are under the
protection of a certain powerful spirit, are also permitted to wear an
upper garment of this material.
A considerable part of the man's time is consumed in preparation for, or
actual participation in, hunting or warfare, but in addition to this he
does a goodly portion of the work in the fields, and is the house
builder. When a man is about to erect a dwelling he notifies his friends
to come and aid him. This they will do without pay, but when in need of
similar services they will expect and will receive similar help. All
sorts of house-furnishings, such as spoons, meat blocks, or rice mortars
are made by the man, and not infrequently, he assists in the making or
waterproofing of baskets. A few of the old men of Cibolan still engage
in the manufacture of small shell disks with which valuable suits are
decorated, but the greater part of those now in use have been inherited,
or are purchased from neighboring peoples. The men carve beads out of
"Job's tears"[19] and make them into necklaces. For this purpose a
peculiarly carved and decorated stick is employed (Plate XXVI). This is
placed in the palm of the left hand so that the thumb and forefinger can
hold the seed which fits into a depression in the top. A knife in the
right hand of the artist is worked over the seed thus cutting a line
into which dirt is rubbed. Women's combs are made by shaping a half
circle out of light wood and then cutting teeth into it with a saw-like
blade of tin or iron.
[19] _Coix lachryma Johi L_.
Among the men, as with the women, certain industries are monopolized by
a few individuals. In this community no men stand higher in the
estimation of their fellows than do the smiths and the casters of
copper. The writer spent many hours watching I-o, the brass and copper
worker of Cibolan, while he shaped bells, bracelets, and betel boxes at
his forge on the outskirts of the village (Plate XXVII). Feathered
plungers, which worked up and down in two bamboo cylinders, forced air
through a small clay-tipped tube into a charcoal fire. This served as a
bellows, while a small cup made of straw ashes formed an excellent
crucible. The first day I watched I-o, he was making bells. Taking a
ball of wax the size of a bucket shot, he put it on the end of a stick
(Fig. 26a), and over this moulded the form of a bell in damp ashes
obtained from rice straw (b). When several bells were thus fashioned
they were dipped in melted wax and were turned
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