12 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



(Kenyah) chief at least claims direct descent from 

 him.^ 



The last mentioned instance completes the series 

 of cases forming a transition from the well re- 

 membered dead chief to the departmental deity, the 

 existence of which series lends colour to the view 

 that these minor gods have been evolved from de- 

 ceased chiefs. The weakness of this evidence 

 consists in the fact that the series of cases is drawn 

 from a number of tribes, and is not, so far as we 

 know, completely illustrated by the customs or 

 beliefs of any one tribe. 



There is, then, some small amount of evidence 

 indicating that the minor gods are deified ancestors, 

 whose kinship with their worshippers has been 

 forgotten completely in some cases, less com- 

 pletely in others. If this supposition could be 

 shown to be true, it would afford a strong presump- 

 tion in favour of the view that Laki Tenangan also 

 has had a similar history, and that he is hut primus 

 inter pares. For among the Kayans, as we have 

 seen, a large village acknowledges a supreme chief 

 as well as the chiefs of the several houses of the 

 village ; and in the operations of war on a large 

 scale, a supreme war chief presides over a council 

 of lesser chiefs. And it is to be expected that the 

 social system of the superior powers should be 

 modelled upon that of the people who acknowledge 

 them. 



On the other hand, none of the facts, noted in 

 connection with the minor gods as indicating their 

 ancestral origin, are found to be true of Laki 



^ When questioned as to this claim, he gave us at once without hesitation the 

 names in order of the ancestors of nineteen generations through whom he traces 

 his descent from Balingo. It is perhaps worth while to transcribe the list as 

 taken down from his lips in ascending order : — Kajan, Tama Kajan Odoh, Sigo^ 

 Apoiy Baun ( ? ), Odoh Sinan ( 9 ), Along^ Apoi, Laking, Laking Giling, Giling 

 Sinjarij Sinjan Putoh^ Putoh Aft, AH Aiaijalong, Balariy Umbong Doh ( 9 ), 

 Kusun Patu Balingo. This succession of names, it will be noticed, is consistent 

 with the custom, common to the Kenyahs and Kayans, of naming the father 

 after his eldest child. 



