Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino: And Other Essays in Philippine History

by William Henry Scott

(This is a 2022 reprint of the 1992 original work.)

For 25 years, William Henry Scott rebuilt the 16th-century Philippine culture by careful scrutiny of contemporary documents. In an earlier work, Cracks in the Parchment Curtain, he demonstrated just how much information could be culled from little known Spanish records. Of these sources he wrote, "Original letters and reports, bickering complaints among conquistadores, appeals for support, rewards, and promotion, long-winded recommendations that were never implemented, and decrees inspired by local obstruction of government goals—all these contain direct or implied references to Filipino behavior and conditions.

In the present collection, Scott continues his meticulous scholarship to present new insights into the life of the Filipino people at the time of Spanish advent. In the title essay, he shows how mistranslations and colonial preconceptions have distorted our understanding of indigenous cultures, and in another, he demythologizes the so-called Papal Line of Demarcation. Other pieces describe Philippine slavery, Tagalog technology, Cebuano politics, and Visayan agriculture, literature and religion. And a remarkable 1595 document criticizing the Spanish occupation, he translates as "The conquerors as seen by the conquered."

Genres: History

172 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

About the author

William Henry Scott was a historian of the Gran Cordillera Central and Prehispanic Philippines. He personally rejected the description anthropologist as applying to himself.

Reviews

[Jason Friedlander · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Henry Scott is a treasure to Philippine history writing and I can’t wait to read the rest of his works (when I am somehow able to find copies of them).

[May Ling · Rating 5 out of 5]

In waiting for the Museum of Palawan to open, I ended up at the Library next door. I picked up this book which seemed to be about the right size and topic. It was perfect for getting a better sense for the Phillipines and the challenges to national identity.

This island people is a lot of different peoples all shoved together. There is a lot of story crafting, particularly during Hispanic period that has shaped an entirely biased account of what and why people do the things they do. That's got to be seriously annoying.

The book starts with an excellent point, i.e. that most of the literature, given when the Spanish arrived, is a retelling of the land from the point of view of the settlers. That is actually far more unique than you would think given the nature of how these islands were used in the trade with China and beyond.

It was interesting to hear about Scott's attempt to remove misconceptions about that which happened and was happy that when I learned about SE asia, I did not learn about the revolt he says was entirely fictitious. It's really fascinating and timely, as I think this nation, after overly looking to the West is starting to emerge with its own beauty and culture, e.g. yummy food, a unique voice, etc. Great time to go visit and great time for writing and expression of a uniquely filipino voice.

[luna dormit · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderfully informative, admirably well-researched.

[simone]

i never logged this oops! one of the only valid white people ever <3

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

pre-Hispanic Filipino: tribal organization, extent of Muslim influence, technology, customs, religious rituals, conflict, etc.

[Kaye Francia]

ahh

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of the essays here overlap with Scott's Barangay. Despite that, I still think the ones that do not are valuable and worth reading.