adsuli

Adsuli. Law of Retaliation

In the pre-hispanic Bagobo communities of the Davao region, a man wronged would resort to suli/adsuli, which which means to take revenge. Offenses such as taking of another’s property, carrying another man’s wife or simply making fun of any physical disability can potentially offset a dangerous situation in the lumad village.

Arsenio Manuel, a Philippine anthropologist who have worked in Davao in the 1960’s, chronicles many of these stories involving tribal feuds and retaliation. In one such story in Kidapawan, North Cotabato, a boy was slashed and killed for laughing at a man’s physical disfigurement. Manuel says thus in his manuscript, Manuvu Custom Law 2000 UP Diliman, “Matun of Muwaan, Kidapawan, suffered from a disease and lost his left foot;he could walk only with the aid of two canes. He could work, fish, climb up a tree and haul down a beehive nevertheless.

He was intervisiting and left his supports at the doorway, then went up the house on all fours. A boy about ten years old in the household laughed. Then and there, Matun slashed at the boy and killed him.

The father did not retaliate.

The datus who settled the case said it was oson, because that disease was given by Manama (Manuvu Supreme God) and Matun did not desire it. Why should someone speak of such a defect patent to the eyes; much more important than the person having it? A small panavuk (damages) was awarded by Matun for the death of the boy to his father.

The case mentioned exemplifies of an insult leading to a death.This this is known as Adsuli or retaliation.

This is the observation of the Manuvu law.

Omet Onse, the Agung player

Bagobo giangan Omet Onse +, playing the agung (image taken in 2008 using N95 Nokia Phone model)

Bagobos are such prolific agung (ahung) players. If you had that chance of visiting Davao City here in Mindanao and checking out tribal communities in the area, you will find that some lumad families own an agung set. Chances are, it had been handed down from their ancestors, of whose agung set dated back from pre-colonial times. By tradition, a family who owns such musical bronze pieces was required that at least one of them knows how to play it.

In the upper Baguio district of Davao in the family of Onse, (descendants of Datu Abeng of Calinan), one such player was a Bagobo-giangan named Omet Onse. He was one of the two in the Onse family (Ambit Onse being the other and now deceased), who could still play the agung.  Omet played pieces from an almost bygone era of Bagobo life. Musical pieces that are familiar to many Bagobos would include the tagung-gu, sowroy, tinok-ka, inday-inday and many meaningful others. He was also a teacher to Dabawenyong Lumad.

But sadly, last Tuesday, this month of October of 2012, he expired on the account of a lingering illness, called cancer.

You see, here lies our predicament as a people: as we struggle to preserve our last remaining cultures, most of us are overtaken by disease, poverty and most of the time, death. Compounding the struggle is the aggressive advancement of both crass commercialism and aggressive evangelization into lumad communities. Truth be painfully told, new generations of lumad children are straying away from old traditions. Even knowledgeable agung players are fast dwindling.

The confluence of all these things grieves me and makes me reflect on how I can best help my own community in preserving a dying culture, using the talents and skills that I have earned from the best of both worlds: my culture and my modern education.

As for Omet Onse, he will be missed as with all the other Datus and Chieftains who have struggled to preserve the many unwritten stories, the music and the gallant way of life of the lumad.

Lumad Children

Lumad children are a very important part of the tribal community. They not only represent a family’s stature but more importantly, the continuance of the lumad way of life. Similar with other cultures from around the world, children are an assurance that life must go on: that a community will continue to thrive on its own ideals, culture and identity.

In the Bagobo way, children popularly learn by “doing or through oral instruction”. Adults typically show them how a thing is to be done and the children just follow suit. Planting crops, weaving, hunting or even using the guidance of stars and planets (baatik’ ) as basis for agriculture are taught directly through a demonstration of that skill.

In the past, before the coming of the Spaniards, there were no classrooms as there were neither formal education to speak of. Everything had to be learned from direct experience. As a way of example, old Bagobos “teach” their young not to hunt for frogs in the river at certain times of the month.

Typically considered a house meal during the past, frogs are hunted by the Bagobos in the river at night where frogs are easy to catch by “spearing them” (manuho’g bak-bak). However, during certain lunar cycles, when the moon is at its zenith, certain poisonous snakes hunt in the river and may cause untimely deaths among the people hunting in the vicinity. During the occasion, there will be a scarcity of frogs in that river and that the usual noisy and “croaky” ambiance of that area in the river will be replaced by a “deathly silence”. Here, frog hunting will have to be discouraged among the men and the eager young boys.

In many occasions too, children are taught during evenings, but this usually involves teachings of morality, belief and stories of their ancestors. Since the day is generally reserved for the demonstration of a physical skill or technique, the nighttime is used for giving oral advice to young people.

One of the special things that are being taught to children during the evenings are lessons on morality. They are taught to respect their parents, grandparents and other people in the community. They are being taught that respect is the foundation by which a community is built. Disregard it and everything becomes chaotic or even violent.

Children are typically chastised on the value of hard work (in the fields or house chores), to observe  fair speech that would not offend others, to learn to listen more so that one would learn more, to be careful with pranks and jokes as it might offend other people and that you might get hurt, or to be careful with whom you associate with as it will have an influence in your attitude (such as people who continually drink and fight), to not touch other people or other people’s property as it might offend their sensibilities and taboos such as not to laugh at animals since its spirit guardian might punish you and make you ill or even laugh during an ocassion of storm or lightning.

