Archive for November, 2009

03
Nov

Dusun Marriage

Posted by Crys Joan

Maybe i was too young when my late grandma used to tell me about how the originally marriage in Dusun celebrated. I can’t remember any! But i remember she was telling me about it..hmmm…something wrong with my memories then icon razz Dusun Marriage ..

Unsatisfied, i google up info about Dusun Marriage, and here’s what i found!

Well anyone out there who can give more info, please feel free to put any comments here ! icon biggrin Dusun Marriage

Marriages are typically monogamous, although polygynous marriage is permitted between older, wealthy males and younger females believed capable of producing healthy infants.

Dusun commonly prohibit marriage with any first or second cousin and view marriage with third cousins as distasteful. There is some freedom in choosing marriage partners, within limits set by Dusun culture. Following an arrangement to marry between a man and a woman, often made in secret, formal discussions concerning marriage are initiated by the man’s father, paternal grandfather, or a father’s brother with the woman’s father, paternal grandfather, or a father’s brother.

Marriage involves direct and substantial payment by a groom to the father of the bride. Marriages tend to be locally exogamous. Following marriage, couples routinely establish independent family households close to both their families, although a newly married couple may reside initially with the groom’s father and occasionally with the bride’s father while working to accumulate enough wealth to establish an independent household. Termination of marriage, other than through death of a spouse, requires initial arbitration by a community leader, then a formal hearing if the effort at reconciliation fails. A ritual fine may be required of an individual found to be at fault in the dissolution of a marriage.

Domestic Unit. The nuclear family is the minimal family unit occupying a household. Some relatives may be added to the nuclear family as the need arises to support them, particularly if they are aged, ill, or handicapped. These relatives are expected to assist in some way in the household unit.

Inheritance. The Dusun traditionally follow the general principle that all children should receive a fair share of the estates of their parents. A child who cares for an aged parent before death may receive some special additional consideration in property inheritance. A husband has little control over the property brought to a marriage by his wife. The Dusun have developed and use a traditional system for deciding complex questions concerning the distribution of property.

Socialization. Parents tend to share the care of infants and young children. Older siblings often care for infants and young children when parents are away from the household at work. The process of cultural transmission traditionally provides for a long period of freedom from most tasks for maturing children, with few restrictions on their behavior. Then, at about 11 or 12 years of age, children are expected to begin to participate in daily work activities and to be responsible members of their families and community. Prior to this age children are considered by parents to be naturally inclined to noisiness and illness, somewhat temperamental, easily offended, quick to forget, and prone to wandering away from home.

Dusun parents try to shape this nature through use of a wide variety of specific physical and verbal rewards and punishments. Because infants and young children are not viewed as competent humans until they reach about 11 or 12 years of age, they are not judged harshly or punished by parents when they misbehave.

Source

03
Nov

Dusun Rungus

Posted by Crys Joan

This is a very interesting book about DUSUN RUNGUS in Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender
Men and Women in the World’s Cultures Volume I.

Yea pretty much describing the Dusun Rungus, well someone ought to actually do more study on this ain’t we?

Gender categories include only male and female. Women
wear skirts and sarongs. Men wear loose-fitting trousers,a shirt, and a headcloth. Women working in the fields will put on shirts over their sarongs. Women wear their hair knotted on the back of their head and cut out a small fringe of forehead hair so that it frames it. Boys and married men without children wear their hair knotted at the base of the head. Women wear earrings, brasswire coil from ankle to knee, coiled arm brass, and a girdle of fine brasswire interspersed with beads under their sarongs; some wear coiled brass around the neck. Girls start wearing earrings at an early age, and wearing of coiled brass represents the girl becoming of marriageable age.


More on this please find the book here

– How lovely other people describe our own clan-