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Tribe
History
Art
Religion
"Performing Arts"
Tausug visual arts are
represented by carvings, metalworks, woodworks, tapestry
and embroidery, mat making and basketry, textile and
fashion, pottery, and other minor arts (Szanton 1963).
In general, Tausug visual arts follow the Islamic
prohibition of representing human or animal forms.
Consequently, Mindanao and Sulu have developed ukkil or
abstract motifs which are carved, printed, or painted
into various media. These motifs are suggestive of
leaves, vines, flowers, fruits, and various geometric
shapes. Tausug carving is best exemplified by the sunduk
or grave marker. Although not as stylized as those of
the Samal, the Tausug sunduk are wood or stone carv-ings
of geometric or floral forms. Women's grave mark-ers are
flatter with carved geometric designs, those of the men
are more floral. Sakayan or outriggers present yet
another media for Tausug carving. Adornments are usually
made on the prow and sometimes on the sambili or strips
across the hull. The carvings are done either on the
boat itself, or on a separate piece of wood which is
then attached to the vessel. Abstract manok-manok (bird)
motifs are the most common. Ajong-ajong/sula-sula are
carved tips supporting the wrapped sail; the hidjuk
(dark cord) on the sangpad (prow-plate) also serve as
decoration. Carved saam or cross--pieces supporting the
outriggers are called the mata (eyes) of the boat.
Colors used on the finished carvings are yellow, red,
green, white, and blue (Szanton 1973:33-47).
Tausug mananasal or
blacksmiths produce bolo, kalis, and barong (bladed
weapons). Fishing implem-ents are also made, such as the
sangkil (single-po-inted spear) and the sapang
(three-pronged spear). The more expensively fashioned
blades have floral and geometric incisions; the ganja or
metal strips which lock the handle and the blade are a
decorative as well a functional device. Bronze casting
is not as well developed as it is in Lanao. Among the
several func-tional pieces produced were the batunjang
(standing trays) and the talam (flat trays). Gold and
silver-smithing for jewelry remain lucrative. Items
produced by the local goldsmith include the singsing
(ring), gallang (bracelet), gantung liug (necklace),
bang (stud earring), aritis (dangling earring), pin
(brooch), and gold teeth. In the past, tambuku (buttons)
made of gold or silver decorated the traditional male
and female costumes and were made with exquisite
de-signs, often inlaid with palmata (semiprecious stones
or gems). Among the favorite palmata are mussah (pearl),
intan (diamond), kumalah (ruby) (Szanton 1973:47-51;
Amilbangsa 1983:142-157).
An example of Tausug
woodwork is the puhan (wooden handle) of bladed weapons
which may be simple or decorated with gold or silver
wires, strings, and rings. For the barong, the handle is
wrapped in cord and metal at the far end, and carved and
polished at the upper part. At the end of the grip is a
protrusion carved with ukkil designs. The handle of the
kalis, which the Tausug terms as daganan kalis, can also
be profusely decorated, sometimes with mother-of-pearl.
Taguban (scabbards) are beautifully carved and are
covered with budbud (fine rattan). Other woodworks
include kitchen utensils and furniture items like beds,
chests, and wardrobes (Szanton 1973:51-54).
There are two types of
tapestries that the Tausug use to hang as house
decoration: the luhul or canopy that hangs from the
ceiling, and the kikitil/buras or wall tapestry. The
ukkil design used for both is first traced on a starched
white cloth which is then cut and sewn over a red,
green, yellow, or blue background material. The ukkil
design of the luhul, for example, is in the form of a
tree with spreading leaves, vines, flowers, and
branches. About 1 m wide, the kikitil is a smaller
version of the luhul and is hung on the wall. The size
of the room determines the length of the kikitil which
is divided into various units correspond-ing to
individualized panels. The ukkil design may be similar
in all units.
Embroidery, another Tausug
visual art form, is used to ornament table cloth, pillow
cases, bed spreads, and the habul tiyahian (embroidered
tube). The brightest silk thread is often used for the
habul to underscore the design, which follows the ukkil
pattern.
Used as bedding or underbedding, baluy or mats are
usually made from pandanus. Double layering pro-vides
decoration and color; a simple base mat is sewn under a
colored panel which has been dyed with one or more
colors. The designs the Tausug usually adopt are the
geometric patterns found on the pis siabit (male
headgear) or the plaid known as baluy palang. Mat
designs are memorized and passed on to the next
generation.
The Tausug male hat is
made by weaving nito with bamboo strips over nipa
leaves. Thus it is three-layered and woven in a sawali
pattern. Structure and form are provided by the nipa
leaves and the light bamboo frame, while texture and
feel are supplied by the nito strips. The open-weave
layer assures ventila-tion inside. Another example of
Tausug basketry is the small nito container, 18-20 cm in
diameter, used either as a coin or as a personal basket.
