Notices of the Pagan Igorots in 1789 - Part Two
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Notices of the Pagan Igorots in 1789 - Part Two By Francisco A ntolin, 0 . P. Translated by W illiam Henry Scott Translator’s Note Fray Francisco Antolin was a Dominican missionary in Dupax and Aritao,Nueva Vizcaya,in the Philippines,between the years 1769 and 1789,who was greatly interested in the pagan tribes generally called “Igorots” in the nearby mountains of the Cordillera Central of northern Luzon. His unpublished 1789 manuscript,Noticias de los infieles igor- rotes en lo interior de la Isla de M anila was an attempt to bring to gether all information then available about these peoples,from published books and pamphlets, archival sources, and personal diaries, corre spondence, interviews and inquiries. An English translation of Part One was published in this journal,V o l.29,pp. 177-253,as “Notices of the pagan Igorots in 1789,” together with a translator’s introduction and a note on the translation. Part Two is presented herewith. Part Two is basically a collection of source materials arranged in chronological order, to which Esther Antolin added comments and discussion where he thought it necessary,and an appendix of citations and discourses (illustraciones) on controversial interpretations. With the exception of some of the Royal Orders (cedulas reales) ,these docu ments are presented in extract or paraphrase rather than as verbatim quotations for the purpose of saving space,removing material of no direct interest,or of suppressing what Father Antolin,as a child of the 18th-century Enlightenment, evidently considered excessive sanctity. Occasionally it is impossible to tell where the quotation ends and Father Antolin,s own comments begin without recourse to the original,which recourse has been made throughout the present translation except in the case of works on the history of mining in Latin America which were not locally available. In a few instances the translator has chosen to reproduce the complete original text rather than Father Antolin’s version, 28 ANTOLIN—SCOTT most notably in the case of Manuel Carrillo’s A brief account of the missions of the four tribes called Igorots,Tinguians,Apayaos and A dans. As in Part One,the Spanish term indio has been translated “rilipino” where appropriate. The translator wishes to express his gratitude to the Reverend Fathers Pablo Fernandez,Jesus Mancebu,Horacio de la Costa, Jacinto de Juan and Isacio Rodriguez and Dr. Antonio Molina for their as sistance with the transcription and translation,and to the American Philosophical Society for a travel grant during the summer of 1971 which made it possible to consult archives and libraries in Spain. NOTICES OF THE PAGAN IGOROTS IN 1789—PART TWO 29 Notices of the Pagan Igorots in the Interior of the Island of Manila,of Their Gold and Copper Mines, and Their Commerce, and the Various Expenditions9 Endeavours and Expenses Made for Their Discovery and Pacification Fray Francisco Antolin, O.P. Part Two In this second part the same method will be followed as in the first except for the chapter divisions which will hardly be necessary since the items are independent of one another and disconnected,although very useful for the clear understanding and attainment of the goal of this paper. It will be enough to cite the years in which they occurred and the places they have been taken from. The notices and extracts will continue to be abbreviated,for this work is getting longer and more laborious than I had intended at the beginning. The year 1571 The Spaniards founded Manila in 1571,and set out to explore and pacify the provinces of this island that same year and the next. Father Gaspar’s history1 says on page 273: Since the new Governor-General had established the foundations of his government, he now decided to send Field Marshal Martin de Goiti to organize the areas discovered by Juan de Salcedo, Governor Legaspi’s nephew. He reached the provinces of Pangasinan and Ilocos which he found submissive because of what Salcedo had accomplished on his trip, so that he easily mad只 them all subjects and took such a quantity of gold from them that on their return to Manila those who saw it testified it weighed more than twelve thousand taes^ including both what they took as tribute for His Majesty and what he and his companions bartered them 1 . Gaspar de San Agusdr^ O.S.A., Conquistas de las islas Philipinas, Madrid 1698. 1 See the Index of Citations beginning on p. 130. These are Father Antolin5s own annotations, and they will hereafter be indicated by Roman numerals, the translator’s by Arabic numerals. 