The Pagan Tribes of Borneo Part 3

The material possessions of the other peoples differ little from those of the Kayans. Almost every Sea Dayak possesses, and keeps stored at the back of his private chamber, one or more large vases. These were formerly imported from China, but are now made by the Chinese of the towns in Borneo. The commonest of the highly prized jars are of plain brown brightly glazed earthenware, standing about three feet in height on a flat bottom (Pl. 48); each is ornamented with a Chinese dragon moulded in relief (BENAGA), or some scroll designs which, though very varied, go by the name of RUSA (=deer) and NINGKA. A Dayak will give from 200 to 400 dollars for such a jar. Rarer and still more highly prized is a jar similar to these, but wider, very highly glazed, and bare of all ornament save some obscure markings. Eight perforated "ears" project just below the lip, and serve for the attachment of a wooden or cloth cover. This jar occurs in two varieties, a dark green and a very dark brown, which are known respectively as GUSI and BERGIAU, the latter being the more valuable. Other smaller and less valued jars are the PANTAR and the ALAS. The jars of the kinds mentioned above are valued largely on account of their age; probably all of them were imported from China and Siam, some of them no doubt centuries ago. Besides these old jars there are now to be found in most of the Sea Dayak houses many jars of modern Chinese manufacture, some of which are very skilful imitations of the old types; and though the Dayak is a connoisseur in these matters, and can usually distinguish the new from the old, he purchases willingly the cheap modern imitations of the old, because they are readily mistaken by the casual observer for the more valuable varieties (Pl. 47).

A few large vases of Chinese porcelain, usually covered with elaborate designs in colour, are to be found in most of the houses of the other peoples (Pl. 47).

CHAPTER 5

The Social System

The Kayans const.i.tute a well-defined and h.o.m.ogeneous tribe or people. Although their villages are scattered over a wide area, the Kayan people everywhere speak the same language and follow the same customs, have the same traditions, beliefs, rites, and ceremonies. Such small differences as they present from place to place are hardly greater than those obtaining between the villagers of adjoining English counties. Although communication between the widely separated branches of the people is very slight and infrequent, yet all are bound together by a common sentiment for the tribal name, reputation, tradition, and customs. The chiefs keep in mind and hand down from generation to generation the history of the migrations of the princ.i.p.al branches of the tribe, the names and genealogies of the princ.i.p.al chiefs, and important incidents affecting any one branch. At least fifteen sub-tribes of Kayans, each bearing a distinctive name, are recognised.[38] The word UMA, which appears in the names of each group, means village or settlement, and it seems probable that these fifteen sub-tribes represent fifteen original Kayan villages which at some remote period, before the tribe became so widely scattered, may have contained the whole Kayan population. At the present time the people of each sub-tribe occupy several villages, which in most cases, but not in all, are within the basin of one river.

In spite of the community of tribal sentiment, which leads Kayans always to take the part of Kayans, and prevents the outbreak of any serious quarrels between Kayan villages, there exist no formal bonds between the various sub-tribes and villages. Each village is absolutely independent of all others, save in so far as custom and caution prescribe that, before undertaking any important affair (such as a removal of the village or a warlike expedition), the chief will seek the advice, and, if necessary, the co-operation of the chiefs of neighbouring Kayan villages. The people of neighbouring villages, especially the families of the chiefs, are also bound together by many ties of kinship; for intermarriage is frequent.

As was said above, a Kayan village almost invariably consists of several long houses. Each house is ruled by a chief; but one such chief is recognised as the head-chief of the village.

The minor and purely domestic affairs of each house are settled by the house-chief, but all important matters of general interest are brought before the village-chief. In the former category fall disputes as to ownership of domestic animals and plants, questions of compensation for injury or loss of borrowed boats, nets, or other articles, of marriage and divorce, and minor personal injuries, moral or physical. The matters to be settled by the head-chief sitting in council with the subordinate chiefs are those affecting the whole village, questions of war and peace and of removal, disputes between houses, trials for murder or serious personal injuries.

