The Wild Tribes of Davao District, Mindanao - The R. F. Cummings Philippine Expedition by Fay-Cooper Cole
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page 10 of 211 (04%)
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moving their villages from one location to another according to the
demands of their mode of agriculture. Their rice fields are made in mountain-side clearings, and as the ever present cogon grass[1] begins to invade the open land they substitute sweet potatoes or hemp. In time even these lusty plants give way to the rank grass, and the people find it easier to make new clearings in the forest than to combat the pest with the primitive tools at their command. This results in some new fields each year, and when these are at too great a distance from the dwellings the old settlements are abandoned and new ones formed at more convenient locations. [1] _Imperata koenigii_. It is probable that the total number belonging to this tribe does not exceed ten thousand persons. INFLUENCE OF NEIGHBORS:--HISTORY. The influence of the neighboring tribes and of the white man on the Bagobo has been considerable. The desire for women, slaves, and loot, as well as the eagerness of individual warriors for distinction, has caused many hostile raids to be made against neighboring tribes. Similar motives have led others to attack them and thus there has been, through a long period, a certain exchange of blood, customs, and artifacts. Peaceful exchange of commodities has also been carried on for many years along the borders of their territory. With the advent of the Moro along the sea coast a brisk trade was opened up and new industries introduced. There seems to have been little, if any, intermarriage between these people, but their relations were sufficiently close for the Moro to exert a marked influence on the religious and civil life of the wilder |
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