The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine TribeCole, Fay-Cooper
Religion
The Tinguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe
Cole, Fay-Cooper
Tinguian (Philippine people)
A very necessary article of house furnishing is the fire-making
device. In many instances, the housewife will go to a neighboring
dwelling and borrow a light rather than go to the trouble of building
a fire, but if that is not convenient, a light may be secured by one
or two methods. The first is by flint and steel, a method which is
probably of comparatively recent introduction. The second and older is
one which the Tinguian shares with all the neighboring tribes. Two
notches are cut through a section of bamboo, and tree cotton is
placed below them. A second section of bamboo is cut to a sharp edge,
and this is rubbed rapidly back and forth in the notches until the
friction produces a spark, which when caught on tinder can be blown
into a flame. [175] At the door of the house will be found a foot
wiper (Fig. 5, No. 12) made of rice-straw drawn through an opening
cut in a stick, or it may consist of coconut husks fastened together
to make a crude mat, while near by is the broom made of rice-straw or
grass. Rice-mortars, pestles, and similar objects are found beneath
the dwellings.
_The Village Spring_.--Each village is situated near to a spring or
on the banks of a stream. In the latter case deep holes are dug in the
sands, and the water that seeps in is used for household purposes. In
the morning, a number of women and girls gather at the springs,
carrying with them the plates and dishes used in the meals, also
garments which need to be laundered. The pots and dishes are thoroughly
scoured with sand and water, applied with a bundle of rice-straw or
grass. The garments to be washed are laid in the water, generally in
a little pool near to the main spring or beside the stream. Ashes from
rice-straw are then mixed with water and, after being strained through
a bunch of grass, are applied to the cloth in place of soap. After
being thoroughly soaked, the cloth is laid on a clean stone, and is
beaten with a stick or wooden paddle. The garment is again rinsed,
and later is hung up on the fence near the dwelling to dry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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