Rambang Ngawan, OP
On Family
Selected from:
CHAPTER
IV: ON FAMILIAL LAW. Part One:
Family Bond According to Adat. Verse
56
This law regulates the parental,
filial, and fraternal adoption in a cultural sense. What should be noticed here
is the possible reasons that this adoption can happen. The following are the
reasons:
a) As
the highest expression of peace resulting from
disagreements/clash/disputes.
b) Due
to an intimate rapport which then raises the desire of both parties to tighten
this bond in the form of a familial adoption.
c) As an immeasurable expression of gratitude
followed from an extraordinary favor done by somebody for the safety of his or
her life and valuables.
d) Resulting
from a dream, in this case there are three levels of familial adoption;
1) Adopting
a father/mother
2) Adopting
a child
3) Adopting
a brother/sister
What
is unique with this familial adoption, particularly in a parental adoption, is
the rites of slightly cutting up the skin of the upper right breast of the
parents to get some drops of blood. The blood will be mixed with tuak and to be drunk by the child. This
rite symbolizes that the child has possessed the blood of his or her adopted
parents and that the child will receive an equal parental treatment as given to
the full-blooded descendants of the adopted parents. And in return, the child
has the full responsibility to take care of his or her adopted parents as what
the child must do to his or her biological parents. However, in the case of a
couple adopting a child, the rite of cutting up the skin is not applicable.
Hukum Adat
(traditional law) also regulates the duties of both parents and children in
sustaining the well-being of their family. The parents have the responsibility
to take care, to educate, and to raise their children in order to become
persons who bring goodness to their family, society and country even until
their marriage. On the other hand, the children hold the responsibility to take
care of their parents as a concrete sign of highest dedication especially to
their aged parents.
On Living in a
Society
There
are some noble practices that the Hukum
Adat (traditional law) has recorded as a key to a dynamic living in Dayak
Uud Danum society. We will only select some of these cultural practices that
can prove how Dayak Uud Danum people put a high value to communal dimension of
living. These practices will inform us whereby the person of Dayak Uud Danum
has the awareness that existing with other fellow human beings and other forms
of being is an eminent way of showing how humans can bridge the harmony between
the natural and supernatural worlds. Some of the noble practices are as follows:
a) Nyahkai buak. It
is a traditional ceremony held on the grand fruit season by bringing any kinds
of local fruits from one village to another village with the people walking
together as a crowd. Inside the house of the recipient of this fruit offering will
be made a mass of fruits that forms a crocodile and two bowls will be attached
to the face as its eyes. This crocodile-like mass of fruits will then be
covered with a piece of batik cloth by the chief Adat and will later be disbanded in another traditional ceremony
following it starting from the head to the tail and then be distributed to all
the guests present if possible.
b) Hola/ngola. It
is an activity motivated by a zealous person to assemble the whole villagers
spontaneously and bringing with them a cultural device that is called sahkai-pulang[1]
to go to somebody’s rice field for harvesting, after informing the owner or
even without informing the owner, as a form of rendering a favor.
c) Handop.
It is a communal effort done by alternation to finish agricultural works or in
any other communal concerns.
On Male and
Female Relationship
On
male and female relationship, both genders must respect the values that have
become the governing system of interpersonal interactions in Dayak Uud Danum
society. Any violations against such values will imply sanctions given to the
doers as constituted in Hukum Adat
(traditional law). Hukum Adat (traditional
law) must be the safeguard of morality in order for each individual in Dayak
Uud Danum society not to bring disgrace to their community. But more than this,
it is the task of Hukum Adat
(traditional law) to be the agent of moral formation of the Dayaks.
We
will only take one example of the rules constituted in Hukum Adat (traditional law) that govern the matters concerning
traditional marriage proposal, engagement and matrimonial ceremony in Dayak Uud
Danum society. The following is the example:
Translation:
Balang ngisok is from the male side who cancels the
engagement which will have a penal sanction for disrespecting the feelings and
the reputation of the girl’s family and consequently the man will be sanctioned
with sesupan basa.[2]
The same case is also applicable to the female who cancels the engagement while
in fact she has clearly known that she has already accepted the pinjan pengumbang[3]
from the representative of the man’s family.
On Violence
In
Chapter X of the Hukum Adat that
basically speaks about violence (quarrels, unrest, etc.), we will find in the
introduction to the chapter the main cause of violence. The following is the
statement:
Translation:
There
are several things that can cause quarrels/unrest/disagreements (read: physical
and verbal violence). However all of these will only lead to one main issue,
that it is the failure to internalize adat-istiadat
(the traditional religious beliefs and practices), etiquettes of relationships
among family members, societies, ethnics and groups. The pride of claiming that
one is always correct and does not humbly admit one’s mistake, the family, the
society, the tribe, or the ethnic group and the attitude of imposing one’s will
on others without considering the law and the norms, and religious values that
form all people the right path towards peace.
