Cordillera - Tumblr Posts
Lo Espejo, Chile
by steynard on Flickr.Cuicocha crater lake in the Cordillera Occidental of the Ecuadorian Andes.
Ausangate 6384m is a mountain of the Cordillera Vilcanota range in the Andes of Peru. The mountain was ascended by Heinrich Harrer in 1953 best known for his books...
Austin Bedroom Ideas for remodeling a mid-sized contemporary master bedroom with white walls and light wood floors.
Single Wall Home Bar Austin An illustration of a medium-sized single-wall Tuscan home bar design with raised-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, limestone countertops, beige backsplash, and stone tile backsplash.
Bathroom - Contemporary Bathroom
PICOS DE EUROPA
Los Picos de Europa están situados en la cordillera Cantábrica en España, y son picos montañosos limitados y atravesados por los ríos Sella, Dobra y Deva, que a su vez son sus formadores.
Tienen una superficie 550km² y, llamativamente, en tan pequeña superficie, hay una sobreabundancia de picos y cimas contándose más de 250, algunos superando los 2600 metros de altura.
J.M.S
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ROJO
22-MAY-2022
Es en el otoño que los colores se ponen cálidos, como en el intento de quitarnos el frío del cuerpo a través del alma…
The Sixth Blade - ... - Fear Itself
Last two days! Gubat Banwa launches on Kickstarter on October 10, and we need your help to get the word out! Silence your fear- stifle it if you must. Harness it if you can. Fear begets hesitation, Kadungganan, and when rivers bleed, and skies burn, and blades dance to the rhythm of cannonfire- Hesitation is death. Let the Sword Isles of Gubat Banwa paint your stories in its thousand colors, inspired by the intricate cultures of Southeast Asia. Carve your legacy into the world by blade and smoke as warrior Kadungganan in this tactical martial arts TTRPG.
Not long now until the long-anticipated KS launch, and I've been posting the weapons I've drawn for the game as a sort of countdown. These were supposed to be Swordtember drawings, but the launch got bumped back a little bit. 6/7 blades! The penultimate entry goes to the CORDILLERAN AXE
Some time in June 2020, a certain weapon was intercepted in Australia entering the country from the United States. An ancient terror-weapon, which brought low the conquistadors of old, and drenched the soil of the pine mountains such that the ground remains the color of rust. In November the following year, the ax was returned to the Philippines. Strap in- it's about to get really convoluted.
(Photo from the Philippine Embassy in Australia) You may be wondering why I referred to this blade as a "Cordilleran Ax" rather than using a native term like in the rest of this series. That is mostly because the ax comes in many forms, and bears many, many names. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how many names there are for these things.
(Photo from the collection of Nonoy Tan) They are commonly called "head axes" (we'll get to why in a minute- but you can probably guess), referring to a collective of different blades of a more-or-less similar shape, used by the peoples of the Cordilleras. "Igorot" is a general term used to refer to these peoples of the mountains of north Luzon.
(Diagram by Lorenz Lasco)
You will recall from the thread on the hinalung that Spain never took the Cordilleras, allowing the peoples there to more easily preserve their traditions and cultures. These axes belong to some of those same cultures. These- too- were preserved from way back.
(Figure from The Tingguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe by Fay-Cooper Cole) It's easy to forget that these objects- all of the blades I've been posting about- are very deeply embedded in cultures that still exist today. These peoples have their own names and stories and knowledge of these blades that I simply do not have access to the way they do. It's all I can do to try and deliver accurate info without misrepresenting anything.
(Photo from the National Museum) And try I have. This is a diagram I tried to make as a reference, way, way back.
I know a bit more now, I'm not sure if I still stand by this, I am sure that it will need some updating. Due diligence is the bare minimum we can do, to respect the knowledge of people who are still around. Allow me to try again! The one I drew in the image at the start of this thread is called the SINAWIT. This is the Kalinga variant of the axe. From what I can tell, those with the curved/concave cutting edges tend to belong in this category.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) Supposedly, the protrusion on the handle is also indicative of a Kalinga origin.
(Photo from Ursulo of Filipino Traditional Blades)
(Photos from Global Inventory of Filipiniana Artifacts) Here's some close-ups of another example, featuring ornamentation in the form of copper/copper-alloy "staples" along the handle, which may have also aided in providing grip.
(Photos from Lorenz Lasco) Variations in size are common across all the axes we'll be looking at, some are short and fit well in one-hand, others are large enough to accommodate two. The biggest ones I've seen are sinawit.
(Photo from Christian Vasquez of Filipino Traditional Blades)
(Photo from Ron Zambarrano) Next up is the GAMEN or GAMAN. This is the Bontoc variant of the axe. Here's a gamen (top) compared to a sinawit (bottom) of similar size. Notice the difference in the shapes of the blades.
