Origin of the Kalinga Axe

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Nonoy Tan

I suspect that there may have been a proliferation of certain myths regarding the use of the Kalinga shield and the significance of its form. It is possible that some of these may have come from accounts of soldiers or government officials during the American colonial rule - who probably have never even personally seen the natives use the shield in such close combat at described. Sometimes, I doubt the source of their information. I could be wrong though.

Nonoy,

Indeed we should approach things critically (in the positive sense of the word).

Fortunately some things can easily be established empirically (i.e., by experience or by observation).

For instance on the alleged three-finger grip on the shield's handle, one can simply try it out himself. And we can examine old photos -- in the attached 1930 pic for instance, we can clearly see the Bontok warrior's thumb and pinky resting outside the handle.

On certain beliefs like the use of the shield for tripping the feet and pinning the head, that can be more tricky to confirm. The possibilities are, in increasing degrees:

[1] it is not true at all;

[2] it was designed for such, but fell into disuse, and that's why some of the Cordillera shields didn't have those prongs anymore;

[3] it's a tribal thing -- some groups use it for tripping-and-pinning, while others don't; and

[4] the trip-and-pin use is prevalent.

Hey, I love finding out what really is going on