If used as a personal basket, it comes with cover and
handle. As a coin basket, it is supplied with a loop to
allow it to be carried on a finger. A slit serves as the
coin slot. Aniline dyes-magenta, blue, violet, and
green-color the nito strips (Lane 1986:193-194).
Hablun or textile weaving
is another well-known art form among the Tausug. The
most popular woven material is the pis siabit or male
headgear, which is about 1 sqm in size and distinct for
its geometric de-signs. Because of its intricacy, one
pis takes about three to four weeks of work. Only women
weave the pis and other materials such as the kambut
(sash) and kandit (loincloth and sash), which
unfortunately have completely disappeared (Szanton
1973:6.4-65). The female biyatawi is a blouse made of
plain material like satin and is ornamented with tambuku
(gold or silver buttons) on the breast, shoulders, and
cuffs. It is usually worn with sawwal (loose trousers)
of silk or brocade. A habul tiyahian is either slung
across the shoulder or allowed to hang on one arm (Amilbangsa
1983:76-113).
The tadjung is an
all-purpose skirt worn by both men and women. It has
various other uses: as a turung or headcover, sash or
waistband, blanket, ham-mock, and others. Resembling a
big pillow case, the cloth for a patadjung has designs
which are variously inspired: batik prints from
Indonesia and Malaysia, checks and stripes from India,
dunggala or stylized geometrical and floral patterns
from Sarawak, Indone-sia, or Malaysia, calligraphic
motifs from the Middle East (Amilbangsa 1983:82).
Tausug men wear the sawwal
kuput or sawwal kantiyu (tight and loose trousers
respectively), and match this with the badju lapi, a
collarless short-tailored jacket similar to the biyatawi.
The sleeves of the badju lapi are either long or
"three-fourth's" with slits at the wrists. The badju
lapi is likewise ornamented with tambuku on the breast,
shoulders, and cuffs. The legs of the sawwal kaput are
skin-tight down to the ankles, and have 22.5 cm slits on
each side, which are also decorated with buttons. A
kandit (handwoven or embroidered sash) tied around the
waist serves to keep the sawwal kuput in place. A pis
siabit is either tied around the head or left to hang on
the shoulder (Amilbangsa 1983:114-130).
Function and simplicity
define Tausug pottery. Decorations are limited to simple
geometric lines as the emphasis has always been on the
quantity not quality of the product. Examples include
pots, vases, jugs, and various pieces of kitchenware (Szanton
1973: 61-63). Tutup or plate covers are made by Tausug
men and women; smaller pieces are called turung dulang
riki-riki, and are used as wall adornment. Tutup
mea-sure about 75 cm in diameter and are made of coconut
leaves inside, and silal or buri leaves outside. Colored
pandan leaves are sewn on the exterior and serve as
decoration (Szanton 1973:64). Calligraphy is found
printed or carved on doors and gates, as well as on
tapestries. Musical instruments, especially the gabbang
(native xylophone), are also decorated by the Tausug (Szanton
1973:65).
Tausug Literary Arts :
Tausug literature includes poetry and prose, and
narrative and nonnarrative forms. The content of these
forms belongs to either of two traditions: folk, which
is more closely related with indigenous culture; or
Islamic, which is based on the Quran and the Hadith
(sayings) and Sunna (traditions and practices) of the
prophet Muhammad. Folk nonnarrative poetry includes
tigum-tigum or tukud-tukud (riddles), masaalaa
(proverbs), daman (poetic dialogue or advice), pituwa
(maxims), malikata (word inversions), tilik (love
spells), and tarasul (poems) (Tuban 1977:101).
Tausug tigum-tigum are
either asked in casual conversation or sung during
celebrations; but in both cases, the answer is
volunteered as soon as the audience has given up
guessing. In form, they may be in quatrain form (when
sung), in rimed couplet, or in prose. Common subjects
include flora and fauna, house-hold items, climate,
topography, celestial bodies, human anatomy, food,
games, and religious practices (Tuban 1977:101, 108,
111-112). Riddling in Tausug society functions mainly as
a form of entertainment, especially during weddings,
wakes, and the month of Ramadan, when it becomes a duel
of wit and wisdom. It also serves a pedagogical value by
training children to think and be aware of nature and
the objects around them.
Tausug Performing Arts
:
Various musical instruments, played solo or as an
ensemble, provide the Tausug with music. Most notab-le
is the kulintangan ensemble consisting of two gandang
(drums), a tungallan (large gong), a duwahan (set of
two-paired gongs), and the kulintangan (a graduated
series of 8 to 11 small gongs). At least five players
are needed to play the ensemble which is used to
accompany dances or provide music during celebra-tions
(Kiefer 1970:2).
