62 THE MANOBOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN (M,MO (voL Ni xxiit 



THE PREPARATION AND COOKING OF FOOD 



PREPARING THE FOOD 



The remote preparation consists in getting a supply of sweet potatoes or rice from the farm. 

 This may be a mile or more from the house, so that once a day at least the women, with baskets 

 on their heads and paddles in their hands, if they live on navigable water, leave for the farm. In 

 localities where an ambush is a possible contingency, a few men with lance and shield, and hunting 

 dogs accompany the women as a guard, for the camote field is a favorite spot for the enemy to 

 wreak his vengeance, according to the recognized laws of Man6boland. The women and girls 

 dig up the camotes with a bolo or with a small pointed stick, and get a little rice from the granary. 27 

 After performing any necessary work such as weeding and planting, they return and prepare the 

 meal, the men taking no part except to clean and quarter the game or other meat that may have 

 been selected for it. 



The preparation of pigs and fowls is such a frequent occurrence in Man6boland, as also 

 among Bisayas, Mangguafigans, Debabaons, and Mandayas of the Agiisan Valley, that it merits 

 a detailed description. 



In preparing a pig, wild boar, or deer, a rough support, consisting of four vertical pieces of 

 wood and a few horizontal parallel pieces, is erected outside the house, if the weather permits. 

 A fire is built beneath the frame and the whole animal, minus the entrails, is laid upon it. Two 

 men or more then set to work with pieces of wood, sharpened lengthwise, and scrape off the hair 

 as fast as it becomes well singed. The operation lasts only about 15 minutes in the case of a 

 large animal. When the hair has been removed the carcass is given a washing more or less 

 thorough, according to the amount of water conveniently available, and the quartering begins. 



The game is laid upon leaves; the four legs are removed in order; the head is chopped off; 

 the ribs and remaining parts are hacked crossbone. During this operation the family dogs usually 

 cause an infinite amount of trouble by their incessant attempts to secure a piece of the meat. 



If the meat is for distribution, as it always is, except on occasions of festivity or of sacrifice, 

 it is scrupulously divided at this moment. If it is for a feast, it is hacked up into small pieces 

 and loaded into earthen pots, iron pans, and bamboo joints. The dogs are then allowed to lick 

 the blood-stained leaves and to clean the floor. 



The preparation of a domestic fowl is also left to the men and deserves a few words. When 

 the fowl is not killed sacrificially, it is burnt to death. Catching the chicken firmly by the 

 feet and wings with one hand and by the head and neck with the other, the owner singes it 

 over the fire till it shows no more signs of life. It may be thought that this is a cruel way of 

 killing an animal, for it kicks and twists and flutters unless firmly held, but the Man6bo is 

 not allowed by his tribal institutions to kill the fowl as other peoples do. To cut off the head 

 is strictly tabooed, a cruel and unbecoming procedure, for there is no one "to revenge the deed, " 

 he will tell you. So he chokes and burns it to death. All signs of life being extinct, he pulls 

 out a few of the tail and wing feathers. I can give no reason for this procedure, but as the 

 custom is so universal, I think it has a peculiar significance of its own. 



As the singeing proceeds, the feather ends are plucked out and a cursory washing given 

 the fowl. The entrails, even the intestines with the exception of the gall bladder, are removed 

 and utilized. Finally the head, the ends of the wings, and the lower parts of the legs are cut 

 off, and ordinarily are given to the children who have been anxiously awaiting such delicacies. 



The pounding and winnowing of the rice is such a common and important operation in 

 the whole of eastern Mindanao that it deserves special mention. 



As the rice used by the mountain Man6bos is exclusively of their own harvesting, it must 

 be hulled, a process that is performed just before every meal wherein it is used. The implements 

 are a wooden mortar and a few heavy wooden pestles. The mortar is a piece of wood of varying 

 dimensions, in the center of which is hollowed out, by burning and cutting, a conical hole, 

 whose depth averages 24 centimeters in height and whose diameter is about 20 centimeters. 



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