[3] At times the skull is opened and the brain eaten.

FIG. 46.  TAMBOLANG OR BAMBOO TRUMPET.

The events just preceding and following the birth of a child are very similar to those of the Bagobo, except that there are no restrictions of any kind placed on the father and mother, neither are there any ceremonies connected with the birth or naming of a child unless unusual events have convinced the people that the spirits are in some way displeased.[4]

[4] Triplets are killed, as with the Bagobo.

The afterbirth is placed in the care of an old woman who carries it directly to a sturdy molave[3] tree and there attaches it to the branches “so that the child may become strong like the tree.”  While on this mission the bearer looks neither to the right nor to the left, nor does she hesitate, for such actions on her part might influence the disposition of the child or cause it to have physical deformities.[4] No special attention is given to youths when they reach the age of puberty, although it is customary to file and blacken their teeth at about that period.

[3] Vitex littoralis Decne.

[4] Similar beliefs are held by the Tinguian of Northern Luzon.

Marriage is attended by gifts and ceremonies, such as we have previously described.  We find the groom paying a price for his bride, but receiving a return gift from her parents; the couple feed one another with rice and are thereby legally married; and finally we learn that a child is kept with them until they have had intercourse.  It is customary for the youth to serve his father-in-law-to-be for two or three years preceding the wedding, after which he is released from such service.

As is the case with the neighboring tribes, polygamy is practiced, the only bar to marriage being blood relationship.  Upon the death of the head of the family one-half of his property goes to his wife and half to the children.  If there are two or more wives, the first wife still retains half, while all the children share equally in the balance of the estate, thus leaving the second and succeeding wives without a portion.

Sickness may be caused by evil spirits, or it may be due to a desire on the part of the kalaloa to leave its present abode.  In either case the man becomes ill and it behooves him to take immediate steps to placate the evil spirits or to convince his kalaloa to remain with him.  This last can best be accomplished by bathing the sick person with water which has been heated in a good agong.  A fine dish would do equally well, but should the hot water cause it to break the spirit would depart at once.  In extreme cases the lokEs will gather certain roots and brew them into a drink which she gives to the sick person.  At each tree or shrub visited in her search for medicines she leaves an offering of betel nuts and leg rings, and when the drink has been prepared she makes a further gift, meanwhile begging TimanEm to aid her in effecting a cure.  If all efforts fail and the spirit leaves, the corpse is placed in the center of the house, where it is kept from two to nine days according to the wealth and prominence of the deceased.  During this time no one should sleep in the dwelling, for the spirit might be resentful and turn the face of the sleeper black.