who are so unfortunate as to be married to men who practice it."
"Why are we unfortunate? Their children can inherit none of his
wealth. Our children get it all."
"Yes, but doesn't it hurt you to see your husband running after
other women?"
"I never see it. The other women never come here. Or if they do come
to the house it is as if they were perfect strangers. They have their
own house."
"But you must know that your husband does leave you to go to these
other women."
"Oh yes! But I don't see it. Besides their children are subject to my
children. If my children suffer injury, they fight to avenge them. If
my children demand, they stand back of them. It is good to have a
large family."
The logic of concubinage is embraced in this last reply, I think. It
is an institution to render the family "strong to demand, and strong
to resist demands."
A strong healthy Kalinga chief has usually two, often more
concubines. He gives them rather limited material support: now and
then a suckling pig to rear, a little rice to help out the year, work
at good wages, yarn to keep them busy at the loom, a little capital
for trading trips, and the like. He may help them a great deal, but
they rarely cost him much. As indicated above, their children have
no inheritance rights.
GLOSSARY [29]
adi, term of negation.
agamang, dormitory of the unmarried. In some sections of northern
Ifugao a special building is constructed for this purpose. Among the
Ifugaos generally a vacant house or the house of a widow is used.
agba, a magic stick used for the purpose of determining the cause of
illness, or the answering of other difficult questions. The stick is
believed to grow longer when it desires to make an affirmation.
aiyag, call, name. A ceremony to recall the soul of a sick or dead
person.
alaag, a cooking pot of Chinese origin.
alao, duel with lances.
alauwin, a gourd carried as a water jug by women working in the
rice fields.
alpud, runo stalks with blades tied in a loop. It is an "ethics lock,"
and denotes private property. Used by placing near or on whatever it is
desired shall remain unmolested; as, for example, a sugar-cane thicket,
cord of wood, house in the absence of owners, rice field in dispute,
and so forth.
ama, father (see Appendix 1).
amana-on, father-in-law (see Appendix 1).
amaon, aunt's husband, etc. (see Appendix 1).
anak, son or daughter (see Appendix 1).
apo, grandparent (see Appendix 1).
*areca, a slender graceful palm which produces the areca nut,
erroneously called the betel-nut, which, with the leaf of the betel
pepper and lime, are universally chewed by the Ifugaos. The physiologic
effect is similar to that of coffee.
ayak, sorcery.
baag, facetious or uncalled-for remarks.
baal, a hand servant; a household servant.
bakid, a "ten"; a half-score.
balal, a form of pawning of family property, in which a sum is loaned,
the property passing into the hands of the lender, and remaining
so until the sum is repaid. The use of the property constitutes the
interest on the loan.
baloblad, interest paid in advance at the time a loan is made.
banga, a pot or tobacco pipe.
bango, a back-basket used for carrying necessities on a journey. It
affords a considerable protection against rain.
banting, flint and steel for fire making. Even applied sometimes,
though improperly, to modern methods of fire drawing by means of
matches. Never applied to fire making by means of sticks or fire
syringe.
bayaó, a kind of fancy blanket.
binangwa, anything that has been cut in two; halved. Sometimes used
to denote the half of anything.
binawit, a child spouse that lives in the home of his or her
parents-in-law.
binokbok, a ceremony performed three days after a burial. The soul
of the deceased is brought back to the village and interviewed.
bobod, a tie, a knot.
*bolo, a heavy knife about 14 to 16 inches long, whose shape varies
among the different tribes. It serves a multitude of purposes,
answering now for an axe, now for a spade or hoe, now for a weapon,
now for the ordinary uses of knives.
bubun, the final ceremony of marriage. Its main purpose is to secure
offspring for the couple.
budut, one of the principal payments in the Benaue district in the
purchase of a rice field.
bukad, a religious ceremony in which a myth is recited for its
magic effect.
bultong, a wrestling match; trial by wrestling.
bungol, jewel, specifically, ancient agate beads.
bungot, ferocity; the nearest approach in the Ifugao language perhaps
to "bravery". The Ifugao's ideal of bravery seems to be an aggressive
and relentless, boastful, angry assertiveness. Mahui, a synonym,
has the sense of relentless boldness.
