THE DEATH FEAST41
41Ka-ta-pú-san, meaning end, termination.
The death feast is the most important of all Manóbo feasts, for it marks the ending of all relations between the living and their departed relatives. Until its celebration the immediate relatives of the deceased are said to fare poorly. In some mysterious way the departed are said to harm them until they have received this final fete. Hence, the nearest relative sets himself to work with all dispatch to provide the necessary pigs, beverage, and rice for the feast. It is a common belief that unless this celebration is as sumptuous as possible, ill luck may still pursue them. This will explain the long delay so frequently observed before the celebration of this festivity. I know of several such feasts which were not held until nearly a year after the decease, the delay being due to inability to secure sufficient edibles for the death revels. The importance and magnitude of this feast will be readily understood when one bears in mind the fact that, when given by a well-to-do Manóbo, it is attended by everybody in the vicinity, and lasts frequently for a period of seven days. It happens occasionally that, in the interim between the death of one member of a family and the death feast, another member of the same family goes his mortal way. In such a case only one feast is held for the two departed ones.
The religious character of the feast deserves special mention. The dinner being prepared, an ordinary winnow is set out in the middle of the floor and on it are placed cooked rice and, when obtainable, bananas. Around the winnowing tray are set all the requisites for a plenteous meal. Then the relatives sit around on the floor in a circle and each one lays on the tray his offering of betel nut to the deceased. The family priests act as interpreters and intermediaries. The deceased are then addressed, care being taken never to mention their names. They are called, father, brother, etc., by relatives, and by those who are not relatives, father of so-and-so, or sister of so-and-so, mentioning the name of the corresponding living relative. The near relatives then give salutary advice to the dead one as to the future dealings between the latter and the living. They are begged to have a little patience, are reminded that only a few years hence all will be united in the land of Ibú, and are requested to accept this final feast as a farewell until that time. "You shall go your way and molest us not. Let this feast be a token of good will and a final farewell till we meet you in the realms of Ibú." Such, in brief, is the strain of discourse consisting of exhortations, advice, supplication, and valediction[sic], that lasts several hours.
Finally a handful of rice is formed by the oldest relative into an image suggestive of a human figure and the deceased are invited to approach and to partake of the viands. The relatives pass the rice mannikin around, each one taking a bite or two out of it. While this is being done, the dead are invited to eat heartily, the living relatives exhorting the dead ones; one urging them to take more soup, another to increase their meat, another to take more bananas, and all reminding the deceased diners of the great expense incurred in connection with this banquet. The priests describe the actions of the mystic diners and the hearty appetite with which they partake of the fragrance of the viands, after their long journey from Ibúland.
During the mystic meal no one dares to approach the rice winnow, but when the meal is finished, those who carried the deceased to his last resting place approach the winnow and, raising it up in their hands, with an upward movement conjointly toss the victuals into the air, retreating instantly to avoid the food in its fall, for should a particle of it touch their persons it is considered a prognostication of speedy death. The origin and significance of this peculiar custom, which I witnessed on many occasions, have never been explained to me. Inquiry elicited no further information than that it was the custom.
Such is the repast of the dead and the ending of all relations between them and the living. Henceforth they are not feasted, as they have no more claim on the hospitality of the living. In all the greater religious celebrations, however, they are present and receive an offering of betel nut, which is placed at the doorway for them but they are not invited to the feast.
The secular and social part of the feast in no wise differ from any other celebration, except that those who buried the deceased have marked attention paid them. There are the same motley group of primitive men and women, the same impartial distribution of the food, the same wild shouts of merriment, the same rivalry to finish each one his allotted portion, the same generous reciprocation of food and drink, and, finally, the same condition of inebriation that on many such occasions has abruptly terminated the feast by a fatal quarrel.42
42An instance of a killing had taken place a short time before my visit in 1909 to the Manóbos of the Binuñgñgaan River, upper Agúsan.
The rest of the day, and probably a goodly portion of the night, are spent in dancing to the tattooing of the drum and the clanging of the gong, interrupted at times by long tribal chants of the priests and others versed in chronicles of Manóboland.