(Photographer unknown)
The Mani tribe of southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia are one of my favorite native groups to hang out with and learn from. Like the Aeta and Batak in the Philippines they are a "Negrito" people. The mani possess more knowledge about the jungle in which they live then an outsider could learn in a lifetime. Their blowguns or "Blowpipes" are especially cool and are composite; consisting of 2 types of bamboo nested together. I have posted a bit of information for you about these unique blowguns.
Every adult male Mani man has his own personal hunting tools: the blowpipe borlao, the hunting spear and finishing pole (also known as lord pao, mai saang and touk dok among other Negrito people of the Malay peninsula). Unlike the blowpipe and the spear, the fishing pole is not an exclusive male prerogative.
Borlao - the Blowpipe
The blowpipe of the Mani (kra bork tud in Thai) has a mouthpiece made of wood and a "barrel" made of ong, thin stalks of a special bamboo. The Thais call this kind of bamboo mai pai saang ("blowpipe bamboo"). The borlao consists of an inner and an outer parts.
The outer part is a long, hollow bamboo cylinder with an interior diameter of about 2.5 cm (1 in.). It is made of 2 to 3 connecting parts (depending on the length of the bamboo stalks available) with a total length of about 2.5 m (a little more than 8 ft.). The junction between each section of bamboo is fastened and sealed by the sap of the ton sai tree or ton haan tree.
The inner part, or "barrel" proper, is made from the same kind of bamboo, with the same length as the outer part but with a smaller diameter. The inner part is inserted into the outer part. A piece of polished bamboo or wood is fastened to the lower end of the bamboo "barrel" to protect the mouth of the user and to funnel the burst of air blown into the "barrel" to propel the dart (bila).
The borlao is typical of the Mani, one might almost call it their 'trademark' tool. Some observers think that the Mani have invented this sophisticated tool (ref. 17) while others doubt it. The latter group think that bow-and-arrows (as among the Andamanese Negrito who do not know blowpipes ) are be a more likely weapon. It has also been pointed out that even though the Negritos have known for a long time how to use implements made from bamboo, but blowpipes especially are difficult to make without metal tools. There is no agreement to the origin of blowpipes, nor is it known who has first used blowpipes and when or where this might have been.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica (ref. 25) has the following to say on the subject of blowpipes (under "blowguns");
"Primarily for hunting, it is rarely used in warfare. Employed by Malaysians and other South East Asian aboriginals, in south India and Sri Lanka, in Madagascar, in northwest South America, in Central America north to central Mexico, among southeastern American Indians, and in Melanesia (rarely), it also may have been used prehistorically in the Antilles. Apparently invented by Malaysians (i.e. in the region of the Malay peninsula), blowguns were pre-Columbian in both hemispheres; whether their occurrence in the New World represents reinvention or introduction remains unknown."
Bila is the ammunition of the blowpipe; an arrow-like dart. It is made from a kind of palm wood which the Thai villagers call mai tao (Tao wood). To make a bila, a piece of mai tao wood of 30 cm (12 in.) length and a diameter of around 2.0 mm (1/16th in.) is cut and sharpened at one end. Counting from the sharp end 3 cm (1/8th in.) inwards, a cut is made so that when the dart is blown and impacts on an animal, it the end will break off and remain inside the animal. After making the cut, the dart is treated with fire to harden it. The other end of the bila is also sharpened and fitted with a conically shaped piece of Zalacca wood that fits precisely into the borlao barrel.
Before the dart is used, its tip is covered with a poison that will kill the animal. The poison, known to the Mani as ipoh, is derived from the saps of two kinds of nong trees (of the Moraceae family), and the bark of ton chon chaang (Chon Chaan tree, of the Strychnaceae family). The nong sap is mixed with the cho chaang bark in a ching leaf (a kind of palm), until a sticky, black mixture results. The poison is then smeared on the tip of the dart and left to dry before the dart is put in the quiver that the Mani call manneu.
Manneu - the Quiver for Keeping Darts
The dangerous poison darts need to be stored and this is done in a cylinder with ca. 12 cm (4-1/2 in.) diameter and a length of ca. 35 cm (13-1/2 in.). The cylinder is called manneu. Inside it are several holders, called holly, for encasing the darts, one holder for each dart. The holly are arranged along the inner wall of the manneu, leaving the middle portion for putting pui tao raang, a fluff affixed to the dart in the blowpipe to help it go further when blown.
