The Head Hunters of Northern LuzonWillcox, Cornélis De Witt
History
The Head Hunters of Northern Luzon
Willcox, Cornélis De Witt
Igorot (Philippine people); Luzon (Philippines) -- Description and travel
"Three old men stuck their spears in a piece of meat and began a long
story whose text was the confusion of enemies in some past time. At
the conclusion of each story, they said: 'Not there, but here; not
then, but now.' By a sort of simple witchcraft, the mere telling of
these stories is believed to secure a like confusion and destruction
of the enemies of the present. When this ceremony had been completed,
each old man raised his spear quickly and so was enabled to secure
for himself the meat impaled. In one case, one of the old men just
missed ripping open the abdomen of the man who stood in front.
"The feast being finished, the people made an attempt to
assemble by _rancherías_. Then they filed along the trail to bury
Aliguyen. Nagukaran _ranchería_ took the lead. As the procession
came near the grave the men took off their head-dresses and strung
them on a long pole, which was laid across the trail. A Nagukaran
_ranchero_ went to where Aliguyen was sitting and picked him up,
carried him to the grave, and placed him in a sitting posture facing
Kurug, the _ranchería_ that killed him, Aliguyen was not wrapped in
a death-blanket, as corpses usually are. His body was neglected in
order to make him angry, so to incite him to vengeance.
"The grave was a kind of sepulchre dug out of a bank. It was walled up
with stones after Aliguyen was placed in it, and an egg thrown against
the tomb, whereupon the people yelled: '_Batna kana okukulan di bujolmi
ud Kurug!_ ('So may it happen to our enemies at Kurug!') The poles on
which were strung the head-dresses were taken and hung over the door of
Aliguyen's house. After this the people dispersed to their homes. On
the way home they stopped at a stream and washed themselves, praying
somewhat as follows: 'Wash, Water, but do not wash away our lives,
our pigs, our chickens, our rice, our children. Wash away death by
violence, death by the spear, death by sickness. Wash away pests,
hunger, and crop-failure, and our enemies. Wash away the visits of
the Spear-bearing Nightcomer, the Mountain Haunters, the Ghosts,
the Westcomers. Wash away our enemies. Wash as vengeance for him who
has gone before.'"
CHAPTER XV
Visit to the Silipan Ifugaos at Andangle.--The Ibilao
River.--Athletic feat.--Rest-house and stable at Sabig.
We set out the next day, May 3d, at dawn, our destination being
Andangle, selected as a rendezvous of the Silipan Ifugaos, another
branch of the great tribe under Gallman's domination. And, to my
great regret, we here parted from Connor, who had accompanied us thus
far, but now had to return to his post in Nueva Vizcaya. I have the
greatest pleasure in acknowledging here his many courtesies, the
good humor and patience with which he answered my many questions,
and I hated to see him turn back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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