Origin of the Kalinga Axe

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

... Finally, a brief historical sketch:

"The feeling of friendship between the Igorot and insurrectos [Filipino nationalists] was so strong that when the insurrectos asked the Igorot to go to Manila to fight the new enemy (the Americans), 400 warriors, armed only with spear, battle-ax, and shield, went a three weeks’ journey to get American heads. At Caloocan, just outside Manila, they met the American Army early in February, 1899. They threw their spears, the Americans fired their guns—“which must be brothers to the thunder,” the Igorot said—and they let fall their remaining weapons, and, panic stricken, started home. All but thirteen arrived in safety. They are not ashamed of their defeat and retreat; they made a mistake when they went to fight the Americans, and they were quick to see it. They are largely blessed with the saving sense of humor, and some of the warriors who were at Caloocan [now northern Metro Manila] have been known to say that they never stopped running [i.e., 300 km or 200 miles] until they arrived home."

Am happy to find out that somebody (GW Peters, in 1899) immortalized the fate of those Igorot warriors.

The painting below is entitled "With the Insurgents in the Philippines - A company of Igorrote spearmen drilling in Caloocan, 1899". Saw it in the book, The Philippines in the 19th Century by Rudolf Lietz.

Note the head-axes being held on the hand holding also the shields. And the Igorot leader in front is depicted as bearing an Ilocano Katipunan dagger (the Ilocos provinces are right beside the Cordillera, hence this is very plausible).

[Tim Simmons]

Great stuff.