The degree of authority of the chiefs and the nature and degree of the penalties imposed by them are prescribed in a general way by custom, though as regards the former much depends upon the personal qualities of each chief, and as regards the latter much is left to his discretion. The punishments imposed are generally fines, so many TAWAKS (gongs), PARANGS (swords) or spears, or other articles of personal property. On the whole the chief plays the part of an arbitrator and mediator, awarding compensation to the injured party, rather than that of a judge. In the case of offences against the whole house, a fine is imposed; and the articles of the required value are placed under the charge of the chief, who holds them on behalf of the community, and uses them in the making of payments or presents in return for services rendered to the whole community.

The chief also is responsible for the proper observation of the omens and for the regulation of MALAN (tabu) affecting the whole house; and, as we shall see, he takes the leading part in social ceremonies and in most of the religious rites collectively performed by the village. He is regarded by other chiefs as responsible for the behaviour of his people, and above all, in war he is responsible for both strategy and tactics and the general conduct of operations.

For the maintenance of his authority and the enforcement of his commands the chief relies upon the force of public opinion, which, so long as he is capable and just, will always support him, and will bring severe moral pressure to bear upon any member of the household who hesitates to submit.

In return for his labours on behalf of the household or village the Kayan chief gains little or nothing in the shape of material reward. He may receive a little voluntary a.s.sistance in the cultivation of his field; in travelling by boat he is accorded the place of honour and ease in the middle of the boat, and he is not expected to help in its propulsion. His princ.i.p.al rewards are the social precedence and deference accorded him and the satisfaction found in the exercise of authority.

If the people of a house or village are gravely dissatisfied with the conduct of their chief, they will retire to their PADI-fields, building temporary houses there. If many take this course, a new long house will be built and a new chief elected to rule over it, while the old chief remains in the old house with a reduced following, sometimes consisting only of his near relatives.

The office of chief is rather elective than hereditary, but the operation of the elective principle is affected by a strong bias in favour of the most capable son of the late chief; so in practice a chief is generally succeeded by one of his sons. An elderly chief will sometimes voluntarily abdicate in favour of a son. If a chief dies, leaving no son of mature age, some elderly man of good standing and capacity will be elected to the chieftainship, generally by agreement arrived at by many informal discussions during the weeks following the death. If thereafter a son of the old chief showed himself a capable man as he grew up, he would be held to have a strong claim on the chieftainship at the next vacancy. If the new chief at his death left also a mature and capable son, there might be two claimants, each supported by a strong party; the issue of such a state of affairs would probably be the division of the house or village, by the departure of one claimant with his party to build a new village. In such a case the seceding party would carry away with them their share of the timbers of the old house, together with all their personal property.

The Kenyahs form a less h.o.m.ogeneous and clearly defined tribe than the Kayans; yet in the main their social organisation is very similar to that of the Kayans, although, as regards physical characters and language as well as some customs, they present closer affinities with other peoples than with the Kayans, especially with the Klemantans. The Kenyah tribe also comprises a number of named branches, though these are less clearly defined than the sub-tribes of the Kayan people. Each branch is generally named after the river on the banks of which its villages are situated, or were situated at some comparatively recent time of which the memory is preserved. In many cases a single village adopts the name of some tributary stream near the mouth of which it is situated, and the people speak of themselves by this name. Thus it seems clear that the named branches of the Kenyah tribe are nothing more than local groups formed in the course of the periodical migrations, and named after the localities they have occupied.[39]

The foregoing description of the relations of a Kayan chief to his people applies in the main to the Kenyah chief. But among the Kenyahs the position of the chief is one of greater authority and consideration than among the Kayans. The people voluntarily work for their chief both in his private and public capacities, obeying his commands cheerfully, and accepting his decisions with more deference than is accorded by the Kayans. The chief in return shows himself more generous and paternal towards his people, interesting himself more intimately in their individual affairs. Hence the Kenyah chief stands out more prominently as leader and representative of his people, and the cohesion of the whole community is stronger. The chief owes his great influence over his people in large measure to his training, for, while still a youth, the son or the nephew of a chief is accustomed to responsibility by being sent in charge of small bodies of followers upon missions to distant villages, to gather or convey information, or to investigate disturbing rumours. He is also frequently called upon to speak on public occasions, and thus early becomes a practised orator.

