The Bontoc Igorot Part 55

"Barracks for the unmarried young men are common in and around a.s.sam among non-Aryan races. The inst.i.tution is here seen in various stages of decline or transition. In the case of 'head-hunters' the young men's barracks are invariably guardhouses, at the entrance to the village, and those on guard at night keep tally of the men who leave and return." -- Op. cit., vol. XXII, p. 248.

Gertrude M. G.o.dden writes at length of the young men's house of the Naga and other frontier tribes of northeast India: "Before leaving the Naga social customs one prominent feature of their village society must be noticed. This is the DEKHA CHANG, an inst.i.tution in some respects similar to the bachelors' hall of the Melanesians, which again is compared with the BALAI and other public halls of the Malay Archipelago. This building, also called a MORANG, was used for the double purpose of a sleeping place for the young men and as a guard or watch house for the village. The custom of the young men sleeping together is one that is constantly noticed in accounts of the Naga tribes, and a like custom prevailed in some, if not all, cases for the girls. ... "The young men's hall is variously described and named. An article in the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, 1848, says that among the Nagas the bachelors' hall of the Dayak village is found under the name of 'Mooring.' In this all the boys of the age of 9 or 10 upward reside apart. In a report of 1854 the 'morungs' are described as large buildings generally situated at the princ.i.p.al entrances and varying in number according to the size of the village; they are in fact the main guardhouse, and here all the young unmarried men sleep. In front of the morung is a raised platform as a lookout, commanding an extensive view of all approaches, where a Naga is always kept on duty as a sentry. ... In the Morungs are kept skulls carried off in battle; these are suspended by a string along the wall in one or more rows over each other. In one of the Morungs of the Changuae village, Captain Brodie counted one hundred and thirty skulls. ... Besides these there was a large basket full of broken pieces of skulls. Captain Holroyd, from whose memorandum the above is quoted, speaks later of the Morung as the 'hall of justice'

in which the consultations of the clan council are held.

"The 'MORANGS' of another tribe, the 'Naked' Naga, have recently been described as situated close to the village gate, and consist of a central hall, and back and front verandahs. In the large front verandah are collected all the trophies of war and the chase, from a man's skull down to a monkey's. Along both sides of the central hall are the sleeping berths of the young men. ...

"Speaking of the Mao and Muran tribes [continues Miss G.o.dden], Dr. Brown says, 'the young men never sleep at home, but at their clubs, where they keep their arms always in a state of readiness.' ...

"With the Aos at the present day the custom seems to be becoming obsolete; sleeping houses are provided for bachelors, but are seldom used except by small boys. Unmarried girls sleep by twos and threes in houses otherwise empty, or else tenanted by one old woman.

"The a.n.a.logy between the DAKHA CHANG, or MORANG, of the Nagas and the men's hall of the Melanesians is too close to be overlooked, and in view of the significance of all evidence concerning the corporate life of early communities a description of the latter is here quoted. I am aware of no recorded instance of the women's house, other than these Naga examples. 'In all the Melanesian groups it is the rule that there is in every village a building of public character where the men eat and spend their time, the young men sleep, strangers are entertained; where as in the Solomon Islands the canoes are kept; where images are seen, and from which women are generally excluded; ... and all these no doubt correspond to the balai and other public halls of the Malay Archipelago.' " -- Op. cit., vol. XXVI, pp. 179 -- 182.

Similar inst.i.tutions appear to exist also in Sumatra.

In Borneo among the Land Dyaks "head houses," called "pangah," are found in each village. Low says of them: "The Pangah is built by the united efforts of the boys and unmarried men of the tribe, who, after having attained the age of p.u.b.erty, are obliged to leave the houses of the village; and do not generally frequent them after they have attained the age of 8 or 9 years." -- Sir Hugh Low, Sarawak, its Inhabitants and Productions (London, 1848), p. 280.

Lieutenant F. Elton writes of the natives of Solomon Islands: "In every village they have at least one so-called tamboo house of TOHE, generally the largest building in the settlement. This is only for the men, it being death for a female to enter there. It is used as a public place and belongs to the community. Any stranger coming to the village goes to the tamboo house and remains there until the person he is in quest of meets him there." -- The Journal of the Anthropological Inst.i.tute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. XVII, p. 97.

Mr. H. O. Forbes writes of the tribes of Timor (islands between New Guinea and Australia) that they have a building called "Uma-lulik." He says: "The LULIK can be at once recognized, were it by nothing else than by the buffalo crania with which it is decorated on the outside." An officer who holds one of the highest and certainly the most influential positions in the kingdom has charge of the building, and presides over the sacred rites which are conducted in them. ... The building is cared for by some old person, sometimes by a man and his wife, but they must not both -- being of opposite s.e.x -- stay all night." -- Op. cit., XIII, pp. 411, 412.

