In thinking about Kai's comments, I was prompted to refer back to a classic book on T'boli culture:
T'boli Art in Its Socio-Cultural Context, by Gabriel S. Casal (Ayala Museum, Makati, 1978, 228 pp). Chapter XI of this book is titled "The Legacy of Ginton."
Ginton was one of
D'wata's seven sons and is an important figure in the T'boli creation myth.
Ginton is the god of metal working, and had the same status as the gods of life, death, mountains, and forests.
Ginton bequeathed "
singkil (brass anklets),
blonso (brass bracelets),
hilöt (women's chain mail girdles),
t'sing (ring) and all
kafilan and
tok (T'boli swords) as his gifts to mankind ..."
Casal notes:
Quote:
The T'bolis give no indication of having ever possessed any knowledge of mining their own metals. These, they seem to have always obtained from old broken agong (gongs) or any of their other metal objects that break, and which they melt and re-employ for new substitutes. Besides, outside sources—the Muslims, for instance—are not to be discounted. Thus, the balatok (ordinary metal, iron, steel) out of which a tau-maso'ol (metalworker) now forges the blades of tok and kafilan (T'boli swords) or that of dado (T'boli plows), is often obtained from the springs of trucks abandoned along some highway in the lowlands.
The term balatok is usually reserved by T'bolis for the tempered steel for which T'boli swords are famous. ...
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Casal goes on to describe the forge (
gono lumubon) used by the
tau-maso'ol and the processes of tempering and polishing the blade, concluding with this generalization:
Quote:
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These T'boli blades are among the best in the Philippines. They are so finely tempered that, though sharp enough to shave with, T'bolis even used them for cutting down trees. They are not, by any means, merely decorative. In fact, the more they are used—and they are nearly impossible to break—the more beautiful they become.
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