Origin of the Kalinga Axe

[Nonoy Tan]

A few points:

1. In fact, the axe was used to decapitate. So many evidence of that.
2. Not all Cordillerans traditionally use the axe for decapitation. Some use the bolo.
3. The Cordillera people are classified into different groups, and each may have different way of going about headhunting. Some keep the skulls and display them at the village, some bury them, some throw them away. Differences can be seen between the Ifugao, Applai, I-lagod, Bontoc, Kankaney, Ilongot, Gaddang, I'wak, Ibaloi, Kalinga, Isneg, Itneg, etc. It is difficult to generalize - differences between adjacent villages within the same "tribe" exists too. It is not easy studying the Cordillera peoples because there are so many groups - not to mention the Agta who also practiced headhunting in the past. Well, so did the Zambals, Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Visayans and almost everyone in the Philippines!

I think that there has been an over-emphasis on headhunting attributed to the Cordillerans (because of past writings by Americans in the 1900s) without including the rest of the Philippines. The key to understanding the headhunting ways of the Cordillerans (in its original form) is by knowing how the rest of the country's inhabitants practiced it. My 2 cents.

[Nonoy Tan]

Here are two interesting examples, both originating from the Cordillera area:

1. The specimen is an axe with a stone axe head. Handle is hardwood. Heavy. More likely a club than a cutting blade or axe.

2. Looks like a Panabas from Mindanao, but actually from northeastern luzon.

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Nonoy Tan

Here are two interesting examples, both originating from the Cordillera area:

1. The specimen is an axe with a stone axe head. Handle is hardwood. Heavy. More likely a club than a cutting blade or axe.

Interesting axe design.

On a related matter, I saw the axe below in a Manila antique shop. Would anybody recognize this shape and as to where this may have come from?

To me the axe below is like those Crocs sandals -- "It's so ugly it's cute."

Hope somebody can comment on the pic below. Thanks in advance!

Note: It's the lighting and the mode of the camera that made everything appear yellowish. In reality, the wooden handle is really wooden in color, and the metal axe-head is dark colored as it is covered all over with inactive rust.

[Nonoy Tan]

It is an Ifugao adze used to work on wood, not a weapon.

[migueldiaz]

Nonoy, thanks for the info on the Ifugao adze (and for the painting, too).

Back to the question on the probable age of the design of the Cordillera axe, perhaps one way to find the answer is to estimate the age of the shield's design.

For the two seem to function hand in hand:

"The Tinggian, Kalinga, and other northern tribes use the shield in combat at close quarters. The three upper prong projections are brought down violently against the enemy's legs so that he is tripped; when he is prostrate, the other or looser shield end with the two projecting prongs is brought down over his neck. The victim can then be effectively decapitated with the head ax that the head-hunter always carries with him." [Krieger 1926 96]

"With these tribes [Tinggian and Kalinga], it [the shield] is fashioned into three long prongs and two below... It has even an offensive purpose. In combat, the endeavor is often made to suddenly thrust the three prongs of the upper end against the opponent's legs and with a quick twist trip him up. As soon as he falls, the two prongs at the opposite end are jammed over his neck, pinning his head to the ground and allowing his easy decapitation." [Dean C. Worcester 1913, in National Geographic Society: 'The non-christian peoples of the Philippine Islands']."

Given that the victim can still be alive when the decapitation is made, the beheading has to be swift.

And a swift strike of the head axe will neatly do the job.

The samurai also used a shorter blade (wakizashi) when decapitating his fallen foe. The longer katana would have been impractical for the purpose.

Thus for me the institution of head-hunting means that just like the Cordillera shield, a short blade like the Cordillera axe must have been a very old design, given that the two appear to be two sides of the same coin.

PS - Per Krieger, the Igorot shield just like the Moro shield, has space on the hand-grab just for three fingers. The thumb and the pinky are made to rest outside the slot, to dexterously angle the shield when parrying a blow.

[Rick]

Great thread Gentlemen !
Surely destined for the Classics .
Press on !

[VANDOO]

I HAVE READ THOSE ACCOUNTS OF HOW THE SHIELD WAS USED, IT COULD BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. BUT YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO TRY IT IF YOUR OPPONENT WAS STILL AWAKE AND ARMED AS YOU WOULD EXPOSE YOURSELF TO AN ATTACK WHICH YOU COULD NOT AVOID OR BLOCK. IF YOU WERE IN FRONT OF THE FELLOW USING THE SHIELD TO PIN DOWN HIS NECK IT WOULD BE SOMEWHAT AWKWARD TO STRIKE OFF HIS HEAD QUICKLY.
IT WOULD WORK WELL ON A FOE WHO WAS UNCONCIOUS ,DEAD OR UNARMED AND VERY WEAK, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE VERY AGILE AND QUICK TO USE THAT METHOD ON A STRONG STRUGGLING FOE EVEN IF HE WAS NOT ARMED.
ANOTHER THING THAT IS PUZZELING IN THE LAST TWO PICTURES THE THREE PRONGS ARE AT THE TOP AND IF THE 3 ARE TO BE USED TO TRIP UP YOUR OPPONENT THEY SHOULD BE AT THE BOTTOM. THEY COULD BE POSED PICTURES BUT EVEN THEN I SUSPECT A WARRIOR WOULD NOT HOLD HIS SHIELD UPSIDE DOWN, IT WOULD MAKE AS MUCH SENSE TO HOLD HIS SPEAR OR AX BACKWARDS.
I HAVE READ SOMEWHERE THAT THE SHAPE OF THE SHIELD REPRESENTS THE HUMAN FORM THE TWO PROTRUSIONS BEING THE LEGS AND THE THREE UPPER BEING THE TWO ARMS AND THE HEAD IN THE MIDDLE. IF THIS IS THE CASE THEN THE SHIELD WOULD BE HELD IN THE MANNER SHOWN IN THE PICTURES. YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO GO INTO BATTLE WITH YOUR SHEILD STANDING ON ITS HEAD.
THE SIMPLE SHAPED SHIELD LOOKS LIKE THOSE USED BY THE DAYAKS OF BORNEO AMONG OTHERS.

