Note 5 — Warfare, Hunting, and Fishing

On the morning of the last day, the heads were carried up to the center of the village, where, amid great rejoicing, the men sang the praises of the victors or examined the skulls of the victims. Sometime during the morning, the men who had taken the heads split them open with their axes and removed the brains. To these they added the lobes of the ears and joints of the little fingers, and they placed the whole in the liquor which was afterwards served to the dancers. There seems to be no idea here of eating the brains of the slain as food. They are consumed solely to secure a part of their valor, an idea widespread among the tribes of Mindanao.5 The writer does not believe that any people of the Philippines indulges in cannibalism, if that term is used to signify the eating of human flesh as food. Several, like the Tinguian, have or still do eat a portion of the brain, the heart or liver of brave warriors, but always, it appears, with the idea of gaining the valor, or other desirable qualities of the victims.