Among Klemantans, Muruts, and Sea Dayaks each house recognises a headman or chief; but he has little authority (more perhaps among the first of these peoples than among the other two). He acts as arbitrator in household disputes, but in too many cases his impartiality is not above suspicion, save where custom rigidly limits his preference.

Among both Kayans and Kenyahs three social strata are clearly distinguishable and are recognised by the people themselves in each village. The upper cla.s.s is const.i.tuted by the family of the chief and his near relatives, his aunts and uncles, brothers, sisters, and cousins, and their children. These upper-cla.s.s families are generally in easier circ.u.mstances than the others, thanks to the possession of property such as bra.s.s ware, valuable beads, caves in which the swift builds its edible nest, slaves, and a supply of all the other material possessions larger in quant.i.ty and superior in quality to those of the middle- and lower-cla.s.s families.

The man of the upper cla.s.s can generally be distinguished at a glance by his superior bearing and manners, by the neatness and cleanliness of his person, his more valuable weapons, and personal ornaments, as well as by greater regularity of features. The woman of the upper cla.s.s also exhibits to the eye similar marks of her superior birth and breeding. The tatuing of her skin is more finely executed, greater care is taken with the elongation of the lobe of the ear, so that the social status of the woman is indicated by the length of the lobe. Her dress and person are cleaner, and generally better cared for, and her skin is fairer than that of other women, owing no doubt to her having been less exposed to the sun.

The men of the upper cla.s.s work in the PADI-fields and bear their share of all the labours of the village; but they are able to cultivate larger areas than others owing to their possession of slaves, who, although they are expected to grow a supply of PADI for their own use, a.s.sist in the cultivation of their master's fields. For the upper-cla.s.s women, also, the labours of the field and the house are rendered less severe by the a.s.sistance of female slaves, although they bear a part both in the weeding of the fields, in the harvesting, and in the preparation of food in the house.

The chief's room, which is usually about twice as long as others, is usually in the middle of the house; and those of the other upper-cla.s.s families, which also may be larger than the other rooms, adjoin it on either side.

In all social gatherings, and in the performance of public rites and ceremonies, the men of the upper cla.s.s are accorded leading parts, and they usually group themselves about the chief. Social intercourse is freer and more intimate among the people of the upper cla.s.s than between them and the rest of the household.

The upper cla.s.s is relatively more numerous in the Kenyah than in the Kayan houses, and more clearly distinguishable by address and bearing.

The middle cla.s.s comprises the majority of the people of a house in most cases. They may enjoy all the forms of property, though generally their possessions are of smaller extent and value, and they seldom possess slaves. Their voices carry less weight in public affairs; but among this cla.s.s are generally a few men of exceptional capacity or experience whose advice and co-operation are specially valued by the chief. Among this cla.s.s, too, are usually a few men in each house on whom devolve, often hereditarily, special duties implying special skill or knowledge, E.G. the working of iron at the forge, the making of boats, the catching of souls, the finding of camphor, the observation and determination of the seasons. All such special occupations are sources of profit, though only the last of these enables a man to dispense with the cultivation of PADI.

The lower cla.s.s is made up of slaves captured in war and of their descendants, and for this reason its members are of very varied physical type. An unmarried slave of either s.e.x lives with, and is treated almost as a member of, the family of his or her master, eating and in some cases sleeping in the family room. Slaves are allowed to marry, their children becoming the property of their masters. Some slave-families are allowed to acquire a room in the house, and they then begin to acquire a less dependent position; and though they still retain the status of slaves, and are spoken of as "slaves-outside-the-room," the master generally finds it impossible to command their services beyond a very limited extent, and in some cases will voluntarily resign his rights over the family. But in this case the family continues to belong to the lower cla.s.s.

The members of each of these cla.s.ses marry in nearly all cases within their own cla.s.s. The marriages of the young people of the upper cla.s.s are carefully regulated. Although they are allowed to choose their partners according to the inscrutable dictates of personal affinities, their choice is limited by their elders and the authority of the chief. Many of them marry members of neighbouring villages, while the other cla.s.ses marry within their own village.

