A MICRO-ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE DAWAK: HEALING RITUALS OF THE KALINGAS

Jessie Grace S. Martin, Joy Grace P. Doctor, Jonathan O. Obal, Claire S. Basitao

ABSTRACT

This micro-ethnography aimed to describe the ritual categories of the Dawak of the
Kalingas. A thick description of these ritual categories is presented using the ethnographic data
gathered and inferred from the researchers’ view. A Methodological Triangulation was employed
in this study using the developmental research sequence (DRS) by asking ethnographic
questions from key informants, causal and informal conversations with other participants,
collecting and analyzing field notes of what people do, know and the things they made and used
which they shared as a community. This study tried to elicit cultural patterns and their associated
meanings from the actions, events, words and artifacts used by the participants. This study found
that the purpose of the healing rituals and rites provide the avenues of opportunities for the
transmission of values, beliefs and way of life. Through these symbolic expressions, sentiments
were intensified and became a significant part in the life of the people belonging to this ethnic
community. In fact they formed the anchor on which ways of life were built up and values
transferred. In this age of globalization and liberalization, they are still significant and important at
the very core of the ordinary lives of Kalingas in Tabuk City.

INTRODUCTION

In his book, Mirror of Man, Clyde Kluckhohn, defined culture among others as “a total way of
life of a people; a social legacy the individual acquires from his group; a way of thinking, feeling
and believing.” It is this tacit knowledge of the culture that ethnography aims to draw out, find the
significance and meaning in the life of the participants, and by so doing the ethnographer learns
and confirms from the patterns observed, inferred and revealed by the participants themselves
that culture is a total way of life of a people.
Ritual is sacred. Rituals can help to restore a sense of balance to life. Although many of
us create ceremonies or rituals for one occasion or another, few understand why rituals help in
adjusting to change. Even fewer understand the power of ritual to strengthen the bonds that
connect us.
Ritual, the performance of ceremonial acts prescribed by tradition or by sacerdotal
decree. Ritual is a specific, observable mode of behavior exhibited by all known societies. It is
thus possible to view ritual as a way of defining or describing humans.
In this paper, we will be attempting to describe and analyze the ritual categories of the
“Dawak” (Kalinga healing Ritual) of the Kalingas in Tabuk, Kalinga Province using the data we
have collected from March 2009 to April 2011.
John J. Honnigmann describes ritual as the symbolic expression of the sentiments which
are attached to a given situation – person place, time, conception and things or occasion.. Ritual
takes also the values and beliefs of a religion and embodies them in actions. So that rituals are
considered as religion in action. It further creates a connection with the larger communities of
belief which is the result of the interactions between the persons, places and occasions making a
particular ritual a symbolic expression of the sentiments of a particular people. So that according
to Rosaldo, Keilty and Dumber, ritual becomes a key in unlocking one’s understanding of how
particular cultures work in particular circumstances.
Rituals of various kinds are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or
present. Human beings are sometimes described or defined as a basically rational,
economic, political, or playing species. They may, however, also be viewed as ritual beings, who
exhibit a striking parallel between their ritual and verbal behavior. Just as language is a system of
symbols that is based upon arbitrary rules, ritual may be viewed as a system of symbolic acts that
is based upon arbitrary rules.
The earliest approach was an attempt to explain ritual, as well as religion, by means of a
theory concerned with historical origin. In most cases, this theory also assumed an evolutionary
hypothesis that would explain the development of ritual behavior through history. The basic
premise, or law, for this approach is that ontogeny (development of an individual organism)
recapitulates phylogeny (evolution of a related group of organisms), just as the human embryo
recapitulates the stages of human evolutionary history in the womb—e.g., the gill stage. The
solution to explaining the apparently universal scope of ritual depended upon the success in
locating the oldest cultures and cults. Scholars believed that if they could discover this origin, they
would be able to explain the contemporary rituals of man.
The second approach to explaining ritual behavior is certainly indebted to the work of such
men as Smith, Freud, and Durkheim. Yet very few, if any, of the leading contemporary scholars
working on the problems of religion, ritual, and myth begin with a quest for origins. The origin-
evolutionary hypothesis of ritual behaviour has been rejected as quite inadequate for explaining
human behavior because no one can verify any of these bold ideas; they remain creative
speculations that cannot be confirmed or denied.
Turning from origin hypotheses, scholars next emphasized empirical data gathered by actual
observation. Contemporary literature is rich in descriptions of rituals observed throughout the
world. If the term origin can be used as central to the first approach, the term function can be
used as indicative of the primary focus of the second approach. The nature of ritual, in other
words, is to be defined in terms of its function in a society.
A third approach to the study of ritual is centered on the studies of historians of religion. The
distinction between this approach and the first two is that though many historians of religions
agree with functionalists that the origin-evolutionary theories are useless as hypotheses, they
also reject functionalism as an adequate explanation of ritual. Most historians of religions, such as
Gerardus van der Leeuw in the Netherlands, Rudolf Otto in Germany, Joachim Wach and Mircea
Eliade in the United States, and E.O. James in England, have held the view that ritual behaviour
signifies or expresses the sacred (the realm of transcendent or ultimate reality). This approach,
however, has never been represented as an explanation of ritual. The basic problem with it
remains that it cannot be confirmed unless scholars agree beforehand that such a transcendent
reality exists.
The cultural heritage of the Kalinga of the Philippines is very rich. This cultural heritage is
passed from generation to generation, usually by word of mouth and cultural rituals, and has
been the basis for agriculture, food preparation, health care, education, conservation and the
wide range of other activities that sustain a society and its environment in many parts of the world
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 for many centuries. The Kalinga Dawak is a healing ritual that became unpopular with the
introduction of Christianity. However, the Kalingas never quite abandoned these rituals as shown
by the continued presence and respect for the mandadawak. Recent developments in the social
sciences calling for exploration of cultural identities and local histories have influenced young
Kalinga professionals to discover their own culture.
This study is based on the concept that belief and practices are the identity of ethnic
groups. It addresses the existing problem on ethnocide which is the gradual change in ethnic
culture of indigenous people that eventually culminates to the death of ethnicity or loss of identity.
Hence, this study documented existing healing rituals of the Kalingas to ensure the
preservation of knowledge systems that has sustained this unique corner of the Philippines.
Moreover, this documentation is conducted for the purpose of education, presentation and
appreciation for the coming generation.

