The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

84 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
It happens not infrequently that one son or
daughter, remaining unmarried, continues to live in
the household of the parents and to look after them
in their old age. To such a one some valuable
article, such as a string of old beads or costly jar, is
usually bequeathed.
Among the Sea Dayaks the old jars, which
constitute the chief part of a man's wealth, are
distributed among both sons and daughters ; if the
jars are too few for equal distribution, they are
jointly owned until one can buy out the shares of
his co-owners.
The members of a Kayan household are bound
together, not merely by their material circumstances,
such as their shelter under a common roof and their
participation in common labours, and not merely by
the moral bonds such as kinship and their allegiance
to one chief and loyalty to one another, but also by
more subtle ties, of which the most important is their
sharing in the protection and warning afforded to
the whole house by the omen-birds or by the higher
powers served by these. For omens are observed
for the whole household, and hold good only for those
who live under the one roof. This spiritual unity
of the household is jealously guarded. Occasionally
one family may wish for some reason, such as bad
dreams or much sickness, to withdraw from the
house. If the rest of the household is unwilling to
remove to a new house, they will oppose such withdrawal,
and, if the man insists on separating, a fine
is imposed on him, and he is compelled to leave
undisturbed the roof and all the main structure of his
section of the house ;
though the room would be left
unoccupied. Conversely Kayans are very unwilling
to admit any family to become members of the
household. They never or seldom add sections to
a house which has once been completed ; and young
married couples must live in their parents' rooms,