Rattan Decors

Manobo craftsmen, of course, are also capable of creating modern decors and toys out of rattan. 

Rattan can be used to make a ball for sepak takraw, a game similar to volleyball but has three players only for each team and the players can’t use their hands to hit the ball.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Brass Musical Instruments

A group of Dulangan Manobo musicians performs possibly for a Christian crowd, judging by the background. This is a photo of a photo displayed in Delesan Menubo. Since the Manobos have not developed a technology to work metal, the brassware that they use is usually bought from the Maguindanao people.

This set of small gongs is usually laid on the floor and struck by a padded hammer. It’s called kulintang by the Maguindanaos and selagi by the Dulangan Manobos.

Beautifully designed, the hammer in this photo steals attention from the gong. The head of the hammer seems to me to be made of manila hemp.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Native Musical Instruments

The two-stringed guitar on the left is a fegelung. The bowlike instrument

in the center is used for the one-stringed violin on the right, the duwagey.

This bamboo harp is called togo. Because bamboo

abound in Kulaman Plateau, togos are common

in Dulangan Manobo settlements.

This very simple bamboo musical instrument is called kubing.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Swords

The weapon at the top is a tabas. The one at the bottom is a bangkong. They both look deadly to me, but the tabas must be purely ceremonial, for based on its definition in the Kitab (Dulangan Manobo Customary Law), it is “used for war dance and for dowry.”

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Knives

The Dulangan Manobo people call a knife gelat. For a penknife

or a carving knife, they use the term ukab-ukab.

This knife is a salungsong, used to clear weedy areas.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Fishing Tools

To catch fish, the Dulangan Manobo people use a siyuk, also called takep. I believe this is useful only in spots that are teeming with fish or in a fishpond that has been divested of much of its water.

Whew. This is another item in Delesan Menubo that I missed to record the name.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Hunting Weapons

From left to right: segpo (spear), busog (bow), and seleb (arrow). I believe

I don’t have to tell you what they are for. 

The plegkasin is made of wood and worn on the wrist. The hunter rests

his arrow on the plegkasin for him to have a more accurate aim.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Large Native Containers

The alat is used for storing large objects that won’t fall through the holes of the container. If you want to know what makes an alat different from other Manobo baskets, see my March 18 post.

The lihub is made of the bark of a tree. It is used for storing grains and other items.

I made my brother stand beside a lihub for you to have an idea how large the container is.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Native Water Containers

The Dulangan Manobo people traditionally keep their drinking water in a sekedu, made of bamboo. The design of the spout can be playful. Most likely, actual sekedus do not have beaded ornaments, as shown in this photo.

For long-distance travels, Manobos carry water in dry and hollowed-out gourds.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Tools for Preparing Rice

Once rice has been harvested and dried, the lesung

(mortar) and seelu (pestle) is used to separate

the chaff from the grain.

The sinulon, made of weaved bamboo strips, is used to winnow rice.

Traditional Manobo people use a kuden tana (earthen

pot) to cook rice. Kuden literally means “pot,”

and tana means “dirt.”

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Bamboo Cases for Betel Quid

Let me admit it at the outset: I don’t know the correct Manobo name for the object that I’m going to feature today. This is quite a failure on my part as a researcher, considering my claim that the object is my favorite among the displayed items in Delesan Menubo. The object is a tiny bamboo stem used by Manobo men as a container for their betel quid. Each one has an accompanying lid, apparently fashioned from the same stem. If it were made of plastic, it can be easily mistaken for a lipstick case, albeit fatter.

What I like about the tiny bamboo case is the design on its surface. The design is carved on the bamboo with probably the tip of a penknife, and each case has a unique design. If you look closely, you can see that the design is composed only of simple geometric cuts, but when viewed as a whole, the cuts make the bamboo case a work of art. The design looks so intricate that I want to have a collection of these betel quid containers. One of the cases displayed in Delesan Menubo even has braided strips of black vine wrapped around it as an additional decoration.

I thought the name of the object is fuyot, which is described in the Kitab (Dulangan Manobo Customary Law) as “gamit ng lalaki lalagyan ng mama” (men’s container for betel quid). My other sources state, however, that a fuyot is a small drawstring bag. Maybe anything that is used to keep betel quid is called fuyot. When I asked the Manobo girls in Delesan Menubo what a fuyot was, I think some of them pointed a cloth bag and some of them pointed the tiny bamboo cases. I have to look for a Dulangan Manobo again to verify these things. For now, let me show you the three bamboo cases on display in Delesan Menubo.

Update: I've learned that the tiny case is called a selapa. I wrote the post in November 2015, and I asked a Manobo woman for the correct term in January 2016.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Bags

My hometown named its annual festival after the solok, but the Manobo basket I like most is the kelepi, shown in this photo. To know the different types of Manobo baskets, check out my post the previous Friday.

