TRAILS UP NORTH

One costly haircut as rite of passage
GLORIA A. TUAZON

KIANGAN, Ifugao – I consider Ifugao the "Land of rituals" in the whole of the Cordillera. This is because everything that comes and goes in the course of one's life has some kind of ritual affixed to it. Even today when tradition is being swallowed by modernization and Christian beliefs, there persist the rites that identify Ifugao and its people as unique. Most popular of these rites are those connected to the terraces rice cycle where they offer sacrifices and prayers to the rice gods. Incidentally they have more than a thousand gods that you would get lost in the maze of dieties.

On the other hand, there are also rituals performed for people. One such ritual was recently celebrated in Kiangan, Ifugao. Considered to be a rite of passage, kolot is supposed to be the transition of a male child to manhood. When a child is born to a family and he is chosen to be a likely candidate for kolot, the parents would not touch his hair, as in not cut it and let it grow until he reaches the appropriate age for the ritual. That would give the family time to prepare the funds and needs.

This is a rite performed only by the kadangyans of Ifugao (the able and moneyed), as it entails a lot to celebrate it. Animals are butchered as sacrifices and fed to the people during the feast. On this particular kolot celebration, a child who goes by the rare name Decci (pronounced Dex-xi) would be having his first haircut ever in seven years. He is the son of Max and Isabelita Codamon, successful head employees of departments of Science and Technology and Labor and Employment. Their children’s names, as in Decci are all unique, all taken from their birth months. Decci was born on December, his eldest sister Nobee on November, Ebbr on February and Marion on March.

Decci in particular was chosen by the couple to undergo the Ritual with the hope of resurrecting the now dying tradition. And because while Decci was growing up, his hair was growing very nicely. And so the date came and Decci was prepared. The family readied a carabao and three pigs for the rather abridged kolot ritual. With everything from rice to drinks and other needs purchased, it cost them about P75,000 – a big sum to spend for a haircut. The couple explained that this was indeed a humble rendition just to do this as it usually takes three days of feasting and more animal sacrifices.

Five mumbakis were invited to do the ritual. It started with a chicken being slaughtered just outside the doorway, after that they enter to do more prayers (baki), invoking the spirit of their dead ancestors and the dieties for protection and prosperity for the whole family and the celebrant. This goes on from evening till the next morning after which the carabao is butchered followed by the pigs. While all of these are happening a group of ladies led by the haw-e do the hudhud or traditional chanting.

These are epics chanted to entertain the crowd and those participants throughout the time the ritual is being done, to while away the hours. When all these are done and the Mumbaki declares it is ok to feed the people, the feast begins.

The end part of the ritual required the family to gather and be prayed over by the mumbaki. Decci's hair was ceremoniously cut. A spear fashioned from runo or stick was given to him and aimed at a target (a banana trunk) followed by family members. He danced the prestige dance with his mom and then the feasting continued. This ended the ceremony that started his independence and entrance into manhood. -- email: twilight_glo@yahoo.com