The Manóbos of Mindanáo / Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir

by John M. Garvan

The chieftainship naturally falls to one who has attained the rank of bagáni--that is, to one who has killed a certain number of persons--provided he is otherwise sufficiently influential to attract a following. His duties consist in lending his influence to settle disputes and in redressing the wrongs of those who care to appeal to him. As a priest he is thought to be under the protection of a war god whose desire for blood he must satisfy.

The bagáni also acts as a medicine man, for he is reputed to have certain magic powers both for good and for evil. The natural secretiveness of the bagáni made it difficult for me to secure much information on this point, but his power of harming at a distance and of making himself invisible are matters of general belief. In his character as a priest, he performs ceremonies for the cure of diseases in which fluxes of blood occur.

Methods of warfare.--There is no military organization in Manóboland. The greater part of those who form a war party are relatives of the aggrieved one, though it is usual to induce some others of acknowledged prowess to take part. No resentment is harbored by the opposing party toward paid warriors.

Vendettas and debts are the most usual cause of war, and not, as has been reported, glory and the capture of slaves. There is never wanting on the part of those who originate the war a reasonable motive. The vendetta system is not only recognized, but vengeance is considered incumbent on the relatives of one who has been killed, and, as a reminder, a piece of green rattan is sometimes strung up in the house. The rattan suggests that until it rots the wrong will not be forgotten. If the father is unable to avenge the wrong, he bequeathes[sic] the revenge to his son as a sacred legacy. Sometimes another person is deputed to take vengeance, in which case no blame is attached to him.

The peculiar custom prevails of killing a third party who may be neutral, or of seizing his property, but I have known such an act to be resented. As a result of this custom a war party returning from an unsuccessful raid is dangerous.

There is usually no formal declaration of war. In fact, the greatest secrecy is generally observed, and in urgent cases a body of ambushers proceed at once to kill the first one of the enemy that happens to pass their lurking place. As a rule, the enemy's house and his actions are watched for weeks, perhaps for years, until a favorable opportunity for attack presents itself.

The usual times for undertaking an expedition are during the rice harvest and after a death. The preparation consists in acquiring a thorough knowledge of the enemy's house and of its environment. Everything being ready, the warriors assemble, a sacrifice is made, omens are taken, and the band starts out at such an hour as will enable them to reach the vicinity of the enemy about nightfall. From the last stopping point a few warriors make a final reconnaissance in the gloom of the night, release the enemy's traps, and return. The whole band, numbering anywhere from 10 to 100, advance and, surrounding the house, await the dawn, for it is at the first blush of the morning that sleep is supposed to be heaviest. Moreover, there is then sufficient light to enable the party to make the attack. Hence the peep of dawn is almost always the hour of attack.

If the enemy's house is within spear reach, it is usually an easy matter to put the inmates to death, but if it is a high house, and, especially, if the inmates are well prepared, a warrior climbs up silently under the house and spears one of them. This, followed by the killing of pigs and by the battle cry, usually causes consternation. A battle of arrows then takes place; there is a bandying of fierce threats, taunts, and challenges, and the attacking party endeavors to set the roof on fire with burning arrows. If they succeed the inmates flee from the flames, but only the children, as a rule, escape the bolo and the spear.

It is seldom that the attack is prolonged more than a few hours, and it is seldom that the attack is unsuccessful, for if other means fail, hunger and thirst will drive the besieged ones to flight, in which case they become the victims of the besieging warriors. If one of the latter is wounded or killed, the attack is abandoned at once, such an occurrence being considered extremely inauspicious.