B in the act. He demands a tokom--in this case it may be the bolo
or spear that B is carrying--and so puts himself "on record" as
not having been an accomplice. But he says nothing about the crime
unless it come to light that he was a witness of it. In this case
he proves by the tokom that he received that he had no connection
with it. As a matter of practice it would seem that a gift received
from the thief would tend to lead the witness to conceal the crime.
A gives an uyauwe feast. At the attendant drink feast B in a
drunken brawl kills C. A and the manikam D must demand a tokom
from B in order to clear their reputations.
The following is the amount of the tokom usually demanded in the case
of murder, head-hunting, or slaughter:
In case of the death In case of the death In case of the death
of a kadangyang Honga of a middle-class man of a poor man Honga
Honga
1 carabao P80.00 8 pigs P80.00 4 pigs P40.00
2 pigs 30.00 1 bakid 25.00 1 bakid 15.00
1 bakid 44.00
======= ======= ======
Total P154.00 Total P105.00 Total P55.00
One who is put in a position in which a tokom is due him must collect
the tokom. It is not sufficient that he demand the payment of it--he
must enforce the payment. Otherwise he will be considered by the kin
of the injured as having been an accomplice, and liable to punishment
accordingly.
Should the culprit refuse to pay the tokom, the obligation rests
on those to whom the tokom is due to take the leading part in the
punishment of the crime. Thus, in the first example given above, if C
does not pay the tokom to B, the obligation rests on B more heavily
even than it rests on A's relatives to kill C, and so avenge A's
death. Should he not do this, he would be held liable to punishment
by A's relatives along with C.
Visitors came to the house of Timbuluy of Ambabag from the district
of Maggok. It was suggested that a contract of friendship and
alliance be accomplished between Timbuluy and his Maggok visitors
by means of the feast called monbiyao. A day was appointed for
this feast, and Binwag of Bolog was named as the go-between in
matters pertaining to the feast. These preliminaries having been
finished, the Maggok people started home. On the road they were
killed by some people from Wingian.
The following persons were under obligation to demand a
tokom: Timbuluy, whose guests they had been, and Binwag,
the go-between. But the murderers were poor people, while the
murdered were wealthy. It would have been impossible for the
murderers to have paid the tokom proper for having killed a
kadangyang. Consequently without any ado, Binwag killed one of the
murderers, and Timbuluy kidnapped one of the women folk of another.
Timbuluy sold this woman to slavery in Nueva Vizcaya, receiving
four carabaos. He gave one carabao to each of the four villages
Pindungan, Ambabag, Bango, and Baay--all in Kiangan valley--on
the consideration that if the people of Wingian retaliated by
capturing a Kiangan woman in the open territory surrounding or
adjacent to one of these villages, the people of that village
would collect the necessary sum and redeem the woman.
THEFT
110. Of theft in general.--There is a considerable degree of difference
in the severity with which theft is punished in different parts of
Ifugao. The following is the general law with respect to the theft
of articles of medium or slight value:
Kadangyang class: It is a general principle that true kadangyang
do not steal. However, it sometimes occurs, especially in the
Kiangan-Maggok area, that persons who have the right to claim
this rank become needy. The rule for the punishment of members of
this class is: The kadangyang must return the stolen thing, or,
if it shall have been consumed, its equivalent in value, and must
entirely surround it with like things of equivalent value. This
rule merely amounts to the paying of five times the value of the
stolen thing. He must also pay a fee to the go-between.
Middle class: A thief of this class must return the stolen thing
and ulpitan it, i.e., place a like thing, or an equivalent value,
on either side of it. He must also pay a liwa fee to the go-between
of the case.
Very poor: A thief of this class must repay the stolen article
or its equivalent value, tokopna, and pay a fee to the go-between
in the case.
In the case of the theft of heirlooms of great value, such as rice-wine
jars, or gansas, the thief must repay, besides the stolen articles,
their tokop, or equal, and in addition must furnish a certain number
of pigs or other articles of medium value. The following shows how
the Ifugao visualizes a payment of this sort.
* The stolen article.
* Its equal or equivalent.
* Honga, a full-grown pig.
* Yubyub, a full-grown chicken.
