An indigenous polity centered around a sacred heirloom: A case study of the ulu ai’ in Western Kalimantan

Abstract

The Bosi Koling Tongkat Raya’at, a sacred heirloom of the Ulu Ai’, a Dayak king in western Kalimantan, plays an essential role in shaping an indigenous polity. Previous studies on kingship in Southeast Asia tend to explain the institutional structures of kingships by identifying them with structures of kinship groups. However, many indigenous polities of Southeast Asia, including the Ulu Ai’, track their origins back to incestuous marriages of mythical primordial siblings, which clearly contradicts kinship norms. This paper examines the two predominant variations of the origin myths, both indicating that the office of the Ulu Ai’ cannot be understood in relation to kinship groups. Second, this paper shows that the polity of the Ulu Ai’ consists of face-to-face networks connecting the sacred heirloom and the people worshipping its paramount sacredness. This polity becomes tangible only when worshippers congregate at the house of the Ulu Ai’ for the heirloom purification ritual. This paper concludes that the polity of the Ulu Ai’ consists not of kinship groups but rather of dormant networks of the heirloom, Ulu Ai’, and the worshippers, which take the form of active polity only when the king conducts the ritual.