Sea cow used for Iban hilts

[VVV]

Arjan,

On Steller's sea cow he doesn't claim that mine are that, only sea cow. The dugong, the one of the living species closest to Steller's, is found outside Borneo.
I am not a "hilt-material guy" myself so I will probably put you into contact with one that is and then it would be interesting to read your conclusions.
Your words "animistic Dayak" reminded me of an idea I got when he first told me about it being sea cow (Alan, please don't read this because I am speculating based on documented folklore from neighbouring places )
If you are in the forest you want to have hilt material made from wood or a forest animal not to disturb the ruler of the forest. But if you are planning to join a pirate trip on the sea the ruler of the sea would be very angry if you had a hilt from a land based animal on your sword and ship (wood seems to be neutral being found both in the forest and drifting around on the sea).
This corresponds to the beliefs of the Malay fishermen who even had a special language to avoid mentioning land based animals when on the sea not to disturb the ruler of the sea. One version is the one studied (Annandale 1903) in Patani and Pahang where for instance a horse was renamed chehweh dras (= fishing language prefix + fast) and a buddhist monk chehweh kuning (prefix + yellow).

Michael

[Mytribalworld]

Originally Posted by VVV

Arjan,

On Steller's sea cow he doesn't claim that mine are that, only sea cow. The dugong, the one of the living species closest to Steller's, is found outside Borneo.
I am not a "hilt-material guy" myself so I will probably put you into contact with one that is and then it would be interesting to read your conclusions.
Your words "animistic Dayak" reminded me of an idea I got when he first told me about it being sea cow (Alan, please don't read this because I am speculating based on documented folklore from neighbouring places )
If you are in the forest you want to have hilt material made from wood or a forest animal not to disturb the ruler of the forest. But if you are planning to join a pirate trip on the sea the ruler of the sea would be very angry if you had a hilt from a land based animal on your sword and ship (wood seems to be neutral being found both in the forest and drifting around on the sea).
This corresponds to the beliefs of the Malay fishermen who even had a special language to avoid mentioning land based animals when on the sea not to disturb the ruler of the sea. One version is the one studied (Annandale 1903) in Patani and Pahang where for instance a horse was renamed chehweh dras (= fishing language prefix + fast) and a buddhist monk chehweh kuning (prefix + yellow).

Michael

But that should include that most seadayaks never travelled the sea with their deerantler handled swords and that those with the seacow handled sword never saw their wife and kids on the land.
If I must choose between an angry sea and an angry wife...... Hmmmmm....

[VVV]

Originally Posted by mandaukudi

But that should include that most seadayaks never travelled the sea with their deerantler handled swords and that those with the seacow handled sword never saw their wife and kids on the land.
If I must choose between an angry sea and an angry wife...... Hmmmmm....

Ha, ha, ha, not quite.
Please note that I only found sea cow hilts on the langgai tinggang (= sea dayak war swords), not the ilang (both war and utility swords).
In a way the hypothesis might also explain why you find some very high status parang with wooden hilts.
And as usual with folklore it can be quite local, just a small area. It might even be a requirement from the ship owners according to their beliefs.
But anyway I will try to find time later tonight to check some of my articles and books on Iban customs to see if I find something more about customs at sea.

Michael

[VANDOO]

IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY ANYTHING OTHER THAN DUGONG BONES WOULD BE USED AS THEY ARE THE ONLY MEMBERS OF THIS GROUP OF ANIMALS IN THE REGION AND WERE KNOWN AND HUNTED FOR FOOD. STELLER SEA COW BONES WOULD STILL BE AVAILABLE IN SOME NORTHERN LOCATIONS IN OLD TRASH HEAPS NEAR CAMPS OF WHALERS AND ESKIMOS. THE BONE WOULD NOT HAVE FOSSILIZED AND MAY STILL BE USED BY LOCAL TRIBES??
THE STELLER SEA COW BONES MIGHT BE A BIT LARGE FOR MANDAU HANDLES ANYWAY AS ADULTS WERE AROUND 30 FEET LONG. THERE ARE STILL REPORTED SIGHTINGS IN THE REGIONS WHERE THEY USED TO LIVE BUT NO CONFIRMATION OF ANY SURVIVORS SO FAR.
STELLAR SEA COW SKELETON

[fearn]

For modern hilts, there's a company that's making Alaskan ulus with "mermaid bone" aka Steller's Sea Cow bone. As with fossil mammoth tusks, the material is available. I don't know how far it ships, but I'd be unsurprised to see "mermaid bone" show up in any *modern* hilt.

As for traditional hilts, that's a different issue entirely.

