The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon Part 1

The Negrito and Allied Types in the Philippines and The Ilongot or Ibilao of Luzon.

by David P. Barrows.

Nine years of residence and travel in the Philippines have produced the conviction that in discussions of the ethnology of Malaysia, and particularly of the Philippines, the Negrito element has been slighted. Much has been made of the "Indonesian" theory and far too much of pre-Spanish Chinese influence, but the result to the physical types found in the Philippines of the constant absorption of the Negrito race into the Malayan and the wide prevalence of Negrito blood in all cla.s.ses of islanders has been generally overlooked.

The object of this paper is to present some physical measurements of the Negrito and then of several other pagan peoples of the islands whose types, as determined by measurement and observation, reveal the presence of Negrito blood.

The physical measurements here given were taken by me at various times between 1901 and 1909. They were taken according to the methods of Topinard (elements d'Anthropologie Generale) and are discussed in accordance with his system of nomenclature.

The first Negritos measured are members of a little community on the south slope of Mount Mariveles in the province of Bataan. They are of a markedly pure type. While it is usual to find Negrito communities considerably affected by Malayan blood, in this case I doubt if there is more than a single individual who is not of pure Negrito race. Nine men and ten women, all adults, practically the entire grown population of this group, were measured. Although this is a small number, the surprising uniformity of characteristics in all practically a.s.sures us that in these individuals we have the normal, pure type of Negrito, which may be used as a standard for comparison with other peoples.

The stature of these nine men and ten women arranged serially appears below:

Men Women 1374 1266 1381 1292 1435 1305 1439 1326 1440 = mean 1341 1467 1375 1495 1385 1526 1396 1532 1400 1460

These figures give an extreme variation of 158 mm. for the men and 194 mm. for the women. The mean stature for men is 1440, the average 1454, and for the women 1341-1375 and 1354 respectively. These, it scarcely need be said, are extremely low statures, perhaps as low as have ever been recorded on any group of people. According to Topinard's nomenclature they are all distinctly "pigmy."

In every individual the extreme reach of the arms ("grande envergure") exceeded the stature. In the men the excess varied from 30 mm. to 139 mm. and in the women from 23 mm. to 102 mm. This measurement shows the Negritos to have unusually long arms. In yellow races the arm-reach is about equal to the stature, and in the white race it is usually a little above. I think we may take this excessive reach of arms to be a truly Negrito character.

The cephalic and nasal indices for both men and women are next given:

Cephalic Index

Men Women [1]

80 78 80 79 80 81 80 81 82 82 82 87 82 93 87 88

Nasal Index

Men Women 84 79 90 86 90 90 91 92 95 92 97 92 98 97 98 98 100 98 109

Topinard's nomenclature for cephalic index is as follows:

Long heads (dolichocephalic) 74 and below Medium heads (mesaticephalic) 75 to 79 Broad or round heads (brachycephalic) 80 to 90

Thus with two exceptions our Negritos are decidedly round headed or brachycephalic. The exceptions are two women (indices 78 and 79), who in other respects are typical. The first had the lowest stature recorded (1266 mm.) and her arm-reach exceeded her stature by 57 mm. Her nose was very broad and flat (index 98), hair kinky, color and other characters those of the pure Negrito. The second woman was without obvious indication of mixed blood, but her nasal index was only 79 or mesorhinian, and this even more than her head form would suggest the probability of some Malay blood. I think we must conclude, then, that the head form of the Negrito, while usually decidedly round, has considerable variation and approaches mesaticephaly.

Topinard's nomenclature for nasal index is, for the living:

Broad and flat noses (platyrhinian) 108 to 87.9 Medium noses (mesorhinian) 81.4 to 69.3 Thin, high noses (leptorhinian) 69.4 to 63

Those familiar with Topinard's monumental work will recall the particular importance he gives to the nasal index, and how he shows that it is perhaps the most exact character for cla.s.sifying races; all white races being leptorhinian, the yellow mesorhinian, and the black or negro races platyrhinian. Indeed the presence of a markedly platyrhinian type of nose may almost be taken as clear proof of negro derivation. The nasal index of Negritos, as would be expected in a race whose outward characters are so obviously negroid, is exceptionally high or platyrhinian. Again the figures for men and women are arranged serially so as to show the mean and variation.

Nasal Index

Men Women 84 79 90 86 90 90 91 92 95 92 97 92 97 97 98 98 100 98 109

All of these nasal indices, with the sole exception of the woman mentioned above, are below mesorhinian or p.r.o.nouncedly platyrhinian and negroid.