Theft should not be confused with improper or illegal
confiscation. This latter is commonly effected by members of the
kadangyang class. It is punished in much the same way as theft,
but is not so disgraceful.
A thief discovered in delicto is likely to be punished by death if
the thief be of a different district. If not punished by death, the
culprit is caught and tied and kept prisoner until his kin in the
other district pay the fine demanded. This fine, needless to say, is
somewhat larger than would ordinarily be assessed for the crime. If
a member of the home district be caught in an unaccomplished theft,
the case is not altered in any way from an ordinary, consummated theft.
111. Theft of rice from a granary.--The theft of rice is considerably
more serious than would be theft of any other article of equal value,
because it ruins the miraculous increase of the rice that the Ifugao
as well as all other Malay tribes in these islands so thoroughly
believe in. If the thief confesses and shows himself docile, he may
wipe out his guilt with the following payment:
* Hulul-na, 1 large pig, payment of the stolen rice.
* Honga, 1 large pig and 1 large chicken, for granary feast to
secure return of the miraculous increase.
If, however, the accused persistently deny his guilt, he is challenged
to an ordeal. If by this he is proven guilty, he is fined one bakid or
one "ten"--in Kiangan about thirty pesos--in addition to the payment
above. If he refuse to submit to the ordeal, he is adjudged guilty,
and has to make the same payments as if he had submitted to the ordeal
and had been adjudged guilty. The fee of the monkalun is included in,
and is not additional to, the bakid in this case.
112. Theft of unharvested rice.--In a case of this sort, the amount
of rice stolen can be determined by estimating it from the number of
headless stalks. The punishment is:
* The return of the stolen rice or its equivalent value.
* A full-grown pig for the owner's harvest feast.
* The fee for the monkalun.
113. Illegal confiscation.--What the Ifugao recognizes as legal
confiscation is treated below under Procedure, sections 134 to 138. The
following is a case of illegal confiscation in the district of Banaue.
A owes B a debt, which he persistently refuses to pay. Both men
are of the Kadangyang class. B is somewhat afraid of A, or for
some reason cannot or does not dare collect the debt according
to the ordinary mode of procedure. He accordingly runs away with
a valuable rice-wine jar belonging to A, leaving nothing behind
to show who took it.
B finds out who ran away with his jar. He pays the debt he owes B,
if it be truly owed, and demands the following from him for his
improper procedure:
* The return of the stolen jar.
* Another one like it, or an equivalent of some sort.
* A gong as a dalag (fine for illegal confiscation).
* A large pig for a honga (general welfare feast).
* A kettle worth five pesos called habale (pegs on which house
charms are hung).
* 4 yards of brass wire. This payment is called nundopa,
referring to the jumping down of the culprit when he carried
off the jar.
* Death blanket with which to carry jar home.
If B, when he ran away with the jar, had left behind his scabbard
or bolo or some other of his belongings to show his identity,
the above would have been a case of legal confiscation, and
not punishable.
Illegal confiscation lacks the elements of disgrace that theft carries
with it, and, in the mind of the confiscator and his relatives at
least, is justifiable. It may be that it is for this very reason that
this crime is punished more severely than ordinary theft.
ARSON
114. Fines assessed for goba or arson.--One caught in the act of
setting fire to a house or granary would be likely to be killed on the
spot. Should he consummate the act and escape, demand would probably
be made upon him and his kin for two granaries full of rice and for the
animals necessary to consecrate them by the usual feasts. This would be
the probable punishment. The crime of arson is rare, and consequently
there is no penalty or restitution well defined by law. The punishment
might be death, or the kidnapping and selling into slavery of a member
of the culprit's family, or a fine as above. Which of these it would
be would depend very much on the personality of the injured party.
KIDNAPPING
115. Circumstances under which kidnapping may occur.--If performed
to cover a debt for which payment had been repeatedly demanded, or to
cover an injury for which a proper fine had been repeatedly demanded
in due form, kidnapping was a legal seizure, although the victim and
his kindred might not consider it so.
