The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1912-10-25
Supersudous FIInplnos.


Chas. Singletary, at San Antonio,
| Zambales, writes the Hazelhurst Cour-
Ter as follows:
The christian tribes of the Philippines
have many queer beliefs, but ! shall
tell only a few Of those believed by the
Negritos, a wild tribe among the
mountains of this province. As has
been said, the Negritos are not chris
tians, but they try to find an explana-
alton for most everything on religious
grounds.
When a child is given a name, quite
a ceremony is held. By and by if the
child doesn't grow fast or becomes
sickly, it is a sign that the same deity
has been offended. What can be done
as a remedy? Change the child's name.
to be sure; and it il done.
When a hunting party returns, they
place food to the spirits, no matter
whether the expedition was a good one
or not. l might say here that the reli-
gion of the wild tribes seems to be one
Of fear, and not of love, as is christian
ity. They offer their gifts to the gods
as if hiring them to protect the people,
and not as an offering of thanks. His
tory gives this as one reason why the
CuTlSlldI LElOC6 SuIliCO avn J tAACA
old beliefs SO quickly in order to accept
the Catholic doctrines of the Spaniards.
Warriors and travellers tie a strip of
wild boar's skin around each leg just
below the knee. This gives them en-.
durance. "For," says the Negrito, sis
not the mountain wild boar the strong.
est animal that lives?" !.
There are cWO seasons in the torriC
0npa tho lNxr aud thu poSNy CooSnn Nc,
pecially when a typhoon comes, on &C
count of the lightning and thunder,
does the Negrito live in terror. HI
fears the thunder more than the light
ming, and runs away to hide in order tt
drive it away. Deer are plentiful
among the mountains, so when it thun'
ders the people bury deer's bones.
They believe that the spirits Of tn
dead stay near the place where they
once lived when alive. These spirits O.
"anitos" influence almost everything
Sickness, failure Of crops, storms, etc.
are attributed partly to the influence o.
these spirits. There is a large blacl
rock on a mountain trail about 40 mile
from my station. 1t is believed to b.
the home OF the master spirit. No Ne
critic ever passes it without leaving
banana, or something good to eat. Any
one who does not leave some food wi!
meet with misfortune. Senior Potenci
ano Lesaca, an ex-governor of thi
province, once passed the rock with
crowd Of Negritos. He ate part of
banana, threw the other part in an
other direction, kicked the rock, ant
laughed at the Negritos. They wer'
horrified. saying that something ba'
would happen to him. Sure enough, h
had gone only q few miles when he wa
shot through one leg by an angry. Ne
grlto among the bushes, who kney
nothing Of the occurrence at the rock
This caused the people to believe in tn
spirit more than ever.
Sickness is a punishment sent by tn
spirits. Smallpox is a punishment TO
cutting a tree which is the home OF
spirit. There are medicine men anon
them, who r highly respected, an
me people stand in W of them. bu
when they fail to cure their patients
they are held accountable and often ar
put to death.
A friend of mire was once camping !
sIllage when his interpreter becam
sck: The people were ~consideraDl
worked up over the matter, saying ths
come spirit or other had been offende
because my friend burned some woo
mat belonged to the spirit. An q
Medicine woman was summoned: 81
ssked how the man felt; he told her b
4slt as If something was weighing MI