Political Life and Control
It is impossible to put one's hand on any one man or any one group
of men in Bontoc pueblo of whom it may be said, "Here is the control
element of the pueblo."
Nowhere has the Malayan attained national organization. He is known
in the Philippines as a "provincial," but in most districts he is
not even that. The Bontoc Igorot has not even a clan organization,
to say nothing of a tribal organization. I fail to find a trace of
matriarchy or patriarchy, or any mark of a kinship group which traces
relationship farther than first cousins.
The Spaniard created a "presidente" and a "vice-presidente" for the
various pueblos he sought to control, but these men, as often Ilokano
as Igorot, were the avenue of Spanish approach to the natives --
they were almost never the natives' mouthpiece. The influence of
such officials was not at all of the nature to create or foster the
feeling of political unity.
Aside from these two pueblo officers the government and control
of the pueblo is purely aboriginal. Each ato, of which, as has
been noted, there are seventeen, has its group of old men called
"in-tug-tu'-kan." This in-tug-tu'-kan is not an organization,
except that it is intended to be perpetual, and, in a measure,
self-perpetuating. It is a thoroughly democratic group of men, since
it is composed of all the old men in the ato, no matter how wise or
foolish, rich or poor -- no matter what the man's social standing may
be. Again, it is democratic -- the simplest democracy -- in that is
has no elective organization, no headmen, no superiors or inferiors
whose status in the in-tug-tu'-kan is determined by the members of the
group. The feature of self-perpetuation displays itself in that it
decides when the various men of the ato become am-a'-ma, "old men,"
and therefore members of the in-tug-tu'-kan. A person is told some
day to come and counsel with the in-tug-tu'-kan, and thenceforth he
is a member of the group.
In all matters with which the in-tug-tu'-kan deals it is supreme
in its ato, but in the ato only; hence the opening statement of
the chapter that no man or group of men holds the control of the
pueblo. The life of the several ato has been so similar for such
a number of generations that, in matters of general interest, the
thoughts of one in-tug-tu'-kan will be practically those of all
others. For instance, there are eight ceremonial occasions on which
the entire pueblo rests from agricultural labors, simply because each
ato observes the same ceremonials on identical days. In one of these
ceremonials, all the men of the entire pueblo have a rock contest
with all the men of Samoki. Again, when a person of the pueblo has
been killed by another pueblo treacherously or in ambush, or in any
way except by fair fight, the pueblo as a unit hastens to avenge the
death on the pueblo of the slayer.
In such matters as these -- matters of common defense and offense,
matters of religion wherein food supply is concerned -- custom has
long since crystallized into an act of democratic unity what may
once have been the result of the councils of all the in-tug-tu'-kan
of the pueblo. It is customary for an ato to rest from agricultural
labor on the funeral day of any adult man, but the entire pueblo thus
seeks to honor at his death the man who was old and influential.
There is little differentiation of the functions of the
in-tug-tu'-kan. It hears, reviews, and judges the individual
disagreements of the members of the ato and makes laws by determining
custom. It also executes its judgments or sees that they are
executed. It makes treaties of peace, sends and accepts or rejects
challenges of war for its ato. In case of interato disagreements
of individuals the two in-tug-tu'-kan meet and counsel together,
representing the interests of the persons of their ato. In other
words, the pueblo is a federation made up of seventeen geographical
and political units, in each of which the members recognize that their
sanest, ripest wisdom dwells with the men who have had the longest
experience in life; and the group of old men -- sometimes only one man
and sometimes a dozen -- is known as in-tug-tu'-kan, and its wisdom is
respected to the degree that it is regularly sought and is accepted
as final judgment, being seldom ignored or dishonored. In matters of
a common interest the pueblo customarily acts as a unit. Probably
could it not so act, factions would result causing separation from
the federation. This state of things is hinted as one of the causes
why the ancestors of present Samoki separated from the pueblo of
Bontoc. The fact that they did separate is common knowledge, and
a cause frequently assigned is lack of space to develop. However,
there may have been disagreement.
Crimes, detection and punishment
Theft, lying to shield oneself in some criminal act, assault and
battery, adultery, and murder are the chief crimes against Igorot
society.
There are tests to determine which of several suspects is guilty of
a crime. One of these is the rice-chewing test. The old men of the
ato interested assemble, in whose presence each suspect is made to
chew a mouthful of raw rice, which, when it is thoroughly masticated,
is ejected on to a dish. Each mouthful is examined, and the person
whose rice is the driest is considered guilty. It is believed that
the guilty one will be most nervous during the trial, thus checking
a normal flow of saliva.
Another is a hot-water test. An egg is placed in an olla of boiling
water, and each suspect is obliged to pick it out with his hand. When
the guilty man draws out the egg the hot water leaps up and burns
the forearm.
There is an egg test said to be the surest one of all. A battle-ax
blade is held at an angle of about 60 degrees, and an egg is placed
at the top in a position to slide down. Just before the egg is freed
from the hand the question is asked "Is Liod (the name of the man
under trial) guilty?" If the egg slides down the blade to the bottom
the man named is innocent but if it sticks on the ax he is guilty.