(Photo from the collection of Zel Umali as shared by Filipino Traditional Blades) Another term that gets thrown around is "pinagas", though I believe this is a general term referring to all "head axes" rather than one specific variant. I could very well be wrong on this, as the word pinagas has to come from one of the many languages in the Cordlieeras- I'm just not certain which. This one was labelled "Bontoc pinagas".
(Photo from Zel Umali) The thickness of the blade tends to vary as durability requires. In particular, the spike on the back tends to be thicker overall. Portions of the blade closer to the handle appear to be thicker as well.
(Photos from Lorenz Lasco) Examples of the gaman as I have seen them tend to have more straight or sometimes convex blades. I am uncertain if the convex shape is a unique feature, or a product of happenstance, or just how whoever used this blade liked to sharpen it.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) They also tend to be "taller" than sinawit I've seen, with blades that are almost like squares with spikes on the back, as opposed to sinawit that are more rectangular. Still following so far? Good- it's going to get more complicated soon.
I am not- by any means- formally educated on Philippine blades, so always take my words with a grain of salt. This ax inherited by a blacksmith in Baguio is something that might be gaman, but I can't categorize it with certainty without knowing more. The profile is not exactly the same, the spike is considerably longer and more curved.
(Photo from HanYan Blades) But that's the least of our worries! The ALIWA, BINARAWAD, BADAN, BADON, BINAROY are only some of the terms used to refer to the Isneg variants. Remember when I said it would get convoluted?
(Photo from Nonoy Tan; Identified as binarawad-badan-badon in that order) The binarawad in the previous photo looks- to my very untrained eye- to be similar to the gaman in many respects. Whenever I think I've identified a distinction, a different specimen shows up.
(??? from Rob Miller)
(Gaman(?) from Hearst Museum) Remember when I said the protrusion on the handle was uniquely Kalinga? But I also said taller/squarer blades were common in gaman? But the swept shape on the back looks emblematic of the Isneg variants we just saw? Identify that topmost blade for me, real quick.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) Material exchange of culture makes a mess of categorization. The peoples of the Cordilleras regularly interacted- by trade, union, or warfare- and the influences clearly went all ways. Perhaps that blade above was made by a smith who took influences from a variety of sources. Perhaps the blade itself has worn out its old handle, and the new owner replaced it with this one There are a lot of ways this could have come about, it's difficult to say. Blades tend to make their way around. This sinawit- a Kalinga blade- has been passed down through generations, and was found in Sagada.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) It certainly doesn't help when blades are found far from home and are labelled with confusing specific terms or useless general terms or just different terms entirely.
[Author's Note: Apparently there's a 30 image limit per post? I'll continue this in a reblog, I think.]
Forging onwards! It certainly doesn't help when blades are found far from home and are labelled with confusing specific terms or useless general terms or just different terms entirely.
("Sickle" from Father Jose Burgos Museum)
(Photo labelled "Sinawit" by some random person on the internet)
But we said we'll try! So take a deep breath and bear with me as I try to parse this. As far as I can tell, aliwa seems to be an almost general term for Isneg axes. I could be wrong. The long-bladed, long-handled ones might be the binaroy variant of the aliwa.
And then we get thrown for a loop again. A collector was informed of ancient Ibanag "vunang" (so- buneng?), only to be shown Isneg blades- an aliwa and a binawit- the latter turning out to be called a bokog. Is this aliwa a binaroy? What's a bokog?
(Photo from Jake Coballes) And then something like this shows up and the earliest source you can find is a comment on a random Facebook post and you have to wonder if this is: a) A variant of something you know; b) Something else entirely; c) Some modern smith mixing influences; OR d) A secret 4th thing
Moving on- I'm entirely unsure if badon/badan refers to those with the short handles or those with this kind of blade. It may well be either or both, but I'm leaning towards it being the blade shape. The curve is a bit more pronounced, and it's not as long as the binaroy.
(Photo from the Penn Museum) (Photo from Nonoy Tan) Another point of confusion: This dagguerreotype from the Real Military Museum bears a label referring to the axe as an aligua/aliwa, but it looks to me more like what we've just decided a gaman looks like.
(Photo from the archive of Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa) And sometimes you see something interesting: small axes worn as hair ornaments. The word liwa/ligua gets thrown around referring to the axe, with iko/ko for the type worn in hair. I sometimes wish I were a proper history scholar.
(Photo from the Meerkamp van Embden collection) Modern renditions don't necessarily help very much when you're trying to pin down the identity of a traditional blade. Still, the fact that they're around means the blade culture is alive and- you get the deal by now.
