The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

78 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
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 oi 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
attitude 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.