But there were a good many cases in which the kidnapper's motive was
utterly different. He might wish, for example, to display his valor,
or to profit financially by the sale of his captives. Sometimes,
too, a head-hunting party, failing to get a head, would capture a
woman and carry her back with them to their village. In some parts
of Ifugao the woman was ravished for a period of five days by the
party of head-hunters. She was then sold into slavery.
The penalty inflicted by the kin of the kidnapper was either death
or retaliation by kidnapping.
INCEST
116. Rarity of such offenses.--Incest is a very rare crime in
Ifugao. It seems to be becoming more frequent, for there has
undoubtedly been a growing laxity in morality ever since the
establishment of foreign government. A case recently occurred in
Mongayan, in which a father, on humane grounds as he put the matter
to her, deflowered his own daughter. This case was not punished.
RAPE
117. Both parties being unmarried.--The unmarried Ifugaos, from
earliest childhood, are accustomed to collect in certain houses,
using them as dormitories. Usually both sexes sleep together in
these dormitories. Naturally, too, there is a great deal of sexual
intercourse each night, for sexual intercourse takes the same place
among the Ifugaos that embraces and kisses do in the courtship of
some other peoples. The nature of the female human being, says the
Ifugao, is to resist the advances of the male. He naïvely points out
that the hens, the cows, and, in fact, the females of any species
resist the male in this respect, notwithstanding they may be quite
as anxious for the sexual act as the male himself. It is so with
women, he says. It is considered shocking in some sections of Ifugao
for a girl to yield herself to her lover the first time without
resistance. This idiosyncracy of feminine nature being a fact, it
is sometimes difficult to be certain as to whether the resistance
offered by a girl is bona fide or not--as to whether she is willing
for the sexual act to occur, half willing, or entirely opposed to
it. There may or may not be doubt in the mind of the male--usually
there is none--but friends of the girl, by distorting or by putting a
slightly different interpretation on what occurred, could make a case
of rape in the white man's courts out of almost any of these common
events. Furthermore, a girl on the advice of her parents, were such a
rape punishable by fine, might and frequently would, entice some youth
into forcing her, in order that her family might benefit financially.
Consequently if a girl be "caught" in a sleeping house by a youth
who habitually sleeps there, the Ifugaos do not look upon it as a
case of rape, even though force be used. By following this principle
a great many questions and "put-up-jobs" are avoided. If a girl be
seized and raped by one who does not habitually sleep in or frequent
the girl's dormitory, and the evidence establishes a case of bona
fide resistance on the part of the girl, a fine of "six" is assessed
against the raptor as follows:
Kadangyang class
Death blanket P8.00
Cooking pot 2.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natuku .50
Natuku .50
======
Total, P13.00
Middle class
Cooking pot P2.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Nunbadi .40
Nunbadi .40
Na-oha .25
=====
Total, P5.05
Very poor
Cooking pot P2.00
Na-oha .25
Na-oha .25
Na-oha .25
Na-oha .25
Na-oha .25
=====
Total, P3.25
It will be noted that the above are very light fines. In some parts
of Ifugao they would be considerably higher--notably in the Silipan
country.
The committing of the crime of rape in broad daylight, as, for
example, the "catching" of a woman in a camote field, constitutes an
aggravating circumstance. Such a rape as that punishable by a fine of
"six" above would be punishable by a fine of "ten" of a value for the
three classes respectively of about thirty-two pesos, sixteen pesos,
and eight pesos, if committed in broad daylight. This is owing to the
greater "shame" which the woman feels on account of the unwonted hour.
118. Rape of a married woman by an unmarried man.--This is a serious
offense. It is punishable by a fine equivalent to twice the fine
assessed for luktap, or unaggravated adultery. One-half of this fine
goes to the husband of the outraged woman and his kin and one-half
to the woman and her kin.
119. Rape of a married woman by a married man.--This is a case
still more serious for the offender, since in addition to paying the
afore-mentioned fine, he must pay to his own wife an additional fine
as penalty for luktap.
MA-HAILYU OR MINOR OFFENSES
Minor fines are punishable by fines called hailyu. The rape of an
unmarried woman by an unmarried man, considered in the preceding
section in connection with the more serious forms of rape, is a
minor crime.
