Philippine Reservation

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IGORROTE WEAVERS

This view, at the lower right of the picture, shows Suyoc Igorrote women engaged in weaving, on their ingenious hand-looms, the bright-colored cloth which goes into their garments. The men of this tribe are copper miners.

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AN AMERICAN SPORT ADOPTED BY THE FILIPINOS

“Shooting the Chutes” was an amusement unknown to the children of the Philippines until they visited the Pike. Now it is the chief sport in the Samal Moro Village, a chute having been improvised by the placing of two pieces of timber against the Bamboo bridge spanning Arrowhead lake, their ends resting in the water twenty feet below. The edges of the boards have been smeared with grease to quicken the momentum of the craft, a large tray used at other times for tire preparation of bread. Three of the children can occupy the boat at one time and the delight of their making the slide is expressed in shouts of merriment as the boat strikes the water with a splash and goes skimming over the lake. It is carried back to the bridge on the shoulders of the children and the experience is repeated many times during the day. Moro children are descendants of a sea-roving race and they almost live in the water. Their manner of dress does not prevent their enjoying a plunge whenever it is their wish, and visitors to the village frequently throw coins in the water to see the little fellows dive for them. “ Shooting the Chutes” is now their principal pastime and the sport will be carried with them back to the Philippines,

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PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY BAND

There are many excellent bands at the World’s Fair. Indeed the music is one of the chief features; but the most interesting or all the bands is the one that comes from the Philippines with the Constabulary. Of the work of this band, the great Sousa said: “ I am simply amazed. I have rarely heard such playing.” No one who has listened to one of the two daily concerts in the Philippine band pavilion will question the statement that the little brown men are natural musicians and capable of the highest training. Their present leader is Lieutenant Loving, an American negro, a native of St. Paul and a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music At the outbreak of the war he was in charge of the 48th regiment Volunteers’ band and was with his regiment through the war in the Philippines. Later he collected a native band from among the musicians who had been connected with the various Spanish regiment bands, and by careful and intelligent training has made this the best band in the Islands. Moreover it is one of the best military bands belonging to the American military forces. The Constabulary is not a part of the regular army, but it is under orders from the Civil government of the Philippines

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PHILIPPINE FISH AND GAME PAVILION

On the shore of Arrowhead Lake, a little distance from the historic bridge of Spain, stands the Philippine Fish and Game Pavilion. Like many of the other buildings within the Philippine Reservation, it is constructed of bamboo and nipa In construction and general plan it represents the larger and better houses of the Moros, the fishermen of the islands. The pavilion is filled with a rare and valuable collection of mounted animals, birds and reptiles, shell fish and other fish in alcohol, and a complete representation of all the contrivances used in fishing. The ceiling is draped with various kinds of nets, and there are several models of the type of fish trap in use in the Philippines. One of the real traps is installed in the water of Arrowhead Lake. It is of bamboo and consists of a long run and a succession of three converging enclosures with narrow outlets toward the trap at the remote end. The contrivance seems exceedingly simple, yet it is a labyrinth from which a fish could not escape. Among the mounted specimens of crocodiles and sea turtles is the skin of a python 26 feet long- A jar is filled with what looks like the most delicate alabaster carving. It is the nest of the sea spider.

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SAMAL MOROS IN PHILIPPINES

Five widely different classes of Philippine natives are to be seen at the World’s Fair. These range in the scale of civilization and intelligence from the Negritos, who are so primitive that they have no fixed habitation, to the Visayans whose culture is equal to that of the finest classes of Americans. Between these and the class next below them there is a wide gulf. The Visayans are Christians, having been converted by the Spanish Catholic missionaries many years ago. The Moros, who rank next to them in intelligence, are Mohammedans and are truly piratical in instinct. They are from the island of Mindanao, the largest of all the Philippine islands, and for centuries they lived by preying upon the natives of the other islands. As late as the beginning of the 19th century, a band of these fierce Mussulmans attacked the city of Manila. They are fearless fighters, and many of them are religious fanatics. The clothing for the men consists of long, very tight trousers, gayly colored jackets, sashes and twisted turbans. They have been staunch friends of the Americans ever since the close of the Spanish war and have undertaken many campaigns against the enemies of America on their own responsibility.

