VARIOUS DEGREES OF WARRIOR CHIEFSHIP
The rank of a warrior chief depends on the number of deaths which he may have to his credit. There is apparently no fixed rule in this matter, the custom of one region demanding five deaths for a certain rank while that of another locality may require eight or only two deaths for a similar one. From all reports made to me in nearly every district in the middle and upper Agúsan it appears that the number of deaths requisite in the olden days for the various degrees of warrior chiefship was much higher than it is at present, due no doubt to the greater frequency with which people were killed in those times. For this reason the more recent warrior chiefs are spoken of by the older warriors as worthless.9
9A-yo-á-yo.
The following are the titles recognized by the Manóbos of the Agúsan valley: (1) hanágan; (2) tinabudán;10 (3) kinaboan; (4) lúto or linambúsan; (5) lunúgum; (6) lípus.
10Tinabudán, i. e., wrapped, the full expression being "tinabudán to tabañg," i. e., wrapped with a red handkerchief.
The first title, hanágan, is given to one who has killed five or more people but has not yet been admitted to the full favor of a tagbúsau or blood spirit. The second title, tinabudán, is given to a warrior who has made it evident that he has divine favor and protection, made manifest in the consumption of the heart and the liver, and who falls into a condition similar to that of the priest while in an ecstasy. The insignia of this degree consists of a red kerchief worn wrapped around the hair knot at the back of the head.
The third degree, kinaboan, as the word itself indicates,11 entitles the bearer to add to his apparel a red jacket. Accounts are so various that the exact time when this title is conferred can not be definitely stated. Thus in Umaíam I was given to understand that 25 deaths were a sine qua non, whereas on the Kasilaían River 6, and on the Sálug 7 deaths were reported as sufficient.
11From ká-bo, a jacket.
The fourth title, lúto, by its derivation means "cooked," "done," "finished," so that on attaining this degree a warrior is complete, at least as far as his raiment is concerned, for he adds a pair of red trousers. Though the number of deaths requisite for the attainment of this degree is variously stated as being from 50 to 100, yet I suggest 15 as being, on the average, nearer the truth. The next degree, lunúgum, as the word indicates, entitles the bearer to dress himself all in black. It is a title acquired fortuitously, being given to one who during an attack happened to lance unknowingly a dead man in the house of the enemy. I can offer no further information on the point, except that the recipient of this title must have been already a recognized warrior. It seems probable that when a man commits such an act on a dead man he is believed to be especially favored by the war gods.