Kosde, called pakde in some barrios, is celebrated in all Benguet
Kankanay towns. The purpose of the ceremony is to cause agricultural
products to grow well, and it is always celebrated some time between
rice planting and rice harvesting, generally soon after the planting
has been finished.
The night before the ceremony begins, every fire in the barrio is
extinguished, and the next morning new fire is produced by means
of friction.
Each household must furnish a hog or chicken and a jar of tapuy. The
mambunong holds a separate ceremony at each house, and prays to the
gods and spirits asking that the yield may be sufficient for the
people and that there may be enough surplus with which to celebrate
many ceremonies.
After the ceremony has been held at each house, the meat and tapuy are
taken to one place. The men proceed to drink the tapuy, but the meat
is divided among the people according to the number in each family. The
part which can not be eaten is hung above the fire and dried.
This ceremony corresponds to the Nabaloi kosday; to the pakde or
begnas of the Lepanto Kankanay; and, in a general way, to the honga
of the Ifugao, and the chaka of the Bontoc.