30 ANTOLIN—SCOTT selves, inasmuch as the two provinces were very rich through the trade they had with the mountaineer Filipinos called Zambals and Igorots who possess the richest mines that there are in the whole island and from which they get the gold with the special skill which Divine Providence has granted them for their survival; although in our times [1698] the quantity doesn’t reach a twentieth part of what they used to obtain in the old days. I myself do not find any reason to think these pagans secured more gold in olden times than now,or that they had more skill or art then, but rather that,just as the other Filipinos support themselves with cotton,sugar and deer-hunting according to the capacities of their lands, so the Igorots do by exploiting the gold which occurs in their lands. See Discourses 5 and 6 [of the Appendix]. 1574 At the end of this year the famous pirate Limahon came with many sampans and armed Chinese to take Manila which he was unable to do due to the resistance of the Spaniards. He had to retreat and seek refuge in Pangasinan,and they also drove him from there. The histories of Father Colin,2 Father Gaspar,and the Franciscans,3 refer to this whole affair with considerable detail,and none of them says that any of these Chinese took refuge farther inland in the mountains of the Igorots,but rather that those who survived at liberty took to sea in their sampans, besides some 52 captives and prisoners in the fort in Pangasinan,who returned to China from Manila with the Chinese merchants. See Father Gaspar, page 304. An early account by Father Ghirino printed in Rome in 16041 also recounts this event,arid says that after the few Spaniards of Manila had vanquished the enemy Limahon,who had brought more than a thousand warriors with him,they made him retreat to Pangasinan,and even from there he was forced to flee from us with light boats which they carried to the sea on their shoulders,leaving the heavier ones in the river and some spoils in their forts and camps,which our forces took. Thus there is no basis in the early histories for the idea that the Igorots are descended from these Chinese of the pirate Limahon. The Spaniards,who must have had some Augustinian chaplains 2. Francisco Colin, S.J. Labor evangelica,rninisterios de los obreros de la Campania de ]esus3 Madrid 1663. 3. Juan Francisco de San Antonio, Chronic as de la Apostolica Provincia de S. Gregorio de Religiosos descalzados de N.S.P.S. Francisco en las Islas Philipinas, China,]apon3 etc” 3 vols” 1738-1744. 4. Pedro Ghirino, S.J., Relacion de las Islas V ill pin as, Rome 1604. NOTICES OF THE PAGAN IGOROTS IN 1789—PART TWO 31 with them, destroyed these Chinese arms in Lingayen, and took this occasion to examine the coast as far as Mangaldan,and--says Aduarte5 on page 77一 they wanted to establish their jurisdiction and ministry there inasmuch as the Filipinos of Mangaldan offered their land. And on page 71 he tells about the clergy, the Augustinians,and encomenderos. 1586 The Augustinian fathers who travelled back and forth in their earliest ministries in Ilocos, managed to found churches and towns in the most dangerous passages from the very beginning so they might reduce the Filipinos there to a civilized Christian life. The history of Father Gaspar makes mention on page 438 of the churches of Baoang, Bacnotan, Balauang,丁agudin,and Bangar in this year. These towns in the district of Ilocos are where many Igorots gather because of being near there, and thus, as far as these pagans are concerned, they can be considered missions and places of refuge for those who might wish to submit and become Christians. 1587 The aforesaid history also makes mention on page 446 of Narvacan, Santiago, Santa Maria, S. Esteban, S. Nicolas de Purao,and its out- station chapel of Sta. Catalina de Namacpacan. This latter is the first town of Ilocos on leaving Pangasinan. It is 54 leagues from Manila by land, though it is a dangerous road because of a deserted region of a day’s travel, with much sand and gravel,which they now call the Beach of Murcia, where the Filipinos of the mountains frequently come down, and if there isn’t a good-sized escort, take the heads of whomever they can, as happened in the year 1651 with Father Definidor Fray Pedro de Valenzuela,\lsitator of Ilocos,whom they lamentably k ille d .1 hey also killed General Don Felipe de Ugalde— says Father Gaspar— ,a courageous Vizcayan nobleman, through ms overconfidence in his own valor, taking him unawares without his being able to avail himself of his arms. The place and year of this gentleman’s death will be mentioned below. A work by an Augustinian father speaks of these deaths and damages in flicted by the Igorots in the district of Ilocos,and adds the following: They also killed Father Agustin Nino, Prior of Buratao, or San Juan, a town of the district of Ilocos, as Father Herrera mentions in his Alfabeto.