The highlight of Chapter X is Dayak
Uud Danum’s unpretentious commitment to keeping the individuals and society in
peace and mutual respect. To actualize this commitment, Dayak Uud Danum’s Adat formulates an oath that would
assure every generation of the peace that is desired and valued. The content of
the oath in its nature is very imposing and life-threatening but it is none
other than for the well-being of the people and for the service of peace. The
following is the oath:
Translation:
“Hai Jahta Mohotara (God creator of the universe)
anybody from both quarrelling parties (mention the name or the ethnic group)
who is still keeping grudge, is intending to raise another riot and other evil
conducts with transparency or silent motive, may you punish them, give them the
horror of death, flying like ashes (while scattering the ashes), their souls
will be taken away and be kept away from blessings for them and their
descendants, and suffer and the curse goes down to their descendants who have
evil intentions until they finally realize that they have become indifferent to
other people’s desire for peace.”
On Etiquettes
Second
part of Chapter XV on Social Life enumerates to us the
etiquettes that are fostered by Dayak Uud Danum society. The underlying message
in this particular chapter is the awareness that as social beings Dayak Uud
Danum people must be oriented towards highly valued peace. The following are
examples on how Dayak Uud Danum promote the significance of etiquettes:
Translation:
Verse
115
1) If
someone is angry and with his or her words containing some kinds of threat, he
or she will be sanctioned with adat
kesuhpan (violation of showing disrespect) to the one being threatened.
2) If
a couple are quarrelling inside the house of other people, they will be sanctioned
with hukum adat kesuhpan to the owner
of the house.
On Death
For
Dayak Uud Danum society, death is seen as the entry passage to the return to
the Creator (Jahta Mohotara), the
owner of life and death. For the Dayaks, the ancestors or the dead members are
considered to be the helpers of the living family members and especially in
providing them with good fortunes and protection. And for Dayak Uud Danum, death rites can be
divided into two major stages. The first stage is the ordinary rite for the burial
of the dead (Nanom) and the second
stage, or the culminating stage of death rites, consists of two parts i.e. Nyolat and Dalo’. Nyolat is the
first stage of this culminating rite for Dayak Uud Danum death rites. It can be
performed on the fourteenth day after the day of burial and fourteen days of
mourning. However, Nyolat can also be
performed right after the burial rite of the dead (Nanom).
The
last stage of this culminating rite for Dayak Uud Danum death rites is Dalo’. Dalo’ is a ceremony of exhuming the skeletons of the dead member
who is being commemorated and then placed inside Sandung (a mini house where the skeletons will be placed). Dalo’ is also called upacara pengangkatan tulang (the
ceremony of skeletons lifting). Dalo’
is considered as the highest expression of gratitude of Dayak Uud Danum
community towards the dead members of their family, especially of the children
towards their parents. There are many
restrictions or taboos in the death rites of Dayak Uud Danum that must be
strictly observed which is indicative of Dayak Uud Danum’s emphasis on showing
full respect to the dead and the mourning family.
On the Purpose
of Hukum Adat/Traditional Law
The traditional
law regulates Dayak Uud Danum society in their entire process of existence:
from birth to death. Hukum Adat
(traditional law) is a set of social and legal norms that is perceived to be
worthwhile and to be defended in order to create a condition for a peaceful
living towards a just and flourishing society. It has become the ‘traffic
regulation’ of life among individuals which is ordinarily called Adat Istiadat. Those who live according
to these Adat Istiadat and Hukum Adat are the ones to be looked up
and can be the edifying examples of living as a true Dayak Uud Danum persons.
So finally,
after encountering the traces of Dayak Uud Danum personalism as found in the
book of Hukum Adat (traditional law),
we can then make a hypothesis that Kolunon/
Dayak Uud Danum Person is a Dayak Uud
Danum individual whose life is deeply rooted in adat istiadat (traditional religious practices and beliefs) and hukum adat (traditional law) that Dayak
Uud Danum society always cherishes from time memorial and whose actions are
gearing towards the achievement of the cosmic balance.
In the next
part, we shall discuss one very important worldview of the Dayaks that becomes
the motivating principle of all their actions.
The Cosmic Balance[5]
Cosmos
can be considered as the whole, ordered and integrated universe that works as
one dynamic system. Adopting the meaning of cosmos,
as being seen from a cultural vintage point, the cosmic balance is our option
to explain Dayak people’s worldview of keeping the harmony in the universe. The
cosmic balance is not a concretely coined term that is taught from generation
to generation but it is in the consciousness of the Dayaks. Through their
traditional religious beliefs and practices and traditional law as well, the
Dayaks are indirectly keeping in mind that the universe must always maintain
its balance. This is true to any traditional human societies that are still
holding to such belief in the sacred. This idea of cosmic balance gives the
Dayaks a deep sense of teleological mindset and their responsibility towards
respecting other forms of created beings.
