From the Spanish writers[1] we hear little but evil of this people.  They are spoken of as warlike, superstitious, treacherous, and vengeful as head-hunters “who expose the heads of their enemies on poles,” and as slavers.  From Father GISBERT[2] we learn that in 1886, about twelve hundred members of the tribe were converted to Christianity; but during the period following the departure of the Spaniards most of them deserted the faith and returned to the old life.  Since American occupation they have been among the most troublesome people of Southern Mindanao, and only as late as 1911 were responsible for the death of a number of planters and the destruction of the plantations in the neighborhood of Nuin.  They are rapidly breaking up as a tribe, and are intermarrying with the coast natives and hill tribes, from both of whom they are adopting artifacts and ideas.  Already they have so altered their dwellings that we cannot refer to a typical Kulaman home; their house-hold utensils[3] are those of their neighbors, and this is true also of most of the clothing, although one special type will be mentioned later on.

[1] BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol.  LV, p. 556.

[2] BLAIR and ROBERTSON, Vol.  XLIII, p. 242.

[3] Long narrow hemp cloth pillows (fig. 43) and round waterproof boxes with infitting, tray-like tops (fig. 44) are found in nearly every house.  The use of these two articles is not confined to this people, but is typical of them.  The same type of box is found among the Manobo of the Agusan river valley.

FIG. 43.  PART OF A HEMP CLOTH PILLOW COVER.

FIG. 44.  WATERPROOF BASKET WITH INFITTING TOP.

As a result of their slave raids, and the adoption of captive women and their offspring into the family, we find great variation in the members of the tribe (Plates LXI-LXII).

Measurements on twenty-seven men gave the following results: 

Height:—­Maximum 169.0 cm.; minimum 146.0 cm.; average 158.3 cm.

Cephalic Index:—­Maximum 86.4; minimum 71.7; average 78.1.

Length-Height.  Index:—­Maximum 76.5; minimum 61.9; average 68.4.

If these figures are compared with those of the Bagobo it will be seen that there is little difference in the averages; however, this similarity is less real than the figures indicate, for with the Kulaman there are more individuals at both extremes.  For example:  the cephalic indices of eight out of the twenty-seven were 80 or above, while six were less than 75; again, in the length-height indices six were above 70 and an equal number less than 65.  In other respects there is such variation that it is hard to generalize.  It is noticeable that there is a greater tendency toward prognathism than we have heretofore met with; the forehead, while high, is moderately retreating and the supra-orbital ridges prominent in most individuals; the hair is brown-black and is inclined to curl in locks.  The wide variation of type within the tribe is to be expected when we know that its members have been constantly recruited from the neighboring tribes.  It is even possible that a considerable number of slave women from distant islands may have been added to the group by purchase from the Moro.[1]