Objectives of the Research

1. To establish whether there are patterns in the healing rituals of the Kalingas
2. To describe the Kalinga healing rituals
3. To ascertain the hidden meanings behind the established healing ritual patterns

METHODOLOGY

Location

Figure 1. Map of the Philippines Showing Figure 2. Map of Kalinga showing Tabuk
Kalinga Province

Data Collection, Documentation and Analysis

Looking for informants did not come easy for the researchers. The researchers had to seek
the help of families who recently conducted ‘Dawak’. Getting hold of a ‘Mandadawak’ was difficult
and involved a waiting game. The number of recognized ‘Dadawakan’ in Tabuk City is down to a
precious few. We asked their permission if they can become informants in this study explaining to
them the purpose of the study and how we will be conducting the study, checking and asking
them some questions that will require their deeper understanding of the social situation and their
tacit cultural knowledge.
The researchers attended and participated in seven (7) healing rituals performed by 3
different Mandadawaks in order to obtain accurate knowledge of the ritual sequences of the
Dawak. In- depth interviews with the selected key informants and number checking in which the
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 participants reviewed what the researchers have written to check for accuracy and completeness
were done. Visual representation through photography was also emphasized. Focused group
discussions (FGDs) were arranged in order to determine whether the patterns revealed were
generally observed by the participants.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, we will be presenting the ritual sequences of the Dawak in the order as they
occur, that is, from the preparatory rites up to the concluding rites. The ritual sequences were the
result of 2 years of observation which will serve as a grand tour, so to say, of what happened as
observed. We can notice in this presentation the intricacies and the details of the ritual which, are
symbolic expressions of the values, beliefs and sentiments of these people..

