202 THE MANOBOS OF MINDANAO— GARVAN [ME "T<£ xxnx 



men of political and social standing as to the possibility of hypocrisy and deceit on the part of 

 the priests. The invariable answer was that such could not be the case, as the deities themselves 

 would be the first to resent and punish such deception. One shrewd Man6bo of the upper Agusan 

 assured me that the Manobos themselves were wise enough to detect attempts at fraud in such 

 matters. 



Moreover, the fact that the priest incurs comparatively heavy expenses is another evidence 

 of his sincerity, for, in order to keep his tutelary spirits supplied with the delicacies they desire, 

 he must offer constant oblations of pig and fowl, since he believes that when these spirits are 

 hungry they lose their good humor and are liable to permit some evil spirit to work malice on 

 him or on some of his relatives. Of course his relatives and friends help to keep them supplied, 

 but at the same time he probably undergoes more expense himself than any other individual. 



Finally, as further proof of the absence of mercenary motives, it may be stated that the 

 priest is not entitled to any share of the sacrificial victim except that which he eats in company 

 with those who attend the sacrifice and the subsequent consumption of the victim. 



THEIR INFLUENCE 



The priest has no political influence as a rule. I am acquainted with none and have heard 

 of very few priests, who have attained the chieftainship of a settlement, even among the conquistas, 

 or Christianized Manobos, who five within the pale of the established government. But in 

 matters that pertain to the religious side of life their influence is paramount, for it is chiefly due 

 to them that tribal customs and conditions are unflinchingly maintained. The following inci- 

 dent is an illustration of this influence: 



During a visit which I made to the Lamlnga River, a western tributary of the Kasilafan 

 River, I met Mandahanan, a warrior chief. Among other matters I referred to the ridiculously 

 low price, f*0.50 per sack, at which Manobos were wont to sell rice to the Bisaya peddlers 

 who at that time were swarming in the district. I suggested that they dispose of their rice 

 at the current Bisaya rate of 5*2.50 per sack. He replied that he had been of that opinion for 

 some time, but that the four priests of his following had decided that an increase of the custom- 

 ary value of rice would entail a mysterious lessening of the present crop and a partial or even total 

 loss of that of next year, the reason assigned by them being that such an action would be displeas- 

 ing to Hakiddan, the goddess of rice, and to Tagamdling, the protector of other crops. These 

 deities, he assured me, were very capricious, and when they took umbrage at anything, they 

 either caused the rice in the granaries to (hminish mysteriously, or brought about a failure in 

 the following year's crop. 6 



To the priests may be ascribed the rigid adherence to tribal practices and the opposition 

 to modern innovations, even when the change confessedly would be beneficial to them. 



THEIR DRESS ANp FUNCTIONS 



The priest has no distinctive dress, but while officiating garbs himself with all the wealth 

 of beads, bells, and baubles that he may have acquired. As a rule he has an abundance not only 

 of these but of charms, talismans, and amulets, all of which are hung from his neck, or girded 

 around his waist. These charms have various mystic powers for the protection of his person 

 and some of them are said to have been revealed to him by his favorite deities. While performing 

 the invocation and the sacred dance on the occasion of a greater sacrifice, he always carries, one 

 in each hand, a parted palm frond with the spikes undetached. 



All the rites of the Manobo ritual consist of one or more of the following elements: Invoca- 

 tion, petition, consultation, propitiation, and expiation. The priest is, in fact, either alone or 

 aided by others of his kind, the officiant in nearly every religious ceremony; laymen merely sit 

 round and take desultory interest in the ceremonial proceedings. 



* The killing of Mr. Ickis, of the Bureau of Science, according to an account that I received, also demonstrates the influence exerted by the 

 priests. 