A youth of the upper cla.s.s, becoming fond of some girl of the middle cla.s.s, and not being allowed to marry her (although this is occasionally permitted), will live with her for a year or two. Then, when the time for his marriage arrives (it having perhaps been postponed for some years after being arranged, owing to evil omens, or to lack of means or of house accommodation), he may separate from his mistress, leaving in her care any children born of their union, and perhaps making over to her some property -- as public opinion demands in such cases. She may and usually will marry subsequently a man of her own cla.s.s, but the children born of her irregular union may claim and may be accorded some of the privileges of their father's cla.s.s. In this way there is formed in most villages a cla.s.s of persons of ambiguous status, debarred from full membership in the upper cla.s.s by the bar-sinister. Such persons tend to become wholly identified with the upper or middle cla.s.s according to the degrees of their personal merits.

Marriages are sometimes contracted between persons of the middle and slave cla.s.ses. In the case of a young man marrying a slave woman, the owners of the woman will endeavour to persuade him to live with her in their room, when he becomes a subordinate member of their household. If they succeed in this they will claim as their property half the children born to the couple. On the other hand, if the man insists on establishing himself in possession of a room, he may succeed in practically emanc.i.p.ating his wife, perhaps making some compensation to her owners in the shape of personal services or bra.s.s ware. In this case the children of the couple would be regarded as freeborn. It is generally possible for an energetic slave to buy his freedom.

Less frequent is the marriage of a slave man with a free woman of the middle cla.s.s. In this case the man will generally manage to secure his emanc.i.p.ation and to establish himself as master of a room, and to merge himself in the middle cla.s.s. In the case of marriage between two slaves, they continue to live in the rooms of their owners, spending by arrangement periods of two or three years alternately as members of the two households. The children born of such a slave-couple are divided as they grow up between the owners of their parents.

On the whole the slaves are treated with so much kindness and consideration that they have little to complain of, and most of them seem to have little desire to be freed. A capable slave may become the confidant and companion of his master, and in this way may attain a position of considerable influence in the village. A young slave is commonly addressed by his master and mistress as "My Child." A slave is seldom beaten or subjected to any punishment save scolding, and he bears his part freely in the life of the family, sharing in its labours and its recreations, its ill or its good fortunes. Nothing in the dress or appearance of the slave distinguishes him from the other members of the village.

The Family

Very few men have more than one wife. Occasionally a chief whose wife has borne him no children during some years of married life, or has found the labours of entertaining his guests beyond her strength, will with her consent, or even at her request, take a second younger wife. In such a case each wife has her own sleeping apartment within the chief's large chamber, and the younger wife is expected to defer to the older one, and to help her in the work of the house and of the field. The second wife would be chosen of rather lower social standing than the first wife, who in virtue of this fact maintains her ascendancy more easily. A third wife is probably unknown; public opinion does not easily condone a second wife, and would hardly tolerate a third. In spite of the presence of slave women in the houses, concubinage is not recognised or tolerated.

The choice of a wife is not restricted by the existence of any law or custom prescribing marriage without or within any defined group; that is to say, exogamous and endogamous groups do not exist. Incest is regarded very seriously, and the forbidden degrees of kinship are clearly defined. They are very similar to those recognised among ourselves. A man may under no circ.u.mstances marry or have s.e.xual relations with his sister, mother, daughter, father's or mother's sister or half sister, his brother's or sister's daughter; and in the case of those women who stand to him in any of these relations in virtue of adoption, the prohibitions and severe penalties are if possible even more strictly enforced. First cousins may marry, but such marriages are not regarded with favour, and certain special ceremonies are necessitated; and it seems to be the general opinion that such marriages are not likely to prove happy. Many young men of the upper cla.s.s marry girls of the same cla.s.s belonging to neighbouring villages of their own people, aid in some cases this choice falls on a girl of a village of some other tribe. A marriage of the latter kind is often encouraged by the chiefs and elder people, in order to strengthen or to restore friendly relations between the villages.

