For someone (agent muɴ-; s agent maN-) to fashion a trail-guarding stick person (theme) on a trail (loc ref -an) as a guard against visitors, place spirits, pinādeng, or sickness-imparting spirits, dumatong, during the rice-harvest completion holiday, tūngaw hi alpahan di īwang.
panalongdong; manalongdong
A stick man and stick woman are placed one on either side of each trail leading to areas outside the village, babluy 1. In Batad they are positioned in traditional locations, as described under panalongdongan. A trail-guarding stick person is made of a bundle of about ten arrow-grass canes, bilāu. The leaves of two or three canes are wrapped into a ball at the top and tied for the head. Two or three canes without leaves are broken and bent horizontal. They are usually reinforced with a couple more canes, and these form arms. Sometimes they are bent at the elbow position. A wooden spear is fashioned and placed horizontally and tied to the hands. Two stick people, a man, and a woman, fashioned somewhat smaller, are placed along the trail, one on either side with spears pointing in a direction to intersect the trail. After positioning the stick people, the following, or some variation of it, is shouted:
Da'yun mabā'i ya umāli ayu ta miyodol ayun ten kinnāhu ta ipāwayuy maluh hi mangīli hi umālih tun babluymi, ya ipakakyuy dumatong ya pinādeng an umidat hi dogoh.
"You who are objects of sacrifice, come and possess the bodies of these stick people and prevent visitors from passing who might come to our village, and drive away the sickness-imparting spirits and place spirits who give sickness."