As
what has been repeatedly said, the Dayaks do not dichotomize the world in
dealing with it. The world is always seen as one and created in the
characteristic of relation. The loss of this sense of cosmic balance will
surely bring the totality of creation into damnation. In fact, this thing is
happening in Dayak Uud Danum society. In many parts of Borneo, deforestation
and monocultural plantation are slowly damaging the environment, leaving the
Dayaks in a miserable condition. Slowly, their ecological orientation is being
diverted into the pursuit of economic profit. Nature/Alam is then seen as a usable object for attaining the highest peak
of human satisfaction. The long bond of brotherhood with nature/Alam has been terribly damaged and
instead it is substituted with the greed of humanity.
At
this point in time, we ask what has their relationship with the sacred taught
the Dayaks? Is it a mere concept of any sort of relation? Is it perceived as
not having any logical truth? What can such attitude influence in our treatment
towards nature/Alam? As a matter of fact, humans are now facing
the effects of all the destructions that they have made. In the Dayak’s
relationship with the sacred, we can see a deep ecological awareness that pushes
us forward to make a strong bond of brotherhood with nature. Such ecological
awareness teaches us a lot about humility, that we humans, scientifically
speaking, emerged only “yesterday” into the history of the universe (the
earliest ancestors of human beings appeared about six million years ago during
the Tertiary Period)[6] where in fact the universe
has long been providing the possibility of living for other creatures since
billions of years ago.
The person of Dayak Uud Danum as
projected in the traditional law then has a clear stand that his or her actions
are always for the sustenance of cosmic balance. As long as Adat Istiadat and Hukum Adat are being preserved and observed, the idea of cosmic
balance will always live in the minds and hearts of the Dayaks.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lessons to
Learn
From
the study of Kolunon of Dayak Uud
Danum we can learn some lessons. One is that when a certain society is losing
its sense of identity, it must go back to the sources that give the people
assurance of who they are. As Dayak Uud Danum people are now faced with
modernity that is introduced to them, they must stand on their ground and
redefine themselves lest time will consume them to the point of identity
nihilism. Identity is always important as a principle of specification and this
of course gives a lot of confirmation to our mode of living as unique
individuals. The Dayaks themselves have been told that the kind of belief and
the manner of living that they have been practicing are out of date and thus
need some kind of adjustment. Indeed, the Dayaks themselves are aware of the
fast changing civilization of the world. However, many Dayak thinkers opine
that the Dayaks are being imposed to accept modernity as a mode of living. Many
indeed for an exchange of modernity have left behind the precious values that
make the Dayaks unique in the eyes of the world especially in the way they deal
with nature/Alam.
Another
lesson is the sacred worldview of Dayak Uud Danum can really help this universe
find its way to recovery. As for the Dayaks, the world or nature/Alam is a venue to experience the
brotherhood that keeps both man and nature/Alam
in unity. As they are reflecting on this relation, the Dayaks then created
a belief system in the forms of Adat
Istiadat and Hukum Adat that
could always maintain this brotherhood with nature/Alam resulting from their
experiences with nature in the spiritual and physical level. The world in this
sense has become a provider of the rich cultures and traditions that the Dayaks
can always be proud of.
Lastly,
the Dayaks always believe that it is their awareness towards the existence of
other beings, the relation that has been nurtured ever since, that gives them
the power to act as the guardian of nature/Alam.
In this way, the world is not to be used as an object to man’s selfish
interests but must be recognized as a mode of relating. The Dayaks are certain
that there are other forms of being (the pure spirits) that find their home in
the world. They are convinced that there is existence beyond man’s perception.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A.
Primary Sources
Hukum
Adat Suku Dayak Uud Danum Kecamatan Serawai dan Ambalau. Kabupaten Sintang
(2002). Unpublished material.
Muhrotien,
Andreas. Rekonstruksi Identitas Dayak. Yogyakarta:
TICI Publications, 2012.
B.
Secondary Sources
Books
Alloy,
Sujarni, et al. Mozaic Dayak: Keragaman
Subetnik dan Bahasa Dayak di Kalimantan Barat. Pontianak: Institut
Dayakologi, 2008.
Hornedo,
Florentino H. Pagpapakatao and Other
Essays in Contemporary Philosophy and Literature of Ideas. Manila: UST
Publishing House, 2002.
Novak,
Michael. Belief and Unbelief: A
Philosophy of Self-Knowledge. New York: Macmillan, 1965.