*camote, a tropical sweet potato, of which there are numerous
varieties.
dalag, offering to the soul of a deceased person.
dangale, funeral feast.
datok, offering to the soul of a deceased person.
di, the article, "of the."
dotag, flesh; meat.
duyu, a wooden dish.
*fiat, a term which I use to denote those phrases in religious
ceremonies in which the priest clinches or compels the magic effect
of an analogy by means of the spoken word.
gagaom, funeral shrouds.
*gansa, or gangha, a gong made of copper alloyed with zinc, tin,
or silver. Many are very old. Some have been made in Igorot-land,
others imported from China.
gatang, purchase price; business transaction, the main payment.
gibu, fine for marital or postmarital delinquency.
goba, arson, burn.
gogod, cut, bisect.
gulad, intent.
guling, a small but valuable, and usually artistic, rice-wine jar.
habalag, a peg on which articles are hung up. One of the payments in
the fine for illegal confiscation.
habale, peg or bracket upon which articles are hung.
hablal, flood; flooding of fields with water.
hagabi, a lounge cut out of a large tree trunk. It is the insignia of
the upper class Ifugao. Its carving out of the trunk, and its bringing
in from the forest, is an affair in which many villages participate,
and is accompanied by pretentious ceremonies and feasts.
hagaphap, cleaning of terrace wall; chopping off grass and weeds.
hailiyu, a lesser fine.
hakba, gifts to kindred of bride from kindred of bridegroom.
hakit, hurt, anguish.
halat, payment due persons of a foreign village who find the body of
one dead by violence.
halupe, a class of deities somewhat corresponding to the Greek Furies;
suggesting and harassing deities.
hapud, blowing, or breathing on.
haynub, follower; succeeding units of a series.
hibul, treachery.
hidit, peace ceremony; peace deities; sickness inflicted by peace
deities because of delayed peace ceremony.
hin, a form of the word oha, meaning "one".
hingot, the third of the marriage ceremonies.
hogop, damages due the injured party in case of breach of contract.
hokwit, scandalous adultery, accompanied by insults to the offended
spouse.
honga, a general welfare ceremony.
hudhud, fine for offense against engagement or for breaking off
engagement.
hukup, lid.
hulul, exchange.
iba, companions; sometimes, kindred.
ibuy, ceremony at transfer of ownership of rice field.
iho, evil, bad.
imbango, sacrifice at second ceremony of marriage.
ina, mother (see Appendix 1).
inagagong, a kind of Ifugao blanket.
inagamid, adopted; taken to oneself.
inaon, uncle's wife, etc. (see Appendix 1).
inay, exclamation of pain or awe.
inhida, eaten; one of the payments at the ibuy ceremony.
inipit, something held with pincers or pliers; also something grasped
between the toes. In eating meat the Ifugao holds his knife between
the toes and, grasping the meat with his hands, cuts it by sawing it
back and forth on the knife.
inlaglaga, bastard.
iyao, form of iho.
iyu, a form of iho.
kadangyang, a wealthy person; person of the upper class. Some
observers have interpreted kadangyang as "noble"; others as
"chieftain". Correctly speaking, there are neither chieftains nor
nobles among the Ifugaos. The more powerful kadangyang rise to the
dignity of headmen--no further.
kalakal, an edible water beetle found in the rice fields.
kalun, advice.
kindut, carried under the arm.
kinta, surplus; portion of food left after appetite has been satisfied.
kolating, harvest feast.
kulpe, feast at time rice fields are planted.
kumadangyang, to become wealthy.
labod, blood payment; indemnity for homicide or severe wounds.
lanad, commission of go-between. Also called liwa.
linutu, cooked.
liwa, fee of go-between. See lanad.
