Lessons from primitive Negrito

Title

Creator

Roces, Alejandro R.

Language

English

Year

1968

Subject

Negritoes -- Mt. Pinatubo.

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

From The Manila Chronicle, July 1, 1968.

Fulltext

LESSONS FROM PRIMITIVE NEGRITO In Clark Field, Mount Pinatubo Negritoes are teach ing Vietnam-bound American pilots the art of staying alive in the jungle. In his book The Art of Survival, Cord Christian Troebst wrote: “It might almost seem as if, with the aid of modern equipment and science, man had over come natural hazards. But this is an illusion, the very illusion by which most ama teur adventure-seekers are deceived . . . When mental ly and physically unprepared people are forced into des perate situations, they very often die because of their own inexperience and help lessness, plus the fear and despair to which these give rise . . . Leave your ordinary city dweller on an island and it is most improbable that he would still be alive after a few weeks . . . But the art of survival can be learned.” What can we learn from the Negritoes? Way back in 1953, Dr. Robert B. Fox wrote on the useful plants and material culture of the Pinatubo Negritoes. Fox said: “. . . a characteristic which strikingly demarcates them from the surrounding Christian lowlanders is their inexhaustible knowledge of the plant and animal king doms. This lore includes not only a specific recognition of a phenomenal number of plants, birds, animals, and insects, but also includes a knowledge of the habits and behavior of each. This in clusive knowledge of nature is, of course, a product of their way of life; continual hunting, mobility, dependen cy upon vegetation, as well as a survival of their histo rical associations. The Negri to is an intrinsic part of his environment, and what is still more important, conti nually studies his surround ings. Many times I have seen a Negrito, who, when not being certain of the iden tification of a particular plant, will taste the fruit, smell the leaves, break and examine the stems, comment on its habitat, and only after all of this, pronounce whe 46 Panorama ther he did or did not know the plant. “In addition, the intimate familiarity of the Negrito with nature is the result of a thorough and sensitive eco logical awareness. Many plants have no direct use or value in themselves, but are important to the Negrito be cause of the relationship of the plant with the animal and insect world. The fruits of some trees are eaten only by birds, but are still impor tant to the pygmies, for it is in or near these that bird blinds are built. “The acute observation of the pygmies and their aware ness of the interrelationships between the plant and ani mal life giving them an eco logical picture of their envi ronment, is strikingly pointed out by their discussions of the living habits of bats. The tididin lives on the dry leaves of palms, the dikidik on the underside of the leaves of the wild banana, the litlit in bamboo clumps, the kolumhoy in holes of trees, the konanaba in dark thickets, and so forth. In this sum mer, the Pinatubo Negrito can distinguish the habits of more than 15 species of bats. “Most Negrito men can with ease enumerate the spe cific or descriptive names of at least 450 plants, 75 birds, most of the snakes, fish, in sects, and animals, and of even 20 species of ants. Moreover, each Negrito man can give a description of the colors, habits, food, calls, etc., of all the animal, insect and bird life known to him. An unusually intelligent and observant individual can give even more natural history in formation, and the botanical knowledge of their herb doc tors who use plants constant ly in their practice is truly outstanding.” There is a lot to learn — even from the primitive Negrito. — By Alejandro R. Roces in The Manila Chroni cle, July 1, 1968. July 1968 47

pages

46-47

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