120. False accusation.--He who accuses another falsely or he who,
accusing another of crime, challenges him to an ordeal, which ordeal
proves the accused to be innocent, must pay the following fine:
HAILYU PAID BY THE ACCUSER TO THE FALSELY ACCUSED
Kadangyang class
One bakid (ten)
2 death blankets P16.00
Cooking pot 5.00
Cooking pot 2.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Nuntuku .60
Nunbadi .40
======
P28.00
Fee of go-between:
1 death blanket 8.00
======
Total, P36.00
Middle class
One bakid (ten)
1 death blanket P8.00
1 cooking pot 5.00
1 cooking pot 2.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan .60
Nunbadi .40
Na-oha .25
======
Total, P18.85
Fee of go-between: iron pot of value of P5 included above.
Very poor
One onom (six)
1 death blanket P8.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natauwinan 1.00
Natuku .60
Natuku .60
Na-oha .40
======
Total, P11.60
Fee of go-between: one natauwinan included above.
The amount of the fine depends to a great extent on the seriousness
of the offense of which one is accused.
121. Baag or slander.--This offense is punishable by a somewhat smaller
fine than that above. The following is an instance to illustrate
what trivial statements may be considered as slanders. At an uyauwe
feast Bahni of Tupplak made remarks derogatory to Bumidang of Palao,
the principal of which was to the effect that Bumidang would never
have been a kadangyang had it not been for the fees that he received
from the Palao people for acting as go-between in buying back the
heads of their slain from their Silepan enemies. Bumidang considered
this as slander, and seized a carabao belonging to Bahni, holding it
until payment of the fine assessed for insult was made.
122. Threats of violence.--Ongot, or threat, is punished by about
the same fine as slander.
123. Insult.--The saying to another person of anything reflecting on
his honor, prestige, or rank; the use of abusive language to an equal
or superior; insinuations as to improper relations with kinswomen;
improper language and behavior in the presence of people of opposite
sexes who are related to each other within the forbidden degrees;
breaking of various taboos--all of these constitute insults, and are
punishable by a fine varying in size from the fine for slander to
that for false accusation.
There exist a considerable number of taboos, for breaking of which
a penalty is exacted.
First. There are taboos relating to exogamy. In the presence of male
and female kin that are of the degrees within which marriage is
forbidden it is taboo: (a) to look fixedly at the woman's breasts
or hips; (b) to speak of the dormitory of the unmarried; (c) to
mention the love affairs of an unmarried couple except most guardedly;
(d)to break wind; (e) to blackguard; (f) to play the bikong, lover's
harp. Matters connected with sex must not be referred to unnecessarily;
whenever it is necessary to refer to them, the most delicately veiled
euphemisms must be used. Thus an unborn babe must be called "the
friend"; the placenta must be termed a "blanket"; the short plank
that constitutes the Ifugao's bed must be designated as a "level";
even an egg must be referred to as a "soft stone" or "stone of the
chickens." It is a very grave insult, knowing two people to be of the
forbidden degrees of kinship, to ask them if they are married. Even
if asked in ignorance of the kinship, such a question is considered
to show exceeding ill breeding. On my first arrival among the Ifugaos
I was several times made to feel like a boorish lout by having asked
the question of the wrong people. I then hit upon the scheme of asking
two people if they were brother and sister before asking if they were
married. This, however, was equally a faux pas in case the two were
husband and wife, since to the Ifugao it amounted to asking a man if
he had married his sister. I then learned to do as a well-bred Ifugao
does in such cases: to observe and deduce from the conduct of the two
what their relationship might be. This was never a difficult matter.
Second. Acts which savor of adultery are tabooed. Among such are the
intentional touching of the body of a married woman. If a man meets
a married woman on a rice-field dike, the proper thing for him to do
is to step off into the mud and water and let her pass. He may not
grasp her body in order to squeeze past her and thus avoid stepping
into the water. It is forbidden, too, to enter a house in which a
married woman is alone.
Third. It is taboo, knowing a person to be dead, to ask his sons or
near kin if he is dead.
Fourth. Certain acts are believed to be injurious to others because
they are bad in their magic influence. Thus trying to collect a debt
when a member of the debtor's household is ill is taboo. The penalty
for this act is the loss of the debt, be it large or small. It is
believed that any subtraction from the sick person's or his family's
possessions is bound to react injuriously on his health.
