The five savage tribes of the Island of Luzon are to have a share in it, and 154 representatives of these tribes have arrived and are now quartered in the Philippine section at the World's Fair grounds. The representatives of the savage tribes of Luzon will prove a source of great interest to Americans, but no more so than are the Americans to the representatives of the savage tribes.
The uncivilized section of the Philippine delegation will prove one of the most attractive features of the World's Fair, for a stranger or more interesting people were never seen.
They come from the North Central section of Luzon, and, according to the Philippine statistician, there are about 500,000 of them. For hundreds and hundreds of years they have been living according to their own peculiar customs, undisturbed by the progress of civilization, working occasionally and fighting most of the time just to amuse themselves.
The mark of honor for a savage in Luzon is not a gold medal, won in an oratorical contest at college; not a bank account, gained by hard and conscientious labor in the commercial world; not a Governmental office secured by vote of a majority of the people; no, none of these count in uncivilized Luzon.
It is the head hunter who finds heads that wins name and fame.
One head secured in combat makes a savage eligible to the ranks of good society; more than one makes him a great man among his people. The American Indian used to take the scalp as a trophy of war; the barbarous Luzonian takes the entire head.
HEAD HUNTERS.
The youth of Luzon doesn't aspire to a position in the prize ring, a post on the baseball diamond, a station in the financial world, or a place among men of letters. He doesn't learn to read and write the language which he speaks, but looks anxiously at the spears and axes of his father, and to become an adept at the thrusting of the one or the swinging of the other is the dream of his boyhood.
Until a male member of a savage tribe goes out in the world and his own tribe and becomes an influence and ornament in savage society.
And the women! In the northern section of Luzon, the women, the wives, daughters and sweethearts of savage males, merely do the work. The male portion of Luzon society look upon woman as a being created to work for man. And the belief of the male is unquestioned and the women labor and like it.
When the sun sets in Luzon and the shades of the night draw near the faithful wife, assisted by the faithful daughters, builds a fire. In this fire is a placed a great deal of sand, which is heated to an abnormal degree. When the sand has become heated sufficiently it is spread on the ground and in it the savage and his family lie down and sleep. When the sand has become cold it is probably 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning and it becomes time for the women to arise.
The programme differs from that in America. The men don't get up and build the fires. Not at all. The women get up and go to work. They go to the field and labor until 10 o'clock. Then they return and prepare a dinner of sweet potatoes and rice for the lazy men and after they have partaken of the frugal meal they return to the fields, there to work until 6 o'clock, when it is time to prepare more food.
If there is a baby in the family that is too young to hustle for itself, it goes with the mother to the field. If it is of sufficient years to waddle alone it remains at home with the men. In Luzon the women do manual labor. The men stay at home and take care of the children.
FIVE TRIBES REPRESENTED.
The savages at the World's Fair are known by the general term of Igorrotes. The Igorrotes are divided into five tribes. First come the Bontocs, who are famed as fighters; then the Cuyoc, who have become liked by Americans for their industry in mining copper and gold with crude instruments; the Tinguanes, whose tendency to till the soil, to raise rice, tobacco, sugar and fruits is stronger than that of the other tribes. The Negritos are another interesting tribe. The Negritos have no especial line of industry. They live on fish and fruit.
The Manguyanes are the last of the savage tribes. They come from the Island of Mindora and have seen very few white men. There are only five members of this tribe in the World's Fair colony, and the commissioners had difficulty in even securing this number. They were fearful of crossing the sea. The savage districts in Luzon are divided into what might be termed little Republics. Each district has its Presidente, (sic) its tribunal and its Senators, even if they have no title. They are respected for their age and, being told, are credited with wisdom. The disputes of the tribe are decided by the old men. The Presidente (sic) has a voice in all proceedings; but he doesn't count to any alarming extent if the old men of the tribunal see fit to vote against him.
There are no native laws in Luzon and none are needed. There are unwritten laws, to be sure, and they are enforced. An unfaithful wife is taken before the tribunal and beheaded by her husband. There is no trial. The word of the husband is sufficient.
PECULIAR EXECUTIONS.
The beheading of an unfaithful wife is an event of no small importance. It is as noteworthy as a wedding or the homecoming of a buck who has dangling to his belt more than one head as proof of foes killed in battle.
The beheading of a guilty on e means a feast, and a feast means eating and drinking and dancing. Sometimes the bill of fare includes a dog, more often it is a hog that goes to satisfy the cravings of the stomach.
Dancing is a substitute for prayer in savage Luzon. The savages don't need much provocation to dance. If it is a marriage, a death or a birth there is a dance appropriate to the occasion. If the dry season is prolonged the natives dance for rain. If the wet season is of too great length the Presidente orders a dry dance. If the object of the proceeding is attained, then there is a dance of thanksgiving.
FEAST ON DOGS
The return of a wandering boy is always hailed with great outbursts of joy on the part of the inhabitants and the event justifies a feast.
The fatted dog is the substitute for the fatted calf and the family and friends of the returned wanderer make merry for a week. Pigs and chickens and dogs are killed in honor of the Great Spirit, which the savages believe rests behind the sun. this ceremony is similar to that occasioned by the return of a warrior who has killed a foe in battle and had brought back a head.
The national beverage of Luzon is tupoy.
....
ONE SAVAGE SPEAKS ENGLISH.
he is only 10 years old. Governor Hunt has named him Andro
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