The tanong is a ceremony celebrated to cure sickness caused by the
souls of dead ancestors. A carabao, a cow, a hog, or a chicken may be
sacrificed, according to the wealth of the sick person. A mambunong
is not necessary, but the sick person himself prays as follows:
Yan nay ay din nouangko, ta mayilotonan din anguk, mokon dakayo
paksau sinan angut ay mansakit. Yamo si bigat ya mataguak ya way
nouangak ya andaka loman.
Here I am giving for tanong my carabao so that my body will be
cured if you made my body sick. If tomorrow I am alive and have
a carabao, I will give it again.
The promise to make additional sacrifice is rarely kept, and I have
been told by those celebrating the ceremony that they had no intention
of keeping it.
After the prayer has been uttered, the animal is killed. If a carabao
or cow has been sacrificed, one of the men present cuts small pieces
from its liver and throws them in different directions, while saying
the following:
Dakayo ay kakading isan nanaraban di nouang, ya andakayo sinan
ginotmo alti to pakamonyo ay inpangantka din noung aynay.
You, the souls of the dead in the pasture lands of the carabao,
you are given these pieces of liver that you may know that the
carabao has been sacrificed.
After the meat has been cooked, the sick person speaks the same prayer
which he recited before the animal was killed.