In this origin myth, the world begins with only sea, sky, and a restless kite. The kite stirs the sea, leading the sky to create islands. The kite later discovers a bamboo from which a man and woman emerge. Ordered to marry, they birth humanity. Overcrowding drives their father to frighten the children, scattering them. Their hiding places determine their societal roles, from chiefs to free men, slaves, and eventually white people.
Source
Philippine Folk Tales
compiled and annotated by
Mabel Cook Cole
A.C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1916
► Themes of the story
Creation: The narrative describes the world’s beginning, detailing the emergence of land from the sea and sky, and the origin of humanity from a bamboo stalk.
Origin of Things: It explains natural phenomena, such as the formation of islands and the existence of different human races, providing cultural context for these occurrences.
Cultural Heroes: The first man and woman serve as foundational figures, symbolizing the ancestors from whom all people descend, shaping societal structures and hierarchies.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Philippines peoples
When the world first began there was no land, but only the stea and the sky, and between them was a kite. One day the bird which had nowhere to light grew tired of flying about, so she stirred up the sea until it threw its waters against the sky. The sky, in order to restrain the sea, showered upon it many islands until it could no longer rise, but ran back and forth. Then the sky ordered the kite to light on one of the islands to build her nest, and to leave the sea and the sky in peace.
Now at this time the land breeze and the sea breeze were married, and they had a child which was a bamboo.
► Continue reading…
One day when this bamboo was floating about on the water, it struck the feet of the kite which was on the beach. The bird, angry that anything should strike it, pecked at the bamboo, and out of one section came a man and from the other a woman.
Then the earthquake called on all the birds and fish to see what should be done with these two, and it was decided that they should marry. Many children were born to the couple, and from them came all the different races of people.
After a while the parents grew very tired of having so many idle and useless children around, and they wished to be rid of them, but they knew of no place to send them to. Time went on and the children became so numerous that the parents enjoyed no peace. One day, in desperation, the father seized a stick and began beating them on all sides.
This so frightened the children that they fled in different directions, seeking hidden rooms in the house–some concealed themselves in the walls, some ran outside, while others hid in the fireplace, and several fled to the sea.
Now it happened that those who went into the hidden rooms of the house later became the chiefs of the Islands; and those who concealed themselves in the walls became slaves. Those who ran outside were free men; and those who hid in the fireplace became negroes; while those who fled to the sea were gone many years, and when their children came back they were the white people.
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Dreamtime Whispers 