Courtship

 Following the custom of the Dara-Ang tribe, a potential suitor who wants to approach a young woman must wait until the work is finished. When he has entered into the woman’s house he cannot go out again until the pair have finished courting. This shows respect to the woman’s parents as he is not disturbing them by entering many separate times. The man plays a musical instrument to signal to the woman that he is coming. When inside a woman’s house, the woman and the man sit opposite each other and use eloquent and proverbial language to communicate. The rules of courting according to
       Dara-Ang customs are as follows:
1) When the man enters the woman’s house he must stay in the house for an extended time.
2) The man and woman cannot touch each other.
3) The couple cannot court outside the house.
       If a young man disobeys these rules, for example by touching a young woman, the parents of the young woman will call an elder from the community to decide on the consequences. They agree on the amount of damage and an appropriate fine which is usually paid in money. However it sometimes occurs that Dara-Ang teenagers run away to be together because they cannot endure the strict customs of their community.