I. RITUAL SEQUENCES

RITUAL SEQUENCES
Interview
PREPARATORY RITES Diagnosis
Communion with the Spirit Healers
Preparation of Materials

Setting the ritual space

Preparing the sacrificial animals
INTRODUCTORY RITES Calling for the lost soul of the sick
Person ( Balaw-o)
Introducing the family to the spirit
healers (Saliwakgat)
RITUAL Butchering the sacrificial animal
SEQUENCES Haruspicy (Man-i-apdo)

Appeasing the malevolent spirits

(Songa)
Negotiation with the spirit healers
RITUAL PROPER Friendship Dance
DAWAK Healing Session ( Man-i-appad)
Community Dance

Sacrificial Offerings (Man-atang)

Fellowship Dinner
CONCLUDING RITES Safe Passage / Dukyang

A. PREPARATORY RITES

A1. Interview
The Mandadawak arrives at the house of the sick person in the morning of the day of the day of the
Dawak. She/he proceeds to interview the family on the nature of the illness. The interview is punctuated with
anecdotes on previous healing episodes of the mandadawak. The Mandadawak also eases the mood and
establishes connection by tracing kinship. From time to time the mandadawak mentions the names of
previous customers, mostly well-known members of the City. This is done to establish trust and create a
comfortable atmosphere.

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 A2. Diagnosis
The Mandadawak then approaches the sick person. He brings out a small bottle of coconut oil and
lets the sick person cover this with both palms. After a few minutes, the healer retrieves the bottle of coconut
oil. He raises the bottle against the light reading messages that only he can understand. Silently, he pours
oil on the hands of the sick person and spreads it liberally over the palm. He reads the palm and exclaims
that it is a good thing that they called for him to do the Dawak. He was just in time to save the poor soul.
Another week’s delay would have been fatal. He then proceeds to lay his hands over the head of the sick
person uttering words that only he could hear. He then requests to be alone so that he can talk with his
alungan or spirit healers.

A.3 Communion with the Alungan or Spirit Healers

After diagnosing the sick person, the mandadawak requests for a private moment so that he can
consult with his alungan. Every mandadawak has a set of spirits that helps him in his dawak or healing
episodes. These spirits decide whether they agree to help the sick person or not. The healer speaks with
them during a trance and if they are willing to cure the sick person, they give instructions to the family on
what to prepare for the ritual proper.
Every mandadawak is supported by a set of spirits. This set of spirits or alungan decides whether
to cure a sick person or not. It has been claimed that the mandadawak is only the medium for the real world
to connect to the spirit world. The Mandadawak lives by the rigid rules of the spirits. Deviance from these
rules will cause the mandadawak to lose the spirits and consequently loses his/her power to heal.

A4. Preparation of Materials

The materials to be used for the healing rituals are then identified by the mandadawak. There
seems to be a common list of materials needed by every mandadawak. According to our informant, the
purposes of the materials requested by the mandadawak are as follows:
While the family looks for the materials requested, the mandadawak takes charge of making the
coconut oil from the coconut milk. The inandila, a kalinga delicacy made from glutinous rice, is also prepared
at this time. Initially, the mandadawak requests for a pig for the ritual but carabao may also be requested by
the spirits during the ritual when they feel that the enemy is really strong. In rare cases like this, it is the
assistant’s job to placate the spirits by explaining, begging, and pleading for mercy from the spirits. The
preparation of the materials normally takes up the whole afternoon. The family is also directed to prepare
food so that people will eat before the ritual starts. The whole family as well as those who intend to witness
the ritual is instructed to finish all their chores and errands because once the ritual starts, nobody is allowed
to leave.

