The Bontoc Igorot Part 27

The person with a load has the right of way in the trail, and others stand aside as best they can.

There is commonly no greeting when a person comes to one's house, nor is there a greeting between members of a family when one returns home after an absence even of a week or more.

Children address their mothers as "I'-na," their word for mother, and address their father as "A'-ma," their word for father. They do this throughout life.

Igorot do not kiss or have other formal physical expression to show affection between friends or relatives. Mothers do not kiss their babes even.

The Igorot has no formal or common expression of thankfulness. Whatever grat.i.tude he feels must be taken for granted, as he never expresses it in words.

When an Igorot desires to beckon a person to him he, in common with the other Malayans of the Archipelago, extends his arm toward the person with the hand held p.r.o.ne, not supine as is the custom in America, and closes the hand, also giving a slight inward movement of the hand at the wrist. This manner of beckoning is universal in Luzon.

The hand is almost never used to point a direction. Instead, the head is extended in the direction indicated -- not with a nod, but with a thrusting forward of the face and a protruding of the open lips; it is a true lip gesture. I have seen it practically everywhere in the Islands, among pagans, Mohammedans, and Christians.

PART 8

Religion

Spirit belief

The basis of Igorot religion is every man's belief in the spirit world -- the animism found widespread among primitive peoples. It is the belief in the ever-present, ever-watchful a-ni'-to, or spirit of the dead, who has all power for good or evil, even for life or death. In this world of spirits the Igorot is born and lives; there he constantly entreats, seeks to appease, and to cajole; in a mild way he threatens, and he always tries to avert; and there at last he surrenders to the more than matchful spirits, whose numbers he joins, and whose powers he acquires.

All things have an invisible existence as well as a visible, material one. The Igorot does not explain the existence of earth, water, fire, vegetation, and animals in invisible form, but man's invisible form, man's spirit, is his speech. During the life of a person his spirit is called "ta'-ko." After death the spirit receives a new name, though its nature is unchanged, and it goes about in a body invisible to the eye of man yet unchanged in appearance from that of the living person. There seems to be no idea of future rewards or punishments, though they say a bad a-ni'-to is sometimes driven away from the others.

The spirit of all dead persons is called "a-ni'-to" -- this is the general name for the soul of the dead. However, the spirits of certain dead have a specific name. Pin-teng' is the name of the a-ni'-to of a beheaded person; wul-wul is the name of the a-ni'-to of deaf and dumb persons -- it is evidently an onomatopoetic word. And wong-ong is the name of the a-ni'-to of an insane person. Fu-ta-tu is a bad a-ni'-to, or the name applied to the a-ni'-to which is supposed to be ostracized from respectable a-ni'-to society.

Besides these various forms of a-ni'-to or spirits, the body itself is also sometimes supposed to have an existence after death. Li-mum'

is the name of the spiritual form of the human body. Li-mum' is seen at times in the pueblo and frequently enters habitations, but it is said never to cause death or accident. Li-mum' may best be translated by the English term "ghost," although he has a definite function ascribed to the rather fiendish "nightmare" -- that of sitting heavily on the breast and stomach of a sleeper.

The ta'-ko, the soul of the living man, is a faithful servant of man, and, though accustomed to leave the body at times, it brings to the person the knowledge of the unseen spirit life in which the Igorot constantly lives. In other words, the people, especially the old men, dream dreams and see visions, and these form the meshes of the net which has caught here and there stray or apparently related facts from which the Igorot constructs much of his belief in spirit life.

The immediate surroundings of every Igorot group is the home of the a-ni'-to of departed members of the group, though they do not usually live in the pueblo itself. Their dwellings, s.e.m.e.nteras, pigs, chickens, and carabaos -- in fact, all the possessions the living had -- are scattered about in spirit form, in the neighboring mountains. There the great hosts of the a-ni'-to live, and there they reproduce, in spirit form, the life of the living. They construct and live in dwellings, build and cultivate s.e.m.e.nteras, marry, and even bear children; and eventually, some of them, at least, die or change their forms again. The Igorot do not say how long an a-ni'-to lives, and they have not tried to answer the question of the final disposition of a-ni'-to, but in various ceremonials a-ni'-to of several generations of ancestors are invited to the family feast, so the Igorot does not believe that the a-ni'-to ceases, as an a-ni'-to, in what would be the lifetime of a person.