The shape of the Negrito nose is peculiar and after it has once been carefully observed can be easily recognized. The root is deeply depressed from a smooth and rounding forehead, the bridge is short and low, and the end rounding and bulbous. Sometimes, but not usually, the nostrils are horizontally visible. The apertures of the nostrils are very flat and their direction almost parallel with the plane of the face.

It has been repeatedly a.s.serted that the body color of the Negrito is black, but this is a gross exaggeration. It is a dark brown, several shades darker than the Malay, with a yellowish or saffron "undertone"

showing on the less exposed parts of the body. As compared with the lighter colored peoples about him his color is p.r.o.nounced enough to warrant the appellation of negro which is applied to him, but this term must not be considered as other than a popular description.

The hair of the Negrito is typically African. It is kinky and grows in the little cl.u.s.ters or "peppercorn" bunches peculiar to negro races. The Negrito man and woman usually wear the hair short, cutting it more or less closely so that it resembles a thick pad over the head. Sometimes a tonsure on the back is cut away, and among still other Negritos a considerable part of the hair is removed from the head. In persons of mixed Negrito-Malayan blood the hair, if left uncut, grows into a great wavy or frizzly mop standing up well from the head.

The Negrito is seldom prognathous, nor is the lower part of his face excessively developed. His profile and features on the whole are comely and pleasing, especially in the pure type, which is less "scrawny" than in mixed individuals. The body, too, is shapely and the proportions good, except that the head appears a little large, the legs too short, and the arms, as above noted, excessively long.

The muscular development is slender rather than stocky, seldom obese, legs a little thin and deficient in the calf.

The Negrito eye is distinctly pretty. It is dark brown and well opened. It has no suggestion of doubled lid and in all these respects differs from the eye of the Malayan.

The lips are full, the chin slightly retreating, the ear well shaped and "attached."

Such are, I believe, the normal characters of the Negrito of the Philippines. He is a scattered survivor of the pygmy negro race, at one time undoubtedly far more important and numerous; brachycephalic, platyrhinian, woolly headed, and, when unaffected by the higher culture of the surrounding peoples, a pure forest-dwelling savage.

The only other undisputed members of the Negrito race, besides those found in the Philippines, are the Andaman islanders and the Semang of the Malay peninsula. De Quatref.a.ges' diligent and hopeful search through the literature of Malaysia for traces of the Negrito led him to the belief in their existence in a good many other places from Sumatra to Formosa, but Meyer in a subsequent essay a.s.sailed De Quatref.a.ges'

evidence except for the three areas mentioned above. If by Negrito we mean compact, independent communities of relatively pure type, I think we must agree with Meyer, but if on the other hand we mean by the presence of the Negrito the occurrence of his typical characters in numerous individuals of reputed Malayan race, then we must, I think, admit the presence of the Negrito in a great proportion of the peoples and localities of Malaysia. And in this sense there is much evidence that the Negrito still exists from the Andamans to Formosa and even to j.a.pan, absorbed in the stronger populations that have overrun these regions.

Meyer's Distribution of the Negritos in the Philippines and Elsewhere is a very valuable sifting of the evidence, but it is not final, as was quickly apparent eight years ago when we came to locate Negritos on the ground. There are none for instance in Cebu, where Meyer was led to place them, and it is certain that they live in Guimaras and on Palawan. Those of the last island are a very curious people, locally called "Batak." They were first described in a brief note with photographs by Lieutenant E. Y. Miller published by the Philippine Ethnological Survey in volume II of its Publications. Doubt has been cast on the Negrito character of these people, some supposing them to be predominantly Malayan, but there is no doubt about their being Negrito, although in places they have perhaps received Malayan blood.

In June, 1909, I measured a few Batak who had a small settlement called Laksun near the village of Bintuan, thirty miles up the coast from Puerto Princesa. The individuals of this group were typical Negritos, in color, character of hair, and general appearance. Four men who were measured were 1433, 1475, 1497, and 1590 respectively in stature. Their arm-reach in every case exceeded the height, in one the excess being 152 mm. The head indices were 80 to 81, the nasal indices 85, 98, 102, and 102. These are all true Negrito characters and, while there may be in some communities of Batak a considerable amount of Malayan blood, the predominant type is Negrito.

It appears also that the other pagan element in Palawan, known as "Tagbanwa," while predominantly Malayan and exhibiting the general appearance and manner of life of the Malayan, is in part Negrito, as is revealed by the following measurements of five "Tagbanwa" men taken at Eraan, thirty miles south of Puerto Princesa. These men include the chief, "Masekampo Kosa" and four of his retainers. Their stature varied from 1521 to 1595, less than the usual stature of a group of Malayan men. The arm-reach was notably greater than the height. All were brachycephalic, the indices being 79, 81, 81, 82, and 83. All were platyrhinian, except one who was mesorhinian, the indices being 79, 88, 95, 100, and 105. In spite of these p.r.o.nouncedly Negrito results, these men had the appearance of Malays, not Negritos. Their skin color was light brown, hair wavy not curly; their habits, bearing, and speech indicated the temperament of the Malay.