lukbu, commission; fee paid an agent.
luktap, unaggravated adultery; adultery unaccompanied by great scandal
and by insults to offended spouse.
lupe, interest; increase.
maginlotan, death blanket, usually imported. Of less value than
the dili.
ma-ibuy, property for whose transfer the ibuy ceremony is necessary.
mangdad, pig or chicken, given by kindred of bride to kindred of groom
as a return for pig given the former by the latter in the hango and
hingot ceremonies.
manikam, priest who performs certain ceremonies preliminary to the
uyauwe feast (see tikman).
mata-na, his eyes.
mommon, preliminary marriage ceremony.
monbaga, asker, requester.
monbiyao, an alliance between families of different
districts. Celebrated by very pretentious ceremonies.
mongatang, seller.
monkalun, advocate, adviser. Specifically, in law, the go-between in
a penal or civil case.
montudol, a "shower"; specifically, a traitor to his village;
a betrayer.
nabungol, jeweled.
nadulpig, in addition to; accompanying.
na-imbalbalayen (lit., "made one's child"), adopted child.
na-oha, single; one only; one alone.
na-onom, six at a time; a unit consisting of six subunits, or parts.
natauwinan, four at a time.
nate, dead.
natuku, consisting of three subunits, or parts.
nawatwat, poverty-stricken; term applied to the lowest class of
Ifugao society.
nemnem, mind, feeling, thought, emotion, worry, intention. The term
is of very broad meaning and applies to the mind or any act thereof.
nikkop (lit., "taken to one's self"), adopted child, or a servant
that is treated as one of the family.
nunbadi, a pair; consisting of two subunits or parts; two together.
nundopa, the "jumping down from."
nungolat (lit., "he who was strong"), the conceiver, or originator,
of a plot; he who assembles others to himself, and leads them in
committing an injury or offense.
nunlidludagan, place where it was laid, or had fallen.
nunókop, a payment of two units of a series by means of a
single article. The Ifugao prefers to divide all sales into ten
subpayments. If the sale be comparatively small, two subpayments may
be paid by one article, as by a death blanket.
oban, a blanket, about eight feet long and two feet wide, with which
a baby is carried on the back of an elder. It is of great religious
and poetic significance.
ohok, sticks or trellis for climbing vines.
om, yes; affirmative.
ongot, menace; threat.
otak, a large knife, universally carried by the Ifugaos. It is used
in war or in work; commonly called throughout the Philippines "bolo"
in both English and Spanish.
paduldul, comfort; causing consolation.
paghok, landmark; usually chunks of wood or stone buried at a
boundary line.
pakimáan, "causing to chew betels together."
pango, jewels, usually agate beads.
paniyu, taboo.
panuyu, mutual accusation, false accusation.
paowa, prohibition, truce.
patang, interest paid in advance on something borrowed.
piduan, repetition.
pinokla, a ceremony to cure wounds.
pinohat, carried under the arm.
ponga, ceremony to remove the prohibition on marriage of cousins. Full
cousins may not marry.
pugug, finish; termination.
puhu-na, his heart.
putu-na, his belly.
pu-u, base.
*runo, a tall reed that covers the mountain sides. House walls, mats,
floors, and fences are made of it. It also makes an effective missile.
tandong, one of the principal payments made on family property. It
corresponds to the initial payment made when an article is bought on
installments among our people.
tanig, term applied to the principal marriage ceremony in the Benaue
district. Corresponds to bubun in the Kiangan district.
tayap, wing.
te, because.
tikman, ceremony of tying up the bellies, appetites, passions, and
desires of the guests at a feast.
tobong, spit on which edible water beetles are grilled.
tokop, the placing beside an article its equivalent.
tokom, fine assessed for putting another in the position of being
an accomplice.
tombok, gossip.
tomok, fine for manslaughter, wounds.
tudong, woman's sweet-potato basket. It is used as a raincoat when
at work in the fields.
