ADAT TEBALU – WIDOW/WIDOWER FEES
In accordance with custom, after a person’s death, his or her widow or widower is known as balu. As required by customary adat all widows and widowers must show respect to the relatives of their deceased’s spouse by paying a fee (tebalu) not earlier than six months after the spouse’s death. Only after this fee is paid are they permitted to remarry.
There are two kinds of tebalu fees, which the widow or the widower may be required to pay; one is called tebalu mata, “unripe tebalu” and the other is tebalu mansau, or “ripe tebalu9”. The former is paid at the expiration of six months following the death of the spouse and its payment enables the widow or widower to remarry freely. The latter is a vow made by the widow or widower not to remarry before he or she has built a tomb hut for the deceased during a Gawai Antu festival. If this vow is broken, the offender and his partner will be fined according to the type of offence they have committed, i.e. elopement or adultery as follows:
- If a widow and a widower marry each other before they have compensated their respective former spouse’s relatives in a ngambi tebalu ceremony, they will be accused by the latter of committing berangkat2 tulang, eloping marriage. This is regarded as a grievous offence for which the widower is fined tujoh igi jabir, $7.00 and the widow sigi alas ngerang, $5.00. In addition, they are required by the Tuai Rumah to produce a pig, a knife and an iron adze.
- If a widow and a widower have sexual intercourse, they are accused of committing a butang antu offence, and are fined sigi alas muda, $4.00 each.
Adat tebalu fee is set according to the Iban man’s or woman’s accomplishment during their life time. That is why the Iban way of life is egalitarian and competitive. In other words, the amount paid by the surviving spouse to the deceased’s relatives depends on the deceased’s status as follows:
Iban man status and their adat tabalu fee:
1. If the deceased was a Great War leader (tau serang), the fee in his honour will be sigi menaga, $16.00.
2. If the deceased was a minor war leader (tau kayau), the fee in his honour will be lima belas igi jabir, $ 15.00.
3. If the deceased was a leading warrior (kepala manok sabong), the fee in his honour will be empat belas igi jabir, $ 14.00.
4. If the deceased was an ordinary warrior (manor sabong), the fee in his honour will be dua belas igi jabir, $12.00,
5. If the deceased was a great noble chieftain (kepala tuai menoa), the fee in his honour will be lima belas igi jabir, $ 15.00.
6. If the deceased was a famous Penghulu of aristocratic family, the fee in his honour will be empat belas igi jabir, $ 14.00.
7. If the deceased was a wealthy aristocrat, i.e. a man who never failed to get more than enough padi each year as well as being successful in his other undertakings, the fee in his honour will be empat belas igi jabir, $14.00.
8. If the deceased was an ordinary Penghulu, the fee in his honour will be tiga belas igi jabir, $ 13.00.
9. If the deceased was a very famous Tuai Rumah, i.e. one who has done good works for his followers and the people in his district in general, the fee in his honour will be tiga belas igi jabir, $ 13.00.
10. If the deceased was only an ordinary Tuai Rumah, the fee in his honour will be either sabelas or dua belas igi jabir, $ 11.00 or $ 12.00.
11. All male aristocrats are honored with a fee of sapuloh igi jabir, $10.00,
12. The tebalu fee of ordinary people should not exceed sambilan igi jabir, $9.00 (depending upon the important work he has done during his lifetime). If he did nothing important, he will be honored with a lesser amount of tebalu fee.
13. The tebalu fee of people of low status should not exceed enam igi jabir, $6.00.
Iban woman status and their adat tabalu fee:
14. If the deceased was the wife of a great war leader (bini orang tau serang) and, at the same time she was an outstanding weaver (indu takar, indu ngar) of the finest quality of blankets (pua kumbu), the fee in her honour is sapuloh igi jabir, $10.00. If she is not a weaver, her tebalu fee is sambilan igi jabir, $9.00.
15. If the deceased was extraordinarily clever at weaving blankets (pua kumbu) and is known as (or indu tengkabang, indu muntang) or indu sikat, indu kebat, the tebalu fee in her honour is sambilan igi jabir, $9.00.
16. If the deceased was a good hostess to visitors (indu temuai, indu lawai), the tebalu fee in her honour is sambilan igi jabir, $9.00.
17. If the deceased was diligent in preparing food for visitors who came to her family bilek, (indu asi, indu ai), her tebalu fee is from lapan to sambilan igi jabir, $8.00 to $9.00, respectively.
18. If the deceased was always alert in looking for vegetables for those who visit her family (indu tubu, indu paku), her tebalu fee is from tujoh to lapan igi jabir, $7.00 to $8.00.
19. All deceased women of aristocratic families are honored with a tebalu fee of not less than tujoh igi jabir, $7.00.
20. The tebalu fee for a woman of low status shall not exceed enam igi jabir, $6.00.
Source: https://gnmawar.wordpress.com/adat-iban/part-1-iban-adat-law-and-custom/
Ibanology 