Gold in Mindanao

We found the king in his palace sitting on the ground upon a palm-leaf mat… He had around his neck a golden chain of great value and, as earrings, two gold rings with precious stones... The queen was wearing upon her head a loose-fitting cloth ornamented with gold threads, which covered her head as far down as the shoulders," wrote Antonio de Pigafetta, the chronicler of Magellan in 1521.

And what did Magellan present Humabon with? A Turkish-style yellow and violet silk robe, red cap, strings of glass beads and a red velvet chair. The chieftain reciprocated with "bejeweled golden earrings, arm-and-ankle bracelets and other precious adornments" indicating the existence of goldsmiths and jewelers in Cebu in the early 16th century.

Another local chieftain, Rajah Kolambu, and his brother Siaui, the rulers of Butuan and Surigao, would not to be outdone. "The chief’s dishes and part of his house were made of gold. He wore two golden earrings. Around his waist hang a dagger with a long golden shaft, and his teeth were edged and inlaid with gold."

Magellan learned that by "only sifting the earth in Mindanao, one could find chunks of gold the size of walnuts and eggs." The information was undoubtedly correct and everywhere another explorer went, which was Legaspi, he saw natives wearing earrings, bracelets, and necklaces of gold.

* * *

In much later years, most often mentioned were gold containers for betel nut chewing, heirlooms looked upon as symbols of power. Others were objects accumulated over time, which only the aristocracy could afford. In Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, jewelry made of gold served many functions and tapped into many layers of social and religious classes. Jewelry was often kept as ancestral treasure and served as symbolic of a families place in society. From oral tradition, it appears that the sultans were continually surrounded by valuable objects, such as bracelets, coins melted down to make jewelry, gold buckles, silver, and gold drinking caps. In the past more than today, the Moros valued gold caps for their teeth with hearts, stars and flowers over the exposed enamel of their teeth. In Sulu, many jewelers had foot-powered dentist’s drills to prepare teeth for gold caps.

* * *

Wang Dayuan’s Tao I Chih-lioh has an entry on the Philippines and it makes specific mention of Sulu and its gold and pearls and bartering pearls, beeswax, tortoise-shell, wood and bamboo cloth for gold.

We learn from the Ming annals that in 1417 three "kings" from Sulu, the Eastern King Paduka Pa-hala Batara the Supreme, the Western King Ma-hala-chi’ih Maharajah, and the King of the Mountain Paduka Prabu, their families and retinue, visited the Emperor’s court in China and presented the Emperor with "a letter with gold characters engraved upon it with pearls, precious stones, tortoise-shell and other articles."

It is said the Javanese mined gold in the Agusan-Surigao area during the 14th century. Butuan in Mindanao was described as a Srivijayan [A.D. 500-1300] trading port and produced gold helmets, basins, daggers and dagger hilts, animal figures, bowls and cover boxes.

Goldsmithing was already a specialized activity in Butuan as early as the Sung dynasty (AD 960-1126) in view of the discovery of more than 100 intact clay crucibles. Recovered from the Butuan sites – as far as the National Museum excavations could determine – were a gold buckle, ear ornaments and rings. The Central Bank’s collection of ornaments from Butuan and Surigao, in Northeastern Mindanao, suggests an intensive goldsmithing activity at this old trading center.

A solid gold image, which is now found in the Gem Room of the Chicago Natural History Museum, was found after a storm and flood in 1917 on the left bank of the Wawa River, a tributary of the large Agusan River in the northwestern part of Mindanao. The solid gold figurine was believed to be of local manufacture, the so-called the Golden Tara of Agusan, of 21 carat gold, weighing nearly four pounds. The figurine suggests availability of gold ore then, and demonstrates the artistic capability and technology of the people during the period of the Sama traders, my pirate-warriors, who settled in Butuan.

Wooden equipment associated with goldsmithing, such as the pick (for separating gold dust and fragments from impurities), knife for cutting gold sheet, and pincer (a tweezer-like device), has also been found in Butuan.

The products of the goldsmithing industry in northeastern Mindanao, Samar and Cebu included tiaras, belts, buckles, breast plates, chokers, pendants, rings, bracelets, anklets, studs, chains, beads, ear plugs and death masks.

The traditions of gold in Mindanao are indeed rich and its craftsmanship influenced by southeast Asia in its granulation.

There you have it… Gold from Mindanao.