B. BEGINNING RITES
B1. Setting the Ritual Space
After dinner, the mandadawak selects the room where the ritual will be done. The floor
is covered with the mat. The basket is placed in one corner of the mat and the basket is filled first
with old clothes of the sick person and his immediate family, the new blanket, then the ginamat or
tapis. Old coins, moma, a bowl of rice, a bowl of inandila with no ladok and dried tobacco leaf are
also placed inside the damus or basket. The Mandadawak also explains to the family what to
expect and what not to do during the ritual.

B2. Preparing the animal medium and sacrificial animal

B2.1 Rooster
The Mandadawak oils the rooster/hen while uttering incantations. Apparently he is talking
to the rooster to calm it and to ask for help in curing the sick person. The rooster/hen becomes
the medium for the spirit healers.
B2.2. Pig
The pig is tied on its legs then placed just outside the front door, with the legs towards the door.
This is done to attract the attention of the alungan or spirit healers. When everything is in place,
the mandadawak calls for the whole family to sit on the mat and signals the playing of the gong
(gangsa) and the beating of the ceramic bowl (patting) when the desired blending of the sounds is
achieved the ritual begins.

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B3. Calling for the Lost Soul of the Sick Person ((Balaw-o)
The ritual commences with the sound of gongs accompanied by the beating of a ceramic bowl. At
this point the healer calls all the people to enter the house to be protected from malevolent spirits
(SANGASANG). Attendees to the Dawak must participate from the beginning until the end of the healing
ritual. Once the dawak started, nobody is allowed to leave. Immediate family of the sick person stand
facing the front door, calling out the soul (Kadudwa) of the sick person while other people ululate
(Ayaya).

B4. Introducing the family to the spirit healers (Saliwakgat)

The whole family sits on the ritual space facing the ‘mandadawak’ while the gongs
continue playing. The ‘mandadawak’ circles the family with the rooster and machete. After a few
rounds, the ‘mandadawak’ exchanges the rooster with the ‘ginamat’. The dancing becomes
frenzied, until the healer seemed to have caught something with the ginamat’. and holds on to it
tightly. Everything does grind to a halt when, suddenly, he veers away and falls in a dead faint..
When he is attended to, he is shaking all over as if he had malaria. He claims to have
encountered the malevolent spirits.
The assistant carefully unwraps the ginamat . She asks for help in going over the piece of
clothing. A few minutes passes, while the assistant and volunteer helper retrieves hair from the
ginamat’. The ginamat’ is supposedly new and has never been used.
During the entire proceedings, the rooster never made a sound nor attempted to fly away.
The mandadawak again dances around the family. She is followed by the initiate. Holding
the rooster and carrying the ginamat, she circles around the family like a hawk, rubbing these
against their clothing while talking in a singsong voice . As the music and dancing continue for a
few minutes, this seems to be part of the ritual. They occasionally approach the door where the
pig is placed then calls out the name of the sick person while waving the ‘ginamat’. This is known
as the ‘Kalay-ab’. After a while, the healer stops and calls for a break. The people are allowed to
go out for necessities.

B5. Butchering the Sacrificial Animal

At this point the sacrificial animal is slaughtered. It lets out an unholy howl as it is tied up
with strands of bamboo. As its throat is slashed, a bowl held below the throat catches the blood.
The assistant directs the carving of the animal since special parts will be used during the ritual.
After carving up the animal, the liver is taken aside for a reading. If the reading of the liver is
unsatisfactory, the mandadawak may request for a chicken or another animal to consult the liver.
A liver may show the future of the sick person and the whole family. A reading may depend upon
such details as how the gallbladder hangs in relationship to the liver. The second animal
butchered will also serve to mitigate the negative reading of the first liver.

B6. Haruspicy ( MAN-I-YAGTOY)

This is a ritualistic practice of using
anomalies in livers of sacrificed animals to
predict or divine future events. The attempt to
gain insight into a question or situation by way
of a standardized process or ritual is an integral
part of the Dawak.