The initiative is taken in nearly all cases by the youth. He begins by paying attentions somewhat furtively to the girl who attracts his fancy. He will often be found pa.s.sing the evening in her company in her parents' room. There he will display his skill with the KELURI, or the Jew's harp, or sing the favourite love-song of the people, varying the words to suit the occasion. If the girl looks with favour on his advances, she manages to make the fact known to him. Politeness demands that in any case he shall be supplied by the women with lighted cigarettes. If the girl wishes him to stay, she gives him a cigarette tied in a peculiar manner, namely by winding the strip which confines its sheath of dried banana leaf close to the narrow mouth-piece; whereas on all other occasions this strip is wound about the middle of the cigarette. The young man thus encouraged will repeat his visits. If his suit makes progress, he may hope that the fair one will draw out with a pair of bra.s.s tweezers the hairs of his eyebrows and lashes, while he reclines on his back with his head in her lap. If these hairs are very few, the girl will remark that some one else has been pulling them out, an imputation which he repudiates. Or he complains of a headache, and she administers scalp-ma.s.sage by winding tufts of hair about her knuckles and sharply tugging them. When the courtship has advanced to this stage, the girl may attract her suitor to the room by playing on the Jew's harp, with which she claims to be able to speak to him -- presumably the language of the heart. The youth thus encouraged may presume to remain beside his sweetheart till early morning, or to return to her side when the old people have retired. When the affair has reached this stage, it becomes necessary to secure the public recognition which const.i.tutes the relation a formal betrothal. The man charges some elderly friend of either s.e.x, in many cases his father or mother, to inform the chief of his desire. The latter expresses a surprise which is not always genuine; and, if the match is a suitable one, he contents himself with giving a little friendly advice. But if he is aware of any objections to the match he will point them out, and though he will seldom forbid it in direct terms, he will know how to cause the marriage to be postponed.

If the chief and parents favour the match, the young man presents a bra.s.s gong or a valuable bead to the girl's family as pledge of his sincerity. This is returned to him if for any reason beyond his control the match is broken off. The marriage may take place with very little delay; but during the interval between betrothal and marriage the omens are anxiously observed and consulted. All accidents affecting any members of the village are regarded as of evil omen, the more so the more nearly the betrothed parties are concerned in them. The cries of birds and deer are important; those heard about the house are likely to be bad omens, and it is sought to compensate for these by sending a man skilled in augury to seek good omens in the jungle, such as the whistle of the Trogan and of the spider-hunter, and the flight of the hawk from right to left high up in the sky. If the omens are persistently and predominantly bad, the marriage is put off for a year, and after the next harvest fresh omens are sought. The man is encouraged in the meantime to absent himself from the village, in the hope that he may form some other attachment. But if he remains true and favourable omens are obtained, the marriage is celebrated if possible at the close of the harvest. If the marriage takes place at any other time, the feast will be postponed to the end of the following harvest.[40] After the marriage the man lives with his wife in the room of his father-in-law for one, two, or at most three years. During this time he works in the fields of his father-in-law and generally helps in the support of the household, showing great deference towards his wife's parents. Before the end of the third year of marriage, the young couple will acquire for themselves a room in the house and village of the husband, in which they set up housekeeping on their own account. In addition to these personal services rendered to the parents of the bride, the man or his father and other relatives give to the girl's parents at the time of the marriage various articles which are valuable in proportion to the social standing of the parties, and which are generally appropriated by the girl's parents.[41]

Divorce is rare but not unknown among the Kayans. The princ.i.p.al grounds of divorce are misconduct, desertion, incompatibility of temper and family quarrels; or a couple may terminate their state of wedlock by mutual consent on payment of a moderate fine to the chief. Such separation by mutual consent is occasioned not infrequently by the sterility of the marriage, especially if the couple fails to obtain a child for adoption; the parties hope to procure offspring by taking new partners; for the desire for children and pride and joy in the possession of them are strongly felt by all. The husband of a sterile wife may leave the house for a long period, living in the jungle and visiting other houses, in the hope that his wife may divorce him on the ground of desertion, or give him ground for divorcing her. On discovery of misconduct on the woman's part the husband will usually divorce her; the man then retains all property acc.u.mulated since the marriage, and the children are divided between the parents. The co-respondent and respondent are fined by the chief, and half the amount of the fine goes to the injured husband. Misconduct on the part of the man must be flagrant before it const.i.tutes a sufficient ground for his divorce by his wife. In this case the same rules are followed. Among the Kayans the divorce is not infrequently followed by a reconciliation brought about by the intervention of friends; the parties then come together again without further ceremony. There is little formality about the divorce procedure. In the main it takes the form of separation by mutual consent and the condonation of the irregularity by the community on the payment of a fine to the chief.

