BRIDGING THE GAP
Early Bisayan hunting practices
Aside from farming and fishing, another common livelihood activity of the early Bisayans prior to the Spanish colonization was hunting. It was too provide them with the much needed protein in their daily diet and as a sumsuman in their occasional drinking sessions. They hunted with spear, bow and arrow, nets and dogs.
The early Bisayans called their dogs ayam and the hunters mangangayam. Good hunting dogs were highly valued, and were carefully guarded against poison or witchcraft that may be perpetuated by envious parties. They were mostly raised in the house where they were pampered and fondled by the master and his children. Their teeth were slightly filed because it was believed that this will enhance their bravery and ability to hunt. While still puppies, they were frequently carried out to the forest on the shoulder of their owners to familiarize them with the sights and sounds in it. According to a study of Henry William Scott (1995), when the mother or a sibling of the same litter died, a rattan collar was put around the neck of the remaining dogs, like an early Bisayan in mourning, until they succeeded in catching or killing their nest prey.
The native Bisayan dogs were small but fearless, and agile enough to avoid a boar's tusks. They were also fierce enough to grab one that may be three times their size by the ankle and hang on until the mangangayam arrived to spear it. The dogs either took a boar in the chase or drove it into a strong net made of abaca and other local materials laid out in strategic places.
Other than the ayam and the nets, the early Bisayans also constructed awang (pits) or atub (dead-end traps) to catch large animals. Smaller animals like iguanas and monitor lizards, monkeys, wild chickens, and birds were caught with snares. What was considered as the most dangerous trap was the balatik, an automatic crossbow which, when triggered by a line stretched across the animal path, could propel a sharpened shaft clean through a boar's body. Several of these crossbows might be set up in a line at different levels.
The balatik was a rather sophisticated contraption. Based on the description of Mateo Sanchez (1617), it stood on two stout wooden bamboo poles driven deep into the ground in the form of an X, and it had a long stock with a slot to hold the shaft, a powerful bow to propel it, and a catch to hold the string and release it when triggered. It even had a safety lock to prevent it from firing accidentally.
Mangangayam stayed out in the forest many days, bringing with them provisions like rice ans pots, dried fish and salt, and water when needed, and sleeping in small huts. They opened trails in the underbrush to lead the game into the set up nets. So as not to jeopardize their hunting success, their wives were not supposed to perform labor like weaving or pounding rice. The catch had to be anticipated without any interference.
Therefore, anything needed by the wife and the children must be readied prior to the hunting foray.
To pay homage to the environmental spirits who made it possible for the mangangayam to catch game animals, a portion of the first catch was offered on a tree-stump altar for them. Oftentimes, one mountain-dwelling spirit, Banwanun, was the one recognized and honored by the hunter. The rest of the catch was carried home slung on the hunter's back by a support line over his forehead. If many were caught, then it is possible that everyone would be proudly carrying something on his back or shoulder. Upon reaching the community, the catch will be proportionately shared among the members of the hunting party. One's share was never sold or preserved, though it might be exchanged informally. But, generally, the catch was shared with relatives and friends, if plenty. What followed the sharing was some kind of feast in the family of the mangangayam who, naturally, had kept most of the meat.