WEDDING DAY IN
BULALANG
by Bebing Sugdan
Bulalang Mission
School
January 1997
One of the most beautiful weddings
that we have attended in the mission school is the one they called the Liniyang
wedding. The datus in the village asked
for pamalasan--they asked for one
chicken from the girl’s family and one chicken from the boy’s family to prevent
sickness to the newly wedded couple and their subsequent children. Their culture has the belief that the
offerings of these chickens will protect them for their entire wedded
life.
The datus held the chickens while
the guests went inside the house where the wedding was to be held. When all were inside, the datus killed the
two chickens and scattered the blood on the floor. The couple were asked to first pass over the
blood. Then the parents of the couple
followed. The bride and groom were then
requested by the datus to meet in the center where there was a covered by a
blanket.
While under the covering, the bride
and groom, with their fingers, picked up portions of rice and viand and fed it
to each other. After this ritual, they
ate the food together, still using their fingers. Upon finishing eating, the bride and groom
were pronounced husband and wife. A
reception followed. The girl’s family
busily cooked all the food for the feast.
The food is wrapped up into seven balot
or bags and then put into liyang or
Manobo baskets. Then with a slice of the
cooked chicken in each, the baskets are sold to the boy’s family for one
hundred fifty pesos ($6.00).
The wedding is ended with a feast
in which all participate.
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