CHAPTER XVII
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION: SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL CONTROL
CLANS
TERRITORIES OF THE CLANS AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE COMPOSING THEM
Manóboland, with the exception of such settlements as have been formed by non-Christian Manóbos in the vicinity of Christian settlements and usually situated at the head of navigation on the tributaries of the Agúsan, is divided into districts, well defined, and, in case of hostility, jealously and vigilantly guarded. These territorial divisions vary in extent from a few square miles to immense tracts of forest and are usually bounded by rivers and streams or by mountains and other natural landmarks. Each of these districts is occupied by a clan that consists of a nominal superior with his family, sons-in-law, and such other of his relatives as may have decided to live within the district. They may number only 20 souls and again they may reach a few hundred.
INTERCLAN RELATIONS
In the main it may be said that in time of peace the members of the various clans live on good terms, visiting one another and claiming relationship with one another, but peace in Manóboland was formerly very transitory. A drunken brawl might stir up bad blood and every clan and every individual would make ready for a fight.
The Agúsan Valley was styled by Montano, the French traveler, "Le pais de terreur," and from the accounts given to me it must have deserved the name. A perusal of the "Cartas de los PP. de la Compañia de Jesus," which set forth the religious conquest of the Agúsan Valley, begun about 1875, will give an idea of the continuous raids and ambuscades that interfered to no inconsiderable extent with the work of Christian conquest undertaken by the missionaries. Upon my arrival in the Agúsan in 1905 such rivers as the Ihawán, the Baóbo, the upper Umaíam, the upper Argáwan, and all tributaries of the upper Agúsan, were seldom visited by any but members of the clan to whose territorial jurisdiction these rivers and the adjoining districts belonged. The establishment of a special form of government on the lower and middle Agúsan, now known as the subprovince of Butuán, did wonders toward repressing the interclan raids, but on the upper Agúsan they continued at least until my departure in 1910, though not to such an extent as in previous years.
For example, in February, 1910, the settlements of Dugmánon and Moncáyo were in open hostility. I traveled both by land and water with members of the two unfriendly clans. In traveling by water it was necessary to proceed in midstream with shields protecting the occupants of the canoe against the arrows of their enemies. On the trail it was imperative to travel in bodies with a warrior on each side of the trail to guard against ambush.