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C. HEALING RITUAL PROPER
After butchering the sacrificial animal, the healer resumes the ritual. He instructs some
volunteers to cook the meat for the fellowship dinner. He emphasizes that only salt will be
used and no other spices. Apparently spices, especially ginger and garlic, will offend and drive
away the spirit healers. The assistant places the special parts of the meat on the ritual space.
This signals the resumption of the ‘dawak’. The gongs are again played.

C1. Appeasing the malevolent spirits (Songa)

The healer smears blood on the feet of the family. He instructs them not to wash away the
blood until the following day. The markings apparently signify that they are now protected by
the spirit healers.

C2. Negotiation with the spirit healers

The assistant presents the pieces of meat to the healer. The healer who is possessed by the
spirit healers decides whether to accept the offering or not. The assistant works hard to
convince the spirit healers to accept the offering. .

C3. Friendship Dance

The acceptance of the offering requires a celebration so the gong plays while the family
turns over the pieces of meat to the spirit healers. This is done through a ritual dance between
the family and the healer.

The healer shows off the meat offering. The healer is dancing with closed eyes yet she seems to
see everything. She dances around the room several times before sitting on the ritual mat. This
signals that healing activities can now start.

C4. Healing session (Man-Appad)

The spirit healers show their gratitude for the offering by

healing, fortunetelling and giving special treats to the people
attending the healing ritual. The people take turns to be
touched by the healer. The mood is light and joyous
although it is now midnight. Those who wanted to be healed
must give a 5-peso coin. No other denomination is accepted.
People line-up for a chance to be touched by the
healer for healing and for their fortunes to be told.

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 C5. Community Dance

As a sign of gratitude for healing, the

community entertains the spirit healers by
sounding the gongs and dancing. This is also a
celebration for the renewed friendship with the
spirit world. Everybody participates.

Dancing continues until both dancers and gong

players are tired. This can last until the wee
hours of the morning. In most cases however,
dancing stops when the volunteer cooks
announce that the food is ready. Gong Players
take turns in beating the gong. It is believed that
the spirit healers are most happy when the
C4.2 Fortunetelling
sound of the gong is melodiously steady. In
every celebration, the Kalingas incorporate dance
and traditional music as a form of thanksgiving and
cultural preservation (Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009.

While dancing is going –on, the healer

together with the assistant prepares the
sacrificial offerings. When this is ready, the
healer puts this on a high place: roof of the
house or on a structure built solely for this
purpose. It must be high enough so that nobody
can reach up and take any of the goodies from
the tray of offerings. This is done to protect the
community especially children. It is taboo to
touch the ‘atang’ since this the property of the
unseen spirits. These spirits may be offended
and will punish those who will steal from them.

D. CONCLUDING RITES
D1. Sacrificial Offerings (Atang)

The sacrificial offering is composed of

boiled meat without any seasoning, a
pack of cigarette, inandila ( a bowl of rice
cake delicacy made from glutinous rice
and shaped like a tongue), alcoholic
beverage, particularly San Miguel Gin,
and boiled rice.