Other popular instruments
are the gabbang (na-tive xylophone) and the biyula
(native violin). With 14 to 24 keys divided into
seven-note scales, the gabbang has become the most
popular musical instrument in Sulu. It is used to
accompany Tausug vocal music such as the sindil. The
tune produced when the gabbang is played solo by a man
or woman is called tahta'.
The biyula is similar to
but larger than the western violin. It consists of four
strings played by a bow made of horsehair. Traditionally
played by men, the biyula, with the gabbang, accompany
the sindil (Kiefer 1970:2) Flute music is associated
with peace and travel. It represented by the following
less popular instruments: the saunay (reed flute),
suling (bamboo flute), and kulaing (jew's harp). The
saunay is essentially a six-holed slender bamboo, 1.5 mm
in diameter, capped by a sampung simud (mouthguard). A
resonating chamber made of palm leaves is housed in the
mouthguard. The suling is a larger version of the saunay.
It is a 60-cm long bamboo with a 2-cm diameter. Like the
saunay, it has six fingerholes (Kiefer 1970:4). The
repertoire for Tausug instrumental music in-clude: the
gabbang tahtah (gabbang with biyula accompaniment); the
kasi-lasa, lugu, and tahtah (biyula songs); the sinug
kiadtu-kari (kulintangan); the tiawag kasi (saunay
music), the tahtah (suling music); and others (Kiefer
1970).
Kalangan or Tausug vocal
music can be divided into narrative and lyric songs, and
further into the lugu and the paggabang traditions. The
luguh traditio-n denotes unaccompanied religious songs,
while the paggabang tradition applies to "more mundane"
songs that are accompanied by the gabbang and biyula (Trimillos
1972).
Narrative songs tell a
story and include all the sung kissa like the parang
sabil. Lyric songs express ideas and feelings and
consist of the langan batabata (children's songs), the
baat (occupational songs), the baat caallaw and
pangantin (funeral and bridal songs, respectively), the
tarasul (sung poems), the sindil (sung verbal jousts),
the liangkit (from langkit or "chained"), and the
sangbay or song to accompany the dalling-dalling dance.
The langan batabata are more specifically lulla-bies.
They have a soft and relaxing melody (Tuban 1977:210):
The liangkit are long solo
pieces accompanied by the gabbang and biyula. Unlike the
sindil, they are not performed extemporaneously. The
subject of the liangkit is wide-love, war, nature, and
others. The Tausug lelling, adopted from the Samal, are
part of the liangkit tradition, but are sung to the
music provided by a guitar. They relate and comment on
current events. One good ex-ample is the lelling
narrating the entry of the Moro National Liberation
Front forces into Jolo town in February 1974.
The art of singing to the
dalling-dalling dance is called pagsangbay. The song
usually dictates the movement that the dancers should
follow. The lugu or sail tradition is associated with
reli-gious rituals and rites of the life cycle such as
wed-dings, births, paggunting, pagtammat, and funerals.
It is characterized by dahig or jugjug (high vocal ten-sion).
The tempo is slow with long sustained and stressed
tones. Although usually performed by women, the lugu can
also be sung by men (Trimillos 1974):
The most well-known dance
of the Tausug is the pangalay. It is the basic style
from which the move-ments of various dances in Sulu and
Tawi-Tawi are derived. The pangalay is danced by either
sex, alone or together, and is usually accompanied by
the kulintang ensemble. The movement of the pangalay is
concen-trated on the thighs, knees, ankles, toes, waist,
shoulders, neck, elbows, wrists, and fingers. The torso
is usually kept rigid, moving upward or downward as the
flow of the dance demands. The feet is firmly planted on
the ground and move in small shuffling steps (Amilbangsa
1983:14, 62). The pangalay dances are distinctive in
their use of the janggay (metal nail extenders) to
underscore hand movements. The extended fingers are
stiff and set apart from the thumbs.
Another well-known Tausug
dance is the dalling--dalling, where handkerchiefs or
fans are used. A sing-er usually accompanies the dance
by describing the various movements of the dancer. The
song is known as the sangbay and the singing. pagsangbay.
Some of the songs used are "Lingisan/kinjung-kinjung," "Dalling-dalling."
The development of the dalling--dalling is attributed to
a native Tausug by the name of Albani who became a
famous proponent of the dance (Amilbangsa 1983:42).
Tausug martial-art dances
are performed by men and include the langka-silat and
the langka-kuntaw. The langka-silat simulates a fight
and is usually per-formed with two or three other
dancers. The langka--kuntaw is a dance of self-defense,
resembling the mar-tial arts of China, Japan, and Burma
(Amilbangsa 1983:32-35). A Tausug occupational dance is
the linggisan which depicts a bird in flight; the taute,
which shows a fisher diving for the prickly catfish; and
and the suwa--suwa, which shows dancers imitating the
swaying of lemon trees (Amilbangsa 1983:28).
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