3 2 Traditions of the Tinguian 



and people only recently deceased are known to have had the power of 

 changing themselves, at will, into other forms. 



In short, there is no sharp break between the mode of thought of 

 to-day and that exhibited in the folklore. It is true that the tales give 

 sanction to some things not in agreement with Tinguian usage — such, 

 for instance, as the marriage of relatives, or the method of disposing of 

 the dead — and it may be that we have here a remembrance of customs 

 which long ago fell into disuse. 



In a previous paper 1 the writer showed that there have been many 

 migrations into Abra from the north, south, and west. A part of the 

 emigrants have become thoroughly amalgamated with the Tinguian 

 people and have doubtless introduced some part of their material culture 

 and beliefs. This helps us to understand such conflicts as we have al- 

 ready noted in regard to the place held by thunder and lightning in the 

 spirit world, as to the future abode of the spirits of the departed, as well 

 as other discrepancies which the limits of this paper have prevented us 

 from discussing. 



It is not impossible that those customs of "the first times," which 

 are at variance with those of to-day, may represent older ideas which 

 have been swamped, or, on the other hand, the memory of the strange 

 customs once practiced by the emigrants may have caused them to be 

 attributed to the people of the tales. 



Finally, we believe that a study of Tinguian mythology has shown us 

 that we can gain a real knowledge of the past of a people through their 

 folklore; that we can secure an insight into their mental life; and can 

 learn something of the valuation they attach to certain of their activities 

 and beliefs, which to us may seem at the surface trite and trivial. 



1 Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. Ill, No. 4, 1908, pp. 197-21 1. 