Passing near or through a field of rice in a foreign district during
harvest is taboo, because it is a disturbing factor and interferes
with the miraculous increase.
PROCEDURE
THE FAMILY IN RELATION TO PROCEDURE
124. Family unity and coöperation.--The mutual duty of kinsfolk
and relatives, each individual to every other of the same family,
regardless of sex, is to aid, advise, assist, and support in all
controversies and altercations with members of other groups or
families. The degree of obligation of the various members of a family
group to assist and back any particular individual of that group
is in direct proportion: first, to the kinship or the relationship
by marriage; second, to the loyalty the individual in question has
himself manifested toward the family group, that is, the extent to
which he discharges his obligations to that group.
The family is without any political organization whatever. It is a
little democracy in which each member is measured for what he is worth,
and has a voice accordingly in the family policy. It is a different
body for every married individual of the whole Ifugao tribe. [20]
There are a great many relationships that complicate matters. An
Ifugao's family is his nation. The family is an executive and a
judicial body. Its councils are informal, but its decisions are none
the less effective. The following rules and principles apply to the
family and to individuals in the matter of procedure.
Brothers of the blood can never be arrayed against each other. They
may fall out and quarrel, but they can never proceed against each
other. This is for the reason that their family is identical (before
marriage at least), and a family cannot proceed against itself.
Cousins and brothers of the half-blood ought never to be arrayed
against each other in legal procedure. In case they should be so
arrayed, the mutual kin try to arrange peace. Only in the event of
serious injuries may a cousin with good grace and with the approval
of public opinion collect a fine from another cousin, and even then
he should not demand as much as from a non-related person. In the
case of minor injuries he should forego punishing his kindred. The
following is an example:
A steals some rice from his cousin B. Theft and thief become
known. B takes no steps against the thief; but B's wife cannot
overlook it--and the injury was an injury to her as much as
to B. Her kin take the matter up. They collect half the usual
indemnity for their kinswoman. B foregoes his half of the
indemnity.
In cases of minor injury, procedure against more distant kin is
frowned on, but sometimes occurs.
It is the duty of mutual, equally related relatives and kin to try
to arrange peace between opposing kin or relatives.
In the event of procedure on the part of one kinsman against another,
those who are related to both take sides with him to whom they are
more closely related. Besides blood relationship, there is marriage
relationship oftentimes to make it a very complex and difficult problem
for a man to decide to which opponent his obligation binds him. This
is most frequently the case among the remoter kin. A man who finds
himself in such a position, and who knows that on whichever side
he may array himself he will be severely criticized by the other,
becomes a strong advocate of compromise and peaceful settlement.
In case a kinsman to whom one owes loyalty in an altercation is in the
wrong and has a poor case, one may secretly advise him to compromise;
one must never openly advise such a measure. One may secretly refuse
him assistance and backing--one must never oppose him.
One owes no obligation in the matter of procedure to another merely
because he is a co-villager or inhabitant of the same district.
The obligation to aid and assist kinsmen beyond the third or fourth
degree is problematic, and a question into which elements of personal
interest enter to a great extent. One of the greatest sources of the
power of the principal kadangyang lies in their ability to command
the aid of their remote kin on account of their prestige and wealth
and ability to dispense aid and favor.
There is also a class, small in number, corresponding somewhat to the
"clients" of the chiefs of the ancient Gauls. This body is composed of
servants who have grown up in the service and household of a master,
and who have been well treated, and in times of need sustained and
furnished with the things needful to Ifugao welfare; another division
consists of those who habitually borrow or habitually rent from one
who stands in the nature of an overlord to them. This class is most
numerous in districts where most of the lands are in the hands of a
few men. The duty of the clients to their lord and of their lord to
them seems to be about the same as those duties have always been in
a feudal society; that is to say, the duty of rendering mutual aid
and assistance.
The first step in any legal procedure is to consult with one's kin
and relatives. In initiating steps to assess a fine or collect an
indemnity, the next step is the selection of a monkalun.
THE MONKALUN OR GO-BETWEEN