The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao - The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Fay-Cooper Cole
page 115 of 211 (54%)
page 115 of 211 (54%)
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room were narrow stalls where the women were engaged in weaving, and in
which they slept and kept their most valued possessions. FIG. 35. COOKING POT AND COVER. In the description of the house we have mentioned most of the furnishings. In addition it is customary to find a few well made mats of _pandanus_ or _buri_ palm leaf. These are spread on the floor when the owners wish to retire and for the rest of the time are rolled up and laid along the walls. Carved forked sticks which serve as torch-holders stand in various parts of the room, while somewhere near the stove is a miscellany of wooden meat blocks, bamboo fans and fly swatters, gourds filled with millet, salt, or mashed peppers, and shovel-shaped or round rice winnowers, which also serve as common eating dishes for the family and guests. Well made baskets stand by the walls or hang from pegs along with articles of clothing, while spears, shields, and other weapons are fastened to side walls or roof. Small clearings are found at no great distance from these dwellings and in them the people raise rice, corn, millet, camotes, sugar-cane, and a few banana and hemp plants (Plate L). As is the case with all the wild tribes in this district, the Bila-an make new clearings as soon as the cogon grass begins to invade their fields, and this in time causes them to move their homes from one locality to another. The domestic animals consist of a few chickens, dogs, an occasional cat and pig, and in the lower cogon lands, a few families possess horses. Some fish are secured from the river, while deer, wild pig, jungle fowl, and other game are taken with traps or secured by hunting. |
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