372 The Tinguian 



The first incentive for head-taking is in connection with funeral 

 rites. According to ancient custom it was necessary, following the 

 death of an adult, for the men of the village to go out on a head- 

 hunt, and until they had done so, the relatives of the deceased were 

 barred from wearing good clothing, from taking part in any pastimes 

 or festivals, and their food was of the poorest and meanest quality. 

 To remove this ban, the warriors would don white head-bands, arm 

 themselves, and sally forth either to attack a hostile village or to 

 ambush an unsuspecting foe. Neighboring villages were, out of neces- 

 sity, usually on good terms, but friendly relations seldom extended 

 beyond the second or third settlement, a distance of ten or fifteen 

 miles. Beyond these limits most of the people were considered enemies 

 and subject to attack. 



While such a raid was both justifiable and necessary to the village 

 in which a death had occurred, it was considered an unprovoked at- 

 tack by the raided settlement ; a challenge and an insult which had to 

 be avenged. Thus feuds were established, some of which ran through 

 many years, and resulted in considerable loss of life. A town, which 

 had lost to another a greater number of heads than they had secured, 

 was in honor bound to even the score, and thus another cause for 

 battle was furnished. The man who actually succeeded in taking a 

 head was received with great acclaim upon his return to the village; 

 he was the hero in the festival which followed, and thereafter was 

 held in high esteem, and so another motive was furnished. 1 



There is an indication in the Saloko ceremony that heads may 

 have been taken to cure headache and similar ills (cf. p. 319) ; while 

 the presence of the head-basket, of the same name, in the fields sug- 

 gests a possible connection between head-hunting and the rice culture, 

 such as still exists among the neighboring Kalinga. 2 



The Tinguian do not now, and apparently never have practised 

 human sacrifice, but this custom and head-hunting seem to be closely 

 related, and to have as a primary cause the desire to furnish slaves 

 or companions for the dead. This idea was found among the ancient 

 Tagalog, Visayan, and Zambal, and still exists among the Apayao 

 of Northern Luzon ; the Bagobo, Mandaya, Bila-an, and Tagakaola of 



1 Head-hunting is widespread in this part of the world. It is found in 

 Assam, in the Solomon Islands, in Borneo, Formosa, and, it is said, was formerly 

 practiced in Japan. See Hodson {Folklore, June, 1909, p. 109) ; Rivers, History 

 of Melanesian Society, Vol. II, p. 259 (Cambridge, 1914) ; Hose and McDoug- 

 all, Pagan Tribes of Borneo, Vols. I-II (London, 1912) ; Shinji Ishii (Trans- 

 actions Japan Soc. of London, Vol. XIV, pp. 7, et seq.). 



2 See Worcester, The Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon (Philippine 

 Journal of Science, Vol. I, p. 824, Manila, 1906). 