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D2. Fellowship Dinner
The social bonding established among those who attended the ritual extended to this
simple but profound and significant gathering after the ritual – the fellowship dinner. The
fellowship dinner is a celebration of an understanding between the spirit world and the community
that whatever disturbances caused by mortals is now forgiven and that the sacrificial offerings of
the family is sufficient as ransom. As Lee Edward Klosinski puts it, “Sharing food is a transaction
which involves a series of mutual obligations and which initiates an interconnected complex of
mutuality and reciprocity. Also, the ability of food to symbolize these relationships, as well as to
define group boundaries, surfaced as one of its unique properties …. Food exchanges are basic
to human interaction. Implicit in them is a series of obligations to give, receive and repay. These
transactions involve individuals in matrices of social; reciprocity, mutuality and obligation. Also
food exchanges are able to act as symbols of human interaction. Eating is a behavior, which
symbolizes feelings and relationships, mediates social status and power, and expresses the
boundaries of group identity.”1 So, the partaking and sharing in the fellowship become not just an
opportunity to build or establish a social bonding but a feeling of belongingness to one another as
a community.
D.3 Safe Passage (DUKYANG)
After dinner, the healer performs the safe passage ritual for those who want to leave. He
chants over a bowl of uncooked rice and pleads for the safe passage of those who are going
home. He seeks the protection of his spirit healers invoking the newly formed friendship with
other unseen spirits. He then places the bowl of rice by the front door. Those who wish to leave
may get a handful. The rice is dropped along the way to ward off evil spirits.
Those who opt to stay may continue with the merrymaking. In the meantime the healer
instructs the family on taboos after a ‘dawak’. Consultations are also done with other people who
wish to invite him/her for their own ‘dawak’.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
The researchers have come to several conclusions in this study.
. 1. The Kalingas built the rites and rituals themselves. The way they celebrate, the way
they dance, the chants, the postures and the routines form traditional patterns which are
transmitted through generations.
2. The rites and rituals have a greater significance and impact in the daily lives of the
people. They form the anchor on which traditions can be built up and values can be transferred.
The healing rituals and rites provide the avenues of opportunities to socialize and to grow. One
cannot go away from a healing ritual or rite without being touched. This is the relevance of the
healing rituals such as the dawak as experienced by the Kalingas.
3. The intensification of Status Relationships and Social Relationships were transmitted to
them by their elder generations and in turn will have a good chance to be transmitted to the next
and present generation with all the nuances they have included which will form a pattern
themselves.
4. The experiences, activities and routines of the participants all throughout the day at home,
at work and wherever they were coming from converges into a focal point – the healing ritual or
“dawak.”
5. This is a ritual and rite that became part of the cultural knowledge of this Kalinga
community. It is indeed part of their way of life. As one of our informants capture in words, “Sana
pay matagoan da umili” (This is our life).

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 V. Recommendations
1. Additional observations of the dawak as performed in the other municipalities of
Kalinga should be conducted to determine similarities and differences in the healing ritual
patterns.
2. A thorough study of the ritual chants is recommended to discover the rich literary and
historical texts embedded in the chants that will give light to some of the gaps in the cultural and
historical development of Kalinga.
3, A follow-up study on the extent of practice and effectiveness of the healing rituals
should be conducted.

VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1. Arce, W. Systematic Qualitative Data Research: A1n Introduction for Filipino Practitioners. Office
of Research and Publications, Ateneo de Manila University. 2001.
2. Clyde Kluckhohn’s Mirror of Man in “Interpretation of Culture by Clifford Geertz”
( 1973)
3. Curtis, D. Roman Catholic Mass pp.58-67 in Kutache, P. Field Ethnography (1998).
4. Honnigmann, J. in the The World of Man, 1959: Chapter 31 “Ritual” pp.509-29.
5. Klosinski, L. The Meals in Mark, 1988, pp.56-58 in A Cultural Anthropological Analysis of the
Lukan Meal Scenes By Silvina E. Tejarres, mslt, 2003, p26.
6. Kutache, P. Field Ethnography : Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1998, pp.52-54.
7. Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.:
SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com).
8. Nichols, M. The Finer Points of Ritual: A Comparative Approach to Liturgical History, Theology
and Design. A Heartland Pagan Festival Keynote Address, August 29, 2000.
9. Ninnan, M. The liturgy of St. James of Jerusalem. (date not available)
10. Parel, C. et al. Social Survey Research Design. Philippine Social Science Center. University of
the Philippines, Inc., Quezon City. 1978.
11. Spradley, J. The Ethnograhic Interview. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. USA. 1979.
^ "An act to convert the municipal district of Tabuk, sub-province of Kalinga, Mountain Province,
into a regular municipality to be known as the municipality of Tabuk". LawPH.com. Retrieved
2011-04-09.^ http://www.op.gov.ph/directives/RA09404.pdf HB06005^
http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/news/courtnews%20flash/2008/11/11180803.php granted a petition
^ SC reverses self, upholds creation of 16 cities
^ SC Reinstates 2008 Decision Voiding 16 Cityhood Laws
^ http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=17453

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