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The generations of descendants of men who did distinct things are kept carefully in memory; and from the list of descendants of the builders of some of the newer a'-to it seems probable that Cha-kong' was the last one built. One of the builders was Sal-lu-yud'; he had a son named Tam-bul', and Tam-bul' was the father of a man in Bontoc now some twenty-five years old.
The geographic area of A-fu' contains four a'-to, namely, Fa-tay'-yan, Po-lup-o', Am-ka'-wa, and Bu-yay'-yeng; Mag-e'-o contains three, namely, Fi'-lig, Mag-e'-o, and Cha-kong'; Dao'-wi has six, namely, Lo-wing'-an, Pud-pud-chog', Si-pa'-at, Si-gi-chan', So-mo-wan', and Long-foy'; Um-feg' has four, Po-ki'-san, Lu-wa'-kan, Ung-kan', and Cho'-ko. Each a'-to is a separate political division.
Ceremony connected with ato Young men sometimes change their membership from one a'-to to another. It is said that old men never do. If you do not take this care, your spirit will find no food when it comes to the a'-to, because the a'-to will be empty we will all be dead. Mental Life
It is probable that Cha-kong' was built about 1830 in the neighborhood of seventy-five years ago. The plat of the pueblo seems to strengthen the impression that Cha-kong' is the newest a'-to, since it appears to have been built in territory previously used for rice granaries; it is all but surrounded by such ground now.
The generations of fathers descending from Ba-la-ge' to Mud-do' are the following: Bang-eg', Cag-i'-yu, Bit-e', and Ag-kus'. It seems from this evidence that the a'-to Bu-yay'-yeng was built about one hundred and fifty years ago. These facts suggest a much greater age for the older a'-to of the pueblo.
The a'-to ceremonials of Chakong are held in the pa-ba-fu'-nan of neighboring a'-to, as in Sigichan, Pudpudchog, or Filig, and this seems partially to destroy the ESPRIT DE CORPS of the unfortunate a'-to. Each a'-to has a fa'-wi building a structure greatly resembling to the pa-ba-fu'-nan, and impossible to be distinguished from it by one looking at the structure from the outside.
An a'-to has three classes of buildings occupied by the people the fawi and pabafunan, public structures for boys and men, and the olag for girls and young women before their permanent marriage; and the dwellings occupied by families and by widows, which are called afong. Each of these three classes of buildings plays a distinct role in the life of the people. Pabafunan and fawi
Then the old men of Chakong counciled together; they came to the conclusion that it was bad for the a'-to to have a pa-ba-fu'-nan, and none has ever been built. This absence of the pa-ba-fu'-nan in some way detracts from the importance of the a'-to in the minds of the people.
The first list of a'-to written did not include Chakong; it was discovered only when the pueblo was platted, and at that time my informants sought to pass it over by saying "It is Chakong, but it has no pa-ba-fu'-nan."
From south to north these areas are A-fu', Mag-e'-o, Dao'-wi, and Um-feg'. Ato Bontoc is composed of seventeen political divisions, called "a'-to."
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