It is really easy to trip yourself up, especially when you were not brought up in the culture you want to write about: Even if it is your own culture.
[You can watch a video version of this post here.]
Today I want to talk about avoiding the misrepresentation trap. I am luckier than most indigenous writers because the Ibans already have a strong oral history and storytelling culture by the time Sarawak was colonised. The customary laws and rules of conduct were already firmly in place, mainly through oral storytelling. Trade has been happening since a few generations earlier, so there was a strong sense of tribal identity.
How you go about doing your research will depend a lot on the type of materials that are available to you right now. From my own experience, I relied a lot on past memories, conversations with older folks, and books. Always understand the perspective of the writer when you are getting materials from literature. Journals, diaries and log books are especially dangerous because personal opinions will be interwoven into the details. I do not speak for all cultures, of course. Today, I feel the need to point out three areas in my culture that I often see misrepresented. Maybe you will come across them too. If you have more to add to this list, please leave a comment below. It will be a great help to everyone else.
Language Norms
We Ibans are famous for our Jako Karong or Jaku Lalai. It is a form of euphemism, I guess, especially when we are talking about romance, or about situations that are embarrassing or scandalous. This custom is pretty straightforward and applies to many cultures. We also believe that some spirit or animal is always spying on us, so if we make plans to hunt or to fish, we must use an euphemism, else our plans will be reported to our prey and we will fail to catch anything. Ibans also use jako karong when speaking about anything considered dangerous. This is because we believe that what we speak can manifest in real life. So if you do not want to worsen what is already a bad situation, you must only refer to it with a neutral or more positive word.
For example we believe in something called the Taju Remaung or Taju Baya. This is the Tiger or Crocodile Lure. When we want to mean that someone has been lured by either one of these spirits, we say that she has become engaged to the animal. We do this because we believe that if we say, her spirit has been lured, it will lead to her being mauled and eaten by the animal. So instead we say, engaged, because it is a neutral and positive expression, which we hope will not lead to her death.
This practice, however, has often been misinterpreted by people who are not familiar with Iban folklore. I have come across romantic stories of victims falling in love with their hunter. Yes, we do have stories of heroes and heroines falling in love with and marrying demons, but I have yet to come across one where the human has done so because he or she was lured with a taju.
Among some folklores of a human marrying a non-human is the story of Gupi and the demon Belang Pinggang. After she gave birth to his child, he changed into a human and married her. Folklore says that it is through his teachings that we now have the melah pinang wedding rites. There is also the story of Selamuda who married Bunsu Babi, the pig demon. He pretended to be a shaman and healed her from her wounds. From his wife Dayang Muka Manis, Selamuda learned about hepatomancy; divination with the pig liver. Then there was Remi, who was visited by Rukok because he heard her lamentations for her 3 dead brothers. He married her and led her people in war until her youngest brother was old enough to lead them. He taught my people the proper conduct of war and marriage.
Cultural Tropes
One of the most frustrating misrepresentations are the ones that have become cultural tropes. It is particularly maddening when it affects you socially. I grew up being ashamed and confused of my background because I was led to believe that Iban women were morally inferior. That was, until I learned that my Iban grandmother had been married 7 times. She was not ashamed at all of her record. When I asked her about it, she blamed it on the laziness and uselessness of the six men before my grandfather. Her perspective had changed my mind about the status of Iban women in society.
One of the past cultural practises that is still being used today as proof of the Iban woman's moral wickedness is the practice of ngayap. This is when a man visits a woman in her bedroom or bed and tries to woo her. It is a favourite trope of foreign movies and dramas because, in the foreigner's mind, only sex can happen when a man and a woman meet in the bedroom.
This custom actually came to be, because longhouses were small communities and people knew each other. A fighting man was valuable, but he was also prideful and any lose of face could mean that he would be going away for many years. This system of the man meeting his love interest in secret first before making it known publicly, was a good way to help him save face in case she rejected him. If she was equally interested, then their love would be made public. This practice also empowered the woman because it gave her the right to choose her own husband.
How do I know that sex didn't happen? In the old days, nobody slept alone because they believed that there was physical and spiritual danger every where. So even if a man should visit a woman in her bed, she would be naturally chaperoned by those sleeping with her. The closest I have ever got to experiencing this situation was when I was very young. A distant cousin had got engaged with a man from a neighbouring longhouse. Each time she wanted to spend the night with him, she will get two or three other female cousins to sleep in her bed. Only then would he join her. They were never alone until they got married.
Cultural Propaganda
The last area I recommend you keep a watch on is propaganda related information. This is very similar to cultural tropes except that the misinformation is mutually encouraged by both sides. Sometimes these propagandas can come from the tribe itself because fear was a good way to prevent trouble. The most predominant propaganda for my people, are that Iban men were bloodthirsty headhunters and pirates, and that Iban women demanded human heads for the bride price. This type of misinformation has helped kept the longhouse regions safe during the Japanese occupation in Sarawak. However, prior to that it was used as an excuse to attack villages for the collection of head money from the British government. Regardless of why and how this idea had come about, it has thrived for many generations.
How did I guess that this might be propaganda? Through my own family history, of course. There are other occupations that we Ibans value highly, such as travelling for work and farming. My family, for example, does not own a single human skull because none was ever passed down to us. This is quite typical of the normal Iban family. Most of us can trace our genealogy back to a headhunter, and that can go back as much as 10 generations. My great-grandfather was originally from Skrang. He had a reputation of being mean-tempered and fierce, but he was a farmer not a headhunter.
Headhunting did occur in my culture. However, there is a lot more restrain and taboo associated with it than the propaganda would suggest. The role of the indigenous writer in this kind of situation is to understand the custom as much as possible. This will help you avoid pitfalls. The way I handle this is to contrast my protagonist's attitude with another character who personifies the propaganda. In Iban Dream, I contrasted Bujang Maias with Burak. In Iban Journey, Nuing was contrasted with Rabai. Readers will not judge against you for doing this because they are sophisticated enough to understand that every culture has murderers and criminals.
So remember: Be aware of the use of euphemism or other form of secret languages, cultural tropes and cultural propaganda.
Start writing, keep writing. Good luck.
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