tulang, brother (see Appendix 1).
tuldag, series of ceremonies at the time rice is put in the granaries.
tulud, a ceremony of witchcraft, in which, following the recitation of
a myth for magic purposes, the characters of the myth recited are made
to perform, or declare their will to perform, the desire of the priest.
tumuk, persons of the middle class. Persons are accounted of this
class who have rice sufficient for the use of their family throughout
the year, and those who, having surplus rice, have not been initiated
into the ranks of the kadangyang by means of the uyauwe feast.
tungul, ceremony at the time of placing rice in granaries. One of
the three greater ceremonials of rice culture.
ubunana, his seat.
ugâ, treachery.
ulitao, uncle (see Appendix 1).
ulitaon, spouse of uncle or aunt (see Appendix 1).
ulpitan, the placing on each side of an article its equivalent.
umuhun, burning off the grass preparatory to spading fields.
unud, follow, a term applied to a second payment of interest in
advance. Thus, a man borrows a carabao, paying P30 as the interest in
advance for one year, and if at the end of the year he cannot repay
the carabao he makes a second payment, or unud, as interest in advance
on the following year.
uyauwe, a series of pretentious and ostentatious ceremonies by which
a person attains the rank of kadangyang. Sometimes it is combined
with the last ceremony of marriage.
NOTES
[1] The present population of the Philippine Islands is about
10,000,000. Notwithstanding, there are vast stretches of unoccupied
lowlands. At the coming of the Spaniards the population of the tribes
that now are Christian has been estimated at 500,000. These second
Malay immigrants undoubtedly gained the principal part of their
livelihood from agriculture, for which they needed little land. Why,
then, is it hypothesized that any immigration drove another to the
mountains? My own belief is that the first immigrants went to the
mountains of their own volition for the reason that they had been a
mountain people and a terrace-building people in their former home.
[2] I use the word "district" to denote the inhabitants of one of the
many smaller culture sections into which the habitat of the Ifugaos
is divided.
[3] The possibility that these sex taboos are survivals of a former
clan system in which exogamy was the rule does not in the least
invalidate this statement.
[4] Taboo is for the most part undoubtedly derived from magic. Indeed,
there are not wanting those who hold that all taboo has its origin in
magic. While doubting if so sweeping an assertion as this can be true,
especially when we consider that even in its most primitive phases
human life is exceedingly complex and intricate, I invite attention
to the fact that magic is such an all-embracing thing in primitive
society, and is so closely connected with matters of morality and
public policy, that there is nothing in this paragraph that can
offend even those who hold that the field of taboo is one wholly of
magic prohibitions.
[5] When the Ifugao sacrifices a chicken or pig, he always consults
the omen of the bile sac. A full distended bile sac normally placed
is a good omen. An empty one, or one abnormally placed is a bad
omen. Needless to say, most omens are good.
[6] There is a feeling on the part of the social consciousness
that marriages ought to be permanent--that it is better when such
is the case. Inasmuch, however, as all the uncles and aunts consider
themselves, and, in the scheme of the reckoning of Ifugao relationships
are considered, in loco parentis with respect to their nephews and
nieces, and almost equally bound with the parents themselves to impart
instruction and give training, the removal of one parent is of little
detriment to the mental and moral phase of the rearing of children.
[7] I prefer using the term contract marriage to using antenuptial
agreement. The latter is an occidental institution of which the reader
has a definite notion. The contract marriage is different in motive
and nature.
[8] Stumbling is not merely a prognostication; it is also a cause. It
would tend to bring about that he who stumbled would die or be
unfortunate if he went ahead with the marriage.
[9] Family property: for definition see sec. 33.
[10] For an explanation of the Ifugao's method of making payments
and of reckoning fines and indemnities, see sec. 75.
[11] The fact that an Ifugao spouse remains always a member of the
family of his blood kindred, and that the ties binding him to his
conjugal partner are light indeed is shown by the fact that, at his
death, funeral expenses fall mainly on his father and mother and
brothers and sisters.
