The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-04-05

Honolulu schools. writes as fol-
4 lows from the Philippines:
In October of last year the United
States Philippine Commission estaDIlsh-
ed a Bureau of Non-Christian TRIBES
for the Philippines, for the purpose ol
gathering information as TO the conui-
tions and needs of these little known
neople. with a view to recommending
legislation in their behalf. and also TO
perfect the files of information in the
Department of Anthropology. These
wild tribes present a very difficult PROB
lem to the Commission. Legislation
must be very carefully made, so as not
to antagonize them or to interfere In
any way with their religion.
The United States Bureau OF indian
Affairs has a big task on its hands In
handling the affairs OF race which is
at once homogeneous and within easy
access, In a country WHICH is settled and
presents no very serious difficulty to-
travel and investigation. Their IAN
guage is somewhat understood and the
various tribes are partially civilized
slight idea of the enormity of the I'M
dertaking in these islands may be form
ed when we consider the fact tnat
while the American Indians NUMBER
about 264 900, the wild tribes of the
AT a million and a half, heterogeneously
mixed in color, general characteristics
and origin. Then again the character
OF the country in which these tribes are
| found is of such a nature as TO render
| travel almost impossible. 1t remains
unsurveyed and UNEMPLOYED, much OF II
being virgin soil upon which the white
man has never stepped. Their lam
guages are unwritten and unknown.
| and in many cases the Christianized
tribes are afraid of them, so that it is
very difficult to obtain reliable and
| competent guides, and consequently
| very little is known of these interesting
| people.
| Authorities differ as to the number or
! tribes to be found here. and even the
| exact location of the various tribes are
| unknown. Much of the information
gathered by the Jesuit Fathers cannot
be verified and therefore is of little
value. The anthropology of the Philip
pines presents an interesting and at the
same time a difficult task to him who
would place its probabilities beyond the
realm of uncertainty.
| The preponderance of numbers is I'M
doubtedly with the Malayans, but be-
sides these there are the Negritos. the
little. black, aboriginal, wild men, which
| ia about the only race whose origin and
| character is unquestioned. They are
| dwarfsh in stature, black in color, anu
have certain negroid characteristics,
such as the kinky, woolly hair, and they
| are thoroughly savage. They are a
weak, sickly, wretched race, with fea-
| lures that are coarse and repulSlVe.
! They are not Industrious, and depend
upon the roots and fruits of the forest
| for subsistence. or upon such game as
I oh lrir wit, haif TO
or arrows, taking little or no interest in
| the soil or it's possibilities under culti-
yation All authorities seems to agree
that they are the real aborigines OF the
Islands, and that at the time of the
Spanish invasion they were being
worsted and annihilated by the more
progressive Malays.
These people are similar in many re-
spects to the "Sakais" of the Malay
Peninsula. the ''Mincopies'' of the An
daman Islands and the Negrillos of
South America. 1t is certain that they
have many appearances and character
istics in common, and it makes good ar
gument of the theory that at some an
terror period they were one race and
were very widely disseminated over the
entire East Indian Archipelago. Their
numbers are fast decreasing, and they
are destined to become extinct at no
distant period. They are very widely
dispersed throughout the islands. and
appear under different names, as they
have intermingled with other tribes.
For the purpose of classifying these
tribes. DR.. David p. Barrows, chief or
the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes,
divides them into the following classes,
viz:
1. THE Negritos-earliest inhabi-
tants."
. "MaIayans. of low culture, broken
up in many tribes. especially in the
Cordillera OF Northern Luzon, some
with a possible mixture of Chinese and
Japanese blood. These tribes may be
allied with the "Orang Benua" or prim-
tive Malayans throughout the East In
dies"
8. 'Malayans of later immigration.
formerly affected by Hindu culture,
Christianized by Spain and now ap-
preaching the plane Of Western civiliza-
ton
l. "A probable element conspicuous
only in Mindanao, in certain cases
forming distinct tribes of pure type, in
others mingling with and modifying
the prevalent type, that we call Indo- /
nesian.'
5. The true Malays of the Sulu
Archipelago and Southern Mindanao.
I'm addition there are various cross
ings OF these elements, in some cases
so persistent as to probably form new
race type, such as the Mangianes of
Palauan. to say nothing of the recent
infusions of Chinese and Spanish blood
throughout the Islands,
In support of his theory Of classified 4
ton he says:
Leaving the Negritos we come to