Origin of the Kalinga Axe

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Nonoy Tan

... Indispensable too, I think, would be a check on "The Philippine Islands" by Blair and Robertson, containing translated Spanish documents. It is rather voluminous (55 volumes) but one of the best there is.

We may have to also look into the original text of the region's oral history and songs. We will probably need to gather whatever has been written on this, including vocabulary. The Summer Institute of Linguistics (with an office in Manila) may be a good source of information.

If we are able to develop an effective methodology of research, I suspect that the same process can also help us trace the origins of other Philippine weapons.

Lots of work ahead. Shall we commence? :-)

Nonoy,

The journey appears long so I think we have to begin as soon as possible

Like you said, let's develop first the research framework, and with the 'road map' in hand we should have less hits-and-misses.

Thanks by the way for mentioning the leads. On Blair and Robertson's 55-volume work, I ordered The Philippines CD which has that among many other titles. Of course the beauty of having those works in digital form is that the we can easily search for keywords.

On the compilation of Phil. myths, epics, legends, fables, etc., the University of the Philippines Press has just published a multi-volume series on that. I saw a set in one bookstore here in Manila. I think I should already get those as it may be the last set.

What would be our next step you think? Can you do the first-pass research methodology draft, and then from there we toss it back and forth until we come up with the final draft?

In parallel, I'll keep on compiling materials for our future reference.

Exciting times indeed

PS - And yes, the 'bonus' is that the framework if we are successful can also be applied in tracing the roots of Visayan sandatas, Moro weapons, etc.