Kitab Article III Sections 4 and 5 Births and Deaths

Article III. The Dulangan Manobo and their Cultural Practices

Section 4. Giving Birth

First, cut off the umbilical cord of the infant. If the umbilical cord indicates something not good [not specified how], act as though burying the infant and then hang him or her on a tree. Put water and scrapings from a coconut shell into a made-of-bamboo container and then wash the infant with the water. Make a hammock for the infant for sleeping. The father should butcher a chicken for the mother so that her milk will be plenty. So that the infant will not get sick, the mother should butcher and cook a chicken for her father-in-law and burn some feathers of the chicken and let the smoke pass the baby. Traditional beliefs include not letting a pregnant woman stand on a threshold because she might not have a swift delivery. If someone is about to sneeze while carrying a baby, he or she should stop because the baby’s life will not be long. If a lemuken chirps, your life will not be long or the baby will die.

Section 5. Funeral Practices [I’m not sure of my translation of this part. The original text is confusing and inconsistent in style.—Blogger]

(1) Wrap the body with a malong and tie the whole body. Find a tree (Tefedos) and raise the (Tigbakal). Cut and carve the log to be used as a coffin according to the measurements of the body. Others look for rattan and (Belem Bad). Some take food to the builders of the coffin going home. The women take ashes and leaves of camote and then pound them using a mortar and a pestle to be used as glue so that the odor of the body will not leak out of the coffin.

(2) During a funeral, the coffin is properly handled starting from the wake. It is placed inside the house for as long as the relatives want, until the burial. They shall have games, singing, dancing, putting of ashes on the forehead, riddles, and when paying their respects to the dead, they shall bring togo, palendeg, kuding (musical instruments made of bamboo) and duwagey.

(3) When the right time for burial comes, they shall butcher chicken, pig, and cow if the family can afford it. They shall invite all the people, datu or non-members of the community, and all the relatives on both sides. They shall gather because it is the day of interment. They shall share the expenses and hold a celebration as a proof of their love.

(4) After the interment, the relatives shall throw rice inside the house where the wake was held, before the house is abandoned. The tribe believes that a house where a person died should not be used as a dwelling again and another house should be built nearby.

(5) If the dead was a respected leader, the wake may run for more than one year before the dead is buried. On the day of the interment, all the recognized leaders of the Dulangan Manobo people territory shall be called and shall gather to mourn. This assembly is called Dakel Limud.

(This post is a part of a series on Kitab, the customary law of the Dulangan Manobos. See my introductory post for the list of posts containing all the sections of the law. You may also see the original Filipino version on Scribd.)