Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1899-08-24
Igorrote. but are capa much
higher degree Of civil


higher degree :. evil
In the district of Ell Abra, In Luzon,
are the Tinguianes, who are a semi
civilized people of great force of char
acter and are doubtless of Japanese
and native origin. They tattoo their
bodies, blacken their teeth and, like
the pure Tagalos, they are exceedingly
fond of music They are the hand
soonest natives of the islands. Their
intelligent faces, with their large fore
heads and aquiline noses, form a
strong contrast to the flat-faced
Igorrotes. On the crown of the head
they wear tuft of hair like the Japan
csc. They are very fond of dress and
they take kindly to civilizng in
iiuences, but they prefer their own
laws. The Spaniards wisely left them
to govern themselves.
The Aetas or Negritos-some of
whom were with Aguinaldo in his first
battles-are mountain tribe and,
with their black, curly and matted
hair, resemble the natives of New
Guinea. They go almost naked and
have no sense of progress; they are of
low order of intellect and are stupid
dwarfed and ugly. They subsist
mainly by hunting.
With long bamboo lance, a palm
wood bow and a culver OF poisoned
arrows the Negrito warrior is not an
enemy to be despised. The Negritos
never work for thing when they can
steal it; thus they swoop down upon
the valley, steal all the cattle they
can find and carry their prey to their
Businesses in the mountains. They
are a nomadic race and never spend
more than one season in the same place
Their villages are usually aggregations
of about fifty families. Their rude
matched huts are built on strong bam-
boo poles high from the ground.
The Negritos are fast dying oWt and
their loss is not to be deplored, as
they are utterly useless and barbarous
Many attempts have been made to
oivilize them, but all in vain. They
refuse to work and neither pay taxes
nor submit to movement interference
of any kind. They have always been
independent of Spanish domination and
will probably never be ruled by Ameri.
cans.
Their marriage custom is a most in
teresting one. A youth in love with
girl first finds out how he stands
with the parents Of his intended II
all is fair in that quarter he proceeds
to take the girl in his arms. She al
once breaks loose, however, and runs
away. He follows and again catches
her. Again she resists and fees from
him. This is repeated until the girl
wearied with the play. finally yields.
The father of the girl then drags the
youth up a rough ladder to the floor
of the elevated hut; the mother fol-
lows with the daughter. The two
young people are then made to kneel
down and the old man throws a cocoa
nut shell full of water over the pair.
He next bumps their heads together
and they are considered man and wife.
Then they go away together and spend
their honeymoon in the mountains,
where they remain five days After
this they return to the everyday life
of the village.
The Visayans inhabit the islands of
the south. They hate the Tagalos bit
terly and would resent their ruler
ship strongly. The Visayans are civil
liked, but they are far less ambitious
and warlike than the Tagalos. The
Americans will have little difficulty in
pacifying them.
1t may, however, be harder TO deal
with the Sulus, who inhabit the Sulu
islands to the south of the archipelago
Tey are all Mohammedans, fierce and
independent. They have for centuries
warred with Spain and have at last
been vanquished into temporary ac-
quiescenee to Spanish rule. Diplo-
matte handling will obviate trouble
and save this tribe, as well as the war
like races of LHzon, for American
rulership and their own salvation.