(Blade by WOW Banaue Souvenirs; Photo from Job Abat) In fact, modern renditions like these are sometimes integral to the preservation of traditional forms. The BUNENG is the Ibanag variant of the axe, which has apparently gone extinct in most communities. There's an interesting story behind these photos shared by Jake Coballes:
The top blade was made by a modern smith in Tuguegarao (Itak Direct Selling), which the collector posits may have been a sign of Ibanag influence reaching Cagayan.
The bottom blade is a modern aliwa (Isagaddan Crafts)
The Isneg and Ibanag have neighboring territories; The middle is an attempt by a modern smith to recreate the Ibanag bunang using a related blade- the Isneg aliwa- as a reference. I couldn't find many old reference photos of the buneng/bunang, but recreations abound, and it is not yet fully extinct amongst all Ibanag communities.
(Recreation by Jake Coballes as shared by PBH) (Modern rendition by an Ibanag panday, photo from Villanueva Clive) Much to my chagrin, I could not find much on the Kankana-ey variant, despite being Kankana-ey myself. And we're still around, traditions well-preserved, though the times have changed. Imagine the frustration of those from whom colonization took much, much more.
(Photo from an Italian blog of all places) The Kankanaey were one of the peoples alongside all the others mentioned here- and a few not mentioned- who engaged in the practice of headtaking. Heads were taken for various reasons- ritual mourning, revenge, rites of passage. Tattoos were earned by those who succeed. The Cordilleran peoples count among the cultures in the Philippines who have tattooing traditions.
(Bontoc man with "chaklag" fern tattoos) Stories abound about the north Luzon headtakers, and the "headaxes" earned their name alongside the warriors that wield them. Everyone knew to be wary: Neighbouring peoples, lowlanders near the mountains, Spanish conquistadors- There are many reasons cited for why Spain never took the Cordilleran mountain range: horses being unable to maneuver slopes, firearms not working in the higher altitudes, pacified settlements being empty when the Spanish government returned due to the Cordillerans being semi-nomadic. Some say it was fear that kept Spain from conquering these peoples, the fear that their heads would stain the ground as red as the mountain soil, if they made the climb.
I hesitate to call them headaxes- though many surmise the spike was for picking up heads, the blade itself functioned as a multi-tool. They were used for construction, for chopping wood, and in some cases even circumcision. These blades were used to live- to preserve a way of life- as are all the native blades of the Philippines.
(Photo from Lorenz Lasco) I wouldn't use the word "headhunter" either, as it was used as a derogatory term. Give this a read, if you can stomach it, if you want to know more.
But this thread is long enough, and there will always be more to learn. Especially when the people to learn from are still around and talking. I have a lot to study on myself; I can't pretend the knowledge I share is perfect, I can only ever hope it's adequate. The Cordilleran Ax shows up in the hands of the aptly named Headtaker of the Sword Isles, one of the many disciplines whose techniques your characters can learn in the game.
The Gubat Banwa Kickstarter launches in 2 days! Check it out here:
Two more days! This very small team of creators from the global south needs your help to get eyes on this project. You can read about the people behind Gubat Banwa on this Twitter X thread.
The Sixth Blade - ... - Fear Itself
Last two days! Gubat Banwa launches on Kickstarter on October 10, and we need your help to get the word out! Silence your fear- stifle it if you must. Harness it if you can. Fear begets hesitation, Kadungganan, and when rivers bleed, and skies burn, and blades dance to the rhythm of cannonfire- Hesitation is death. Let the Sword Isles of Gubat Banwa paint your stories in its thousand colors, inspired by the intricate cultures of Southeast Asia. Carve your legacy into the world by blade and smoke as warrior Kadungganan in this tactical martial arts TTRPG.
Not long now until the long-anticipated KS launch, and I've been posting the weapons I've drawn for the game as a sort of countdown. These were supposed to be Swordtember drawings, but the launch got bumped back a little bit. 6/7 blades! The penultimate entry goes to the CORDILLERAN AXE
Some time in June 2020, a certain weapon was intercepted in Australia entering the country from the United States. An ancient terror-weapon, which brought low the conquistadors of old, and drenched the soil of the pine mountains such that the ground remains the color of rust. In November the following year, the ax was returned to the Philippines. Strap in- it's about to get really convoluted.
(Photo from the Philippine Embassy in Australia) You may be wondering why I referred to this blade as a "Cordilleran Ax" rather than using a native term like in the rest of this series. That is mostly because the ax comes in many forms, and bears many, many names. Seriously, you wouldn't believe how many names there are for these things.
(Photo from the collection of Nonoy Tan) They are commonly called "head axes" (we'll get to why in a minute- but you can probably guess), referring to a collective of different blades of a more-or-less similar shape, used by the peoples of the Cordilleras. "Igorot" is a general term used to refer to these peoples of the mountains of north Luzon.