Adoption

Adoption is by no means uncommon. The desire for children, especially male children, is general and strong; but sterile marriages seem to be known among all the peoples and are common among the Kenyahs. When a woman has remained infertile for some years after her marriage, the couple usually seek to adopt one or more children. They generally prefer the child of a relative, but may take any child, even a captive or a slave child, whose parents are willing to resign all rights in it. A child is often taken over from parents oppressed by poverty, in many cases some article of value or a supply of PADI being given in exchange. Not infrequently the parents wish to have the child returned to them when their affairs take a turn for the better, owing to a good harvest or some stroke of luck, and this is a frequent cause of dissensions. Usually the adopted child takes in every way the position of a child born to the parents.

Some of the Klemantans (Barawans and Lelaks in the Baram) practise a curious symbolic ceremony on the adoption of a child. When a couple has arranged to adopt a child, both man and wife observe for some weeks before the ceremony all the prohibitions usually observed during the later months of pregnancy. Many of these prohibitions may be described in general terms by saying that they imply abstention from every action that may suggest difficulty or delay in delivery; E.G. the hand must not be thrust into any narrow hole to pull anything out of it; no fixing of things with wooden pegs must be done; there must be no lingering on the threshold on entering or leaving a room. When the appointed day arrives, the woman sits in her room propped up and with a cloth round her, in the att.i.tude commonly adopted during delivery. The child is pushed forward from behind between the woman's legs, and, if it is a young child, it is put to the breast and encouraged to suck. Later it receives a new name.

It is very difficult to obtain admission that a particular child has been adopted and is not the actual offspring of the parents; and this seems to be due, not so much to any desire to conceal the facts as to the completeness of the adoption, the parents coming to regard the child as so entirely their own that it is difficult to find words which will express the difference between the adopted child and the offspring. This is especially the case if the woman has actually suckled the child.

Proper Names

The child remains nameless during the first few years, and is spoken of as UKAT if a boy, OWING if a girl, both of which seem to be best translated as Thingumybob; among the Sea Dayaks ULAT (the little grub) is the name commonly used. It is felt that to give the child a name while its hold of life is still feeble is undesirable, because the name would tend to draw the attention of evil spirits to it. During its third or fourth year it is given a name at the same time as a number of other children of the house.[42] The name is chosen with much deliberation, the eldest son and daughter usually receiving the names of a grandfather and grandmother respectively. Male and female names are distinct. The name first given to any person is rarely carried through life; it is usually changed after any severe illness or serious accident, in order that the evil influences that have pursued him may fail to recognise him under the new name; thus the first or infant name of Tama Bulan was Lujah. After bearing it a few years he went through a serious illness, on account of which his name was changed to w.a.n.g. Among the Klemantans it is usual under these circ.u.mstances to name the child after some offensive object, E.G. TAI (dung), in order to render it inconspicuous, and thus withdraw it from the attention of malign powers. After the naming of a couple's first child, the parents are always addressed as father and mother of the child; E.G. if the child's name is OBONG, her father becomes known as TAMA OBONG, her mother as INAI OBONG, and their original names are disused and almost forgotten,[43] unless needed to distinguish the parents from other persons of the same name, when the old names are appended to the new; thus, Tama Obong Jau, if Jau was the original name of Tama Obong; and thus Tama Bulan received this name on the naming of his first child, Bulan (the moon), and when it is wished to distinguish him in conversation from other fathers of the moon he is called Tama Bulan w.a.n.g. If the eldest child OBONG dies, the father, Tama Obong Jau, becomes OYONG JAU; if one of his younger children dies, he becomes AKAM JAU; if his wife dies, he becomes ABAN JAU; if his brother died, he would be called YAT JAU; and if his sister, HAWAN JAU; and if two of these relatives are dead, these t.i.tles are used indifferently; but the deaths of wife and children are predominant over other occasions for the change of name. An elderly man who has no children receives the t.i.tle LINGO, and a woman, the t.i.tle APA prefixed to his or her former name. A widow is called BALU. The names of father and mother are never a.s.sumed by the children, and their deaths do not occasion any change of name, except the adoption of the t.i.tle OYAU on the loss of the father, and ILUN on the loss of the mother. These t.i.tles would be used only until the man became a father. When a man becomes a grandfather his t.i.tle is LAKI (E.G. LAKI JAU), and this t.i.tle supersedes all others. A child addresses, and speaks of, his father as TAMAN, and his mother as INAI or TINAN, and all four grandparents as POI. The parent commonly addresses the child, even when adult, as ANAK, or uses his proper name. A father's brother is addressed as AMAI, but this t.i.tle is used also as a term of respect in addressing any older man not related in any degree, even though he be of a different tribe or race. They use the word INAI for aunt as well as for mother, and some have adopted the Malay term MA MANAKAN for aunt proper. The same is true of the words for nephew and niece -- the Malay term ANAK MANAKAN being used for both.