The Mani tribe of southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia are one of my favorite native groups to hang out with and learn from. Like the Aeta and Batak in the Philippines they are a "Negrito" people. The mani possess more knowledge about the jungle in which they live then an outsider could learn in a lifetime. Their blowguns or "Blowpipes" are especially cool and are composite; consisting of 2 types of bamboo nested together. I have posted a bit of information for you about these unique blowguns.
Every adult male Mani man has his own personal hunting tools: the blowpipe borlao, the hunting spear and finishing pole (also known as lord pao, mai saang and touk dok among other Negrito people of the Malay peninsula). Unlike the blowpipe and the spear, the fishing pole is not an exclusive male prerogative.
Borlao - the Blowpipe
The blowpipe of the Mani (kra bork tud in Thai) has a mouthpiece made of wood and a "barrel" made of ong, thin stalks of a special bamboo. The Thais call this kind of bamboo mai pai saang ("blowpipe bamboo"). The borlao consists of an inner and an outer parts.
The outer part is a long, hollow bamboo cylinder with an interior diameter of about 2.5 cm (1 in.). It is made of 2 to 3 connecting parts (depending on the length of the bamboo stalks available) with a total length of about 2.5 m (a little more than 8 ft.). The junction between each section of bamboo is fastened and sealed by the sap of the ton sai tree or ton haan tree.
The inner part, or "barrel" proper, is made from the same kind of bamboo, with the same length as the outer part but with a smaller diameter. The inner part is inserted into the outer part. A piece of polished bamboo or wood is fastened to the lower end of the bamboo "barrel" to protect the mouth of the user and to funnel the burst of air blown into the "barrel" to propel the dart (bila).
The borlao is typical of the Mani, one might almost call it their 'trademark' tool. Some observers think that the Mani have invented this sophisticated tool (ref. 17) while others doubt it. The latter group think that bow-and-arrows (as among the Andamanese Negrito who do not know blowpipes ) are be a more likely weapon. It has also been pointed out that even though the Negritos have known for a long time how to use implements made from bamboo, but blowpipes especially are difficult to make without metal tools. There is no agreement to the origin of blowpipes, nor is it known who has first used blowpipes and when or where this might have been.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica (ref. 25) has the following to say on the subject of blowpipes (under "blowguns");
"Primarily for hunting, it is rarely used in warfare. Employed by Malaysians and other South East Asian aboriginals, in south India and Sri Lanka, in Madagascar, in northwest South America, in Central America north to central Mexico, among southeastern American Indians, and in Melanesia (rarely), it also may have been used prehistorically in the Antilles. Apparently invented by Malaysians (i.e. in the region of the Malay peninsula), blowguns were pre-Columbian in both hemispheres; whether their occurrence in the New World represents reinvention or introduction remains unknown."
Bila is the ammunition of the blowpipe; an arrow-like dart. It is made from a kind of palm wood which the Thai villagers call mai tao (Tao wood). To make a bila, a piece of mai tao wood of 30 cm (12 in.) length and a diameter of around 2.0 mm (1/16th in.) is cut and sharpened at one end. Counting from the sharp end 3 cm (1/8th in.) inwards, a cut is made so that when the dart is blown and impacts on an animal, it the end will break off and remain inside the animal. After making the cut, the dart is treated with fire to harden it. The other end of the bila is also sharpened and fitted with a conically shaped piece of Zalacca wood that fits precisely into the borlao barrel.
Before the dart is used, its tip is covered with a poison that will kill the animal. The poison, known to the Mani as ipoh, is derived from the saps of two kinds of nong trees (of the Moraceae family), and the bark of ton chon chaang (Chon Chaan tree, of the Strychnaceae family). The nong sap is mixed with the cho chaang bark in a ching leaf (a kind of palm), until a sticky, black mixture results. The poison is then smeared on the tip of the dart and left to dry before the dart is put in the quiver that the Mani call manneu.
Manneu - the Quiver for Keeping Darts
The dangerous poison darts need to be stored and this is done in a cylinder with ca. 12 cm (4-1/2 in.) diameter and a length of ca. 35 cm (13-1/2 in.). The cylinder is called manneu. Inside it are several holders, called holly, for encasing the darts, one holder for each dart. The holly are arranged along the inner wall of the manneu, leaving the middle portion for putting pui tao raang, a fluff affixed to the dart in the blowpipe to help it go further when blown.