When an a-ni'-to dies or changes its form it may become a snake -- and the Igorot never kills a snake, except if it bothers about his dwelling; or it may become a rock -- there is one such a-ni'-to rock on the mountain horizon north of Bontoc; but the most common form for a dead a-ni'-to to take is li'-fa, the phosph.o.r.escent glow in the dead wood of the mountains. Why or how these various changes occur the Igorot does not understand.

In many respects the dreamer has seen the a-ni'-to world in great detail. He has seen that a-ni'-to are rich or poor, old or young, as were the persons at death, and yet there is progression, such as birth, marriage, old age, and death. Each man seems to know in what part of the mountains his a-ni'-to will dwell, because some one of his ancestors is known to inhabit a particular place, and where one ancestor is there the children go to be with him. This does not refer to desirability of location, but simply to physical location -- as in the mountain north of Bontoc, or in one to the east or south.

As was stated in a previous chapter, with the one exception of toothache, all injuries, diseases, and deaths are caused directly by a-ni'-to. In certain ceremonies the ancestral a-ni'-to, are urged to care for living descendants, to protect them from a-ni'-to that seek to harm -- and children are named after their dead ancestors, so they may be known and receive protection. In the pueblo, the s.e.m.e.nteras, and the mountains one knows he is always surrounded by a-ni'-to. They are ever ready to trip one up, to push him off the high stone s.e.m.e.ntera dikes or to visit him with disease. When one walks alone in the mountain trail he is often aware that an a-ni'-to walks close beside him; he feels his hair creeping on his scalp, he says, and thus he knows of the a-ni'-to's presence. The Igorot has a particular kind of spear, the sinalawitan, having two or more pairs of barbs, of which the a-ni'-to is afraid; so when a man goes alone in the mountains with the sinalawitan he is safer from a-ni'-to than he is with any other spear.

The Igorot does not say that the entire spirit world, except his relatives, is against him, and he does not blame the spirits for the evils they inflict on him -- it is the way things are -- but he acts as though all are his enemies, and he often entreats them to visit their destruction on other pueblos. It is safe to say that one feast is held daily in Bontoc by some family to appease or win the good will of some a-ni'-to.

At death the spirit of a beheaded person, the pin-teng', goes above to chayya, the sky. The old men are very emphatic in this belief. They always point to the surrounding mountains as the home of the a-ni'-to, but straight above to chayya, the sky, as the home of the spirit of the beheaded. The old men say the pin-teng' has a head of flames. There in the sky the pin-teng' repeat the life of those living in the pueblo. They till the soil and they marry, but the society is exclusive -- there are none there except those who lost their heads to the enemy.

The pin-teng' is responsible for the death of every person who loses his head. He puts murder in the minds of all men who are to be successful in taking heads. He also sees the outrages of warfare, and visits vengeance on those who kill babes and small children.

In his relations with the unseen spirit world the Igorot has certain visible, material friends that a.s.sist him by warnings of good and evil. When a chicken is killed its gall is examined, and, if found to be dark colored, all is well; if it is light, he is warned of some pending evil in spirit form. Snakes, rats, crows, falling stones, crumbling earth, and the small reddish-brown omen bird, i'-chu, all warn the Igorot of pending evil.

Exorcist

Since the anito is the cause of all bodily afflictions the chief function of the person who battles for the health of the afflicted is that of the exorcist, rather than that of the therapeutist.

