Our Filipino Roots: How We Became...
The Philippine islands is situated in the Malay Archipelago, among Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. Before governments and politics, the Philippine islands were not yet inhabited by humans, and only by pre-historic animals. There were four (4) distinct waves of migration to the Philippine islands - each marked by a separate historical era and a distinct culture and peoples - shaping the people and culture of the islands to what it is today.
The First Wave
Around 15,000-3000 BCE, the first native people that explored and settled in the Malay Archipelago were the Aetas, also known as Agtas, Negritos (which are crossed with Afro-Asiatic and Austro-Aborigines), or Andamanese (of the Andaman Islands, India).
The Aetas were nomadic and traveled from Asia through the vast regions of the Malay Archipelago, moving from island to island across the South seas. The Aetas mix descent of African and Asiatic roots were physically different from the present day African or Asian peoples.
The Second Wave
Around 2500 BCE, a second wave of an intermixed race from Asia called the Proto-Malays (of Mongol Asiatic descent) came to settle in the Malay Archipelago.
The Proto-Malays were seafarers and farmers and more technologically advanced than surrounding groups. When the Proto-Malays first arrived, they fought for the territory and land, until the Negritos fled into the hills and jungles. After some time, the Proto-Malays and Aetas began living together peacefully. They shared information and collectively built a culture that practiced head-hunting and were part of the Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian: ancestors of todays polynesians) language group.
The Third Wave
The third wave were the Deuteron-Malays, mixed with the Proto-Malay natives and India-Asiatic peoples (Indian, Chinese, Siamese and later, Arabic).
The Duetero-Malays brought diverse influences and technological advances with them, specifically in iron-working. This era was known as the firearms era; and the Duetero-Malays ruled over the majority of the archipelago until the Spanish arrived. They were then pushed further south.
The Fourth Wave
The Spanish fleet, led by Ferdinand Magellan, reached the islands in 1521. The Castilla (the Spaniards, the Conquistadors, the overseers, the “masters”) came with guns and forced their beliefs and lifestyles on the people. They continued to rape and pillage the islands of its gold and its culture, to make it their own. They intermixed with the native people –becoming the fourth wave.
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The four waves of migration to the 7,000 islands that comprise the Philippines has resulted in a rich mix of traditions with 80 to 90 distinctly different cultures present on the islands – from the Badjaw people of the Sulu Archipelago (many of whom never step foot on dry land) to the intensely independent Kalinga people (who live in the remote mountainous region of Northern Luzon.) While traditions, mythologies, beliefs, and ways of life ranged,
one consistent tradition amongst all of the islands was tattooing.
The History of Tattooing in The Philippines
The myth goes —
A bird fell into a bowl of black ink..covered with pigment, the bird frantically flew into a warrior, and began to peck at him. Soon the warrior was covered with little black marks that formed a design, and the first tattoo had been inked.
Tattoos have long been a part of our culture – in fact, the Philippines was dubbed by Spanish explorers as “La Isla De Los Pintados” (The Islands of the Painted Ones).
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Each island has distinctive and extraordinary traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries. Tattoos are an art form that are present not only in the Philippines but throughout Southeast Asia. There are different tattoo traditions among each of the Philippines main island groups – Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao.
In the mountains of LUZON, the mountain tribes developed a highly creative tattooing culture - and continues to be prevalent amongst the people there. Their tattoos are intricate patterns consisting of straight and curved lines, inked with indigo blue and placed on the chest and arms. It was so popular in the area that it would be difficult to find a person from the interior of LUZON who had never been tattooed.
In the VISAYAS, the men, dubbed ‘Pintados’ by the Spaniards, tattooed their entire bodies, whereas the women tattooed their hands. Visayan tattoos were extremely elaborate, resembling complicated etchings (wood carvings). They were known to cut the designs into the skin and press soot or ash into the wounds, leaving only their wrists and feet bare of ink.
In MINDANAO, the people would tattoo small pieces all over their bodies that represented anthropomorphic versions of plants and animals. They tend to be more floral with thinner lines. They still use symbolic patterns but tend to use less, more sporadic designs.
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Magic & Status Symbolism
Traditionally, women would get tattooed to enhance their beauty; while men received tattoos as markers of their age, accomplishments, and tribal seniority. Some tribes believe that tattoos have magical qualities, particularly images of scorpions, centipedes, snakes and boats, all of which have especially deep significance to the people who wear these tattoos.
It is believed that women tattoo their legs, arms and breasts to enhance their beauty. Men, on the other hand, tattoo their bodies to mark age, bravery, tribal seniority, and more often to underscore the prestige gained in headhunting expeditions. In certain tribes, it is claimed that some tattoos have ‘magical’ qualities. In these places, designs of scorpions, centipedes, snakes and boats are often repeated to reinforce ties to ancestors and their village while they are off on hunting missions or in transition to the afterlife.
In a few regions, tattoos are considered curative for disease and even physical deformities. They believed that covering an unsightly birthmark or growth with tattoos would cause the scars to automatically vanish. Among the sun-worshipping tribes of Central Benguet, the tattoos come in exquisite patterns of curved and straight lines. Its designs are in indigo blue and are poked onto the breast and arms of the arts most passionate devotees.
Tattoos differ in patterns, intention and interpretation among the tribes. In some cases, the full significance of a tattoo cannot be understood without viewing them in relation to the wearer’s ornaments and garments. Sometimes, large and elaborate tattoos completely take the place of clothing. For instance, the Burik Igorots would tattoo their entire upper torsos giving the appearance that they were wearing a shirt.
They say that without tattoos, they would be naked. Similarly, among the ‘Pintados’ (The Painted Ones) of the Visayas, it is customary to tattoo the whole body at a young age. It is believed that the sooner a child undergoes this tradition, the greater would be their capacity to endure pain and discomfort that would later help them in battle. Because of the extent and rich elaboration of their tattooing, it was only necessary for the ‘Pintados’ to wear a strip of bark cloth or cotton in the manner of a G-string.
Tattoo-Puncture
Just as styles range from intricately delicate swirling designs to bold and simple silhouette motifs, the traditional tattooing methods also ranged from handpoke to hand tapping to cutting.
Generally, the tattooist would smear the skin with a mixture for ink – such as a mixture soot and sugarcane juice. If sugarcane juice isn’t available, another substance such as gall (bile of the gallbladder), lard, or hen’s excrement would be used. The tattooist would then poke or tap the skin with a needle or pointed instrument in the design or practice of the tribe, such as as pointed metal pieces used by the Pintadaos in the Visayas, or pieces of sharpened wood used by the Kankanaey tribe in Benguet.
Tattooing instruments vary from tribe to tribe. The ‘Pintados’, for example, would use sharp metal instruments that had been heated over fire. The Kankanaey tribe from Central Benguet would use a small piece of wood that they call a “gisi”. In Ifugao, they would use an instrument made entirely of iron with two or three points on it. The Kalinga, in Northern Luzon, used a tapping device with five needles fastened to it.
A very different and far more elaborate instrument called “ighisi” was used by the Isneg from the Apayao Province. It was fashioned in an ‘S’ shape out of rattan (a type of palm) with four or five pins attached to one end. During the procedure, the tattooist would continually beat the curve above the pins in order to push them deep into the skin.