What are the Practices and Traditions of B'laan Tribe?
Marriage
Parents arrange the marriage of the children. They are the ones who decide for their future partners. Children are suppressed of their right to refuse.
The B'laan practice giving of sunggod or bride price wherein the bride price wherein brides family especially the father and close raltives demand valuable things and animals such as agong, carabao, horse from the grooms family. The wedding is officiated by a Fulong with the presence of the elders in the community. For them, wedding is the merriest celebration which usually lasts for four days. The people in the community enjoy the saf kain, aparty prepared by the groom's family at the bride's wife.
A muli agno ( welcome party) is also being held by the groom for his wife.
The men especially the Bong Fulong and the Dad Tua are polygamous, men are allowed to have many wives for as they are capable to give sunggod (dowry) and can feed his family/ies. Having many wives is a symbol of power and influence. To be a Bong Fulong's wife who is able to give birth to many sons symbolizes prestige and high status.
Birth
Fulong ad malol is a person who assists the B'laan woman in giving birth. Before delivery, the pregnant woman sits in closed young banana or cogon leaves for easy delivery. The umbilical cord is cut using a shapened bamboo or bagakay/ pawa. The child can only be named after cutting the umbilical cord. The mother takes a bath after giving birth. She takes herbal medicine as boiled roots of different herbal plants to avoid strain.
Death
The B'laans do not use chemicals to preserve their dead instead the dead body is wrapped with tadtad or broken bamboo then tied with uway (rattan) and hang in the tree. It should be done within 24 hours from the time the person dies. They believe that hanging the cadaver in a tree is a form of respect to the dead person because if it is buried underground, the earthworms and other soil organisms will feed on the flesh of the person while if it hanged the cadaver will decompose in a natural way.
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