by: Emil Sylianteng
Generally speaking, these mountain people are conservative in their ways and have retained many beliefs and traditional practices which have been found among the lowlands and which still survive there to a limited extent.
The Sulod live in small discrete settlements, which are usually located near their swidden. What the term settlement is more likely to be is small local groups whopse dwellings are, though seperated, are within distance of each other. For practical purposes, prominent landmarks in the vicinity such as waterfalls, large stones , creeks, high cliffs, springs and geographical locations of other settlements are used as points of reference in establishing boundaries.
MYTHOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS
The sulod are united by a common historical tradition. They all believe that they came from the same ancestors and this beliefe reinforces their kinship ties among one another. A recounting of the origin of this myth helps us in understanding the traditional foundations of the Sulod. The myths convey much more to the native than is contained in the mere story. The myths contain the traditional foundations of social organization. This is what the native learns when he hears a traditional myth. In other words, it is the context os social life and the gradual realization by the native of how everything which he is told to do has a precedent and pattern in times past which brings him to the full meaning of his myths of origin. In other words, origin myths provide the answer to all questions concerning community affiliation and socio-cultural orientation. The following is one version of the origin myth:
A long time ago, there was no land. There was only the sky and the wide expanse of water. There were only two people then - Male and Female. These people were of extraordinary sizes. Where they came from was not known.
One day, Female caught an earthworm. Out of curiosity, she held it on her palm and the creature threw out its excreta. The excreta grew until it became the earth.
Male and Female went down to he earth. They married each other. When Female became pregnant, Male prepared for her a thin mat of bamboo splints on which to lie down during her delivery.
Female gave birth to many children. The first set of children came out of her fingertips. These were the wild pig, the deer and other animals now roaming the mountainsides. These animals are still wild today because their ancestors ran away before their parents could give them names.
The second set of children came out of Females toes. These were the eel, fresh-water fish and other sea creatures. Following the sea creatures were the domestic creatures such as dogs, cats and the chickens. The domestic animals came out of the calves of Females legs.
Out of her things came the wild birds - crows, riba-riba and many others. Again these creatures are wild because they flew away befre they could be given names. The last set of children came out of Females womb, three handsome boys - Hukum, Hikap and Sit.
The boys grew up to be sturdy young men. To find out who among them was the most well-behaved and good, Male devised a test. One hot noon, after lunch, he lay down and purposely did not cover his genitalia and went to sleep. When Hukum came into the room and saw his fathers genitalia, he burst out laughing and was suddenly turned dark as if he was burned. Following him was Hikap who only smiled slighty when he saw his fathers genitalia. He turned slightly brown. The last one to come up was Sit. When he saw his fathers genitalia, he stepped forward and covered his fathers genitals. Only he of the remaining brothers remained fair-skinned.
When Male woke up, he called his three sons to his side. He asked each of them what they would want from three gifts that he would like to give to each of them: a golden chair, a beautifully carved bolo and a headwear adornid with silver coins. Hukum chose the golden chair, Hikap the bolo and Sit the headwear.
Next, Male went to the side of a window, looked out and described what he saw to be a golden fish swept ashore by the water. On hearing this, Hukum jumped out of his seat to look. He was followed by Hikap who cchanged his mind before reaching the window and returned to his seat. Sit rose but did not approach the window. Instead, he sat down on Hukums golden chair. Turning to his three sons, Hukum said: Hukum, because your conduct has been unbecoming and greedy, you'll die working for a living but you will never be rich. You would have to beg from your brothers and hunt with a bow and arrow to survive. Hikap, you won't become rich until you've used that bolo to till the soil. But you, Sit, because of your excellent behavior, even if you don't work you will become rich.
When the brothers became old enough to marry, Hukum became the father of the Negritos, whose children roam the mountainsides, begging for food and hunting with bows and arrows. Sit went far away and was never heard from until his children returned (possibly the Spaniards or the Americans). Hikap went mountainward and became the father of the Sulod.