There is also a blood test employed in Bontoc pueblo, and also to
the west, extending, it is said, into Lepanto Province. An instrument
consisting of a sharp spike of iron projecting about one-sixteenth of
an inch from a handle with broad shoulders is placed against the scalp
of the suspects and the handle struck a sharp blow. The projecting
shoulder is supposed to prevent the spike from entering the scalp
of one farther than that of another. The person who bleeds most is
considered guilty -- he is "hot headed."
I was once present at an Igorot trial when the question to be decided
was whether a certain man or a certain woman had lied. The old men
examined and cross-questioned both parties for fully a quarter of an
hour, at which time they announced that the woman was the liar. Then
they brought a test to bear evidence in binding their decision. They
killed a chicken and cut it open. The gall was found to be almost
entirely exposed on the liver -- clearly the woman had lied. She looked
at the all-knowing gall and nodded her acceptance of the verdict. If
the gall had been hidden by the upper lobe of the liver, the verdict
would not have been sustained.
If a person steals palay, the injured party may take a sementera from
the offender.
If a man is found stealing pine wood from the forest lands of another,
he forfeits not only all the wood he has cut but also his working ax.
The penalty for the above two crimes is common knowledge, and if the
crime is proved there is no longer need for the old men to make a
decision -- the offended party takes the customary retributive action
against the offender.
Cases of assault and battery frequently occur. The chief causes are
lovers' jealousies, theft of irrigating water during a period of
drought, and dissatisfaction between the heirs of a property at or
shortly following the time of inheritance.
It is customary for the old men of the interested ato to consider all
except common offenses unless the parties settle their differences
without appeal.
A fine of chickens, pigs, sementeras, sometimes even of carabaos,
is the usual penalty for assault and battery.
Adultery is not a common crime. I was unable to learn that the
punishment for adultery was ever the subject for a council of the old
men. It seems rather that the punishment -- death of the offenders
-- is always administered naturally, being prompted by shocked and
turbulent emotions rather than by a council of the wise men. In
Igorot society the spouse of either criminal may take the lives
of both the guilty if they are apprehended in the crime. To-day
the group consciousness of the penalty for adultery is so firmly
fixed that adulterers are slain, not necessarily on the spur of
the moment of a suspected crime but sometimes after carefully laid
plans for detection. A case in question occurred in Suyak of Lepanto
Province. A man knew that his faithless wife went habitually at dusk
with another man to a secluded spot under a fallen tree. One evening
the husband preceded them, and lay down with his spear on the tree
trunk. When the guilty people arrived he killed them both in their
crime, thrusting his spear through them and pinning them to the earth.
Among a primitive people whose warfare consists much in ambushing and
murdering a lone person it is not always possible to predict whether
the taking of human life will be considered a criminal act or an act
of legitimate warfare.
It is considered warfare by the group of the murdered person, and as
such to be met by return warfare unless the group of the murderer is
a friendly one and at once comes to the offended people to sue for
continued peace. This applies to political groups within a pueblo as
well as to the people of distinct pueblos.
When murder is considered simply as a crime, its punishment may be
one of two classes: First, the murderer may lose his life at the
hands of his own group; second, the crime may be compounded for the
equivalent of the guilty man's property. In this case the settlement
is between the guilty person and the political group of the victim,
and the value of the compound is consumed by feastings of the group. No
part of the price is paid the family of the deceased as a compensation
for the loss of his labor and other assistance.
The three following specific cases of misdemeanors will illustrate
somewhat, more fully the nature of differences which arise between
individuals in pure Igorot society:
In Samoki early in November, 1902, Bisbay pawned an iron pot --
a sugar boiler -- to Yagao for 4 pesos. In about two months, when
sugar season was on, Bisbay went to redeem his property, but Yagao
would neither receive the money nor give up the boiler. The old men
of the ato counseled together over the matter, and, as a result,
Yagao received the 4 pesos and returned the pot, and the matter was
thus amicably settled between the two.
Early in January, 1903, Mowigas, of the pueblo of Ganang, cut and
destroyed the grasshopper basket of Dadaag, of the pueblo of Mayinit,
and also slightly cut Dadaag with his ax, but did not attempt to kill
him. The cause of the assault was this: Mowigas had killed a chicken
and was having a ceremonial in his house at the time Dadaag passed
with his basket of grasshoppers. According to Igorot custom he should
not have taken grasshoppers past a house in which such a ceremony was
being performed. The breach made it necessary to hold another ceremony,
killing another chicken. Old men from Mayinit, the pueblo of Dadaag,
came to Ganang and told Mowigas he would have to pay 3 pesos for his
conduct, or Mayinit would come over and destroy the town. He paid the
money, whereas the basket was worth only one-sixth the price. Trouble
was thus averted, and the individuals reconciled. In this case the
two pueblos are friends, but Mayinit is much stronger than Ganang,
and evidently took advantage of the fact.
In January, 1903, a woman and her son, of Titipan, stole camotes of
another Titipan family. The old men of the two ato of the interested
families fined the thieves a hog. The fine was paid, and the hog
eaten by the old men of the two ato.
Very often the fine paid by the offender passes promptly down the
throats of the jury. However, it is the only compensation for their
services in keeping the peace of the pueblo, so they look upon it as
their rightful share -- it is the "lawyer's share" with a vengeance.