Many old men and women, known as "in-sup-ak'," are considered more or less successful in urging the offending anito to leave the sick. Their formula is simple. They place themselves near the afflicted part, usually with the hand stroking it, or at least touching it, and say, "Anito, who makes this person sick, go away." This they repeat over and over again, mumbling low, and frequently exhaling the breath to a.s.sist the departure of the anito -- just as, they say, one blows away the dust; but the exhalation is an open-mouthed outbreathing, and not a forceful blowing. One of our house boys came home from a trip to a neighboring pueblo with a bad stone bruise for which an anito was responsible. For four days he faithfully submitted to flaxseed poultices, but on the fifth day we found a woman in-sup-ak'

at her professional task in the kitchen. She held the sore foot in her lap, and stroked it; she murmured to the anito to go away; she bent low over the foot, and about a dozen times she well feigned vomiting, and each time she spat out a large amount of saliva. At no time could purposeful exhalations be detected, and no explanation of her feigned vomiting could be gained. It is not improbable that when she bent over the foot she was supposed to be inhaling or swallowing the anito which she later sought to cast from her. In half an hour she succeeded in "removing" the offender, but the foot was "sick"

for four days longer, or until the deep-seated bruise discharged through a scalpel opening. The woman unquestionably succeeded in relieving the boy's mind.

When a person is ill at his home he sends for an in-sup-ak', who receives for a professional visit two manojos of palay, or two-fifths of a laborer's daily wage. In-sup-ak' are not appointed or otherwise created by the people, as are most of the public servants. They are notified in a dream that they are to be in-sup-ak'.

As compared with the medicine man of some primitive peoples the in-sup-ak' is a beneficial force to the sick. The methods are all quiet and gentle; there is none of the hubbub or noise found in the Indian lodge -- the body is not exhausted, the mind distracted, or the nerves racked. In a positive way the sufferer's mind receives comfort and relief when the anito is "removed," and in most cases probably temporary, often permanent, physical relief results from the stroking and rubbing.

The man or woman of each household acts as mediator between any sick member of the family and the offending anito. There are several of these household ceremonials performed to benefit the afflicted.

If one was taken ill or was injured at any particular place in the mountains near the pueblo, the one in charge of the ceremony goes to that place with a live chicken in a basket, a small amount of basi (a native fermented drink), and usually a little rice, and, pointing with a stick in various directions, says the Wa-chao'-wad or Ay'-ug si a-fi'-ik ceremony -- the ceremony of calling the soul. It is as follows:

"A-li-ka' ab a-fi'-ik Ba-long'-long en-ta-ko' is a'-fong sang'-fu." The translation is: "Come, soul of Ba-long'-long; come with us to the house to feast." The belief is that the person's spirit is being enticed and drawn away by an anito. If it is not called back shortly, it will depart permanently.

The following ceremony, called "ka-taol'," is said near the river, as the other is in the mountains:

"A-li-ka' ta-en-ta-ko is a'-fong ta-ko' tay la-ting' is'-na." Freely translated this is: "Come, come with us into the house, because it is cold here."

A common sight in the Igorot pueblo or in the trails leading out is a man or woman, more frequently the latter, carrying the small chicken basket, the tube of basi, and the short stick, going to the river or the mountains to perform this ceremony for the sick.

After either of these ceremonies the person returns to the dwelling, kills, cooks, and, with other members of the family, eats the chicken.

For those very ill and apparently about to die there is another ceremony, called "a'-fat," and it never fails in its object, they affirm -- the afflicted always recovers. Property equal to a full year's wages is taken outside the pueblo to the spot where the affliction was received, if it is known, and the departing soul is invited to return in exchange for the articles displayed. They take a large hog which is killed where the ceremony is performed; they take also a large blue-figured blanket -- the finest blanket that comes to the pueblo -- a battle-ax and spear, a large pot of "preserved"

meat, the much-prized woman's bustle-like girdle, and, last, a live chicken. When the hog is killed the person in charge of the ceremony says: "Come back, soul of the afflicted, in trade for these things."