The "Mamanua" of Surigao peninsula, Mindanao, have long been recognized as of Negrito race. They were seen and described by Montano in 1880. At the present time they are very few in number, and are found in the forest about Lake Mainit and in the hill country southward. They are fast being absorbed by the Man.o.bo, who join their communities and intermarry with them. In a little village called Kicharao in the forest near Lake Mainit are Mamanua men married to Man.o.bo women and Man.o.bo men married to Mamanua women, the children of these unions sometimes presenting Negroid and sometimes Malayan characters. The opportunity to observe the immediate results of mixture between two different races is very unusual. Naturally this group is of mixed race, some individuals looking like pure Negritos and from this type varying all the way to primitive Malayan. Three men whom I measured had a stature exceeding the Negrito but in other respects were Negritic. The statures were 1583, 1594, and 1612; the cephalic indices, 80, 85, and 86; the nasal indices, 97, 102, and 111.

What has not been generally noted, however, is the fact that nearly all the peoples of eastern Mindanao, usually described as "Malayan"

or "Indonesian," are to a large degree Negrito. This is especially true of the Man.o.bo of the lower waters of the river Agusan. I have no measurements of these people, but the appearance of nearly every individual in their communities is Negritic rather than Malayan. The stature is very low and frail, hair black and wavy to frizzly, features negroid, and behavior that of the pacified Negrito. Similar characters, though in a less marked degree, display themselves among the tribes southward and about the gulf of Davao. There is no doubt that there is a large amount of absorbed Negrito stock in the pagan peoples of all this great island. Even among the Subanon of the Samboanga peninsula, who are perhaps as purely Malayan as any, I have seen occasional individuals with marked Negrito characters.

I shall not attempt here to estimate the proportion of Negrito blood in the Christian peoples of the Philippines--Bisaya, Bikol, Tagalog, Ilokano, etc.--further than to express my conviction that in certain regions it is very large and has greatly modified the primitive Malayan type. But let us turn to the consideration of possible Negrito blood in two interesting pagan stocks of northern Luzon, the "Igorot" and the "Ilongot" or "Ibilao."

The term Igorot is used to include all the wild, headhunting, mountain-dwelling peoples of the great cordillera of Luzon, a region some two hundred miles in length by forty across. This mountain area is divisible into regions wherein the culture, physical type, and language of the inhabitants are h.o.m.ogeneous or nearly so. These regions, in reports made some years ago on the wild tribes of the Philippines, I have called "culture areas," and they may serve, in the absence of the tribal relation, as the basis of cla.s.sification. Beginning with the southern end of this mountain system we have the area of southern Benguet and Kayapa inhabited by Igorot speaking a dialect called "Nabaloi." In northern Benguet, Amburayan, and southern Lepanto are the "Kankanay." In the central mountain region, a great area with several subdivisions, the "Bontok"; and southeast, occupying the former Comandancia of Kiangan, the "Ifugao." North of Bontok are the "Tinglayan," the "Tinggian" or "Itnig," the "Kalinga," and "Apayao"

areas, and perhaps others. Of these most northerly peoples I have no anthropometric data. Their general appearance is somewhat different from that of the Igorot farther south. They appear to the eye to be more slender and handsomely built, with finer features, especially in the case of the Tinggian. I am of opinion, however, that these dissimilarities are apparent rather than real, and that measurements and careful observation will demonstrate unity of physical type throughout the entire cordillera. This unity does not refer of course to manner of dressing the hair, ornamentation, artificial deformations, etc., in which there is wide variation. The ethnological origin of these Igorot peoples is at first very puzzling. They are obviously not typical Malayans. Some physical measurements which I have should, and I believe do, throw some light on the problem.

On September 26, 1902, at Ambuklao, Benguet, I measured ten Igorot men from the villages of Baguio, Trinidad, Tublay, and Ambuklao. All were adults, from 20 to 40 years of age, except one, a boy of 16, who was, however, married and not inferior in stature to the others. These men all belonged to the poor or "kailian" cla.s.s, except one who had arisen to the "princ.i.p.al" cla.s.s from poor parentage. By "poor" cla.s.s in Benguet is meant those who have no cattle, rice terraces, mines, or other productive property and are liable to the forced labor of "polistas." The stature, arm-reach, and cephalic and nasal indices of these Igorot are arranged below: