Theft, lying to shield oneself in some criminal act, assault and battery, adultery, and murder are the chief crimes against Igorot society.
There are tests to determine which of several suspects is guilty of a crime. One of these is the rice-chewing test. The old men of the ato interested assemble, in whose presence each suspect is made to chew a mouthful of raw rice, which, when it is thoroughly masticated, is ejected on to a dish. Each mouthful is examined, and the person whose rice is the driest is considered guilty. It is believed that the guilty one will be most nervous during the trial, thus checking a normal flow of saliva.
Another is a hot-water test. An egg is placed in an olla of boiling water, and each suspect is obliged to pick it out with his hand. When the guilty man draws out the egg the hot water leaps up and burns the forearm.
There is an egg test said to be the surest one of all. A battle-ax blade is held at an angle of about 60 degrees, and an egg is placed at the top in a position to slide down. Just before the egg is freed from the hand the question is asked “Is Liod (the name of the man under trial) guilty?” If the egg slides down the blade to the bottom the man named is innocent but if it sticks on the ax he is guilty.
There is also a blood test employed in Bontoc pueblo, and also to the west, extending, it is said, into Lepanto Province. An instrument consisting of a sharp spike of iron projecting about one-sixteenth of an inch from a handle with broad shoulders is placed against the scalp of the suspects and the handle struck a sharp blow. The projecting shoulder is supposed to prevent the spike from entering the scalp of one farther than that of another. The person who bleeds most is considered guilty—he is “hot headed.”
I was once present at an Igorot trial when the question to be decided was whether a certain man or a certain woman had lied. The old men examined and cross-questioned both parties for fully a quarter of an hour, at which time they announced that the woman was the liar. Then they brought a test to bear evidence in binding their decision. They killed a chicken and cut it open. The gall was found to be almost entirely exposed on the liver—clearly the woman had lied. She looked at the all-knowing gall and nodded her acceptance of the verdict. If the gall had been hidden by the upper lobe of the liver, the verdict would not have been sustained.
If a person steals palay, the injured party may take a sementera from the offender.
If a man is found stealing pine wood from the forest lands of another, he forfeits not only all the wood he has cut but also his working ax.
The penalty for the above two crimes is common knowledge, and if the crime is proved there is no longer need for the old men to make a decision—the offended party takes the customary retributive action against the offender.
Cases of assault and battery frequently occur. The chief causes are lovers’ jealousies, theft of irrigating water during a period of drought, and dissatisfaction between the heirs of a property at or shortly following the time of inheritance.