All then return to the sick person's dwelling, taking with them the possessions just offered to the soul. At the house they cook the hog, and all eat of it; as those who a.s.sisted in the ceremony go to their own dwellings they carry each a dish of the cooked pork.

The next day, since the afflicted person does not die, they have another ceremony, called "mang-mang," in the house of the sick. A chicken is killed, and the following ceremonial is spoken from the center of the house:

"The sick person is now well. May the food become abundant; may the chickens, pigs, and rice fruit heads be large. Bring the battle-ax to guard the door. Bring the winnowing tray to serve the food; and bring the wisp of palay straw to sweep away the many words spoken near us."

For certain sick persons no ceremony is given for recovery. They are those who are stricken with death, and the Igorot claims to know a fatal affliction when it comes.

Lumawig, the Supreme Being

The Igorot has personified the forces of nature. The personification has become a single person, and to-day this person is one G.o.d, Lu-ma'-wig. Over all, and eternal, so far as the Igorot understands, is Lu-ma'-wig -- Lu-ma'-wig, who had a part in the beginning of all things; who came as a man to help the survivors and perpetuators of Bontoc; who later came as a man to teach the people whom he had befriended, and who still lives to care for them. Lu-ma'-wig is the greatest of spirits, dwelling above in chayya, the sky. All prayers for fruitage and increase -- of men, of animals, and of crops -- all prayers for deliverance from the fierce forces of the physical world are made to him; and once each month the pa'-tay ceremony, entreating Lu-ma'-wig for fruitage and health, is performed for the pueblo group by an hereditary cla.s.s of men called "pa'-tay -- a priesthood in process of development. Throughout the Bontoc culture area Lu-ma'-wig, otherwise known but less frequently spoken of as Fu'-ni and Kam-bun'-yan, is the supreme being. Scheerer says the Benguet Igorot call their "G.o.d" Ka-bu-ni'-an -- the same road as Kam-bun'-yan.

In the beginning of all things Lu-ma'-wig had a part. The Igorot does not know how or why it is so, but he says that Lu-ma'-wig gave the earth with all its characteristics, the water in its various manifestations, the people, all animals, and all vegetation. To-day he is the force in all these things, as he always has been.

Once, in the early days, the lower lands about Bontoc were covered with water. Lu-ma'-wig saw two young people on top of Mount Po'-kis, north of Bontoc. They were Fa-tang'-a and his sister Fu'-kan. They were without fire, as all the fires of Bontoc were put out by the water. Lu-ma'-wig told them to wait while he went quickly to Mount Ka-lo-wi'-tan, south of Bontoc, for fire. When he returned Fu'-kan was heavy with child. Lu-ma'-wig left them, going above as a bird flies. Soon the child was born, the water subsided in Bontoc pueblo, and Fa-tang'-a with his sister and her babe returned to the pueblo. Children came to the household rapidly and in great numbers. Generation followed generation, and the people increased wonderfully.

After a time Lu-ma'-wig decided to come to help and teach the Igorot. He first stopped on Ka-lo-wi'-tan Mountain, and from there looked over the young women of Sabangan, searching for a desirable wife, but he was not pleased with the girls of Sabangan because they had short hair. He next visited Alap, but the young women of that pueblo were sickly; so he came on to Tulubin. There the marriageable girls were afflicted with goiter. He next stopped at Bontoc, where he saw two young women, sisters, in a garden. Lu-ma'-wig came to them and sat down. Presently he asked why they did not go to the house. They answered that they must work; they were gathering beans. Lu-ma'-wig was pleased with this, so he picked one bean of each variety, tossed them into the baskets -- when presently the baskets were filled to the rim. He married Fu'-kan, the younger of the two industrious sisters, and namesake of the mother of the people of Bontoc.

After marriage he lived at Chao'-wi, in the present ato of Sigichan, near the center of Bontoc pueblo. The large, flat stones which were once part of Lu-ma'-wig's dwelling are still lying in position, and are shown in Pl. CLIII.