The Kajang
The Kajang are a group of smaller tribes who lived in the Baluy Basin (Kajang term) on the Upper Rejang River. These groups include the Sekapan, Kejaman, La’anam, Punan Ba, Seping and Bah Mali. With the invasion of the Kayan, these groups continued to live in the area while others emigrated or disappeared. Each of the above groups had its own language and customs. It was these smaller groups that gave themselves the collective name of Kajang.
The Kayan invasion was stopped by the punitive expedition organized by Rajah Charles in 1863 but the Kayan influence has remained. Kajang lands are interspersed between Kayang holdings. The top aristocracy of each of the Kajang tribes have intermarried with the Kenyan.
The Kajang have tried to make themselves different from the Kayan. They state the Kajang have a different work ethic from the Kayans. Food taboos, details in the construction of their houses, burial customs, the cult of sacred stones, the cycles of planting, the sayings of their shamans and women’s tattoo patterns are all different from the Kenyans.
The Kajang village is formed by a longhouse divided into two equal parts overlooking the river. On the side near the river is a long through fare which serves as a gathering place, playground for children and drying area for rice and sago. The other side is divided into independent apartments opening onto a gallery. Each of these apartments houses 1-3 nuclear families always closely related.
Each village is surrounded by a territory that contains reserves of virgin forests, gardens, orchards clumps of sago and large stretches of arable land. The arable land is divided into cultivated blocks and thence into sections.
There is no institution beyond the chief and the village council. The children belong to the mother and father equally. All members own in common all their real and movable property. Marriage is strictly monogenic and is prohibited up to the third cousin. The payment of the bride price is paid to the elder brother of the bride. The money is then distributed to members of the clan closest to him.
The newlyweds can live with the parents of the bride or groom. However, more than 80% live with the wife’s family even though the marriage ceremony states that the wife will go with the husband which occurs in only 20% of the marriages.
There seems to be some link between him and his sister born after him. They are very close. (the author says “the solidarity of the sororal group and the very particular link, marked with affectivity between a man and is sister borne immediately after him. It is the solidarity of the sisters together with numerous tactics they use to reinforce and the soroal link metonymic teknonymy which explains the strong prominence of uxorilocality” …whatever that means…)
The Kajang kinship terminology is very simple. It includes 19 terms without distinction of for the sex of the relative. The only exceptions are ama (father),ina (mother) ayup (wife’s brother or sisters husband) and finally lango for all the other sibling in-laws. He calls the sister that immediately follows him as dranya due to their exceptional closeness.
Calling the parents the names of their children is very frequently used. They also have a system of names for after death. Avan is for a man to be used after death, the death of his wife or the death of his close little sister. Balou is used for his wife.
The Kajang divide society into three classes: the aristocrats (linau laja) free commoners (panyin) and slaves (dipan). With the freedom of the slaves, the Kajang exist in one mass with the exceptions of the ruling families who are closely aligned with the Kayans. Some of the former aristocratic families keep the memory of their parents and grandparents past positions alive through songs and recitations.
From:
Brian L. de Martinoir Notes of the Kajang in the Sarawak Museum Journal 1974
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