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Updated: May 6, 2025
As a matter of dire necessity the mountain people made raids of reprisal against the hostile Igorot villages on the eastern side of the great mountain range, and it is still the proud boast of many a man in the vicinity of Manabo that he took part in the raid which netted that village a score of heads from the towns of Balatok and Lubuagan.
This feud is of old standing and appears to have grown out of a dispute over the hunting grounds on Mt. Posoey, the great peak which rises only a few miles from Manabo. There have been many clashes between the rival hunters, the most serious of which occurred in 1889, when the Tinguian had twenty-nine of their number killed, and lost twenty-five heads to the Igorot of Besao.
Manabo, on the south, is their last settlement; but Barit, Amtuagan, Gayaman, and Luluno are Tinguian mixed with Igorot from Agawa and Sagada. Villaviciosa is an Igorot settlement from Sagada, but Bulilising, still farther south, is predominantly Tinguian. Sigay in Amburayan is said to be made up of emigrants from Abra, while a few rancherias in Lepanto are likewise much influenced.
Except for the district about Manabo, it is not customary to make any offerings or to cause any changes in the daily life of the pregnant woman until the time of her delivery is near at hand. In Manabo a family gathering is held about a month before the anticipated event, at which time the woman eats a small chicken, while her relatives look on.
The avowed purpose of this whipping is "to make all the people feel as sorry as the relatives of the dead man." Burial in most of the valley towns is beneath the house, "as it is much easier to defend the body against evil spirits, and the grave is also protected against the rain." In Manabo and many mountain villages, however, burial is in the yard.
Whoever possesses and can exhibit to the public a certain number of china vases is considered a chief. These jars constitute all the wealth of the Tinguians. We were still conversing about the natives of the country when we reached Manabo. My guide had scarcely ceased talking all the way from Laganguilan.
This last account was heard in Manabo, a town near to the Igorot settlements of the Upit river, and may be influenced by the beliefs held in that section. Certain individuals appear to have intimate dealings with the natural spirits, in some instances even being joined to them in marriage.
As darkness comes, a great fire is lighted in the yard, and within the circle of its light the company gathers, while the more important men sing daleng. In some of the villages men gather the next morning to do any necessary work on the balaua, and then the mediums celebrate the dawak, which always forms a part of this ceremony. In Manabo the dawak follows after an interval of three days.
I availed myself of the presence of the inhabitants of Manabo, who had come to assist at the Brain Feast this was the appellation I had given to this savage fête and I set out with them. Among the troop there was one who had spent some time among the Tagalocs; he spoke their language a little, and I knew it tolerably well.
It was during the progress of this ceremony in the village of Manabo, in 1908, that the writer and his wife were made members of the tribe, and since the mediums were particularly anxious that we know all the details, the information in this instance is unusually complete. It is here given in full, as an excellent example of how all are conducted.
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