F

[VVV]

Thanks for publishing the picture of the sea cow skeleton!
It's easy to imagine that if you see such a skeleton on the beach you might think of a sea dragon, if that is a part of your world-view's probabilities.
In Hornbill and Dragon, by Bernard Sellato (1989), his, maybe a bit simplified, cosmology of the Dayak is that the Upperworld is the Hornbill and the Underworld the Dragon. On page 44 he writes "In the arts, other reptilian or aquatic animals - crocodiles, lizards, turtles, snakes, frogs, and fish - are equal to the dragon." On the same page he also claims "The Bornean dragon corresponds to the Indian makara water-monster..."
So why don't we see dragons on the parang hilts? Actually now and then you see a lizard hilt, even if it's quite rare (enclosed are 2 examples from Hornbill and Dragon). And below them is an example of a Makara on an Iban Jimpul from my collection. But these seem to be more of an exception than a rule.

Back to the hypothesis on if Malay beliefs somehow might have influenced Ibans when they started to travel by sea for their raids. I have used some quite old sources to investigate this because already in the late 1800's the British quenched those raids. Actually it was the same time that the Langgai Tinggang and the Nyabur were more commonly used as Iban war swords.
It is evident that the Ibans, who originally came from the inlands of Borneo, became pirating Sea Dayaks (instead of River Dayaks) first after they had contact with the coastal Malays of Sarawak. Here are some supports for this:

"The Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran, a brave and noble people, were taught piracy by the Malays who dwelt among them. These Dyaks were always head-hunters, and used to pull the oars in the Malay prahus for the sake of the heads of the slain, which they alone cared for. But, in course of time, the Dyaks became expert seamen. They built boats which they called bangkongs, and went out with the Malays, devastating the coast and killing Malays, Chinese, Dyaks, whoever they met with."
Sketches of Our Life at Sarawak, by Harriette McDougall (1882)

"The Sea Dyak's history likewise shows a growth of headworship parallel to the increasing importance of war. When they were mere agriculturalists. fighting only among one another over disputed ownership of land, they used to take the heads of their enemies slain in these battles; but it was not until the Malays taught them to grow rich by piracy that the passion for head-hunting became deeply rooted, and that they went on expeditions for the avowed purpose of getting heads."
The Influence of War and Agriculture upon the Religion of Kayans and Sea Dayaks of Borneo, by Margaretta Morris (1904).

Below is also enclosed a part copied from On the Wild Tribes of the North-West Coast of Borneo, by Lord Bishop of Labuan (1863) - Pasted Graphic 2.pdf.

The Lord Bishop also confirms the practice of secret languages among the Sea Dayaks - Pasted Graphic 3.pdf.

In The Relations Between Men and Animals in Sarawak, by Charles Hose; W. McDougall (1901) the authors confirm that the Iban have a lot of contact with the Malays and that this contact has influenced their belief system - Pasted Graphic 4.pdf.
They also give another reason why maybe an Iban would like to have something from a sea cow as a hilt and why it is so rare to see it - Pasted Graphic 5.pdf.

Michael

[VVV]

Too bad that my experiment with enclosing pdf files didn't work out as planned. But if you click on them you can read the copied texts.

Arjan, of course you are welcome to see any of my Langgai Tinggai whenever you feel like it but let's do it in private to focus on the thread theme.
I agree on the sea-river part and that's what I try to sort out above. Most expeditions were on the rivers but some were also on the open sea to more distant places. Those expeditions were usually performed together with Malays and other more experienced seafarers.

Michael

[Mytribalworld]

Originally Posted by VVV

Ha, ha, ha, not quite.
Please note that I only found sea cow hilts on the langgai tinggang (= sea dayak war swords), not the ilang (both war and utility swords).
In a way the hypothesis might also explain why you find some very high status parang with wooden hilts.
And as usual with folklore it can be quite local, just a small area. It might even be a requirement from the ship owners according to their beliefs.
But anyway I will try to find time later tonight to check some of my articles and books on Iban customs to see if I find something more about customs at sea.

Michael

Hi Michael,

I'm curious what you will find, I can image that Malay shippers had such requirements but I wonder if already we have problems with seeing the difference the shipper would and if the dayak would tell him the truth.

If the dayak themself had such requirements, I wonder how they should do that if transport on Borneo is mostly over the river.
should they make the difference between river and sea ? ( note that the villages in many cases of the big headhuntingraids where attacked from the sea and following the river upstreams)

other thing is ..do you have a pic of the whole Langgai with that Kenya like handle ? it would be interesting

Arjan