Thus, the recounting of this myth shows the relation of the Sulod with eath other and with the Negritos who they sometimes come across in the mountains.
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SULOD MATERIAL CULTURE
The standard housing of the Sulod is a poorly constructed, four-walled, one room dwelling raised above the ground by bamboo or timber posts. The roof is made out of cogon and the walls are of flattened bamboo.
The ordinary attire of the Sulod is the same as the attire of the Lowland Bisayans. Working clothes consist of short pants cut from rough cotton fabrics. On dress occasions, the young men wear trousers as the lowland Bisayans do, and a shirt. Some elders, however, content themselves with wearing a g-string. Their headwear is an ordinary lowland buri hat for the dry season. The women, however, are fastidious dressers. The jacket they wear is usually made out of silk and cotton and the colors are harmonious. Around the waist, the Sulod woman wears a red band of cloth. During festivities, the Sulod woman wears a headpiece made out of a narrow piece of cloth on which silver coins are sewn.
The spear is the Sulo'ds most indispensable weapon. He usually carries it whether he's working or travelling. Those who are well-off carry additional weapons such as the bolos.
The sulod have very few household utensils. Generally, all they use for eating is a normal bamboo plates for holding rice and banana leaves to serve as plates. Only on special occasions do the use large monochrome plates for serving food.
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SULOD FOOD QUESTS
The Sulod, like the Lowland Bisayans use agriculture to sustain themselves. However, they do not entirely depend on agriculture since they are not sedentary like other tribes who practice agriculture. Hunting is a more important source of substinence for the Sulod people. The Sulod are excellent hunters. This skill may be attributed to the fact that their produce is meager and uncertain and must be supplemented with protein foods. The Sulod have many ways of hunting. They sometimes use dogs to help them look for animals and even help subdue the animals. The Sulod are also known for leaving traps for the animals to spring and be cught in.
In addition to hunting, others catch fish. The use of a hook and line is the simplest method that they use because it does not involve much endurance or skill. While the Sulod have learned to use traps to catch land animals, the process hasn't been forgotten at sea. They use traps that attract fish inside but that don't allow the fish to come out again. There are many more methods that the Sulod use in catching fish such as using complicated and barbed spears to catching them in nets and sometimes even stunning the fish by dumping large amounts of mild poison into the river to stun fish.
Aside from fishing and hunting, the Sulod also gather food. The gathering is usually done by women.
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SULOD LIFE CYCLE
Childhood
The passing on of Sulod culture is highly dependent on how one raises a child. Because of this the children are the center of attention for their first two to three years. They are treated with love and indulgence up to the age of six. The children spend most of their time playing around the household and observe everything that happens inside the household. Because the children are tolerated at all domestic occasions, they learn the proper ways to behave. They learn the ideals and the values that later influence their ability to define various situations that they will find themselves in. They look up to elders as positive models that they can identify with and understand. When the Sulod child grows up, he will have already learned to accept the authority that the elders have.
Between nine and twelve, sex differences take place. It is the time when small girls must learn the skills that a good mother and wife must have. The boys, on the other hand, are taught to carry around weapons as men for it is they who will soon be hunting food for their mates soon enough. In fact, is a Sulod child is laughed at if he does not carry a manly weapon such as a bolo.
It is during this time of self-differentiation that the Sulod youngsters are drawn into their respective groups. The women tend to become more conservative. They no longer sleep with their brothers and parents and they are silent and obedient especially when there are guests in the house. The boys on the other hand tend to become more aggressive.
Courtship
Sulod community life is characterized by a number of religious gatherings, drink-fests, ritual dances and other festivals. It is during a river festival that actual social happenings take place. In fact, various settlments have a get-together only during this festival. The rest of the year they are apart. In this festival young boys can meet young girls and they are allowed to take a walk near the river even into the late afternoon.