[12] The Ifugao reckons kinship by generations. Those of a
contemporaneous generation are tulang, brothers and sisters, children
of the preceding generation of blood relatives, grandchildren of the
generation of ascendants twice removed, fathers of the succeeding
generation, and so on (see appendix 1).
[13] It is a Malay's pride never to be caught without an explanation or
excuse. However flimsy or absurd this may be, or perhaps in proportion
to its absurdity, he advances it boldly and brazenly.
[14] This payment is based on ideas of magic. It tends to cause the
field to produce in like manner: that is, to produce enough and a
surplus besides.
[15] In one case, to be hereafter considered, the absence of both
intent and carelessness do not excuse (see sec. 105).
[16] Kadangyang: an upper-class person. In most parts of Ifugao persons
must give expensive feasts to attain this rank. Tumok: persons who
have enough rice to last them throughout the year, but who do not
sell rice. Nawatwat: persons who are poverty stricken.
[17] Tuberculosis and persistent cough (see sec. 141).
[18] Compare the practice of our Saxon forefathers among whom the
"life of a king's thane was worth 1200 shillings, while that of a
common free man was valued only a sixth as high," and that of a slave
at only his property valuation.
[19] R. R. Cherry, The Growth of Criminal Law in Ancient Communities
(London, 1890). Dr. Cherry shows how masters' liability for injuries
done by their employees has arisen from this principle (pp. 4 ff.).
[20] Thus A and B, two brothers, are members of the same family until
they marry. After marriage A's family consists of his blood kin and
of his relatives by marriage, and the same holds of B's family. Thus
after marriage only half the individuals of the families of the two
brothers are identical. The families of two cousins are identical as
to one-half the component individuals before their marriage and as
to one-fourth of the component individuals after their marriage.
[21] The word monkalun comes from the root kalun, meaning advise. The
Ifugao word has the double sense, too, of our word advise, as used
in the following sentences, "I have the honor to advise you of your
appointment" and "I advise you not to do that."
[22] When a crime such as theft has been committed, and it cannot be
determined from any evidence at hand who was the culprit, the injured
person frequently resorts to the hapud. One form of this ceremony
consists in placing an egg or areca nut on the edge of a knife or
the bevel of a spear and repeating the prayers necessary to make
the egg or areca nut balance and stand on end at the mention of the
guilty person. Another form consists in spanning an agba stick. At
the mention of the guilty person the stick grows longer, as revealed
by its length in relation to the span of the priest. These sticks are
kept for generations. Many of them are over a hundred years old. These
ceremonies are not of virtue as evidence and are entirely without
the pale of Ifugao procedure. They are of value only to the injured
person in assisting him to determine who has committed the crime.
[23] The very day that I wrote this, the ownership of a field was
settled by a wrestling match. An Ifugao some time before pawned a
field to a christianized Ifugao. This worthy had the temerity to sell
the field. Although the pawner would have surely been sustained in
his right had he appealed to the lieutenant-governor, nevertheless,
he was so confident, being in the right, that he would not lose,
that he consented to settle the ownership by a wrestling match. He
won. The christianized Ifugao may possibly now have more faith in
the tenet of his former religion that the ancestral spirits uphold
him who is in the right.
[24] He may gratuitously add an insult by implanting a few of them
in a pile of fecal matter.
[25] The villages of Pindungan and Ambabag are less than a mile
distant from each other.
[26] The Nagakaran people claim that only five out of forty of the
first expedition returned.
[27] This was the usual method of treating kidnapped persons. It is
interesting to note an almost parallel practice on the part of the
Allies in the present war. When prisoners are taken, the buttons are
cut off their clothing, in order to keep their hands engaged during
the march to the rear.
[28] Myths relate how the Full-Grown Cock overcame the Half-Grown
Cock, how the Cobra overcame the Python, how the Hard Stone overcame
the Soft Stone.
[29] Starred words are not Ifugao.