I failed to properly identify this bag displayed in Delesan Menubo. Among my list of Manobo baskets, the description of a kampilu is the closest to this bag: “oval, vine, tightly woven, large.” This bag, though, is made of reed instead of vine. Based on the description, a kampilu should look like a huge kelepi, but I didn’t see any such basket in the display room. Thus, for now, I’m calling this object a kampilu.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Baskets

Get to know your Manobo baskets. Here’s a basic guide, based on the Cotabato Manobo Classified Vocabulary by the Summer Institute of Linguistics and on my own research:

baskit—round, rattan, open weave, with handle, small to medium
alat or melit—round, rattan, open weave, no handle, large
solok—round, bamboo, tightly woven, without lid, small to medium
sinagpeng—round, bamboo, tightly woven, with lid, small to medium
suladan—round, bamboo, tightly woven, large
kelepi—oval, vine, tightly woven, small
kampilu—oval, vine, tightly woven, large

Sinagpengs have lids and soloks don’t. Take note

of that very simple difference.

My bro demonstrates how the Dulangan Manobos

carry their baskets. Now you know why

the slings are unusually long.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Pouches

Traditional Manobo men own a cloth bag called puyot, into which they put their betel quid and other important things. According to Defending the Land, a book on ancestral domain claims in Mindanao, a puyot is “usually colored blue” and “slung around [the] forehead even in plowing the field, to reach out to while resting from the task.

The other puyot displayed in Delesan Menubo is plaid and looks more “tribal.” Its string is also made of abaca, a native fiber. The string of the blue puyot, shown in the first photo above, is made of a synthetic material.

Just like how they wear their tubaw, Manobo men wear their puyot as they please. This grandfather prefers to sling the string on his shoulder and keep the cloth bag on his chest.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

How to Wear a Tubaw

Among the Dulangan Manobo people, the datu (chieftain) wears a tubaw (headscarf) almost all the time. The scarf is a symbol of their high standing in the community. But as far as I know, ordinary men may also wear a tubaw. It’s not prohibited. (As to women, they don’t wear a tubaw; they wear headdresses instead.) I like tubaws. I like wearing them, especially on important occasions. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because wearing a tubaw is an easy way to draw attention to myself. Non-indigenous men rarely wear a tubaw, if at all, and I like being different—I sometimes like showing people that I’m different. Perhaps it’s also because I simply can’t resist the exquisiteness of tubaws. They have simple yet regal designs. Indeed, the question should not be “Why do I wear a tubaw?” It should be “Why are we not wearing it?” We wear Western clothing most of the time, and we don something K-Pop or anime if we feel like experimenting. So why not tribal? Why not a tubaw? It’s our own. You can even express your creativity with a tubaw. There’s no prescribed way of wrapping the cloth around your head and tying its ends. Just look at the men below. The styles of their tubaws reveal different personalities. I can create a life story for each of them based on the headscarves alone.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Bracelets and Anklets

You can tell a sugot (bracelet) from a sigkil (anklet) from their sizes.

The latter is normally bigger.

Sigkils go well with apol (tattoo).

Sugots may be made of nito, a native vine.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Belts

Binulan-bulan, a decorative belt for men

This belt, worn by Manobo women on special occasions, is part-ornament part-musical instrument. Each of the tiny brass balls is hollow and contains a tinier ball inside. The bells chime when the wearer of the belt walks and dances.

Brass is expensive for the Manobos, so many of the women make do with belts that are made of beads and have a few brass bells only. The beaded belts, nonetheless, are beautiful on their own.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Necklaces

The basak (necklace) of Manobos is made normally of beads and tiny brass bells and sometimes of animal teeth. 

Another sample of a basak worn by Manobo women. Men rarely wear necklaces, and when they do, theirs are usually much simpler.

Not all basaks are large and flashy. I bought these simple ones for some friends.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)

Manobo Earrings

Tunggal (large hoop earring) is one of the distinctive ornaments of Manobo women. The earring is worn in a series, the smallest hanging from the top of the ear and the biggest hanging from the earlobe. Manobo men used to wear tunggals too, but they stopped due to the influence of Christian migrants from Luzon and Visayas.

Suffering for the sake of beauty. Tunggals have caused the ears of this Manobo woman to swell and be deformed.

Simple mechanism. The brass loop is inserted through the hole in the ear. The two ends of the loop are then joined inside a bead.

(Blogger's note: This post is part of a series on items that the Dulangan Manobo people traditionally use in their daily lives. Special thanks to the RNDM nuns assigned in Kulaman Plateau. For more information about the series, read my introductory post or click the label Delesan Menubo below.)