Most Sulod boys are shy. They do not initiate contact with any girl nor do they initiate courtship. Perhaps this is the effect of observing the basic Sulod courtship norms. A Sulod boy must not be overly aggressive because it is very unSulod-like. Aside from this, the girl or even the parents of the girl he wishes to court may receive a bad impression and not allow their daughter to see the boy and vice-versa. So how does a boy wish to court the girl is he does not make the first move? The boy tells one of his family members and the family member has to somehow find a way to arrange a situation where the boy could talk with the girl. Sometimes a drinkfest is held and the family of the girl the boy wishes to court is invited. While drinking, the boy will be asked to sing a love song hinting of hs love for the girl and the girl will also be asked to her her version of that love song. During this singing, hints are dropped to either encourage or discourage the boy from courting the girl.
One of the girls bases for choosing a mate is if the boy has large testicles. They believe that the larger the testicle, the more good luck the boy will bring to the relationship. Other features that indicate good luck is a deformed thumb or finger. Boys who have the deformed finger are said to be very skillful in farming. Crooked teeth show knowledge in craft designing. Any man with a protruding tailbone however is rumored to be deceitful and does not possess any skill.
On the other hand, boys will like girl sif they have a lack of pubic hair. Pubic hair in girls makes the girls unclean. It is said that the Sulod people rarely have pubic hair and that that trait was passed down by their ancestors. It is one of the things which differentiates them from the Bisayan Lowlanders. If a gil does manage to have pubic hair, is it removed by plucking the hairs and then rubbing sand over the area until only soft fine hair frown in the area rubbed.
Marriage
Most marriages are still arranged by parents even before the children are born. Then when the children grow up, their parents puch the children towards each other. Only once in a blue moon, does a mate not agree with the arranged marriage. Many Sulod still encourage these types of marriages although there are many strong-minded boys and girls who stand up against parental demands. When the children were younger, they were betrothed. However, when they grew up and it was the time for marriage, these young teens would suddenly back out of the arranged marriage. One of the reasons for this change of mind is if one of the betrothed falls in love with another person. Marriage is looked at as the beginning of a mans declining years. People often marry not because of personal satisfaction but mostly for support. When the married couple gets older, they would want support from their children and possibly from their childrens children. There are no bachelors in Sulod. Everyone has at least married once. If someone is unmarried, he is looked upon very badly. The Sulod believe that is you are not married, it is a sign that your mate or your mates parents think you are very immature, childless and insightless.
Divorce
Unlike our religion that prevents us from divorcing our spouses, the Sulod are very open to divorce but only if you have sufficient reason. The valid reasons are: sterility on the part of either spouse, incompatibility of character, jealousy, adultery on part of the woman, concubinage on part of the man, any kind of rudeness to parents-in-law, cruelty on part of the husband, wife stealing and giving away of conjugal property without the consent of both spouses.
Sickness, Death and Burial
The Sulod theory of disease and death are not easy to characterize. The difficulty lies in that there are two explanations for every event and the conceptualization is sometimes at odds with the empirical data. Most reasons that the Sulod give for sickness and death happenings is that it was fated to be what it is now. They do not bother to understand the causes of the effects. Sometimes though, when people gets sick or die, the Sulod attributes the bad effects to displeasing the spirits of certain places. In like manner, when a person sprains an ankle, he does not say that is is because of carelessness or because he was fated to sprain it. Instead he attributes the sprain to not having the right relationship to forest spirits. Usually, the sickness can be cured by some kind of ceremony where the spirits of their ancestors are called on to remove the evil which has befallen the sick person.
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CONCLUSION
Knowing all of this where might they end up years from now. Since everything changes, even remote places like the mountains will change. We can see this early on because of the disagreements of children with their parents on marriage. These children will tend to become more and more liberal-minded as time passess by. Their culture will most probably encounter change as well but most things will stay the same. For one thing, if their literature changes from different outlooks in life, it will not change much because their culture has already been deeply rooted in their minds.
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REFERENCE