If for some reason children do not follow the rules being set by their elders, they are punished. Usually this involves a beating or whipping. Thin but hard rattan or bamboo sticks are a favorite whipping tool of the old people. On some rare ocassions, even an abaca whip can be utilized to inflict pain just to prove the point.

Today, lumad children are provided with free education, healthcare and are slowly being integrated into the mainstream of the modern society. Both the national offices for the indigenous peoples and the local government in Davao assist in the delivery of these multi-services to “cultural communities.” Ostensibly, the objective is to affect the eventual “assimilation” of tribal peoples into the modern society.

Assimilation has its pros and cons. But that discussion is for another time.

Meanwhile in the hinterlands of Davao City, Davao del Sur and North Cotabato, where the influence of modernization is less apparent, lumad children still learn, the hard way.

A lumad girl wearing an abaca (hemp) inspired dress. The abaca-woven dress is termed as “inabal” in Bagobo dialect. Note the girl’s colorful sash and the basket (lob-ban) that she carriesat her back.  See also the leg bands (tikos) worn by the girl.

Lumad children in their abaca-inspired garment pose for the camera.

Head Kerchief

No other tribe in Davao is more recognized by their colorful clothing than that of the Bagobos. Whether they are of the giangan, obo or tagabawa tribe, they are usually spotted wearing head kerchiefs especially during celebrations or tribal festivities.  Though, Davao has become a “little cosmopolite” in social stature these days, tribal people still cling to whatever is proudly left of their ancient culture. Among them is on the way they dress that makes them culturally distinct from the others. Inset is a head kerchief decorated with beads and tassels. Bright silver, red or green sequins are also woven intricately in the material. Headdress comes from the private collection of Dabawenyong Lumad.

Colors ranging from black, brown or black, dyed horse’s tail are popularly used to decorate the headdresses called “klobow” or “tangkulo” in the lumad parlance. Head kerchief comes from the private collection of Dabawenyong Lumad.

Bagobos in their full warrior dress stand proudly. Men at the foreground noticeably wear their head kerchiefs.  According to Fay Cooper-Cole (eminent anthropologist), “the Bagobos are without doubt, the most handsomely dressed wild tribe in the Philippines. The men confine their long hair in head kerchiefs, the edges of which are decorated with beads and tassels.” Furthermore, the Magani, the accomplished warrior of the Bagobo tribe and who, having taken 2 or 3 of the enemy, is privileged to wear a dyed-red suit with a “chocolate-red” kerchief. Such is the symbol of the Magani’s prowess in battle. The picture was taken during the early 1900’s during the American occupation of Davao. Internet image courtesy by US anthropological archives.

Image  portrays a head kerchief worn by Dabawenyong Lumad nearside a Bagobo kulintang. A bamboo structure, housing the gong set, gets noticed.

Kadayawan Celebration

Dabawenyong Lumad is pleased to announce that on August 17-19,  2012, the City of Davao will be celebrating its annual “Kadayawan Festival”.

Legally founded in 1986, the word “Kadayawan” is derived substantially from the tribal term, “Madayaw“, which means good or bountiful. The indigenous people of Davao had coined the word”Madayaw” as a way of expressing their gratitude to a bountiful outcome of a harvest. Whether it be rice, fruits, livestock, Davao lumads owe their thanks to their supreme deity popularly known to them as “Manama”.

During the occasion, the tribal people would put forth their generous harvests including their farming tools as offering to their deities and consequently rejoice in the occasion through dances, music and banquets.

This annual thanksgiving usually involve street parades, flower displays, cultural exhibits and market displays of various products and services of the City.

Kadayawan celebrations all through the years, continue to exemplify Davao’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and has promoted the Region as an exceptional tourist destination in the country.

Come join us.

Kodsayow

Dances, termed as Kodsayow, are an exciting part of the Bagobo culture.

In the past, whenever there was a good harvest or an occasion of a blessing ritual, there would be a gathering of the Bagobos. In these large gatherings, gongs would be played accompanied by drums made from dried deerskin, bamboo zither, flute or Jew’s harp. As the ensemble progresses to a much faster tempo, excited men and women would rise up and be seen dancing in the center of the throng of people.

Here the men and women will be seen moving their gentle feet at the rising and falling of the music’s crescendo. Women could be seen shuffling about a male dancer as a sign of pleasing their partner. Each of the women seems to compete for the attention  of the male. The dance is truly symbolic. An ideation of Bagobo relationships.

Bagobo dance performed by Elias B. Lopez (+), former Mayor of Davao City  (tribal festivities during the 80’s)

The Bagobo women wear their best woven dress, armlets, leglets, headpieces, belts and bracelets. For the men, their finest multicolored abaca-woven jackets, short pants, headdress, arm bands, bells , belts and other indigenous fineries.

One of the more popular types of dance celebration is during an appointment of a tribal chief. Here, Bagobo women dance with the heir-designate, regale him and shower him with flowers. This is a most noble tradition among the people in honoring their leaders.

Finally, Bagobo dances are performed barefoot. It is a tradition among the people that dancing barefoot keeps one close to mother earth, the nurturer and provider of all good things. It is the representation of the basic grounding of these people to the good soil. nobody dances wearing shoes and slippers.

The feet celebrate life, wearing nothing but its nakedness.

Bagobo dances are traditionally showcased to the public on the occasion of the Araw ng Dabaw, celebrated every month of March of each year. At this time, one will be able to view up close not only authentic displays of Bagobo dances, but also their multicolored abaca-inspired dresses.

For a historian or an anthropologist, it will be a rediscovery of an ancient culture. But for the first time traveler in Davao City, it will truly be a delight!