Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-09-04
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Among the Negritos-shave Heads to
Let Heat Out

| Though the Philippines have made
marked strides in culture. industry and
civilization in recent years, as set forth
In their recent pleas for independence,
some natives of the islands, as do few
Indian tribes in the United States, still
present striking subjects for study by eth
nologists, according to a bulletin from the
National Geographic sociey
THE Negritos are generally considered
| to be the true aborigines of the Philippines
aud are racially sharply distinct from
most other numerous tribes of the Is
land" says the bulletin. which is based
on communication to the society from
Dean Worcester
They are of low, sometimes even
dwarfish. stature. with very dark brown
or black skins. Their headsh are covered
with closely curling hair and many of
them have abundant woolly boards They
often have so-called 'pepper-corn' hairs
distributed very abundantly over their
bodies. Their noses are broad and fiat
their lips thick, their arms SCARED.
They do not tattoo their bodies, but
ornament them with scar patterns, pro-
duced by cutting through the skin with
sharp pieces of bamboo and rubbing
dirt into the wounds thus formed in or
der to infect them and make good big
scars!
THE men wear small clouts, and the
women short skirts reaching from the
waist to the knee They are very fond
of brightly colored cloth, scarlet being
preferred. but individuals who cannot
get cloth. and there are many such. use
instead the so-called bark cloth so wide
ly employed by Inhabitants of the islands
Of the Pacific. Men frequently shave the
crowns of their heads in order to let
tn heat out!'
Throughout the year they subsist
chiefly on vegetable products, which they
obtain from the virgin forest. and on
fish and game. They are wonderful woods
men and display great skill in taking
fish and game and in still hunting their
enemies; but here their proficiency ends.
They are good at nothing else, and their
intelligence is of an exceptionally low
order.
Many OF the Negritos point their front
teeth. but not by filing them, as is COM
monty supposed. chip of wood is held
behind the tooth to be operated upon;
the point of a bolo is placed in such
position as to slant across the corner of
the tooth to be removed, and a sharp
blow on the bolo chips a piece from the
tooth. The opposite corner is similarly
operated upon, and an artistic point thus
produced.
THE music and dancing of the Negri-
tos are especially interesting. Many OF
them know how to make and to play
both the bamboo nose-fute and kind
Of jews-harp made from bamboo. Some
OF them use crude stringed instruments
fashioned from single joints Of bamboo
the strings being cut from the outer
layer of wood to which their ends re-
main attached. and being raised up by
means of bridges The distribution OF
the several kinds of musical instru-
ments above mentioned Is more or less
local. but the bronze tom-tom, or
'gansa,' is in universal use. although
Negritos play It with a drumstick, while
others beat it with their hands. Many
of their dances are pantomimc. Their
singing is often weird in the extreme.
Objectionable dances are very rare
among the wild peoples Of the Philip
pines although they are some times in
dulged in by the Moros and are common
among the Manobos of Mindanao The
head-hunting peoples of the Philippines
are apparently limited to northern
Luzon. None of the warlike hill tribes
inhabiting other parts of the archipelago
are known to take the heads Of their
victims"