Another Negrito bolo--the katana

[Ian]

In a recent thread about "Negrito" knives and bolos we talked about some of the knives shown in a figure from Fox's article The Pinatubo Negrito (1947). Of particular note was the hundang and its distinctive wooden scabbard. This knife is a common weapon of the Negrito as well as a general utility knife.

Another recent thread provided information about the dipalata, a less common fighting knife used by the Negrito.

Another uncommon Negrito fighting knife is the katana, which is also pictured in Fox, figure 9 (see attached). The katana is a narrow bladed large knife/short sword with a distinctive blade profile and a tang set toward the back of the blade. The close similarity of the illustrated example of a katana in Fox and the more familiar Ilocano tabak is probably more than coincidental.

Although accomplished smiths, the Negritos have been a longstanding iron poor culture, with the result that they acquired iron and iron objects (including blades) from neighboring ethnic groups. This is mentioned specifically by Fox. It seems very likely that the Negrito katana is adapted from, and in some cases is actually, an Ilocano tabak.

To illustrate this more fully, two Ilocano tabak are shown below the figure from Fox. The two characteristically Ilocano hilts on these knives differ from the one illustrated by Fox, which is a more traditional Spanish-style three part hilt. It appears that the Negrito katana and the Ilocano tabak are essentially the same knife, and it is quite possible that the Negrito knives were tabak blades acquired from the neighboring Ilocano.

Ian