The migratory patterns and movements of the Austronesians across Asia and the Pacific explain why we have so many cultural similarities like ‘art styles, rituals, traditions, physical features, language, and even tattooing practices’ with Austronesia. I was on a small island in Garchitorena, Camarines Sur a few years back. The island had a small number of inhabitants—fisherfolks mostly, who earn their living from the sea.
I would often visit the island as a child and I still do visit, but not nearly as often anymore. During one of my visits, I remember seeing some fishermen hulling out a tree trunk. I was fascinated.
It looked too simple (big enough to hold only one person or two) to navigate the big body of water surrounding the island, but the men working on the boat assured me it would float. This simple vessel called canoa or canoe was mentioned in Mazimilianus Trnsulvanusa book, De Moluccis Insulis or Of the Moluccas Islands , a compilation of accounts from survivors of the Magellan-Elcano expedition. It is the first known book (originally in letter form from Mazimilianus to the Cardinal of Salzburg) written in 1522 and published in France in 1523, mentioning the expedition to the Philippines.
The Magellan-Elcano expedition left Spain in 1519 and returned in 1522. Its goal was to find a western maritime route to the Spice Islands, now known as Malacca in Indonesia. Along the way, the expedition chanced upon the islands we now call the Philippines.
If you recall, th.