(Diagram by Lorenz Lasco)
You will recall from the thread on the hinalung that Spain never took the Cordilleras, allowing the peoples there to more easily preserve their traditions and cultures. These axes belong to some of those same cultures. These- too- were preserved from way back.
(Figure from The Tingguian: Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe by Fay-Cooper Cole) It's easy to forget that these objects- all of the blades I've been posting about- are very deeply embedded in cultures that still exist today. These peoples have their own names and stories and knowledge of these blades that I simply do not have access to the way they do. It's all I can do to try and deliver accurate info without misrepresenting anything.
(Photo from the National Museum) And try I have. This is a diagram I tried to make as a reference, way, way back.
I know a bit more now, I'm not sure if I still stand by this, I am sure that it will need some updating. Due diligence is the bare minimum we can do, to respect the knowledge of people who are still around. Allow me to try again! The one I drew in the image at the start of this thread is called the SINAWIT. This is the Kalinga variant of the axe. From what I can tell, those with the curved/concave cutting edges tend to belong in this category.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) Supposedly, the protrusion on the handle is also indicative of a Kalinga origin.
(Photo from Ursulo of Filipino Traditional Blades)
(Photos from Global Inventory of Filipiniana Artifacts) Here's some close-ups of another example, featuring ornamentation in the form of copper/copper-alloy "staples" along the handle, which may have also aided in providing grip.
(Photos from Lorenz Lasco) Variations in size are common across all the axes we'll be looking at, some are short and fit well in one-hand, others are large enough to accommodate two. The biggest ones I've seen are sinawit.
(Photo from Christian Vasquez of Filipino Traditional Blades)
(Photo from Ron Zambarrano) Next up is the GAMEN or GAMAN. This is the Bontoc variant of the axe. Here's a gamen (top) compared to a sinawit (bottom) of similar size. Notice the difference in the shapes of the blades.
(Photo from the collection of Zel Umali as shared by Filipino Traditional Blades) Another term that gets thrown around is "pinagas", though I believe this is a general term referring to all "head axes" rather than one specific variant. I could very well be wrong on this, as the word pinagas has to come from one of the many languages in the Cordlieeras- I'm just not certain which. This one was labelled "Bontoc pinagas".
(Photo from Zel Umali) The thickness of the blade tends to vary as durability requires. In particular, the spike on the back tends to be thicker overall. Portions of the blade closer to the handle appear to be thicker as well.
(Photos from Lorenz Lasco) Examples of the gaman as I have seen them tend to have more straight or sometimes convex blades. I am uncertain if the convex shape is a unique feature, or a product of happenstance, or just how whoever used this blade liked to sharpen it.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) They also tend to be "taller" than sinawit I've seen, with blades that are almost like squares with spikes on the back, as opposed to sinawit that are more rectangular. Still following so far? Good- it's going to get more complicated soon.
I am not- by any means- formally educated on Philippine blades, so always take my words with a grain of salt. This ax inherited by a blacksmith in Baguio is something that might be gaman, but I can't categorize it with certainty without knowing more. The profile is not exactly the same, the spike is considerably longer and more curved.
(Photo from HanYan Blades) But that's the least of our worries! The ALIWA, BINARAWAD, BADAN, BADON, BINAROY are only some of the terms used to refer to the Isneg variants. Remember when I said it would get convoluted?
(Photo from Nonoy Tan; Identified as binarawad-badan-badon in that order) The binarawad in the previous photo looks- to my very untrained eye- to be similar to the gaman in many respects. Whenever I think I've identified a distinction, a different specimen shows up.
(??? from Rob Miller)
(Gaman(?) from Hearst Museum) Remember when I said the protrusion on the handle was uniquely Kalinga? But I also said taller/squarer blades were common in gaman? But the swept shape on the back looks emblematic of the Isneg variants we just saw? Identify that topmost blade for me, real quick.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) Material exchange of culture makes a mess of categorization. The peoples of the Cordilleras regularly interacted- by trade, union, or warfare- and the influences clearly went all ways. Perhaps that blade above was made by a smith who took influences from a variety of sources. Perhaps the blade itself has worn out its old handle, and the new owner replaced it with this one There are a lot of ways this could have come about, it's difficult to say. Blades tend to make their way around. This sinawit- a Kalinga blade- has been passed down through generations, and was found in Sagada.
(Photo from Pinoy Blade Hunter) It certainly doesn't help when blades are found far from home and are labelled with confusing specific terms or useless general terms or just different terms entirely.
[Author's Note: Apparently there's a 30 image limit per post? I'll continue this in a reblog, I think.]