International Journal Has Three Articles on Kulaman

Finally, I'm able to read the three articles of Marcelino Maceda in the international journal Anthropos. For the non-regulars here, Maceda was the first anthropologist who formally studied the limestone burial jars of Kulaman Plateau and published his findings in research journals. He was a faculty member of the University of San Carlos, here in Cebu City.

I'm reading the articles courtesy of JSTOR, an online library known for its digitized old issues of academic publications. JSTOR, short for Journal Storage, offers most of its contents to paying subscribers only, but it allows registered users to read free up to three items at a time. As I write this, I have been registered for barely a week.

An About page of JSTOR states that the website has been allowing free limited access since last year, at around the same time I started doing research on the burial jars of Kulaman Plateau. The three articles of Maceda were the first few sources I found through Google, but I was able to open their first pages only. I must have missed the option to register, or I must have been wary that the registration process would be cumbersome. In any case, the process turned out to be fast and simple, and I'm glad I did register.

I'm still reading the articles thoroughly. Like most academic text, they're not exactly entertaining, but so far, I've discovered plenty of interesting facts. One is that Maceda actually did an excavation, as archaeologists seem to normally do. He and his companions had to dig up inside the caves to find more burial jars. Though I encountered excavation or excavated in the other journal articles on the jars, I avoided using the terms in my own write-ups because I was not sure what exactly the researchers did. The articles I read before focused on the number and features of the finds and not on the process.

I'll be generously quoting Maceda's writings in my next posts, so do drop by. You may also read the articles yourself. I've added their publication details, with links, in the Webliography page of this blog.

Manobo Magic Demystified

Many Visayan settlers here in Mindanao whisper about the power of the Manobo people (and other indigenous tribes) to use some primitive dark magic. The suspicions are not exactly unfounded. Ross Errington, a linguistics scholar, set out to investigate the matter and reported his findings in the journal Studies in Philippine Linguistics, published by the international volunteer organization Summer Institute of Linguistics.

In the article, which appeared in 1988, Errington classifies the magic of the Dulangan Manobos into four, according to its use: (1) magic to ward off misfortunes, (2) magic to heal the sick, (3) magic to attain success, and (4) magic to inflict harm on others. Towards the end of the article, the writer discusses Manobo magic in relation to the conversion to Christianity of many tribe members.

Visayans who will read the article will be surprised to find out that Manobo magic isn't much different from the traditional supernatural practices of lowlanders. Like the Visayans, the Manobos of Cotabato wear amulets to attract positive energy and utter chants to drive away illness-causing spirits. The difference is in the details. Read Errington's article to learn the nitty-gritty of Manobo magic. To cite it as a source, see Bibliography.

Reference: Manobo Narrative Chants by Cruz-Lucero

Written in the Filipino language, this paper features twelve Dulangan Manobo narrative chants. Most of the stories are early myths, such as how the world was created, and some are modern folktales, such as the arrival of the first American. The author, Rosario Cruz-Lucero, a professor in the University of the Philippines, relates the stories to the beliefs, practices, and present predicaments of the Dulangan Manobos.

This paper is a product of the author’s “weeklong visits” to two Manobo communities in October 2002 and May 2003. The chants were recited by a shamaness-cum-storyteller. Because Cruz-Lucero is a fictionist aside from being a scholar, her language is more entertaining to read than the usual academic prose. I must point out, however, a minor error. She states that the interviews were conducted in “the municipality of Kulaman and Todog village.” Kulaman is the poblacion, or capital village, of the Municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino, while Todog is a sitio, or hamlet, within the territory of Bugso village.

Here is a pdf copy of the paper. Delightful news to researchers: The online version of Humanities Diliman, where this paper is published, provides suggestions how to cite the paper. Just click the link at the right of the webpage.