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SAMAL MOROS

These interesting people—sea-rovers, pearl-divers and fishermen—occupy a space on the shores of Arrowhead Lake, living in houses of bamboo, picturesquely built over the water. Here they carry on many of their regular occupations, and they exhibit their native dances and play their own music on curious, crude instruments. A throng of visitors always collects to watch the little fellows dive for coins thrown into the water. These people are considered the most intelligent of the inhabitants of Mindanao. Their village is ruled by a Datto, who at home is a Prime Minister, and who, like all of the Samal Moros, is a firm friend of the Americans. It is in this village that the frenzied “ mori-mori ” dance is given by two warriors who charge at each other with deadly spears. The Moros are Mohammedans, and their prejudice against wearing hats and against eating meat is respected by the American officers, under whom some of them serve in the Constabulary.

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MOROS AND THEIR HOUSES

About a hundred of the Moros are at the Exposition, all encamped on the shores of Arrowhead Lake, toward the northwestern part of the Philippine Reservation. The two views here shown are both of the Samal Morus, who are sea-rovers and pirates. As pirates they have made a name for themselves, and once spread terror in the archipelago, but they are loyal to the United States, and some of their fierce warriors are doing good service in the Philippine Constabulary—where they eat no meat, being Mohammedans, and wear no hats for the same reason. This tribe is considered the most intelligent of the Island of Mindanao, their home, and their ruler lives in comparative luxury. They are a strong, capable people. It must be remembered, of course, that their representation at the Exposition is out of proportion to their numerical importance in the Philippines, where all the savage tribes combined make up less than one-seventh of the population. Their native boats are seen in numbers on the shores of the lake near their homes at the Fair; some of these craft being small and fashioned from a single log, while others are larger, the largest being a great pirate-junk. The two spearmen in the picture at the left are a part of the band who give the “ frenzied Mori-Mori dance” for the visitor’s entertainment.

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HOUSES OF BONTOC 1GORROTES

Within the great Philippine Exposition, that is a part of the greater Louisiana Purchase Exposition, may be seen the homes of the natives, built by the natives themselves. There are three tribes within the Igorrote village—Bontocs, Suyocs and Tinguianes—more than a hundred persons.in all. The Suyocs and Bontocs build rude houses of planks, thatched with straw. The family sleeps in incredibly close quarters. But tire men, at least, live chiefly out of doors, so that houses with them are not necessarily homes. These people are of a high type, both intellectually and physically, and capable of ready civilization. The men seen at the Exposition are magnificent specimens, lit he, copper-colored fellows, supple, quick, full of endurance and vigor. The Bontocs are head-hunters at home, and Antonio, their chief, has a number of heads to his credit, yet he is a very amiable man. Within a stone enclosure in the village, tribal court is held, and offenders are sentenced to jail, where they remain without guard.

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FILIPINO SULTANS AND DATTOS

Royalty reigns at the ratio of one Sultan to every four subjects in the Moro village at the World’s Fair. Here are six of the ruling monarchs and two Dattos, dignitaries of a lesser rank. The total population of the Moro community is not more than forty. There are but two classes. Those who are not members of royalty are the slaves in attendance upon the household. Just as the Negritos and Igorrotes represent the lower or savage classes, the Moros represent a peculiar type of Philippine life. The Samal Moros are dwellers on the water and the Lanao Moros live in trees. Both tribes are warlike and have caused Uncle Sam much annoyance in his effort to conquer them. The Samal Moros are great fishermen and live on the seas. Some of them have developed into noted pirates and the coast country has been pillaged by their roving bands. The tree dwellers are less designing, but more hostile. Cannibalism is practiced among them. When the Sultans and their attendants are dressed for occasions of state, as they were when the photograph was taken, they compose a setting that for color would do justice to a comic opera. Their costumes are fashioned of the flimsiest of silk and are draped about them without regard to fit.

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ANTONIO, CHIEF OF THE HEAD-HUNTING IGORROTES

Savage life in the Philippines is represented at the World’s Fair by this brownskinned native who rules over a tribe of dog-eating human-head hunters. Antonio stands before the door of his Nipa-covered hut watching with shaded eyes the mischiefmaking of his subjects, who have the freedom of a large cuartel. This monarch of the wilds wears only one royal garment, a breech-clout of cotton texture. His one other article of dress is a small basket cap fastened to his black tuft of hair. This serves as a receptacle for chewing tobacco, fish hooks and money, as well as being an adornment, Antonio’S breast is tattooed with a record of the heads he has captured.