I found no vestige of endogamy nor of the totem system that is such a remarkable and widespread feature of Polynesian, Melanesian, and cognate peoples in Oceania. Neither is there any theoretical endogamic institution which obliges a Manóbo to marry within his tribe, but, in practice, such is his custom.
The only impediment to marriage is consanguinity. Consanguineous marriages are everywhere regarded as baneful. It is a universal belief that unless such marriages are consummated under the special auspices of the goddesses Ináyao and Tagabáyao, they result in physical evil to both the parents and the children.
The following are the persons between whom marriage is forbidden:
(1) All carnal relatives closer than first cousin.
(2) First, second, and third cousins, unless the proper ceremonies to Tagabáyao and Ináyao have been performed, various omens very carefully taken, and, after marriage, the yearly offering of a pig or chicken made in order to avoid the ill effects that might follow the marriage.
(3) Stepmothers and stepfathers.
(4) Mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law.
(5) Daughters-in-law and sons-in-law.
(6) Captives and their captors. This marriage is believed to bar the way to warriorship and to otherwise result in evil.22 Captives may, however, be married by others than those who captured them.
22Ma-lí-hi.
(7) Slaves; marriages among them are not tabooed absolutely, but they are regarded as something unbecoming, and the person who marries a slave girl is spoken of as áyo-áyo (no good).
Marriage with a sister-in-law is fairly common, and may take place during the wife's lifetime, usually at her instigation, but never without her consent.
INTERTRIBAL AND OTHER MARRIAGES
It may be remarked that in the case of marriages between cousins within the forbidden degrees, the actual marriage payment is much less, as the matter is considered a family affair, but on the whole such a marriage is a most expensive affair. In the first place, before the marriage, the priest instructs the prospective husband to dedicate a number of objects to Tagabáyao, the goddess of consanguineous love. This presupposes a sacrificial ceremony in which, as in one case which I witnessed, a white pig was killed, and a lance valued at P15, a bolo valued at P10, a dagger valued at P10, and sundry other objects were formally consecrated to Tagabáyao. The consecration was followed by a sacrifice to Tagabáyao, after which the marriage payment was made. Then came a similar series of offerings to Ináyao, goddess of the thunderbolt, that she might not harm the newly married. I was told that year after year the newly married cousins had to repeat this ceremony, and thereby keep in Ináyao's good graces.
Intermarriage with a member of another tribe occurs occasionally but is not looked upon with favor owing to the differences of religious belief as also to the fact that it might not be possible for the husband to take away his wife. In the cases that have come under my notice of marriages between Manóbos and Mañgguáñgans, Mañgguáñgans and Mandáyas, and Mandáyas and Manóbos, the man almost invariably married a girl belonging to what was considered a higher tribe; for instance, Manóbo man to a Mandáya girl, or a Mañgguáñgan man to a Mandáya girl. The reason assigned was in nearly every case the assurance that the girl would not be taken from the paternal roof, and that a bigger marriage price would be forthcoming.
Gratuitous marriages occur rarely. In the few cases that passed under my observation, all the expenses of the wedding feast were borne by the bride's relatives, and the bridegroom took up his residence with his father-in-law, and virtually entered a state of slavery. His children also become the property of the father-in-law.