Prey into kin

The cosmological role of the pig in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4660686
AutoresMonica Janowski (0000-0002-7957-2153, University of London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen56
Número11
Fecha de publicación2021-08-06
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthropozoologica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0761-3032 • E-ISSN: 2107-0881
EditorialMuseum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5252/anthropozoologica2021v56a11
OpenAlexW3188688459
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas19

In this article I explore the role of both the wild pig (baka) and the domesticated pig (berak) among the Kelabit of Sarawak, focusing in particular on their pre-Christian cosmological role. The wild pig (mainly Sus barbatus Müller, 1838 but also Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758), the main source of wild meat in the area, used to be associated with the spirit world, particularly with the Great Spirit. The domesticated pig (Sus scrofa) was, in pre-Christian Kelabit belief and practice, important in communication with the spirit world. I suggest here that the pig is transformed into kin to humans through being fed rice, and that this may be seen as the basis for its appropriateness as a way of communicating with the spirit world

Archaeology · Biology · Domestic pig · Domestication · Environmental ethics · Geography · Zoology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Asian Studies and History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy · Ecology