Sacred days
Tĕng-ao′ is the sacred day, the rest day, of Bontoc. It occurs on an average of about every ten days throughout the year, though there appears to be no definite regularity in its occurrence. The old men of the two ato of Lowingan and Sipaat determine when tĕng-ao′ shall occur, and it is a day observed by the entire pueblo.
The day is publicly announced in the pueblo the preceding evening. If a person goes to labor in the fields on a sacred day—not having heard the announcement, or in disregard of it—he is fined for “breaking the Sabbath.” The old men of each ato discover those who have disobeyed the pueblo law by working in the field, and they announce the names to the old men of Lowingan and Sipaat, who promptly take from the lawbreaker firewood or rice or a small chicken to the value of about 10 cents, or the wage of two days. March 3, 1903, was tĕng-ao′ in Bontoc, and I saw ten persons fined for working. The fines are expended in buying chickens and pigs for the pa′-tay ceremonies of the pueblo.