The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-02-01

Inc tribes that L am gong TO
write about constitute as near as l
can tell an eighth of the entire
population Of the islands. The
territory which they occupy or
control comprises an immense re-
gion in northern Luzon. all but a
few small isolated regions along
the coast in the great island of
Palawn, the whole interior and a
considerable part of the coast
region of Mindanao, extensive
areas in southern Luzon, Negros,
Panay and the islands of Basilan,
Jolo, Siassi, Tawi-Tawi, Balabac,
Cagayan de Jolo and other numer-
Gus small islands. / shall try and
summarize briefly some of the inn
portant characteristics of each
tribe that l came in contact with
while serving Uncle Sam.
All of the native inhabitants of
the Philippines are assignable
either to the black race (the Negri-
to people), or to the brown race
(the people of Malayan origin). So
far as concerns the latter, it should
be added that the original Malay
blood has in many instances been
materially modified by intermar-
riage with Negritos, less with
Mongolians, and with Causasians
hardly at all. I will write on the
tribes l know in alphabetic order.
The ATAs: This designation is
derived from word meaning
high" or on top of, " and is ap-
piled to the members of a numer-
ciaily unimportant group of peo-
pie inhabiting high mountains in
the interior of Mindanao back of
the town of Dawas. l was greatly
indebted to a Jesuit priest for all
the information l could get about
these people, and it is meager in
deed. I saw them only once and
all know of them is what he told
me. The Atlas inhabit the regions
about Mount Apo and to the north
west. They are of a superior type,
and this is especially true of their
chiefs, who have straight noses,
thick boards and are tall, They
are very brave and hold their own
with the Moros. AS near as /
could find out at that time (1903)
their number was 5000.
The BAGoBos: The people of
this interesting tribe, who, 1 was
told, numbered some $4,000. are
contend to the district of Dawao,
in Mindanao, and more especially
to that portion of it in the vicinity
of Mount Apo. They are strong,
robust and relatively tall, reaching
height of 5 feet 9 inches. Many
individuals are quite light-colored.
Their hair is not infrequently
wavy or slightly curled. Their
profile is effeminate, the boys and
girls being indistinguishable and
the latter having the vigor of the
former. The dress of the Bago-
bos is especially striking. The
cloth which they use is woven by
them from carefully selected and
dyed 6bers of manila hemp, and
is subsequently treated with wax
in such a manner as to make it
very smooth and durable. The
subdued colors of this cloth pro-
duce pleasing effect, and it is
ornamented in a most tasteful
manner with elaborate bead and
mother-of-pearl work. The men
wear short, long-sleeved jackets,
often elaborately ornamented,
trousers which do not reach quite
to the knee and have beadwork
around their bottom edges, ker-
chiefs or turbans on their heads,
and sashes or girdles at the waist
into which are thrust their war
knives in peculiarly shaped double
pointed sheaths. These sheaths
are often elaborately ornamented
with beadwork and with horse
hair plumes. When a man has