I SUSPECT THAT AMBUSHES AND BATTLES STARTED WITH A UNIFORM CHARGE THAT QUICKLY TURNED INTO A MELE AND WHEN YOU DOWNED A MAN YOU TURNED ON ANOTHER OR HELPED ANOTHER OF YOUR TRIBESMEN. THE LOSEING SIDE WOULD CUT AND RUN LEAVING THE WINNERS TO COLLECT HEADS AT LEISURE AND SEE TO THEIR DEAD AND WOUNDED.

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Nonoy Tan

2. Looks like a Panabas from Mindanao, but actually from northeastern luzon [Cordillera area].

Hello Nonoy,

When I visited the museum of the Phil. national hero, Padre Burgos, in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, they also have on display several Cordillera weapons:

[1] a similarly shaped scythe, that also looks like the Moro panabas;

[2] a bolo called buneng, which is reminiscent of the Moro barong;

[3] the Balbelasan (Abra) battle axe; and

[4] a couple of spears and shields.

For info of our friends, Ilocos Sur is right beside Abra, and Abra is part of the Cordillera.

So from north to south of the Phils., the ethnic blades tend to be similar. Except for the Cordillera axe, that is, which really seems to be a class of its own.

Originally Posted by Rick

Great thread Gentlemen !
Surely destined for the Classics .
Press on !

Do we get a discount coupon in the Swap Forum if we make it?

Thanks for the comment, Rick!

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Nonoy Tan

It is not easy studying the Cordillera peoples because there are so many groups ...

Hi Nonoy,

I agree. And I also agree that it appears that not all Cordillerans practiced headhunting, or were warlike.

I've just finished browsing the book Ethnography of the Major Ethnolinguistic Groups of the Cordillera (2003). The book is described by the publisher as "a compilation of what is already known about the various groups as described by historians, anthropologists, missionaries, and travelers who recorded the early life of these groups of people collectively called Igorots".

We can see in the summary below that there are groups in which weapons were not observed to play a major role in that group's sub-culture:

A. The Bontoks

Weapons: battle axe (pin-nang/ pinangas); knife and spears (falfeg, fangkao, sinalawitan), and shield (kalasag)

B. The Ibaloys

Weapons: spear (kayang); shield (kalasag), bow and arrow (bekang and pana), and the war club (papa) [Scheer 1905:153]

They use axes (guwasay) but it is a tool and not a weapon.

C. The Ikalahans

Weapons: none mentioned

[Although] "Every adult male carries a backpack called akbot, made of deer hide. A bolo with a wooden scabbard [pinahig?] strapped to the waist is an indispensable equipment of the men. They never leave the house without it. It is about one and a half to two feet long, and held by a belt (balkah) made of finely woven rattan ...."

D. The Ifugaos

Weapons: none mentioned

E. The Isnegs

"The single most important tool of the Isneg man is the bolo (badang). This is a large, single-bladed knife used to cut firewood, fell trees, clear brush, and kill animals (Keyes in Reynolds and Grant 1973:26). In the olden days, the bolo was also used in warfare. Another important tool is the aliwa, a thin-bladed axe with the back drawn out. This is used for all cutting purposes. The women also have an all-purpose tool called the iko, a small hatchet used in harvesting play and carried by the women in their headdress."

F. The Kalingas

"The name Kalinga is believed to have come from the Ibanag "kali-nga" and the Gaddang "kalinga" which both mean headhunters, hence, the Kalinga people must have acquired their name because of their tradition of head taking and tribal war."

Weapons: head axe (sinawit), bolo (gaman/ badang), and spears (balbog/ tubay/ say-ang); the shield (kalasag) is made from light but sturdy wood, the sablang tree.

G. The Northern Kankana-eys

Weapons: bolo (gamig), axe (wasay), and spear (balbeg);

the axe is further classified into three types -- the pinagada, the pannakot, and the gaman;

the first two are tools, and the gaman was the type used for headhunting ("consists of an iron ring that holds the axe head in place, and an iron band at the end of the handle").

H. The Southern Kankana-eys

Weapons: none mentioned

I. The Tingguians/ Itnegs

Weapons: lance or spear (pika), shield (kalasag), head axe (aliwa or gaman), small bamboo spikes (soga), blow gun (salbatana), and bamboo spear (sinolbong);

the shield used is similar in form to that of the Bontoks and Kalingas.

The MAP below will give us an idea of the distribution of these groups within the Cordillera.

In the map, Manila will be about 2.5 squares below where "17" is printed. And the Cordillera has its own zoomed-in map, found on the upper right-hand corner.

[Nonoy Tan]

What excellent map and illustration of the complexity we are dealing here

Thank you for citing the 1676 citing of the axe, too! I can imagine now the possibility that the crescent-shaped head axe may not be Cordilleran afterall, but Ibanag! I hope we can get a collaborative source through diligent research.

Let me add to the absence of representation of the Ifugao on the "Ethnolinguistic ..." book

Ifugao:

Spear or "pahul" which can take the form of a "balabog", "kinango", "gayang", "ludit"; "hinolgat" (war spear)

Also uses the shield (2 types); ax (as a tool); bolo (2 types - "Pinahig" and "Hinalung"); bow and arrow (as an early weapon which became "extinct"); and lasso