The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao: The R. F. Cummings Philippine ExpeditionCole, Fay-Cooper
History
The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao: The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition
Cole, Fay-Cooper
Ethnology -- Philippines -- Mindanao Island
At some unrecorded date a considerable, portion of the tribe migrated to
the east side of Davao Gulf, and settled near Cape San Agustin, where,
it is said, they now number more than two thousand.
The name Tagakaolo signifies "those who dwell at the head of the river,"
and is applied to all the hill people living between the coast and the
country of the Bila-an. They have always been broken up into small
groups, often at war with one another, yet they appear to be quite
uniform in type, language, and religious beliefs. In recent years many
of them have been induced to come down to the coast plantations, but the
great majority still remain in the mountains. They are of a turbulent,
warlike disposition, and have been a constant source of trouble to the
Spanish and American authorities.[92] At the time of the writer's visit
they had joined with the Kulaman in raiding the coast settlements, and,
as a result, were being vigorously pursued by the American troops; for
this reason it was only possible to gain information from those
remaining on the plantations.
[92] Members of this tribe were responsible for the murder of Governor
Bolton.
The total number of persons making up the tribe is estimated at six
thousand, but this is at best a mere guess.
There is scarcely any variation in physical type between the Kagan
branch and the Tagakaolo proper, while for the whole tribe there is less
variation between its members than in any group so far discussed.
The following results were obtained by measurements on twenty-seven men:
Maximum height 166.6 cm.; minimum 151.3 cm.; average 157.4 cm.
Cephalic indices--Maximum 89.7; minimum 76.3; average 81.5.
Length-height indices--Maximum 79.0; minimum 63.1, average 70.0.
These tables show that aside from being more short-headed, this tribe
differs little from the Bagobo, Bila-an, and Kulaman. Like the Kulaman,
they have high foreheads, often full and vaulted but quite as frequently
retreating from well-marked supra-orbital ridges. They are slightly more
prognathous than the Kulaman, and in the majority of cases the hair is
curled in locks. The teeth are usually mutilated and blackened, while
shaving of the eyebrows and tattooing of the left forearm and breast are
quite common.
The historians of the tribe tell us that all the Tagakaolo are descended
from Lakbang, MEngEdan, and his wife Bodek. In the beginning these three
persons lived on a small island in the sea. Two children, Linkanan and
Lampagan, were born to them and they in turn were parents of two
birds--the _kalau_ and _sabitan_. These birds flew away to other places
and returned with bits of soil which their parents patted and moulded
with their hands until they had formed the earth. Other children were
born and from them have come all the people who now inhabit the land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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