The Legend of Mt. Tinmakudo (and Mt. Kalawitan)

The Legend of Mt. Tinmakudo (and Mt. Kalawitan)

          A long time ago, people in this world have only one language. The world where they lived in was flat; there were no hills nor mountains to be seen around, so when people go somewhere, they would get lost because the surroundings were almost the same - there were no landmarks to serve as guide for them. This created a problem to the inhabitants.

         

          The God Kabunyan noticed this problem so he flooded the earth and all living creatures perished. When the flood subsided there were mountains and hills that rose from the earth. Lumawig who was looking down from the heavens saw what happened. He descended from heaven and stood on top of the highest mountain. Tired, he then sat down (Tinmukdo) while viewing the surroundings.  While viewing the earth, he responded to the call of nature. Standing and facing the valleys of Namatec and Napua he urinated; thus making the area the source of abundant water that springs from the top of Mt. Tinmakudo – the place where he sat.

Soon, the day turned to night and the time has come for Lumawig to build a fire to light his surroundings.  Looking far towards Mt. Kawwitan  now Mt. Kalawitan) he saw a fire burning. He was curious, he rode in his “Solibao” and flew to Mt. Kawwitan and there, he saw a small nipa hut. He peeped through the hut and inside, he saw a woman who happened to be her sister Bungan  (later on pronounced as Bangan). Lumawig didn’t know that the woman was his sister. When Bungan saw Lumawig, she immediately recognized him as that of his brother and asked him what he wanted. Lumawig answered that he wants to get fire since he haven’t brought anything with him to start a fire. Bungan asked him to stay instead, so Lumawig stayed and lived with Bungan.

         

          Kabunyan who was looking down from the heavens saw Bungan and Lumawig living together but noticed that they didn’t sleep together. Kabunyan descended at Mt. Kawwitan and asked the two why. They nervously answered that it cannot be because they were brother and sister. Kabunyan thought for a while, and offered an agreement to them. He told them that he will do something, and that if any one among them would laugh upon seeing what he did, they should get married. So Kabunyan got a chicken, removed its feathers leaving two feathers in each wing and two in its tail then he let the chicken run wild.

          When Bungan saw what Kabunyan did to the chicken, she can’t hold her laughter and laughed hard. Kabunyan, with glee, reminded them about the condition that they should then be married.

                 This is, how the earth became inhabited and populated.

          Bungan and Lumawig were married and bore many children. They sent their children to other parts of the world to bear children and to give names to the place where they live and to have different dialects.

Narration by Alejo Dolipas (84 yrs. Old)

Mountain Province Elder

                                                                      Mt. Kalawitan View from Mt. Tinmakudo

Mt. Kalawitan View from Mt. Tinmakudo

Mt. Tinmakudo (with the highest peak on left)

                                                            Photo Above: Mt. Tinmakudo (with the highest peak on left)

"Lumawig: The Great Spirit"

"Lumawig: The Great Spirit"

In the beginning there were no people on the earth. Lumawig, the Great Spirit, came down from the sky and cut many reeds. He divided these into pairs which he placed in different parts of the world, and then he said to them, “You must speak.”

Immediately the reeds became people, and in each place was a man and a woman who could talk, but the language of each couple differed from that of the others.

Then Lumawig commanded each man and woman to marry, which they did. By and by there were many children, all speaking the same language as their parents. These, in turn, married and had many children. In this way there came to be many people on the earth.

Now Lumawig saw that there were several things which the people on the earth needed to use, so he set to work to supply them. He created salt, and told the inhabitants of one place to boil it down and sell it to their neighbors. But these people could not understand the directions of the Great Spirit, and the next time he visited them, they had not touched the salt.

Then he took it away from them and gave it to the people of a place called Mayinit. They did as he directed, and because of this he told them that they should always be owners of the salt, and that the other peoples must buy to them.

Then Lumawig went to the people of Bontoc and told them to get clay and make pots. They got the clay, but they did not understand the moulding, and the jars were not well shaped. Because of their failure, Lumawig told them that they would always have to buy their jars, and he removed them from Samoki.

When he told the people there what to do, they did just as he said, and their jars were well shaped and beautiful. Then the Great Spirit saw that they were fit owners of the pottery, and he told them that they should always make many jars to sell.

In this way Lumawig taught the people and brought to them all the things which they now have.

(From PhilippineLiterature.com)