[12] -- The o'-lag of Buyayyeng is known as La-ma'-kan; that of Amkawa, in Buyayyeng, is Ma-fa'-lat; that of Polupo is Ma-lu-fan'. The two of Fatayyan are Ka-lang'-kang and A-la'-ti. Ta-ting' is the o'-lag in the Tang-e-ao' section of Fatayyan. Chung-ma' is the one in Filig. Lang-i-a' and Ab-lo' are the two of Mageo, both in Pudpudchog. The o'-lag of Chakong is called Kat'-sa, and that of Lowingan is Si-mang'-an. The one of Pudpudchog is Yud-ka'. Sung-ub'

is the o'-lag of Sipaat, situated in Lowingan. Kay-pa', Tek-a-ling, and Sak-a-ya' are, respectively, the o'-lag of Sigichan, Somowan, and Pokisan. Ag-lay'-in is the o'-lag of Luwakan, and Tal-pug and Say-ki'-pit are o'-lag of Choko and Longfoy, respectively.

[13] -- The Journal of The Anthropological Inst.i.tute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. XXVI, pp. 179, 180.

[14] -- Op. cit., vol. XXII, p. 248.

[15] -- Sweet potato, IPOMOEA BATATAS. -- J.H.

[16] -- An anito, as is developed in a later chapter, is the name given the spirit of a dead person. The anito dwell in and about the pueblo, and, among other of their functions, they cause almost all diseases and ailments of the people and practically all deaths.

[17] -- Earthenware pot. -- J.H.

[18] -- Gong. -- J.H.

[19] -- David J. Doherty, M.D., translator of The Philippines, A Summary Account of their Ethnological, Historical, and Political Conditions, by Ferdinand Blumentritt, etc. (Chicago, 1900), p. 16.

[20] -- A fermented drink.

[21] -- A fermented drink.

[22] -- The accompanying photo was an instantaneous exposure, taken in the twilight. The people could not be induced to wait for a time exposure.

[23] -- No true cats are known to be indigenous to the Philippines, but the one shown in the plate was a wild mountain animal and was a true cat, not a civet. Its ancestors may have been domestic.

[24] -- This estimate was obtained by a primitive surveying outfit as follows:

A rifle, with a bottle attached used for a liquid level, was sighted from a camera tripod. A measuring tape attached to the tripod showed the distance of the rifle above the surface of the water. A surveyor's tape measured the distance between the tripod and the leveling rod, which also had an attached tape to show the distance of the point sighted above the surface of the water.

I am indebted to Mr. W. F. Smith, American teacher in Bontoc, for a.s.sisting me in obtaining these measurements.

The strength of the scaffolding supporting the troughs is suggested by the statement that the troughs were br.i.m.m.i.n.g full of swift-running water, while our "surveying" party of four adults, accompanied by half a dozen juvenile Igorot sightseers, weighed about 900 pounds, and was often distributed along in the troughs, which we waded, within a s.p.a.ce of 30 feet.

[25] -- MUNIA JAGORI (Martens).

[26] -- Mr. Elmer D. Merrill.

[27] -- Mr. F. A. Thanisch.

[28] -- Igorrotes, Estudio Geografico y Etnografico sobre algunos Distritos del Norte de Luzon, by R. P. Fr. Angel Perez (Manila), 1902.

[29] -- This typical Malayan bellows is also found in Siam, and is shown in a half tone from a photograph facing page 186 of Maxwell Somerville's Siam on the Meinam from the Gulf to Aynthia (London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1897).

There is also a crude woodcut of this bellows printed as fig. 2, Pl. XIV, in The Journal of the Anthropological Inst.i.tute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. XXII. With the ill.u.s.tration is the information that the bellows is found in a.s.sam, Salwin, Sumatra, Java, Philippines, and Madagascar.

[30] -- It is believed to be either a PORCELAIN (PORCELANA) or a SPIDER (MAIOIDEA) crab.

[31] -- a.n.a.lysis made for this study by Bureau of Government Laboratories, Manila, P.I., February 21, 1903.

[32] -- Charles A. Goessmann in Universal Cyclopaedia, vol. X (1900), p. 274.

[33] -- The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo (2 vols., London, 1896); pp. 140 -- 174, vol. II.

[34] -- A party, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior for the Philippine Islands, Hon. Dean C. Worcester; the governor and lieutenant-governor of Lepanto-Bontoc, William Dinwiddie and Truman K. Hunt, respectively; Captain Chas. Nathorst of the Constabulary, and the writer, was in Banawi in time to witness the procession and burial but not the previous ceremonies at the dwelling.

[35] -- See also the story, "Who took my father's head?" Chapter IX, p 225.

[36] -- The bird called "co-ling'" by the Bontoc Igorot is the serpent eagle (SPILOMIS HOLOSPLILUS Vigors). It seems to be found in no section of Bontoc Province except near Bontoc pueblo.

There were four of these large, tireless creatures near the pueblo, but an American shot one in 1900. The other three may be seen day in and day out, high above the mountain range west of the pueblo, sailing like aimless pleasure boats. Now and then they utter their penetrating cry of "qu-iu'-kok."

[37] -- MUNIA JAGORI (Martens).

[38] -- "A wife monkey."

[39] -- An iguana some two feet long.

[40] -- CORONE PHILIPPA (Bonap.).

[41] -- The Korean Review, July, 1903, pp. 289 -- 294.

[42] -- William Edwin Safford, American Anthropologist, April -- June, 1903, p. 293.

[43] -- Otto Scheerer (MS.), The Ibaloi Igorot, MS. Coll., Ethnological Survey for the Philippine Islands.

[44] -- One blind.

[45] -- From Ilokano.