﻿508 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



this day. The above-mentioned people are our forefathers, the original 

 families of this barrio. We are, however, unable to find out the origin of 

 each of us living here; neither do we know in what year our town was made 

 into a barrio; we only know that when a gobernadorcillo was appointed for 

 Besao, we were annexed to it and a cabeza de barangay, who is considered 

 as the father of the barrio, was appointed. 



Lists of officials of various periods follow. At one time the 

 barrio was annexed to the municipality of Bagnen, but in 1908 

 it became a part of Besao. 



COMMON CUSTOMS AS THEY ARE OBSERVED ALL THROUGH THIS TOWNSHIP 



Birth of a child. — The husband of a woman that is pregnant and about 

 to give birth cannot do the following things: (a) Plant bananas; (b) erect 

 a post of a house; (c) cut down a tree. When the child is born, the father 

 must not do the following: (a) Build walls; (b) cut down trees; (c) lead 

 carabaos, cattle, or horses; (d) wade a river in going to another town 

 before three months have past; (e) climb a tree or to the top of a house 

 until the child has teeth. 7 * 



Marriage customs. — The parents of the young man and woman, after 

 they know that their son and daughter wish to marry, call all their relatives 

 together and kill a suckling pig. When they are about ready to eat, the 

 father of the girl goes to the young man's house and takes him to the 

 house of the girl. On their way back, they watch very closely for rats, 

 alligators, or snakes; they also look carefully for a hawk or a crow flying 

 over them. If they see any of these animals, the wedding is postponed 

 for that day. If they see any of these animals for the second and third 

 time, the young man and girl are not allowed to marry each other. During 

 the first year of their wedded life, the husband cannot go to another town, 

 especially if he has to cross a river. 



Wedding. — After a man and woman have been married a year, a big 

 wedding feast is prepared, for which they kill carabaos, cattle, horses, hogs, 

 dogs, and chickens, according to the property. For two days after this 

 feast the married couple must not eat anything. The young girls of the 

 town stay with the wife and watch her for seven days and nights, in order 

 that she may not sleep with her husband. For three years she must not 

 go into another town; also she is not allowed to do the following things: 

 (a) Eat in another house for five months after the wedding; (b) work 

 on walls; (c) chop on a live tree; and upon going to another town for the 

 first time she must kill a chicken upon her return. 



Customs at the death of a person. — When a person becomes seriously ill, 

 the parents or relatives kill 2 hogs and have a cahao. The moment that the 

 sick person dies, they kill 2 hogs again. Two hours after the death an- 

 other hog is killed. They recline the body against the ladder of the house 

 and wail and cry over the dead. After their lamentations are over, they 

 kill a chicken, and when they are about to bury the dead another chicken 

 is killed. After the burial a she hog is killed; two days after the burial 

 another chicken is killed; and a month after the death another hog will 

 be killed; after four months. 2 hogs and 8 chickens are killed; throe months 



'"See Jenks [Pub. P. I. Etknol. Surv. (1906), 1, 59-62] for a discussion of 

 childbirth and care of children among the Bontocs. 



