Beads in Filipino Culture:
Tradition, Folklore, Ceremony, and Aesthetics
Mariya Kochubey
"So an old man was brought forth and Aponibalagen cut off his head and put it in the ground, and sparkling water bubbled up. The body he made into a tree to shade his sister when she came to dip water, and the drops of blood as they touched the ground were changed into valuable beads."
- Philippine Folk Tales
Mable Cook Cole
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A Bagobo woman bedecked in beaded necklaces and wearing beaded clothing
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The Philippines consist of around 7,000 islands. Geographically they are close to China, Malaysia and Indonesia. After coming under Spanish control in the 1500's the Phillipines became a center for trade in Asia, but the Filipino people themselves were trading long before the Spanish arrived. Because of how many islands make up the Philippines and the extensive trading by the peoples throughout the centuries, traditions, styles and adornment vary greatly among the Philippines. One thing I found most had in common was the importance of beads.
Beads could be of stone, gold or glass. The most precious stone beads were the ones of blue or green agate. Agate, a type of quartz, comes in many colors and is particularly known for its striped look; green and blue are the rarest type of agate. Precious beads were thought of as family heirlooms (along with chinese jars). An interesting instance of use for beads was during a marriage negotiations.
For the Gaddang Peoples there was a valuable "marriage bead" which had the worth of one to three water buffalo. When negotiations begin this bead is given by the boys family to that of the girl's. If her parents allow her to be wed they accept this bead. If the engagement was broken on the boy's side, the girls family got to keep the bead; but if it was broken on the girl's side, then her family must return the bead.
This is just one example of the use of beads during marriage negotiations or as brideservice to the wife's family. Since tribes were so diverse, depending on location, not all marriage proposals went like this, but more than one tribe had traditions concerning marriage and valuable beads.
Bagobo women making beaded ornaments
For further reading see "Jewelry of Southeast Asia" by Anne Richter or "Power and Gold: jewelry from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines : from the collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva"
Comments (6)
dmhale@u.washington.edu said
at 10:43 am on Jun 1, 2009
The marriage bead is really interesting... I'm trying to visualize it. For marriage and wife swapping, was the bead given on a string of its own, or is it worn on a strand with many beads? How is it worn if it is worn at all? Was the material of the marriage bead specific and if so, what was it made of? Also, is this practice still common today?
dmhale@u.washington.edu said
at 12:27 pm on Jun 1, 2009
I totally forgot that what I REALLY wanted to comment on is the value of beads and the transfer of this value onto rosary beads in catholicism. I know that the Philippines are extremely Catholic, and I find Catholicism around the world to be so fascinating. I feel a little bit rusty or uninformed at the moment talking about this, but it seems like people think that countries that adopted Catholicism just let it replace their indigenous religion, when really a lot of the time it seems like there are links and parts of Catholicism that correlate with the indigenous religion. I love the rosary beads example you pointed out, and how it was a practice that was already in place when Catholicism arrived. I wish I knew more about this whole topic! By the way, I'm definitely mentioning that part of your presentation in my final paper. Really great job.
ajones39@... said
at 6:03 pm on Jun 1, 2009
I wonder how beads came to be so important and of such high value. The notion of beads dosen't seem to come up in many cultures as having value on their own, they are usually combined with other elements such as blankets and robes as in Native American adornment. It is interesting that depsite the many cultures found in the Phillippines, they all seemed to revere beads. Very interesting topic, especially with the tie in to Catholicism and rosary beads! I know that rosary beads go back centuries, but I wonder if the use of them made the religion more appealing to Filipinos.
Blanche Dy said
at 11:05 am on Jun 3, 2009
I have to say that this topic is very intereting and it would be useful to know where the traditions of the beads originated from.
The way the Filipinos can rank beads by color instead of their material is similar to how the Egyptians choose bright blue and green colors for many of their jewelry.
kelseyrn said
at 7:10 pm on Jun 3, 2009
I loved learning about the use of beads in the Philipines. I find it particularly interesting to hear about the western response to the values of indeginous items like beads. Some items are obviously valued for their practicle uses. But when it comes to items of adornment their value is artificial; placed on the item by the people who use it. If gold, diamonds, and green peices of paper are important or valued in western culture than it is simply because we have decided they are. Likewise if beeds of varying sizes and materials are important in the Philipines it is because they have decided they are. It would be interesting to know how the value of specific beads is decided. If it is based on materials, design, religous significance etc. Great presentation and interesting topic
marcyj@u.washington.edu said
at 10:38 pm on Jun 3, 2009
Rarity of beads must promote the use of beads as a currency. How does a currency like this one relate to ours? Is the exchange of beads limited to ceremony use only?
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