the
song-kit-an', made of braided bark-fiber strings, some six to twelve
in number and about 12 feet long. They are doubled, and so make the
girdle about 6 feet in length. The strings are the twisted inner bark
of the same plants that play a large role in the manufacture of the
woman's skirt. This girdle is usually worn twice around the body,
though it is also employed as an apron, passing only once around the
body and hanging down over the genitals (see Pl. XXI). Another girdle
worn much in Tukukan, Kanyu, and Tulubin is called the "i-kit'." It
is made of six to twelve braided strings of bejuco (see Pl. LXXX). It
is constructed to fit the waist, has loops at both ends, passes once
around the body, and fastens by a cord passing from one loop to the
other. Both the sang-ki-tan' and the i-kit' are made by the women. A
third class of girdles is made by the men. It is called ka'-kot,
and is worn and attached quite as is the i-kit'. It is a twisted rope
of bejuco, often an inch in diameter, and is much worn in Mayinit. A
fourth girdle, called "ka'-ching," is a chain, frequently a dog chain
of iron purchased on the coast, oftener a chain manufactured by the
men, and consisting of large, open links of commercial brass wire
about one-sixth of an inch in diameter.

At about the age of puberty, say at 15, it is usual for the boy to
possess a breechcloth, or wa'-nis. However, the cloth is worn by a
large per cent of men in Bontoc and Samoki, not as a breechcloth but
tucked under the girdle and hanging in front simply as an apron. Within
the Bontoc area fully 50 per cent of the men wear the breechcloth
simply as an apron.

There are several varieties of breechcloths in the area. The simplest
of these is of flayed tree bark. It is made by women in Barlig,
Tulubin, Titipan, Agawa, and other pueblos. It is made of white
and reddish-brown bark, and sometimes the white ones are colored
with red ocher. The white one is called "so'-put" and the red one
"ti-nan'-ag." Some of the other breechcloths are woven of cotton
thread by the women. Much of this cotton is claimed by the Igorot
to be tree cotton which they gather, spin and weave, but much also
comes in trade from the Ilokano at the coast. Some is purchased in the
boll and some is purchased after it has been spun and colored. Many
breechcloths are now bought ready made from the Ilokano.

Men generally carry a bag tucked under the girdle, and very often
indeed these bags are worn in