Odop,
Nistain and Frans Lakon. Dayak Menggugat.
Pontianak, Indonesia: Pintu Cerdas, 2009.
Unpublished Materials
Benediktus,
“Understanding God Through Nature: Dayak Cultural Philosophy of Religion.”
Master’s thesis, University of Santo Tomas, 2008.
On-line Sources
About.com on Asian
History. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/glossaryko/g/Majapahit-Empire.htm
(accessed on December 17, 2013).
Kec.
Serawai (blog). http://kecserawai.blogspot.com/2011/05/uud-danum.html
Microsoft Encarta Kids 2009
[1] Nistain Odop and Frans Lakon, Dayak Menggugat (Pontianak, Indonesia:
Pintu Cerdas, 2009), 6. The original print of the book is written in Indonesian
language. For the non-Indonesian readers to be able to understand the citation,
we then take the initiative to translate the cited line into English without
changing the essential meaning of the citation. The same thing will be done for
the succeeding citations from the same book.
[2] Dr. Andreas Muhrotien, M.Si, Rekonstruksi Identitas Dayak (Yogyakarta:
TICI Publications, 2012), 58. The original print of the book is written in
Indonesian language. The same principle of translating as in Dayak Menggugat will also be applied in
this book.
[3] Odop,
Nistain and Frans Lakon. Dayak Menggugat.
Pontianak, Indonesia: Pintu Cerdas, 2009, 31.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Muhrotien, Rekonstruksi Identitas, 41.
[6] Dayak Uud Danum is one of the
sub-ethnics of the Dayak people that reside in Ambalau and Serawai Districts,
Sintang Region. The word Uud Danum after
Dayak signifies the specific sub-ethic to distinguish themselves from other sub-ethnics
of the Dayaks, the indgenious people of Borneo Island. The word uud danum itself can be understood as
fallows. Uud means “the upper course
of river,” but uud can also denote an
“ethnic group.” This explanation can be proved true when we call other people
as Uud Mosiou, Uud Hobukot, Uud Bohokam
and Uud Mindap which all of these
names mean people or ethnic groups. On the other hand, danum is “water” or can also be translated as “river.” So,
literally the word Uud Danum means
“upper course of river.” With this etymological explanation, Dayak Uud Danum
can be understood as the Dayaks who live in the upper course of a river. Cf. “Uud
Danum,” Kec. Serawai (blog), April
24, 2013, http://kecserawai.blogspot.com/2011/05/uud-danum.html
(accessed on June 24, 2013). The source for this article on Uud Danum comes
from the book Mozaik Dayak. Cf. Sujarni Alloy, et al., Mozaic Dayak: Keberagaman Subsuku dan Bahasa Dayak di Kalimantan Barat (Pontianak:
Institut Dayakologi, 2008).
[7] The original
source of the story is written in Indonesian language. In order for the
non-Indonesian readers to be able to understand the citation, we take the
initiative to translate the cited line into English with several grammatical
modifications for the sake of easy comprehension of the story without changing
the essential parts of the story. Cf. Kec. Serawai (blog). http://kecserawai.blogspot.com/2011/05/uud-danum.html
[2]Sesupan basa/kosuhpan
is a term for sanction or fine to the one who ill-refutes the good name
(dignity) of the other person or a community/village.
[3]Pinjan pengumbang
is an antique porcelain bowl used for the engagement rite or marriage proposal
brought by the male family to the house of the female family.
[4] This image is from the
researcher’s personal collection.
[5] The term cosmic balance (keseimbangan kosmos) is used by Dr. Andreas
Muhrotien, M.Si in his book Rekonstruksi
Identitas Dayak (Yogyakarta: TICI Publications, 2012) to explain Dayak
worldview of their constant strife to sustain the harmony between the world
that we live in (the physical world) and the world where supernatural beings
are. However, in the daily practice, the dividing line between these two worlds
is almost tenuous. For the Dayaks, the world that we live in is also a home for
the supernatural beings. That is why the ancient Dayaks were animists because
they believed that different spirits lived in rocks, trees, rivers, etc. These
spirits, both good and evil, always intervene in the lives of the Dayaks. The
good and the bad things that recur in the lives of the Dayaks are believed to
result from the interventions of these spirits. Thus, in order to sustain this cosmic balance, the Dayaks must never
provoke the wrath of both the visible and invisible beings surrounding them by
their misconducts. Cosmic here is a
borrowed term from a Greek word cosmos
[nature]. The equivalent Indonesian translation for this word is alam. For the sake of the non-Indonesian
readers, cosmic balance is a translation from Indonesian terms for keseimbangan alam. However, the term keseimbangan alam has no particular
linguistic expression in the local language of Dayak Uud Danum.
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