Dyak Ceremonies in Pregnancy 

 and Childbirth. 



By Eev. William Howell. 



As soon as a woman is enceinte, restrictions come into 

 force. These restrictions are binding on the husband as well 

 as the wife. It is forbidden them to cut off creepers that 

 hang over the water or over the road, lest the mother would 

 suffer from haemorrhage after delivery. It is forbidden to 

 dam a stream, to plait the rattan for fixing the adze, to make 

 the broad plaiting for the hilt of a parang, to set up a dam for 

 the fish-trap (bubu) and to drive a nail into a board lest the 

 woman should have difficulty in the delivery. It is forbidden 

 to pom- out oil, lest the child should suffer from (tidi) inflam- 

 mation of the ears ; to fix the parang in its hilt lest the child 

 be deaf : to break an egg, lest the child be blind ; to plant a 

 banana plant lest the head of the child be large ; to burn the 

 wood of the ficus to warm oneself, lest the child be dumb ; to 

 kill any animal lest the child be deformed and the nose bleed ; 

 to scrape smooth the shell of a coconut, lest the child's hair 

 should not grow ; to bring a fresh-water turtle into the room, 

 lest the child should not be born ; to dye anything black, lest 

 the child be black. 



As for the woman, if she goes anywhere she must return 

 by the same way that she went so that the child should not 

 know how it is to be delivered. It is further forbidden to 

 eat anything in a mosquito curtain, lest the child should be 

 still-born ; to carry stones lest the child should be paralysed ; 

 to conceal anything, lest the delivery be difficult ; to cast stones 

 into the water, lest the child be not delivered and the mother 

 die ; to bend into a circle any piece of wood, else the child 

 will not prosper ; to hang a scar lest the child should cry the 

 whole day and night. 



There are several other restrictions of a minor character 

 which are not worth mentioning. But it is interesting to 



Jour. S. B. E. A. Soc, No. 46, 1906. 