The terms used to denote degrees of kinship are few, and are used in a very elastic manner. The term of widest connotation is PARIN IGAT, which is equivalent to our cousin used in the wider or Scotch sense; it is applied to all blood relatives of the same generation, and is sometimes used in a metaphorical sense much as we use the term brother. There are no words corresponding to our words son and daughter, ANAK meaning merely child of either s.e.x. There are no words corresponding to brother and sister; both are spoken of as PARIN, but this word is often used as a t.i.tle of endearment in addressing or speaking of a friend of either s.e.x of the same social standing and age as the speaker. The children of the same parents speak of themselves collectively as PANAK; this term also is sometimes used loosely and metaphorically. A step-father is TAMAN DONG; father-in-law is TAMAN DIVAN; forefather is SIPUN, a term used of any male or female ancestor more remote than the grandparents; but these are merely descriptive and not terms of address. A man of the upper cla.s.s not uncommonly has a favourite companion of the middle cla.s.s, who accompanies him everywhere and renders him a.s.sistance and service, and shares his fortunes (FIDUS ACHATES in short); him he addresses as BAKIS, and the t.i.tle is used reciprocally. A t.i.tle reciprocally used by those who are very dear friends, especially by those who have enjoyed the favours of the same fair one, is TOYONG (or among the Sea Dayaks -- IMPRIAN).

This list includes all the important Kayan terms used to denote personal relations and kinship, so far as we know; and we think it very improbable that any have escaped us. There seem to be no secret names, except in so far as names discarded on account of misfortune are not willingly recalled or communicated; but a child's name is seldom used, and adults also seem to avoid calling on one another by their proper names, especially when in the jungle, the t.i.tle alone, such as OYONG, or ABAN being commonly used; apparently owing to some vaguely conceived risk of directing to the individual named the attentions of malevolent powers.[44]

The foregoing account of the social organisation of the Kayans applies equally well to the Kenyahs, except that some of the t.i.tles used are different. The Klemantans and Muruts, too, present few important differences except that the power of the chiefs is decidedly less, and the distinction of the social strata less clearly marked, and slaves are less numerous. The Sea Dayak social organisation is also similar in most of its features. The most important of the differences presented by it are the following: -- Polygamy is not allowed, and occurs only illicitly. Both parties are fined when the facts are discovered. Divorce is very common and easily obtained; the marriage relation, being surrounded with much less solemnity, is more easily entered into and dissolved. Infidelity and mutual agreement are the common occasions of divorce. Either party can readily secure his or her freedom by payment of a small fine. There are both men and women who have married many times; a tenth husband or wife is not unknown; and a marriage may be dissolved within a week of its consummation.

The Sea Dayak, like all the other peoples, regards incest very seriously, and the forbidden degrees of kinship are well understood and very similar to those of Kayans.

A Sea Dayak village consists in almost every case of a single house, but such houses are generally grouped within easy reach of one another. Very few slaves are to be found in their houses, since the Ibans usually take the heads of all their conquered enemies rather than make slaves of them.