Economic Life 401 



squats before the bound pig, and holding a spear, betel-nuts, and oil, 

 begins to recite a dlam, meanwhile she strokes the animal from time 

 to time with oiled fingers. This concluded, she stabs the pig, and hav- 

 ing mixed its blood with rice, scatters it over the field, calling to the 

 spirits to come and eat, and then to grant a full harvest. The people 

 eat part of the animal while in the field, but before returning home, 

 the head of each family receives a small strip of uncooked flesh, which 

 he fastens above the door as a sign that the ceremony has been held. 1 

 The following day, the owner and the medium return to the field and 

 break a little soil with a spear, and the ceremony is complete, but for 

 some days these two are barred from eating shrimp, carabao, or wild 

 pig. The owner must also pay the medium ten bundles of rice for her 

 assistance in insuring his own crops, as well as those of the community. 

 Should lightning strike a field or a tree in it, this ceremony is repeated, 

 with the exception that the strips of flesh are not distributed, nor is 

 the soil broken with a spear. 2 



In Lumaba, a town strongly influenced by the Igorot, the Ubaiya 

 regularly precedes the rice planting, as well as the first use of a newly 

 constructed field. While conforming, in general, to that already de- 

 scribed, a part of the procedure is somewhat different. On the day be- 

 fore the ceremony, the men go to the mountains and gather lono stalks, 

 one for each house and two for the town gate. The two reeds are 

 placed crosswise of the entrance to the village and serve as a sign of 

 taboo, and thereafter no one may enter until they are officially re- 

 moved. To do so would necessitate the repetition of the ceremony, and 

 the offender would be obliged to provide all the things necessary for it. 

 Likewise, no one may wear a hat or prepare food during the period of 

 taboo. 



The next day is known as Bignas, and at dawn all the men arm 

 themselves with bamboo poles. With these they beat about under the 

 houses and throughout the town, in order to drive away any evil 

 spirits who may be lurking about. Having effectively rid the town, 

 they force the invisible beings ahead of them to the river, where they 

 deposit the poles. They return to the village singing and shouting, 

 and are met at the gate by the women, who hold ladders, one on each 

 side of the entrance, so that they meet at the top and thus form a 

 path by which the men may enter without breaking the interdict. At 



1 In Manabo leaves and grass dipped in the blood are attached to split sticks, 

 (shwbung), and are fastened to a side wall of the house. 



2 Lightning is recognized as the messenger of Kadaklan. 



