PHILIPPINES: A CENTURY-OLD MUMMY HAS BEEN RETURNED TO ITS SACRED CAVE IN THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

Record ID: 505824

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: A CENTURY-OLD MUMMY HAS BEEN RETURNED TO ITS SACRED CAVE IN THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES
  • Date: 24th May 1999
  • Summary: NATUBLING, PHILIPPINES (MAY 23, 1999) (REUTERS) GV OF KABAYAN TOWN, NATUBLING MOUNTAIN PROVINCE (2 SHOTS) LV OF TRIBAL PEOPLE HOLDING FEAST CU OFFERINGS (2 SHOTS) LV TRIBAL PEOPLE CARRYING BOX BEARING MUMMY SLV TRIBAL PEOPLE BRINGING PIGS, CARABAOS, COWS AND DOGS TO BE SLAUGHTERED (4 SHOTS) LV/SV WAKE FOR APO ANNU (MUMMY) (2 SHOTS) CU OF MUMMY SLV OF TRIBAL PEOPLE CHANTING CU OF MUMMY SHOWING HEAVILY TATTOOED BODY CU/SV TRIBAL ELDERS (2 SHOTS) MCU (English) APO ANNU'S DESCENDANT SARIO COPAS SAYING "You could see the trees are smiling, the grasses are smiling, the people are smiling, the creek is singing, everybody is happy. We believe the luck that has been lost is now back. We will be blessed by Apo Annu. We've been punished because we were negligent because we let him be stolen before." SLV/CU WILD BOARS BEING SLAUGHTERED AND ROASTED (2 SHOTS) CU TRIBAL PEOPLE DRINKING GIN (2 SHOTS) SLV/SV TRIBAL ELDERS DISTRIBUTING FOOD TO CHILDREN (2 SHOTS) SLV/SV ELDERS DRINKING BLESSED RICE WINE AT THE WAKE (2 SHOTS) CU MUMMY WRAPPED IN TRIBAL ROBE MCU MAN DRINKING SLV TRIBESMEN PREPARING COFFIN CARVED OUT FROM TREE TRUNK SV/LV MUMMY BROUGHT INSIDE CAVE WITH IRON GRILL (5 SHOTS) MANILA, PHILIPPINES (RECENT - MAY 6, 1999) SLV/CU NATIONAL MUSEUM CURATOR ORLANDO ABINION SHOWING TATTOOED MUMMY (3 SHOTS) TIMBAK, PHILIPPINES (MAY 22, 1999) CU/SV OTHER MUMMIES IN TIMBAK CAVE (6 SHOTS) Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 8th June 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MANILA, NATUBLING AND TIMBAK, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: History
  • Reuters ID: LVA5UIBDBLP6OA1KZIIF8KFP6ADJ
  • Story Text: A centuries-old mummy has been returned to its sacred cave in the northern Philippines.
    The mummy was stolen from its resting place in the 1920s by a Christian pastor.
    In a three-day wake, villagers in Natubling slaughtered animals, drank rice wine and chanted prayers to welcome the return of the mummy, named Apo Annu.
    The reburial was surrounded by strict rituals: every villager and hundreds of guests were forbidden from sneezing during the ceremonies, or from having sex for the duration of the wake.
    Tribesmen have attributed the natural disasters that have hit the mountainous region, from earthquakes to typhoons, to the theft of mummies kept in caves for centuries.
    Sario Copas, a descendant of Apo Annu, said the reburial was a special event.
    "You could see the trees are smiling, the grasses are smiling, the people are smiling, the creek is singing, everybody is happy.We believe the luck that has been lost is now back.We will be blessed by Apo Annu.We've been punished because we were negligent because we let him be stolen before."
    National museum officials estimate the mummy to be about 500 years old.
    But anthropologists say this was at best an educated guess, because its age could be established only through carbon dating or through genealogy by tracing family descent.
    Heavily tattooed -- the mark of hunters and warriors, the largely intact mummy looks like dried flesh, brownish in colour.
    In a sitting position with arms held up to his face, Apo Annu looks like a man praying to the heavens.
    Members of the Kankana-ey tribe dressed the mummy in robes of a tribal ruler and laid it near the mouth of the cave for the final rites.
    The ceremony over, two priests carried Apo Annu into the cave and laid him in a wooden coffin.
    Now a steel door guards the cave to ensure the mighty hunter would never leave the mountain again.
    Museum curator Orlando Abinion said the mummy was stolen by a Christian pastor between 1918 and 1920 from the cave in Natubling in Benguet province, 220 km (135 miles) north of Manila.
    It ended up as a sideshow in a circus in Manila and passed from one hand to another until 1984, when an antique collector donated it to the national museum.
    Mummification among local tribes began in the 13th century but stopped after Spain colonised the Philippines in the 16th century and spread Christianity.
    Residents say mummification starts by forcing a dying person to drink a briny potion.The corpse is bathed and set on a chair while a fire glows underneath to remove body fluids.
    Tobacco smoke is blown through its mouth to dry the organs and herbs are rubbed over the body.After weeks or months of being smoked, it is taken to a cave to protect it from animals.
    Officials said that from 50 to 80 other mummies had been located in other caves but declined to specify the places.
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